IRJMSH Volume 5 Issue 4 [Year 2014] online ISSN 2277 – 9809

WORK LIFE BALANCE

Authors details:

First author: Miss. Deepika,

Assistant professor, Motilal Nehru college (eve)

,University Of Delhi,Delhi-110021.

email id: deepika.ujjainwal@rediffmail.com

Second author: Mrs.Maya Rani,

Assistant professor, Motilal Nehru college (eve),

University Of Delhi,Delhi-110021.

email id: mayayadavsd@gmail.com

Abstract:

Career growth and work-life balance are the two most important factors for the under-30s who
constitute one third of the Indian workforce, quite different from the older generations that
placed emphasis on loyalty, job security or rewards. Getting the right work-life balance is
something many of us struggle with. It requires a combination of discipline, diplomacy and
juggling. Everyone is different and you really just have to find what works for you. For me, it
starts with setting boundaries and protecting some personal time each week. This article
discusses the development of the concept of the „work-life balance‟ as a means of tackling the
problem of increasing amounts of stress in the work-place as people try to juggle a wide range of
factors in their life/work environment, including: work; family; friends; health; and spirit/self. It
is argued that, of the factors involved, work is the one which is most elastic and can be managed

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in such a way as to avoiding jeopardizing the other factors. A major driver of the trend towards
achieving work-life balance is the fact that younger people are not prepared to work in the same
way as their parents, wanting greater control, and a bigger say in the structure of their jobs and
what they could potentially offer in the future. The search for work-life balance is a process in
which people seek to change things in accordance with changes in their own priorities, physical,
psychological or both, and these can be triggered in their turn by factors such as: age; changes in
working conditions; the demands of new technology; and poor management. Employees benefit
through: having a greater responsibility and a sense of ownership; having better relations with
management; avoiding bringing problems at home to work, and vice versa; having the time to
focus more on life outside work; and having greater control of their working lives.

Objective: The achievement of better work-life balance can yield dividends for employers in
terms of: having a more motivated, productive and less stressed workforce that feels valued;
attracting a wider range of candidates, such as older part-time workers and carers; increased
productivity and reduced absenteeism; gaining the reputation of being an employer of choice;
retaining valued employees; achieving reduced costs; and maximizing available labour. The
author considers some of the issues which might arise when implementing a work-life balance
strategy and offers advice on implementing such a scheme. So, the objective of this article is to
understand how we can manage balance between work & other aspects of life.

Introduction:Work life balance is the separation between your work life and your personal life. It is
the boundary that you create between your profession, career, or business and every other segment
that makes up your life. Aside from your career, these segments include your family, personal
growth, spirituality, fitness and health, and community and friendships.

Once you begin to establish healthy boundaries between your work life and your personal life, you
begin to feel more fulfilment and personal satisfaction. This happens as a result of your own state of
wellness. Your mental state becomes much more confident, clear, and decisive because you are well-
rounded and balanced.

By having a clear and consistent separation between your job and the other segments of your life, you
enable yourself to truly be present in each realm of your life. You no longer worry about work
projects while at home and don‟t worry about things you need to do at home while at the office. This
allows you to be sharper, more efficient, and better-focused. It also enables you to use your time
more efficiently, be more effective with your communication, task completion, and decision making,
and to enjoy your time at work much more than ever before.

Work life balance plays a huge role in determining whether a person will reach career advancement.

Time is of incredible value to both employers and the employees today. Savvy employers are
realizing this and using work life balance programs and perks to attract talent they may otherwise not
afford. These days, many talented workers are not looking for more money. They are instead looking
for better quality of life…that which you get through work life balance. So, even if you are not able

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to negotiate a higher salary, you can use work life balance as a leveraging tool to create the lifestyle
that you desire.The pursuit of work-life balance reduces the stress employees experience. When they
spend the majority of their days on work-related activities and feel as if they are neglecting the other
important components of their lives, stress and unhappiness result. Work-life balance enables
employees to feel as if they are paying attention to all the important aspects of their lives.
Managers are important to employees seeking work-life balance. Managers who pursue work-life
balance in their own lives model appropriate behaviour and support employees in their pursuit of
work-life balance. They create a work environment in which work-life balance is expected, enabled,
and supported. They retain outstanding employees to whom work-life balance is important.

