Do Human Resource Policies Designed to Improve Employees Work-life Balance - Coursework Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Human resource policies designed to improve employee’s work-life balance Course: Human resource policies designed to improve employee’s work-life balance and their benefit to the organization Introduction In the modern world organization have experienced increased pressure to perform better and faster and remain cost-effective. There has been a diversion from the traditional working routine and the notion of lifetime employment is rapidly fading away. The modern changes in the nature of work compounded by the introduction of new technologies have occasioned many workers grappling to balance roles in the personal lives and the work place. Consequently, employees and organizations are becoming more aware of the gains of work-life balance and the associated policies (White et al, 2003). In many circumstance work-life balance policies have enhanced productivity as well as employee motivation and commitment. A work can concentrate at work when his personal life is healthy and he does not have to worry about a sick child or spouse. Polices such as flexible working hours’ (flexitime) provide employees with opportunities to attend to their personal responsibilities and be informed about the development at their work station and when they are needed in person. Work-life balance policies benefit the organization and the individual work despite the challenges that are involved in their implementation (Mayberry, 2006). These policies aim to ensure maximum concentration on the part of the employee when he is at the workplace since his personal duties have been catered for or there is a time-slot for them. This essay explores these human resource policies targeting to improve employee’s work-life balance and the benefits as well as challenges involved. Benefits and challenges of work-life balance policies Some of the gains from employee work-life balance include employee well-being and satisfaction, increased productivity, successful recruitment and retention, reduced turnover and absenteeism, and customer satisfaction. Work-life balance is a top consideration for employees in the current work environment and it features prominently during recruitment interviews. It is common that the use and existence of work-life balance policies have become predominant globally (Bianchi & Milkie, 2010). Competing demands between home and work have assumed enhanced relevance of workers in recent years, owing largely to workplace and demographic changes like increasing number of women at the workplace, longer working hours, an ageing population, and sophisticated communications technology that enable near constant with the workplace. Organizations are under pressure to implement work-life balance policies because of the conflicts that the multiple roles that individuals play. Advanced technology has allowed some workers to work from home particularly breast-feeding mothers (Bach, 2009). Childcare information and referral, parental leave, flexible work hours, and financial help with childcare led to both decreased turnover intentions among employees and increased affective commitment. Flexible working hours is mostly applied in work-life balance policies and its spreading steadily. Work-life balance is a critical subject in the 21st century. Practitioners in human resource recently started to view work-life balance as a business issue that benefits both employers and employees. Flexible working hours’ supports to a large extend supports high levels of work-life balance as compared to fixed-hour working routines that are traditional. Employees who possess more control over their work schedules are likely to demonstrate growing engagement, job satisfaction, retention and entire well-being (Mostert & Rathbone, 2007). More gains compelling organization to consider implementing flexible working hours’ is saving on overtime as well as other premium payments made to employees, improved response to clients and delivery time, increased employee motivation, improved employee adaptability; and reduced absenteeism and tardiness. Owing to the possible challenges or obstacles that human resource practitioners encounter during implementation of work-life balance policies, employees have to consider flextime very carefully. The many in which work-life balance policies are implemented determines how successfully they will be. Organizations have to develop, implement and from time to time monitor work-life balance policies like flexible working hours’ (Koekemoer & Mostert, 2006). Implementing and monitoring these policies means that practitioners of human resource must understand and investigate the views, experiences and perceptions of all stakeholders particularly employees concerning the benefits and challenges of flexible working hours’ and its subsequent implementation. Information concerning the possible benefits and challenges linked to implementation of policies is crucial to organizations. The absence of this information can lead to developing and implementing policies that do not go hand in hand with the requirements and needs of employees. Consequently the benefits targeted may not be achieved in the organization. Work-life balance policies improve workers’ autonomy in integrating and coordinating the work as well as non-work parts of their lives (Hanuman & Rangaraju, 2012). Other polices of work-life balance include job-sharing, flexible place or telecommuting, part-time, and career breaks or sabbaticals. Flexible working schedule is applied in assisting employees in the current global economy. Flexible working times assist employees in balancing between their family and work responsibilities hence reducing work-family conflict translating to improved performance and functioning at home and at work (Galinsky, Bond & Hill, 2004). Flexible working schedules provide time for employees to accomplish their personal goals at work and home and hence boost their motivation and commitment at the workplace. Conflicts between the work and home schedules can lead to stress and low productivity on the side of the employee. Absenteeism to attend to family issues will be on increase without flexible working timetables or schedules. Flexible working schedules offer employees a variety of choices or alternatives concerning the start and end of working hours. Each employee has to work a particular number of hours per week or a month. The hours of work can be varied with specified limits (Dalcos & Daley, 2009). Employees choose the time when they are comfortable to report to work and when to leave but so long as they meet the required number of hours a day. Some of the challenges of flexitime are maintaining productivity, grappling to find a balance between personal life and work, and managing personal time. The reason behind introduction of flexitime is to assist employees to attain and sustain between work and personal time hence it because contradictory when they do not achieve this due to other challenges outside work. Some employees take a lot of time to disengage from work despite having flexible working hours’. Other challenges emanate from misconceptions like management perception that employees misuse flexitime and there is ineffective communication between employees (Halpern, 2005). Differences in the nature of work can also make it difficult to implement work-life balance. Partial understanding of flexible working schedules and the availability of workers defines the success of flexitime. Policies that enhance employee health as well as well-being, support families and boost employee commitment, positively impact everyone on the organization and they are not gender sensitive. In some circumstances, it is women who have lobbied for family-friendly policies because they are usually the primary caregivers in charge of childcare and household management. Men and women at every level of companies, in any stage of their career development and at any stage of their life cycle are looking for flexibility to realize a better work-life balance (Beauregard, 2006). It is not easy for flexitime to be implemented in organization and it requires careful planning prior to implementation. A sense of belonging and love is developed in employees who feel that the employer care about their personal life though implementing work-life balance policies. Conclusion The availability of work-life balance policies has been associated with enhanced affective commitment and reduced turnover intentions. Some of the policies of work-life balance are not easy to implement and an organization has to assess their benefits against their challenges to ensure that they are timely and effectively implemented. Childcare, parental leave, job-sharing and telework have a lot led to increased productivity and made employees to have a sense of belonging at the workplace. Implementing work-life balance policies make employees feel that they are valued and are an important asset to the organization hence increasing their commitment. Some workers find it challenging to disengage from work when they have to participate in their personal roles and they end up taking a lot of time. Time lost between transitions can be costly either to the organization or the employees. Flexitime has to be implemented with a lot of care and all stakeholders to be involved so as to eliminate the possibility of conflicts between personal and work roles. The long term gains of implementing work-life balance policies can be seen in productivity and reduced skilled and talented workers turnover. Organizations have to deal with challenges of implementing work-life balance policies before they reap the full benefits of the practices. References Bach, S., 2009, Managing Human Resources: Personnel Management in Transition, John Wiley & Sons, London. Beauregard, T. A., 2006, Predicting interference between work and home: A comparison of dispositional and situational antecedents, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(3), 244-264. Bianchi, S.M., & Milkie, M.A., 2010, Work and family research in the first decade of the 21st Century, Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(1), 705–725. 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