Prepared by Ezgi Merdin

“Work-life balance is a concept that supports the efforts of employees to split their time and energy between work and the other important aspects of their lives.”

“WLB is fulfillment of multiple roles while maintaining positive quality of life.”

37% of women and 46% of men want 'a job that gives their life meaning'.

80% of mothers and 88% of fathers want 'more time with their families'.

Demos Report on Generation X, 1997

2

In a survey of senior managers, a disturbingly high proportion feel unappreciated and resent the sacrifices in their personal lives expected by the long-hours culture:

49% thought morale was low in their organisation 55% said they face frequent stress at work almost 30% thought their health and sex life were suffering because of

their work 20% turned to drink to ease the pressure of work more than 40% said they were likely to look for a new job within the next

12 months, representing a major loss as well as replacement costs for their employer.

The Price of Success, 1999, Ceridian Performance Partners/Management Today

3

Conflict stemming from Multiple roles (mother, worker, sister, volunteer, citizen,

organizational citizen…) Conflicting roles Conflicting demands (time…)

Brings Dissatisfaction with life Dissatisfaction with work Overload

4

3 Sources of Conflict (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)

5Greenhaus & Beutel, 1985

3 Sources of Conflict

There is limited time

Allocation of time is crucial

Long hours of work, tight schedules and shifts create conflictwith children quality time, spouses and larger family time.

Religious rituals are part of time-based conflict, too.

6

3 Sources of Conflict

Possible solutions:

Buying services to free up time like:- cleaning- housework- childcare- event planning- catering

Covering less time for social interaction with:- internet- social media- online marriage- marriage agencies

7

3 Sources of Conflict

Limited tolerance to stress

Reflections of illness, family conflict or spouse support at home

Reflections of role based conflicts in the organization

Uncertainty

8

3 Sources of Conflict

Possible solutions

- Social Support

- Church Attendance

- Extended family

- Sports

“In general, working people rely on informal and social networks to help them establish work-life balance; without

institutional support”(Aycan, 2010)

9

3 Sources of Conflict

Work related behaviors

( secretiveness, objectivity)

conflicting with the style of domestic or social behaviors

( warmth, openness etc..)

10

3 Sources of Conflict

Possible solutions:

- refraining from showing work – related behavior at home

- not being managerial

- not very authoritative

- not very paternalistic ( or maternalistic) at work, also.

11

Turkish Banking Industry (Çarıkçı, 2001)

The data were obtained by questionnaire from a sample of 380 employees in 17 banks. The results showed that work family conflict was more prevalent than family work conflict for women only.For men, there was no difference.

Work family conflict was best explained by three work domain variables :-number of working hours per week-regularity of working schedule -organizational position

12

Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict occurred recently?

Demographics:

“Generation Y”, the under-28s.Increasing number of working mothersTransformation of modern societyDual income households with dependent childrenIncreased rates of divorce and separationSingle parent households

13

Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict occurred recently?

Boundaryless Organizations:

Virtual organizationsNetwork organizationsCluster, ad hoc, horizontal, reengineered org.s etc…

Removing vertical boundaries (removing levels and hierarchy)Removing external boundaries (less geographical, more global)Reducing horizontal boundaries (open offices, reducing walls)

14

Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict occurred recently?

Fluid Jobs:

Less rigidityPersonalized talent and knowledge workersCross functionalismDecentralizationTeamworkNeed for openness and trust

15

Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict occurred recently?

Bifurcation of Working Time:

Erosion in standard working hours

While some are subcontracted, mobile and home office workers with short part – time schedules;

Some are still working very long hours due to downsizing, delayering, travelling etc.

