The Issue of Work Life Balance and Flexibility at Work Place

Question: Describe about The Issue of Work Life Balance and Flexibility at Work Place. Answer: When the then Facebook executive (Instagrams CEO- now) Emily White had coined the term WORKLIFE MERGE to actually explain the life where work and personal life are so intertwined that it is impossible to neatly compartmentalize the two. The concept of motivation is quite prevalent in theory for us, the Human Resource Management students. But this concept and its theories are of paramount importance in any organization or sector especially when its one of the most dynamic drivers of any economy globally- be it the IT Sector or the consultancy business. Talking about the title of this essay which is on Work Life Balance is a step in this direction only- to know that how actually the terms of work life merge, flexibility and other terms are defined by a management and how it effects the employees globally? By this I mean- Are the things that make the employees satis ed and motivated on the job are still dierent in kind from the things that make them dissatis ed? (Green, 2001). With so many of this things coming up in, we definitely have the theories coming in picture of Herzberg and many more. Motivation is the driving force, which enterprises human beings towards some activity, and in the course certain human needs and wants are satisfied. Be it the physiological and psychological, human needs and their fulfillment largely depends on certain internal and external factors. Thus this is how its applicable in each and every industry or any sector. Herzbergs Two- Factor Theory of Motivation is one such way through which the way of motivating employee can be analyzed and further used for motivating them according to their needs and wants. The last line is nothing but the application of Herzbergs Two- Factor Theory of Motivation. (Wood, S. 1996). Knowing that what importance an employee holds for various kinds of motivators and hygiene factors, it is quite important for the companies to work on various subjects in order to make sure that the employee is happy enough. As per the case study of flexibility and work-life balance: who benefits? - Juliet Bourke has been saying that paradigm has changed. Flexibility in work being such a sensitive issue has actually become something more towards a negative side. Since the economic growth in so many countries has occurred largely in urban areas- providing flexibility in terms of when and where work is conducted can help the employee have less stress and work interruptions. And moreover will also encourage a higher productivity. But there will always be a challenge with implementing this initiative because as even said by Juliet because of some reason that flexibility has turned into that how to get more out of fewer employees. (Rajadhyaksha, 2012) Then how to even make sure that the flexibility can be do well when the concept of the same has totally changed. As even mentioned in the case study for reference, flexibility is not that easy, it can make people work more as to adhere to the work requirements of the company. This wont do at all. Thinking on the subject of work- life balance, motivation at the work place, no stress, and more flexibility is not actually living up to the expectations of the employees. (Ramsay, Scholarios, Harley, 2000) The term which applies to plenty of men as well as women captures the idea a life in which - work and free time have not been able to diverge themselves and there is no compartmentalization among them. (Hinsliff, 2013) With excessive working hours, there is a lot of effect on the workers and employees. The trend of getting your life merged might even frustrate the employee which will actually make the employee not have the exact motivation and work level. Thus excess working hours can actually harm the productivity of the employee rather than increasing the same. Moreover can even affect the kind of performance the employee is giving. With ever increasing work hours- the quality of work will also deteriorate. As per the literature review of work life balance we get to know many more kind of effects of this issue. The kind of business in globally has been a flourishing and dynamic one contributory considerably to any countrys value. Even the organizations which offer employment opportunities to vast talent pool and thus the role of work-life balance play a significant role. The business is characterized by high rate of attrition, low worker commitment level and disagreeable nature of job and thus flexibility and less working hours should be made the center of attention. Emerging economies may have been very slow to pick up the trend of the more balanced and gendered distribution of work and family roles (Bhalla Kaur, 2011) but they are on the verge of accepting the concepts such as Work-Life Balance. (Sonpar, Kapur, 2001) The term work-life balance which was there in order to answer back to the growing concerns of many individuals, employees and several organizations alike that work can inflict upon the family lifes quality and even vice versa. Moreover this not only effects your own personal life but even the quality of your work. (Gutek, et. al, 1991). This is where again the flexibility issue arises that how can the excessive hours of work add up to the quality and quantity of work. All the 24 hours are divided in to work, family and rest and thus more of the developing countries need to understand the importance of these sorts of issues like that of work- life balance. Moreover the need of work life balance and much more deals with the kind of work structure and timings are there for the employees. As even discussed in the case study, there are a lot of issues which needs to be resolved and cant be done that easily. A proper approach to the structure and making flexible plans for the employees is needed. This only just leads to health issues but also deals with personal complications in an employees life. This all needs to be dealt by the organization itself. Moreover if we talk about employers contribution in helping to come up with effective work- life balance in an economic downturn. Work life balance being such an important issue for the industry is why because there is great explanation attached to it of having an inexcusable rate of attrition, stressful nature of job, frequent health issues, job shift talent pool etc. The business intrinsically is one amongst the foremost contributors in any country and the importance of work-life balance in twin in nature-it provides motivation, job satisfaction, productivity etc. to any worker and makes sure that there is a great control on attrition and improved retention rates, reduced absence, high performance and efficiency, high commitment to a corporation What should be done to confirm work life balance? Indian organizations may begin implementing work life balance policies such as: Giving childcare money help and/or on-site crches- This will make sure that there is a lot of help for the working mothers to be rest assured of the security of their small children and is even making sure that the child can grow under a safe environment with proper facilities. Even with many crches and lots more, the employees will be always rest assured because they can come and look for their children easily and can even be with them in their free time. This practice should be there because it will help the company to not only retain the employees but also stick to their working hours and even have the employees has a sense of happiness. Imposing maternity profit act- With this it will be a great step towards having employees have an excellent way of having their maternity well in time and can even be at home after delivery of the child. (Presser, 1986). will help the get the pay at home and take care of their children. Moreover this will retain the female employees which are now a must and will also help them to have a sense of security and they will get retained in the organization. now- a-days with so many organizations coming up with these kinds of policies for the females it helps them to be in the organization for a longer time. (Maume, Houston, 2001). Paid paternity leave- With this being in trend- to have the employee make their personal life well on track, this should be done very well. Because this not only makes the parents take care of their child very easily but also thinks that yes their company thinks a lot about them in terms of their personal life. This kind of step by all the companies will help them only to retain the best of the talent and not lose it to their competitors. The paid paternity leave will be a great step just to make sure that the employee has that sense of relive when he wants to start his/ her own family other than his work family. (Kingston, Nock, 1985). Flexitime giving versatile begin and end times provided the employee works the core hours- The flexi time is quite necessary because the kind of flexibly we talked about in the case study will not only make the employee not be on track but the quality of work at the company will get it highly. Thus the company should look after giving the employee working on the flexi timings so that he/she can look after his/ her personal life as well. This will be great if the company can even have options for the employees with various options in flexible timings. Such work life balance policies make the work places a great work place and thus get the best of talent coming to their organizations. Thus both sides its a win- win situation. Relocation permitting workers to relocate to any branch in their home country or overseas to suit their personal circumstances e.g. if they can join again: Yes this policy is quite in demand even now days. With so many of personal experience and seen people slogging for relocations- sometimes the organization should understand the employees need of relocation and should make the policies in that matter only. Thus by making this sure, it will be great if the company can allow employees to relocate if the positions are available and they can work in other branches of the offices. Permitting workers to figure from home- The work from home facility is great if the employee is being given that. But this definitely works if at all there is change in psychology of the employees. The work life balance policies should work both ways too. Where the employer gets the benefit- there should be the employee also who gets the flexibility in timings and a sense of relief to look after his family well too. (Milkie, Peltola, 1999). Thus the companys human resource team alongside the active cooperation of the workers ought to take initiatives to facilitate correct work-life balance policies and see to that that the workers are benefited from such policies. The employees should be working on the management therefore on the scale back a number of the work-life imbalances arising out of stress, burnout, family commitments etc. Also there can be a number of other meditation techniques, yoga, extracurricular events, correct self-appraisal of jobs, adequate coaching for improvement etc. (Staines, Pleck, 1986) The leaders ought to specialize in developing, formulating, implementing and reviewing higher work-life balance policies so as to create a property and enriching organization. So a far better work place moreover as a secured and happy family life is feasible. (Huselid, 1995) Thus with this kind of policies only the things are possible to make sure that the work place is great and working in order to help the employee to live without any kind of tensions and worries. As after all the employee is who gives all the work but the employer should also see that they have all the resources at hand which can help them actually have such kind of work environment to work freely. References Rajadhyaksha, U. (2012),"Work-life balance in South East Asia: the Indian experience", South Asian Journal of Global Business Research, Vol. 1 Iss: 1 pp. 108 127 Hinsliff, G. 2013, The merge: how our work-life balance is changing. Last Viewed on 28th March, 2016 from https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jan/01/merge-work-life-balance Bhalla, S.S. Kaur, R. 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