Case study: Gen X and Y are better at ‘work-life balance’: Study

A recent survey reveals that Gen X and Y professionals are better in maintaining work-life balance
than Baby Boomers. In India work-life balance is very important as compared to other parts of the
world, says the survey SrilagnaSaha, TimesJobs.com Bureau. Working hard is always good, but not
at the cost of one‟s personal relationships. This is a sentiment that is endorsed by both Gen X and
Gen Y professionals, they are ready to give their best at work, but are not willing to give up their time
off with their friends and family – in other words – this generation of professionals truly believe in
maintaining a „work-life balance‟.
A recent survey conducted by Regus points in this direction as well. Around 26,000 professionals
from 90 countries participated in the survey which shows that in India work-life balance is very
important as compared to other parts of the world. It also reveals that Indians are the happiest at work
followed by professionals in Mexico. According to the study, this trend is most common among the
Gen X and Y professionals. Experts observe that the meaning of „work-life balance‟ has changed
over the last couple of decades. For the Gen Y (born after 1980) professionals it is all about having
flexible working hours, flexible job locations and finding innovative options to strike a balance
between their career goals and personal activities. Gen X workers, on the other hand, come across as
a more focused and dedicated group. Those professionals who find the right balance between work
and personal life are the ones who are more productive and happy at their work place too. The report
also suggests that Gen X and Y professionals are achieving more at work compared with their „Baby
Boomer‟ (1945-64) counterparts.
Gen X and Y better in maintaining work-life balance
The need for striking a work-life balance is a new age phenomenon, say experts. Earlier, Baby
Boomers would strictly be doing a 9-5 job and hence the need for managing a work-life balance or
flexibility was negligible. On the other hand, Gen X and Y professionals are always on the move and
are expected to work for long hours. According to SuruchiMaitra, VP – HR, UnitedLex, “Gen X and
Y belong to a less hierarchical structure and are mostly accountable for their individual
responsibilities. While they may work tirelessly for a particular project, they also expect their
managers to be respectful of their personal/vacation time.”
Organisations are following new strategies to keep their employees happy by introducing fun element
of sports and games
Gen Y-ers consider this a better way to shift focus from work stress

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Gen X workers adapting to this new trend and has found a constant need to balance work and
personal life or well-being
“Gen X and Y can have a better work-life balance by prioritising, setting expectations right with all
stakeholders and by working smarter,” suggests Aditya Narayan Mishra, President – Staffing and
Marketing Director, Randstad India.
„Work-life balance‟ – is it overrated?
According to experts, work-life balance may not necessarily mean being remotely operational or
being away from office. This is a way to strike a perfect balance between work and personal life, thus
finding time to pursue interests other than your routine job roles.
As much as Gen X and Y professionals are considered to have a better work-life balance, it would be
unfair to treat the baby boomers differently. The latter showed little fascination towards work-life
balance only because they didn‟t have access to the right set of working infrastructure, advanced
technology or even the challenge of maintaining strict delivery deadlines. Had it been otherwise, even
the baby boomers would have managed to strike the right balance between work and personal life.

‘Work-life balance’ – is it overrated?

According to experts, work-life balance may not necessarily mean being remotely operational or
being away from office. This is a way to strike a perfect balance between work and personal life, thus
finding time to pursue interests other than your routine job roles.
As much as Gen X and Y professionals are considered to have a better work-life balance, it would be
unfair to treat the baby boomers differently. The latter showed little fascination towards work-life
balance only because they didn‟t have access to the right set of working infrastructure, advanced
technology or even the challenge of maintaining strict delivery deadlines. Had it been otherwise, even
the baby boomers would have managed to strike the right balance between work and personal life.

Components of work life balance:

1. Self-Management: Sufficiently managing one‟s self can be challenging, particularly in getting
proper sleep, exercise, and nutrition. Self-management is the recognition that effectively using
the spaces in our lives is vital, and that available resources, time, and life are finite. It means
becoming captain of our own ship; no one is coming to steer for us.
2. Time Management: Effective time management involves making optimal use of your day and
the supporting resources that can be summoned – you keep pace when your resources match
your challenges. Time management is enhanced through appropriate goals and discerning
what is both important and urgent, versus important or urgent. It entails knowing what you do
best and when, and assembling the appro-priate tools to accomplish specific tasks.
3. Stress Management: By nature, societies tend to become more complex over time. In the face
of increasing complexity, stress on the individual is inevitable. More people, distractions, and
noise require each of us to become adept at maintaining tranquility and working ourselves out
of pressure-filled situations. Most forms of multi-tasking ultimately increase our stress, versus
focusing on one thing at a time.
4. Change Management: In our fast-paced world, change is virtually the only constant.
Continually adopting new methods and re-adapting others is vital to a successful career and a

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happy home life. Effective change management involves making periodic and concerted
efforts to ensure that the volume and rate of change at work and at home does not overwhelm
or defeat you.

