WORK LIFE BALANCE

INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDY

Work life balance is a concept which indicates the boundaries of

work and non-work activities. The problem of work life conflict arises when the person try to
cross the boundaries of work life or personal life. Work life balance is a phenomenon that occur
those who are employed and manage their personal life. The concept of work life balance exists
due to the conflict arise between work life and family life. Expressed that various role played
by a person is one of the reason for work life conflict. Hence the work life balance may be
taken as that tendency to become fully engaged in the performance of every role in one's life and
how successfully manage balance between all the roles. Work life balance is an important area of
Human Resource Management which is one of the dimensions of quality of work life. It is
receiving attention on management people, academic researchers and government for recent
years because of changes in economy, impact of globalization, changes in family structure,
increasingly significant in technological and cultural changes, increased women participations in
work force, the increasing number of dual earner couples, the ways in which the work is
conducted and the intensified working practices have lead to difficulties in maintaining the
family and work responsibilities. It provide more benefit to the employer such as reduced
turnover, increased attractiveness towards institution, strengthen the employee loyalty and
productivity, reduced absenteeism, job satisfaction, greater morale of a teacher towards job, good
relationship with superior and institutions. A person with better work life balance shall
contribute more towards improved performance which directly contribute towards growth and
development of organizations. In the modem era, women are shouldering the responsibilities
with their male counterparts in all walks of life. Whether it is private sector or public sector, one
can find mushrooming of female employees in all segments. It's not only at the middle or the
lower levels but also at the top level of management, women are making their presence felt. A
recent study has explored and measures the following three aspects of work-life balance.
 Time balance; It is conceded with the amount of time given to work and non-work roles.
 Involvement balance: It is about the level of psychological involvement in or commitment
to work and non-work roles.
 Satisfaction balance: It refers to the level of satisfaction one gets from work and non- work
roles.

EVOLUTION OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

The way to achieve the work life balances to adopt an approach that to conceptualized
as a two way process involving a consideration of the needs of Employer as well those of
employees.

SCOPE OF WORK LIFE BALANCE :

Work life balance refers to the effective management of multiple responsibilities at

work, at home, and in the other aspects of life is an issue influences both the organizations and
the employees In the current economic scenario, organizations are hard pressed for higher
productivity and need people with improved work-life balance as an employee Better work-life
balance will contribute more towards the organizational growth and success.

THEORIES AND MODELS OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

Various theories and models contributed by the researchers on work life balance.
Among the sinuous models it is estimated that there are eleven models leads to the closer
contribution regarding the study about the work life balance. The theories and models have been
studied for the research and presented.
 Zedeck and Mosier relationship model of work and life

Zedeck and Mosier (1990) model found that there are typically five main models used to
explain the relationship between work and life outside work He classifies these models in order
to know better about work life balance which as follows:

• Segmentation model
The segmentation model said that work and non-work are two distinct domains of life
that are lived quite separately and have no influence on each other. This appears to be offered as
a theoretical possibility rather than a model with empirical support. The view of the relationship
between work and home is independent and do not affect each other. Workers in unsatisfying or
un-involving jobs, segmentation of work and home are a natural process. The separate spheres
pattern viewed the family as a domestic haven for women and work as a public arena for men
However, this view of segmentation was challenged by researchers who demonstrated that work
and family are closely related domains of human life.

● Spillover model

In contrast, a spillover model hypothesizes that work or life can be influence each other
in either a positive or negative way. Several researchers suggested that people carry the
emotions, attitudes, skills and behaviors that they establish at work into their family life Spillover
can be positive or negative. Positive spillover refers to fact that satisfaction and achievement in
one domain may bring along satisfaction und achievement in another domain. Negative spillover
refers to the fact that difficulties and depression in one domain may bring along the same
emotion in another domain.

▪ Compensation model
The third model is a compensation model which proposes that what may be lacking in
one sphere, in terms of demands or satisfactions can be made up in the other. For example
work may be routine and undemanding but this is compensated for by a major role in local
community activities outside work. The Compensation theory proposed that workers try to
compensate for the lack of satisfaction in one domain (work or home) by trying to find more
satisfaction in the other. Men look to their families as sources of satisfaction lacking in the
occupational sphere". Two forms of compensation have been distinguished as First, a person
may decrease involvement in the dissatisfying domain and increase involvement in a potentially
satisfying domain. For example, individuals with little autonomy at work seek more autonomy
outside of their work role. On the other hand, reactive compensation represents individuals'
efforts to redress negative experiences in one role by pursuing contrasting experiences in the
other role such as engaging in leisure activities after a fatiguing day at work.

