Types of Work-Life Balance Arrangements and Benefits Accrued from Work-Life Balance - Essay Example

Work-life balance Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction Work life balance has been the major concern for many organizations in the global business. Due to the changes in the business environment, companies are contemplating on the best ways they can improve their competitiveness in the competitive business. As a result, the management of many organizations considers the ways they can improve the utilization of their resources to maximize the output. One of the most important resources which are utilized by the organisations includes the employee skills. The employees help to determine the success of any organisation if they are motivated to offer their competent skills (Beauregard & Henry 2009). The needs of the employees keep on changing and that why the concept of the work life balance has been developed. It aims to improve the productivity of the company by effective utilization of the skills available. Work life balance is the process of developing effective HRM policies for practicing work flexibility. There are those scholars who argue that work life balance confer benefits to the organisation while others argue that the work life balance may not impact on the performance of the organisation positively. Therefore, this essay will discuss the main benefits of work life balance to an organisation. Thesis statement From research which has been conducted, it has been demonstrated that work life balance confer various benefits to an organization. In the first place, it helps to reduce the stress among the employees, improve the morale of the employees, helps to improve the satisfaction of the customers, reduce the cost of operations and helps an organisation to attract and retain competent skills which help to improve the performance of an organisation. Types of work life balance arrangements The first work life balance policy is working part time. In order to meet the needs of the employees, the management of the company should be able to develop human resource management policies which help to support the part time working strategy among the employees (Hughes & Bozionelos 2007). When the employees work part time, they can schedule to work the time which is most convenient for them so that they can have their personal time for personal issues. This enables the employees to balance their work with life issues by working on a part time basis. For instance, an employee can decide to work from 2 to 6 so that he or she can have adequate time for the personal issues. This helps to improve the motivation of the employees as they work at their most convenient time. There is also job sharing, which is the strategy applied to ensure that the tasks are accomplished at the most appropriate time (Zuo & Tang 2000). There are two types of job sharing strategies which can be applied by the organisation to manage job sharing strategy. In the first place, there is the twin model whereby two employees share the same position and they handle the tasks on different days. There is also the island model whereby employees share same position but they handle different tasks. Through job sharing, the employees are able to find time for their personal issues which improve their morale. There is also the telecommuting strategy whereby the employees can work while they are a way from office. The employees can work while they are out of work through networking. The employees can use computer technology to conduct video conferencing (Perry-Smith& Blum 2000). Through telecommuting, the employees are able to utilize their time properly and they can balance their time with work thus improving their motivation which in turn improves their productivity and the performance of the organisation. Benefits accrued from work life balance Work life balance confers various benefits to an organisation. Through work life balance, the management of an organisation is able to reduce the stress among the employees. This is because through work life balance, the employees will have adequate time for their personal issues like the family issues. In this effect, through work life balance the employees will have adequate time so that they can schedule their tasks appropriately. When the employees are stressed, their productivity can decline as they will not concentrate on their tasks. It is therefore the responsibility of the management of an organisation to ensure that there is work life balance so that the stress among the employees due to working under is can be reduced. The end result is that the organisation will experience low absenteeism because the employees enjoy their work which increases the productivity of the employees which in turn improve the productivity of the company (De Cieri et al 2005). In this regard therefore, work life balance helps to improve the productivity of the employees by managing their stress and they can work the most convenient time for them. On the other hand, the work life balance confers the benefit of improving the morale of the employees. Through work life balance, the employees, the employees can work at their convenient time, which implies that they have their own time to attend to personal issues. The employees will not work under pressure which means that they will concentrate on their work better. Through work life balance, there will be low employee turnover, which reduces the organisation’s cost of operations in terms of hiring and training new employees (Boswell & Olson-Buchanan 2007). This will increase the output of the employees which in turn improve the productivity of the organisation. In this context therefore, the work life balance helps to improve the morale of the employees which in turn improve their performance thus improving the productivity of the organisation in the competitive global market. For instance, when the employees