FACTORS AFFECTING WORK LIFE BALANCE:

Following are the factors that can encourage or discourage employee work life balance:
 flexible work schedule:A flexible schedule does not mean that employees can come and go at
will, which is a possibility that concerns employers. A flexible schedule policy spells out what
the employer means by flexible hours. In many workplaces, flexible starting and ending times
are easy to implement. More sophisticated flexible schedules such as a four day work week or
telecommuting require more planning, but flexible work schedules are a cornerstone for work
balance.

 paid time off (PTO) in lieu of traditional paid sick leave, paid personal days, and paid
vacation:A paid time off (PTO) approach treats employees like adults who are capable of
making decisions about how, when, and why to use the paid time off supplied by the
employer. In a PTO system, neither employers nor employees need to worry about accounting
for how the time off was spent. This eliminates confusion and the need for additional policies
such as defining what constitutes a sick day.

 Managers and senior managers need to model the work balance they‟d like to encourage for
their employees: When a manager uses PTO to take a vacation yet responds to email as if she
is in the office, this sends a powerful message to employees about whether they need to do
email while on vacation. The actions of senior leaders are heard and observed by employees.
When a senior manager calls in for unimportant meetings while out-of-the-office, employees
get the message. It affects their personal choices for work and life balance.
 Allow employees to take unpaid leave as needed for life cycle needs: Employees have
serious, life-changing events, emergency family needs, and desires to explore life and career
opportunities. While the 12 weeks required by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
and employer leave policies that existed prior to FMLA, cover many events, they‟re not
always sufficient. I have known employers to allow employees to take an unpaid leave of
absence for activities and events such as:

--the premature birth of a baby who is hospitalized for an extended time period.

--nursing a parent with a serious illness in another state.

--settling a relative‟s estate in another state.

--extending maternity leave for an additional 4-8 weeks,

--exploring moving to a new location with a spouse without burning the bridge to current
employment,

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--attending grad school full time to complete classes that were only available during the day, and

 Expect employees to work hard, work long hours, and weekends, but not all of the time.
It‟s okay to expect employees to work long, hard hours during the push for a timely
product release, for example, or at a trade show. But, employees can‟t sustain an
extraordinary level of energy and long overtime hours as a constant work expectation.
Employees will check out, burn out, and / or leave if long hours and extraordinary effort
are the norm. Don‟t confuse commitment, engagement, and dedication with 60-70 hour
weeks.

PRICIPLES FOR A GOOD WORKING LIFE BALANCE:

Work-life balance should:

1. benefit both the individual and the organisation

2. be responsive to the needs of the organisation (nature of the business, operating hours
etc) and demands of their service-users (citizens and/or government)
3. be affordable for the organisation and realistically budgeted
4. be affordable for the organisation and realistically budgeted
5. be flexible, so that work-life balance programmes can be changed to meet the needs of
employees and the organisation as they change
6. be widely communicated, so that employees are aware of what is available
7. be easily accessible, i.e. employees know what is available and feel they can use the
provisions without being penalised
8. allow for tailoring to meet individual employee needs where possible.

Conclusion:
After writing this article on the basis of secondary data from various sources I conclude
that a balanced life style boosts the sense of responsibility & ownership, builds
confidence , makes employess competitive & also provides sense of
happiness,independence.In one sentence I must say that it‟s all about findimg a happy
balance between work & other aspects of life.
References:
1. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/work-life-balance.html
2. Work-Life BalanceBy Susan M. Heathfield
3. Components of Work-Life Balance,http://work-lifebalance.com
4. http://legalcareers.about.com/od/careertrends/a/Work-Life-Balance-Tips.htm
5. Work-Life Balance: a resource for the State
Services,http://www.ssc.govt.nz/node/6848
6. Una Byrne, http://bir.sagepub.com/content/22/1/53

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