Importance of Maintaining Work-Life Balance

In today’s society comprising of conflicting responsibilities and obligations maintaining a balance between work and life has grown into a challenge for the employees. Work-life balance is described as the circumstance in which an equilibrium is maintained between the professional and family life without any opposition between the roles played in both. It allows the employees to have flexible working hours to maintain their life programs and practices in an organized manner. In the 1800s, during and following the industrial revolution in European countries, the industrialists believed that to increase the efficiency and productivity of workers they required to have a day or two off from the work. This idea was later developed into a two-day weekend. However, it was realized that even on the five working days, workers were required to have time for themselves and their families. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a sociological researcher, in his book published in 1977, “Work and Family in the United States: A Critical Review and Agenda for Research and Policy” discussed the issues related to the lives of workers if they did not have a work-life balance which was observed through the research carried out in various corporations. Hence, the phrase work-life balance was originated between the 1970s and 1980s in the US and UK to attract people to office work which did not interfere with personal lives.

Nowadays, the aspects of life included in the work-life are personal or family interests and social or leisure activities. Developing a working culture supporting work-life balance is essential for an organization to progress. As the work-life balance is a part of working culture, the directors make sure the employees are managing their demands of career and family simultaneously. Companies provide their employees with the facilities of part-time work, telecommunicating, compressed workweek, and work from home. The technological advancements in recent times have made work tasks to be completed faster and on-time with the help of smartphones and laptops. This has made the typical work hours 9 to 5 easier.

However, challenges related to work-life balance exist in organizations as in recent times, the workers have started to value their family lives and are least interested in putting it aside or ignoring it for the sake of the work. With the rise in the diversity of the workforce in the companies, the representation of family members is also increasing. Due to which people prefer the work which interferes the least in personal lives so that they get time to spend with their family. If the employees do not have equilibrium maintained in their work life and family life, they show signs of increasing stress levels. As a result, this leads to low employee morale, decreasing job satisfaction, and poor productivity. It indirectly impacts the company’s performance in the market. The unreasonable demands at work such as weekend meetings, and technology overload, often take away the time for the arrangements of personal time like a family outing. This adds pressure on the worker as the demands of personal life overlap with work. Hence, becoming a challenge for the company related to work-life balance. An unsupported working relationship or a lack of work ethic creates a difficult and unproductive workplace while making employees feel isolated. Also, unsupported relationships in the home, where no one helps or looks after each other create frustration and unhappiness. Therefore, making balancing work and family life a problem for the worker

Furthermore, the work-load and stress of an employee increased due to abuse of time and violence at the workplace, embezzlement, task avoidance, chronic absenteeism, and organizational sabotage. Consequently, this impacts the personal life of an employee, thus decreasing their interest in the company’s work.

With the increasing work pressure, the employees nowadays, look for companies that take into consideration the significance of work-life practices. The practice of such an ethic is not quandary and should not be dependent on one’s needs. Instead, the company should ensure consistency in developing such ethics. Everyone loves to have balance in life and surveys conducted over the years have shown that there are very few people with having ‘work’ as a priority. A healthy home develops a healthy mind. The work-life balance practices hugely influence employee retention and thus turns out extremely beneficial in the company’s favor. Imagine a company with hundreds of talented employees working for them over years. As their lives and priorities change, they realize that the company’s work-life policies are not in favor of their interests. They start looking for jobs elsewhere so they can manage their time properly. This will result in a huge loss for the former company as they have not only lost a hardworking employee but also waste all those years of teachings they had invested in them. An inexperienced workforce can never replace those who have worked effortlessly before. An appropriate work-life ethic helps the company to earn loyalty. A friendly and balanced environment for work and personal life is everything an employee needs. The companies who are successful in providing such an atmosphere have better performance charts and attract more loyal and hardworking applicants.