Preview

Work-Life Balance Essay

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2528 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Work-Life Balance Essay
Individual Essay: Work-life Balance
In today’s work environment a better balance between work and life is increasingly desired by workers. Desire for a better work-life balance has become one of the growing concerns in contemporary society (Wood and de Menezes (2010, p.1575). Therefore it is essential for organisations to incorporate work-life balance strategies with job design and employment policies. According to Wood and de Menezes (2010, p.1575), work-life practices have come to the front position of employment policies in a number of countries in the past ten years. Nankervis et al. (2011, p586) suggest that work-life balance (WLB) 'recognises that employees have different personal needs (e.g. childcare, ageing parents) which need to be accommodated in their work patterns'. However, to find a appropriate way to balance between work and family life has become a great challenge for both males and females in today's highly competitive work environment. This paper is going to address the importance of work-life balance, identify the elements that need to be put into consideration when designing an effective work-life balance program and analyse the elements that need to be put into considerations when implementing an effective work-life program.

It is important to identify the benefits of work-life balance before designing and implementing any work-life balance program. Examining the advantages of work-life balance can help organisations to realise the importance of incorporating work-life balance strategies with their employment policies, consequently they can design and implement effective work-life balance programs in their work environment.

In today's work environment work break is viewed as one of the work-life balance strategies. Promoting health is one of the benefits of work breaks. Taylor (2005, p.461) suggests that pressure and physical inactivity are the two main factors that baffle the achievement of promoting health. Taylor (2005, p.461)



References: Allen, T.D., Herst, D.E., Bruck, C.S. and Sutton, M. 2000. Consequences associated with work-to family conflict: A review and agenda for future research, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5: 278–308 Barnett, R.C Bond, F. W., and Barnes-Holmes, D. 2007. The role of psychological flexibility in contingency sensitivity. Manuscript in preparation. Bond, F.W.; Flaxman, P.E.; Bunce, D. 2008. The Influence of Psychological Flexibility on Work Redesign: Mediated Moderation of a Work Reorganization Intervention. Journal of Applied Psychology 93(3): 645–654. Eby L.T.; Casper, W.J.; Lockwood, A.; Bordeaux, C.; and Brinley, A. 2005. Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002), Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66: 124–197. Greenhaus, J.H.; Collins, K.M. and Shaw, J.D. 2003. The relation between work–family balance and quality of life, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63:510–531. Heidtman, D. and McGraw, P. 2009. WORK LIFE BALANCE IN AUSTRALIAN LEGAL FIRMS, International Journal of Employment Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2: 1-33. Jang, S.J.; Park,R Nord, S.J.; Fox, S.; phoenix, A. and Viano, k. 2002. Real-world reactions to work-life balance programs: Lessons for effective implementation. Organisational Dynamics, Vol. 30, No.3, 223-238. Parkes, L.P. and Langford, P.H. 2008. Work–life balance or work–life alignment? A test of the importance of work–life balance or employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations. Journal of Management & Organization, 14: 267–284. Pocock, B. 2003. The Work–Life Collision: What work is doing to Australians and what to do about it, Federation Press, Sydney. Pocock, B. 2005. Work–life ‘balance’ in Australia: Limited progress, dim prospects, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 43:198–209. Taylor, W. 2005. Transforming Work Breaks to Promote Health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29(5): 461-465. Wood, S. and de Menezes, L. 2010. Family-friendly management, organisational performance and social legitimacy. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(10): 1575-1597.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Radioshack's Woes

    • 2905 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Colley, L. (2010). Central policies, local discretion: A review of employee access to work-life balance arrangements in a public sector agency. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 36(2), 214-237. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/728772792?accountid=8289…

    • 2905 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Work-life balance is about creating and maintaining supportive and healthy work environments, which will enable employees to have balance between work and personal responsibilities and thus strengthen employee loyalty and productivity. Legislation has been introduced to ensure that any negative influence the family is subjected to be eradicated or best minimised; the most recent changed being the Work and Families Act 2006.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nigel Marsh Work

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Balancing work and home responsibilities are difficult I am a mother of three and I had to realize that dealing with today's industry you have to be more dependable at your place of employment than being there for your family unless its an emergency. On the website, Nigel Marsh discussed finding ways to balance family and work, and taking control of your own destiny. I will discuss the different points from Nigel Marsh and chapters six and seven concerning the different values of an individual, the effects, and the different factors that play within the individual and the corporate world. …

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    References: Harris, V.W., Johnson, A.C. Olsen, K.M., (2014). Balancing work and family in the real world. Plymouth. MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing.…

    • 7987 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The standard for the American family is not the same as it used to be as single- parent homes and mixed race couples become more prominent. This change in the American family has caused gender roles in the home to be challenged, as well as long hours in the work place. The work-family conflict is analyzed to uncover the positives and negatives of the changing American family.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The majority of academic work that has been written looks at the work-life balance with a feminine perspective or focuses primarily on the increase of females that have entered the workforce. Although Marchington and Wilkinson (2008: 106) that issues concerning work-life are not limited to the female group alone, they do add that issues concerning the subject are categorised as a problem for women. Delcam presents an opposing view as the men that work there are all very much concerned with management of the work-life balance, this is something that features in their psychological contracts and is of much importance to them.…