• Instrumental model

A fourth model is an instrumental model whereby activities in one sphere facilitate

success in the other. The traditional example is the instrumental mode is who will seek to
maximize earnings, even at the price of undertaking a routine job and working long hours, to
allow the purchase of a home or a car for a young family.

▪ Conflict model

The final model is a conflict model which proposes that with high levels of demand in all
spheres of life have to be made some conflicts occur due to overload on each sphere. Each of
these roles imposes demands on us which require time, energy and commitment to fulfill. Work-
family conflict occurs when the cumulative demands of these many work and non-work roles
are incompatible in some respect so that participation in one role is made more difficult by
participation in the other role.
COMPONENTS OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

Self-Management
Sufficiently managing one's self can be challenging, particularly in getting proper slope,
exercise, and nutrition Self-management is the recognition that effectively using the spaces in
one's lives is vital and that available resources, time, and life are finite. It means becoming
captain of persons own ship no one is coming to steer for them.

Time Management
Effective time management involves making optimal use of day and the supporting
resources that can be sumunoned. 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 appropriate tools to accomplish specific tasks.

Stress Management

By nature, societies tend to become more complex over time. In the face of increasing
complexity and stress on the individual is inevitable. Most forms of multi-tasking ultimately
increase the stress versus focusing on one thing at a time.

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 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 one self.
Technology Management

Effectively managing technology means ensuring that technology serves anyone, rather
than abuses them. Technology has always been used with the first walking stick, flint, spear, and
wheel. Now, the rate of change is accelerating, brought on by vendors seeking expanding market
share. Often there is no choice but to keep up with the technological Joneses, and a person must
rule technology, not vice versa.

Leisure Management

The most overlooked of the work-life balance supporting disciplines, leisure

management acknowledges the importance of rest and relaxation- that one can't short-change
leisure, and that Time off in a vital component of the human experience Curiously, too much of
the same leisure activity, however enjoyable, can lead to monotony. Toes, effective leisure
management requires varying one's activities.

STRATEGIES FOR WORK LIFE BALANCE

Work life balance is a concept witch enables the person to balance the work and
personal life by the way of planning and scheduling the activities for maintaining the balanced
approach for successful progression of life through work. The following strategies are considered
to achieve the work life balance.

BENEFITS OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

Work life balance shall enable individual to fulfill their role effectively and efficiently as
an employee, member of any organization, family, and the society. As an organizations need to
attract and retain valued employees in a highly competitive labor market, work life balance is a
strong motivating factors of Work life balance is an important concept which signifies both
organization and individuals in the following ways:

Benefits to institutions

a) Retention of talented teachers

Evidence indicates that staff is more likely to stay with an institution where flexible
working arrangements are available. Institutions that recognize the needs of teachers will reduce
wastage of skills, ability and experience as people will remain within the workforce. Work-life
balance policies allow employers to reduce turnover rates, which may in turn result in savings
on recruitment and enable the students with learn entire subject from one teacher. Different
teachers handling same subject because of teachers turn over will affect the students learning and
their results. Flexible working opportunities are one of the main reasons women choose to return
to work after maternity leave.

b) Quality and effectiveness

Increasing the ability to balance work and life responsibilities has been shown to
increase quality of life. In turn, this can lead to increased motivation, greater job satisfaction,
improved job performance, increased productivity levels and ultimately improved performance
in teaching.

c) Increased organizational ability to meet service demands

Flexible working increases the ability, through effective workforce planning, to match
with teacher's availability with uninterrupted flow of teaching for entire year or semester.
 d) Reduced absenteeism

Previous researches suggests that flexible working arrangements are likely to lead to a
reduction in absenteeism as teacher have the flexibility to adjust their working environment to
meet their personal responsibilities. This results in effective teaching with lower absenteeism
which serves to improve the quality of educational services to the students

e) Increased productivity
There is a positive relationship between work life balance and increased productivity.
Previous researches suggest that enhanced work life balance increases the productivity. In the
field of teaching productivity implies best performance in teaching and students result.

f) Making teachers feel valued.

Work life balance practices in educational institutions have made the feelings of a
teacher that they feel valued to their institution.

h ) The reputation of being an employer of choice

The institution having better work life balance policies creates a reputation of an
institution and the talented teachers prefer to work in this institution which enables the students
preference towards the particular institution. This is important for long run.

f) Health at work
Work-life balance policies are a key contributor to the reduction of stress at work and the
improved wellbeing of women teacher. More guidance on the management of stress at work is
included in the work place on managing health at work.
g) Equality and inclusion

Work life balance policies are available to all women teacher to meet their individual
needs and responsibilities, as their circumstances change throughout their working life.

h) Satisfaction of teachers
Work-life balance policies provide an opportunity to combine paid work with other
activities, allowing for more effective management of work life responsibilities, leading to a
more varied and balanced life.