16

WLB policies WLB strategies WLB business benefits

Flexible working Working patterns Improved recruitment and retention

Working families leave Personal WLB Staff motivation and commitment

Childcare and career support

Leave provision Improvements in productivity

Sabbaticals Career support Reduced overheads

Sick leave Well-being Reduced stress and absenteesim

Flexible benefits Advisory services

Improvements in employee relations

Volunteering opportunities Financial services

Improvements in employee health and well-being

Employee care

Counseling

Flexible training and development

Flexible retirement

17

Flexi-time outside the agreed core times

Staggered hours different start, finish and break times

Time off in lieu is when employees take time off, to make up for extra hours worked. It's often used to compensate employees who attend meetings in the evenings.

Compressed working hours lets people work their total number of hours over fewer days.

Shift swapping lets staff negotiate their working times and shifts amongst themselves.

Self-rostering involves working out the number of staff and type of skills needed each day, then letting employees put forward the times they would like to work (in some hospitals and care services)

Annualised hours means that total working hours are calculated over a year rather than a week.

Nationalarchives.gov.uk 18

Job-sharing involves two part-time employees sharing the duties. Job-sharers divide pay, holiday and other benefits.

Term-time working is to take unpaid leave during school holidays.

Working from home Examples are: assembly work, sewing, or paid consultants working with new technology, such as service engineers, are mobile.

Tele-working involves working at home, and using a telephone and computer

Breaks from work are often due to maternity or parental and paternity leave. Also unpaid career breaks and sabbaticals.

Flexible and cafeteria benefits include childcare information or vouchers, funding and time off for learning, pension or insurance contributions, laundry services, use of staff facilities, and in-house medical and dental care. 'Cafeteria benefits' means a person can pick and choose those benefits that best suit their needs.

Nationalarchives.gov.uk 19

Sainsbury's offers their retail non-management employees a range of contracts. This helps families balance their working hours with childcare, and helps students balance their working hours with exams and study periods. It even allows them to work in one store in term-time and another in the holidays.

Compass, the food service and hospitality company, has flexible working practices. Field working, extended leave and job-sharing are among its work-life balance policies.

IBM has more than 50 different programmes promoting work-life balance. 40% of its employees today work off the company premises.

(the Economist)

25% of Marks and Spencer sales assistants are housewives or students, seeking for WLB.

(secretcv.com)

20

WARNING!

Embeddedness in organizational culture Supervisor support

are crucial to obtain positive outcomes of WLB strategies.

They can only work when employees know they will not face negative consequences of using these strategies.

21

Employers who provide childcare referral services for their employees save an estimated £2 for every £1 they spend on the service and reduce costs - possibly by £50 million in the course of a year - as a result of reduced sickness absences.

(IES study 'Who cares? The business benefits of carer-friendly practices', 1997, as described in Shirley Dex and Fiona Scheibl, 'Business performance and family-friendly policies', Journal of General Management vol. 24 No. 4 Summer 1999)

Where supervisors support work – family balance, job satisfaction is higher and conflict is lower. Employee-satisfaction surveys should include work/life questions

Personally, flexibility and self - responsibility brings a stronger internal locus of control, satisfaction, feeling of pride and self – control.

22

Personal Strategies

Self – assess yourself, your activities and

your time allocated.

Balance the underdeveloped spheres of life.

Outsource domestic services

OR

Downshifting: the voluntary reduction of both working hours and income

In UK and Australia, 20-25% of adults have downshifted in any form in last ten years (Hamilton & Mail, 2003)

23

•Aycan, Z. (2010) “Work – Family Interface in Turkey” Network News Vol. 12 (5)•Blyton, P., Blunsdon, B., Reed, K. and Dastmalchian, A. (2006) Work – Life Integration. Palgrave MacMillan•Greenhaus, J.H. & Beutell N.J. (1985) Sources of Conflict Between Work and Family Roles. Academy of Management Review, 10: 76-88.•Harvey, C. D. H. (2000) Walking a Tightrope: Meeting the Challenges of Work and Family. Ashgate USA•economist.com•nationalarchives.gov.uk•secretcv.com

24AD643 - Consumer Behavior - Ezgi Merdin