schedule to work at their most convenient time, they can be better motivated unlike when they are forced to work the time which is not convenient like working overtime when they have family issues they need to attend to. In this instance, the employees are better motivated thus improving the productivity of the company. Work-life balance is that way employees what to balance their working time with that of their personal issues .The following are benefits which can improve employee’s work-life balance. First good work-life balance helps employees to have enough time with their families and their co-workers. This is achieved when management of a company schedule properly, when their employees are supposed to report to work and when they will departure too. This policy helps to improve the relationship which exists between management and employees (Crompton et al 2006). Hence, employees will be motivated to work extra hard and this will increase productivity. Also when we have employee flexibility of work, this will encourage good quality of work since employees’ views are considered. In addition to these, employees will have enjoyable life since they will have time to spend with their families, friends, time to travel to other destinations or outside countries and also they will have time for training and developing new ideas and experiences. Through work life balance, the management of the company is able to enjoy the productive workforce. When there are policies for managing the employee time, they will be satisfied as a result of working at flexible times. When an organisation has hrm strategies promote flexible working arrangements, the employees will be satisfied with their jobs. The obvious benefit of employee motivation is increased productivity. The organisation will benefit by ensuring that there is productive workforce, which allow the employees to work at their convenient time. The employees can work for a short period of time, but because they are motivated, they can improve their productivity. Therefore, flexible working policies enable the organization to have productive workforce (Greenhaus et al 2003). This implies that the management of the organisation can lay off some employees when the market is down and motivate the survivors of the layoff so that they can improve their productivity to meet the organizational objectives. In this effect the cost of operations for the organisation is minimized. Flexible working conditions and policies in an organisation help to improve the wellbeing of the employees since they balance their work time with the personal issues. The main aim of any organisation is to reap profits, which enable it to sustain its operations. This can only be achieved when the management of the company is able to manage the cost of production while increasing the output. One of the strategies which are applied by the management of organisations is to improve the wellbeing of the employees so that they can be motivated to improve their productivity (Greenhaus & Powell 2006). Having wellbeing employees helps to improve the productivity of the employees which in turn improve the performance of the organisation. Therefore, flexible working conditions help to improve the wellbeing of the employees leading to an improved reputation of the company. Furthermore, work life balance helps to increase the working time for serving the customers which are of great benefit to the company. When there is work life balance, the employees can work in shifts and this implies that there will be long working hours which improve the satisfaction of the customers. The number of customers served per day will improve which will improve the revenue for an organisation. For instance, the employees can work in shifts to serve the customers 24 hours in a day (Greenhaus & Powell 2006). This increases the working hours which not only increases the income of the employees but also improve the productivity of the company leading to competitive advantage. Therefore work life balance helps to improve the performance of the organisation. Moreover, the work life balance enables the organisation to improve the satisfaction of the customers. The employees are able to work in shifts and this means that they can work best during their time with the aim of satisfying the needs of the customers (Reynolds 2005). Besides working for extra hours, the employees are motivated to offer their best skills to meet the customer needs. Through telecommutation, the customers can provide their feedback which is essential for decision making. The employees will not be tired working for long hours which imply that the quality of services provided to the customers is of high quality. In this effect, the customers will be provided with quality products and services to meet their needs (Reynolds 2005). The relationship between the customers and the employees will be built which in turn influence the buying behavior of the employees. Customer satisfaction, therefore helps to improve the performance of the company in term of market share and positioning. However, there are other strategies which should be applied to improve the satisfaction of the customers. For instance effective pricing should be developed to satisfy the needs of the customers (Reynolds 2005). Another benefit of employee’s work-life balance in an organization is employee retention. This occurs when an employer of an organization listens to employees’ views and suggestions. Because this will make them feel recognized as part and parcel of that organization and they will be motivated to work with confidence (Greenhaus & Beutell 1985). Further, another benefit of employee retention in an organization is that there will be no confusion in following rules and regulations of that company. Because employees are well acquitted with them hence this will help the organization to save time and money that they had already spent on them than to spend on new employees. On the other hand, employee’s work-life balance is important as it supports e employees’ values. Employees get motivated when their work is being valued by management (Van Knippenberg 2006). Management should give fringe benefits to their employees on top of their basic salary to show that they are doing good work. This will improve employee morale since they will commit themselves to earn extra bonuses .Hence their living standards will change and this will benefit the organization in that competition will go higher and this will improve productivity because they are getting the best from their employees. Finally, work life balance helps to improve the reputation of the organisation. Due to changing needs in the contemporary society, the employees need to work in a flexible environment where their needs are met in terms of the flexibility in working conditions. The organisation which provides policies for work life balance is able to improve its reputation which helps to attract and retain competent skills required to improve the performance of the company. Therefore work life balance enables the organisation during recruitment as its reputation helps to attract the competent skills from the global market (Felstead, et al 2002). Through hiring and selecting employees from the global labor helps to improve the growth of the company. However, there are those who argue that employee work-life balance is disadvantaged in the following ways. One, it requires self-discipline. When employees fail to discipline themselves by not following the policies laid down by the organization, this will affect the organization greatly since employees and employer relationship will be poor and therefore it will lead to communication breakdown (Hughes & Bozionelos 2007). Therefore, the organization goals will fail to be implemented and this will lower productivity of that organization and increase the number of accidents. Further employee’s work-life balance is a disadvantage in that it is difficult to separate home from work. This is because the responsibilities that employees do at their work are such important to those done at home. Hence this can affect employees from carrying out their duties and responsibilities properly due to that stress. Therefore, management should schedule their policies properly so that employees can meet their needs at the right time (Van Knippenberg 2006). Also, when management tries to schedule properly the number of working hours, with the hours of personal activities it will improve the living standards of employees. Conclusion Work life balance is the process of ensuring that the employees have adequate time for their personal life and the work life. This implies that the employees should not be overworked instead there should be human resource management policies which help to improve flexible working practices. Work life balance confers various benefits to an organisation. In the first place, the research which has been conducted indicates that work life balance help to improve the performance of an organisation, it helps to reduce stress among the employees improving their productivity and improving customer satisfaction. It also helps to improve the working time to meet the needs of the customers and also improving the reputation of the organisation. Job sharing and telecommuting as well as part time work are the main work life balance strategies applied. References Beauregard, T.A & Henry, L. C 2009, Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance. Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 9-22. Boswell, W. R & Olson-Buchanan, J. B 2007, "The Use of Communication Technologies After Hours: The Role of Work Attitudes and Work-Life Conflict". Journal of Management, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 592-690. Crompton, Rosemary, Lyonette & Clare 2006, "Work-Life ‘Balance’ in Europe." Acta Sociologica, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 379-393. De Cieri,, H., Holmes, B., Abbott, J & Pettit, T 2005, Achievements and challenges for work- life balance strategies in Australian organisations. International Journal of HRM, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 90-103. Felstead, A., Jewson, N., Phizacklea, A & Walters, S 2002, Opportunities to Work at Home in the Context of Work–Life Balance’, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 54–77. Greenhaus, J.H & Beutell, N.J 1985, The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productivity, and Corporate Financial Performance', Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 635-72. Greenhaus, J.H., Collns, K.M. & Shaw, J.D 2003, The relation between work-family balance and quality of life. Jounal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 63, No. 8, pp. 510-531. Greenhaus, J.H. & Powell, G.N 2006, When work and family are allies: a theory of work- family enrichment. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 72-92. Hughes, J. & Bozionelos, N 2007, Work-life balance as source of job dissatisfaction and withdrawal attitudes: An exploratory work on the views of male workers'. Personnel Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 145-154. Perry-Smith, J.E Blum, T.C 2000. &, Work-life human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43, No. 6, p. 1107-1117. Reynolds, J. 2005, "In the Face of Conflict: Work-Life Conflict and Desired Work Hour Adjustments". Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 67, No. 5, p. 1313–1331. Van Knippenberg, D 2006, "Organizational Identification versus Organizational Commitment: Self-definition, Social Exchange, and Job Attitudes." Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 27, No. 5, p. 571-630 Zuo , J & Tang, S 2000, Breadwinner status and gender ideologies of men and women regarding family roles, Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 43, No. 1, p. 29-43 Read More