    • 2775 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Traditionally, the role of taking care of children is considered to be the work of wives while the husband are the breadwinner (Aryee&Luk, 1996). Nowadays, more and more parents are dual-earner couples and the multiple roles of the parents create a lot of work-life conflict, especially for those who work in the same organizations. According to the statistics report conducted by the Queensland Government, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disabilities Services , the labour force participation rate is 60.7% for women and 72.9% for men (May 2012). In year 2007, Queensland recorded the highest fertility rates since 1977. In the same year female workforce participation rates were at an all time high.…

    • 3401 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Single Working Mom

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Many conflicts can arise between work and family when family members find themselves trying to balance all of the responsibilities of taking care of their family and the various responsibilities that employers place on them at the same time. Often times stress is one of the largest conflicts as it affects the family member 's and the worker 's well being (Walen, 2002, p. 31). Take for example a work stress that produces marital conflict or a parent that does not have child care and therefore have higher rates of absenteeism. These are examples of the conflict that can arise when trying to balance both work and family.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Women in Crime

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Williams, J. (2000). Unbending gender: why family and work conflict and what to do about it. New York, NY: Oxford University Press…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Work-Life Balance

    • 2240 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Parkes, Louise P., and Peter H. Langford. "Work-Life Balance Or Work-Life Alignment? A Test of the Importance of Work-Life Balance for Employee Engagement and Intention to Stay in Organisations." Journal of Management and Organization14.3 (2008): 267-84. ProQuest Central. 16 Jan. 2013.…

    • 2240 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Work Life Parity Essay

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A current meta-investigations have demonstrated that both work to home clashes and home to work clashes there are wellspring of noteworthy mental pain both for people and associations and that is called overflow impact (Byron, 2005; Mesmer-Magnus and Viswevaran, 2005; Portage et al., 2007). In the current meta-examinations Portage et al., (2007) had demonstrated that family stressors and backings are additionally related to occupation fulfillment while work anxiety are related to home fulfillment. Moreover, negative parts of work to home clashes were identified with whine at work which that perspective identified with occupation fulfillment and the mental trouble (Kafetsios's, 2007). Likewise Lambert et al., (2006) found that the same results in where work to home clashes was observed to be identified with employment fulfillment and hierarchical duty. Despite the fact that, work to home clash is associated to part subsequently in over-burden at home and the resolved to end a marriage or despite the fact that a sentimental relationship (Brotheridge and Lee, 2005). Furthermore, at a psychopathological level it has been upheld that work to home impedance and home to work obstruction were joined with a depressive symptomatology, uneasiness, stress furthermore psychosomatic issues and gripes (Franche et al., 2006; Edy et al., 2005). As indicated by Edwards and Rothbard (2006) a positive overflow, work family assistance (Grzywazz commercial Steward, 2005) and work family enhancement ( Greenhaus and Powell, 2006), are terms that used to depict the constructive outcome that work can add to have on family and in addition the beneficial outcomes that family can likewise have on work. Greenhaus and Powell and Hanson (2006) bolstered that positive overflow can happen through emotional and worth based ways (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006; Hanson et al., 2006). The full of…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Balancing Work and Family

    • 1528 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Most people must consider the financial consequences of work and family trade-offs. But even if there is no choice about whether or not to work, we can choose to select an employer who is sensitive to issues important in balancing work and family. We can also…

    • 1528 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Balancing Work and Family

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Managing work and family life can become quite a challenge even for the best family managers. Some families are more likely to balance their work and family based on traditional roles. However, some families are more expected to divide their work in term of the modern family type. A lot of families have difficulties to handle and balance both work and family equally while they choose household chores as the first primary choice, so they will observe with less opportunity outside work. Both traditional and modern family types always have different perspectives on how to handle the challenges of balancing work and family life.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Work/Life Balance Managment

    • 7174 Words
    • 29 Pages

    n a society filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work/life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Three major factors contribute to the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work/life balance: 1) global competition; 2) renewed interest in personal lives/ family values; and 3) an aging workforce. Research suggests that forward-thinking human resource professionals seeking innovative ways to augment their organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace may find that work/life balance challenges offer a win-win solution.…

    • 7174 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This paper is intended to show that while advancing ones career, there is a myriad of ways to manage work and life balance. There are some folks in an organization that would just rather show up and continue the status quo of putting in a 40 to 60 hour work week. Not having a level work and life balance can be hazardous to your health and cost you and your company greatly. Not everyone in the workforce desires a work and life balance. In fact, some occupations are not as balance friendly as others. Work and life balance is good for you, good for your health and good for your employer. If work and life balance is what you are looking for then you are in luck as more organizations than ever before are starting to embrace the idea and are putting programs in place which accommodate work life balance. With the use of many of the new technological inventions, company or government incentives and various training programs, work and life balance is easier to achieve than one many think.…

    • 2649 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays