Work Life Balance in Fast-Paced Information Technology Companies

Everyone has been told from one time or another – don’t bring your personal life to work, and vice-versa. Easier said than done. In our current economy, families are having to work harder, and longer thus leaving less time for family and creating stress and anxiety. One thing that has statistically shown why people are stressed at work and home – the instability of work-life balance. This paper exemplifies the barriers and measures one can take to secure the balance.

Ms. Isabel Rimanoczy made great points in this article. Though some may view her as a work body, she and I share a mutual understanding when it comes to work-life balance. Ms. Rimanoczy is not buying the idea that there is some sort of balance between the two aspects of our lives. “Work-life balance is dead” and it may be a good thing” (Rimanoczy, 2015). I agree with her statement because if anyone takes the time to think about it, they will soon come to terms with the idea that it really becomes impossible to separate work and personal life. Some of us grow up with moral values, standards, and family traditions carried on through religious beliefs. When we go to work we will bring along our character because our personal life defines us as

It is imperative that the employee can balance his/her working life against his/her personal life. With sufficient time off and rest periods, employees will feel “looked after” and be motivated to put in more effort. There will be a reduction of mistakes because the employee has had adequate rest which results in a more positive working environment. Employers who introduce such practices in the work place in order to help employees achieve a better and satisfactory work/life balance can expect to see an increase in motivation, enhanced performance/productivity and greater staff loyalty. By implementing a positive work/life balance, companies are successful, secure a good reputation and promote positive employee relations. The Working Time Regulations 1998 stipulates that employers should provide employees with the following basic rights:

Understanding this fact is critical in understanding how true work-life balance can benefit not just the employees but the company as well. When employees are in better control of their lives, are motivated and are able to manage stress better, the attendant productivity will ultimately, positively affect the organization within which these employees work. Achieving optimal work-life balance is critical to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the degree to which people enjoy their work. (Spector 1997). Singh 2013 identifies that job satisfaction reflects how well an individual is happy with various aspects of his job to which work-life balance is an aspect. The following factors make up a Work life Balance plan that should be implemented by the Jones Bank of Canada and caters to the varying needs of Baby boomers, Generation X and Millennials.

Companies whose organizational design supports its employees’ work-life balance may be more financially successful than those that does otherwise. Many employees consider work-life balance more important than the monetary reward. Employees with a balanced personal and professional life demonstrate a better job performance than those who feel “pressured” in either their personal or professional life. In ideal situations, employer demands and employee’s ideal work situation rarely meet the middle ground, those who do, perceive that they are in control.. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Healthcare Clinic’s organizational design based on the employees’ work-life balance.

Work-life balance has been a popular topic for employees across all age and occupations for years, representing a rising concern of contemporary human resource management and labor policies. This topic has attracted the attention from the millennium generation, who is stepping into the market and beginning to grow a career. Therefore considering the increasing demand, well-designed workforce planning with diverse scheduling options offered to employees appears to be extra credits for most companies. This research paper aims to communicate the positive effects of four-day workweek, and providing support for why employers should adopt this schedule for employees and themselves through 1) introducing background and history of four-day workweek as a work schedule option and 2) demonstrating benefits of four-day workweek from both employer and employees’ perspectives.

The overall purpose of this project is to investigate if a work environment in which work life balance is anticipated and supported will provide positive impact on employees’ performance and attitude. In addition, this research will examine the current understanding of attitudes toward the concerns of work life balance across the gender roles. This review of qualitative data will provide answers to the following questions. First, would implementing a work life balance provide employees with a happier and

Thirty-eight percent of Americans report some tension between their work and home lives. Today’s highly publicized work/life balance conflicts are multiple, and their nature differs significantly depending on the jobs individuals have and on their family situations. Tensions between work and family life clearly have implications for the well-being of individuals and their children and ramifications for society in general. Yet because the personal needs, desires, motivations, and economic circumstances of Americans are so varied, there appears to be no single way to resolve these tensions, no universal best practices with regard to work/life balance. For example,

It is important for employers to ensure that their staff can maintain a work-life balance and this will provide its own benefits for them, such as:

In today’s world many people are trying to balance their work and their personal life which can be a huge challenge. There have been studies showing that having a poor work life balance can cause an unhealthy level of stress; unhappiness and it can actually reduce productivity. Also many people suffering from poor work life balance can find it impacts their relationships and ability to actually enjoy and value their lives.

Over the past decades we’ve been hearing a lot about work-family balance. On average people these days spend every third day working at home in evenings and weekends. Certainly, the composition of today’s workforce continues to change. There are more females coming to workplaces, more dual-career couples and single -parent employees, and more workers involved in caring for significant others. This increasing diversity requires re-examination of how the work and life domains intersect. Juggling the demands of and satisfaction from the work and life domains can be challenging. The borders between our work and life domains are becoming more blur. Also, the modernization and advancement in technology have resulted in more opportunities to engage in work anytime, anywhere.

The importance and impact of work-life balance is very significant as it affects and benefits a person in many ways. Professor of Psychology at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Shawn Burn, summarized it well when she said, “Work-life balance is important because it affects the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. After all, people need time and energy to participate in family life, democracy, and community activities. They also need time outside of work for rejuvenation, and to develop and nurture friendships and their ‘non-work selves.’” This is to say that work-life balance affects the wellbeing of individuals both at work, and allows for major developments for the non-working self as well. It is important that the two roles, an individual’s working and non-working self, enrich each other and do not take away from one another. Applying this concept in life will allow an individual

I believe that it is extremely important to have mutual support from colleagues for the best work-life balance. If your colleagues understand that you have obligations at home or children at home then there wont are much debate when they need you to do extra things at work. They will already know that unless you tell them so that you cannot stay past the time you come to work or that you can’t come to work early because you have life obligations. In order to leverage my colleague’s support as a administrator I would want everyone to gather initially to discuss what our obligations are outside of our job so that everyone can understand the needs of

A work-life balance means that I feel that I am challenged and focused enough on work to have a healthy caseload as a social service provider, and at the same time, I feel that I am not neglecting any of my parenting or family duties. Essentially, everything is getting done on both fronts, but I do not feel overly stressed or overwhelmed during the process. When I feel that I do not have a healthy balance, (usually from work taking over more of my time and concentration) I feel more anxious and worried about things. I’m already prone to this type of behavior, but it is made worse when I feel like my work-life situation is out of control.

Nowadays many people manage to apply a broad methodology in running their own career under a preferable time-frame. There are wider approaches on having an ideal working system that could enable the best practice of working which leads toward an excellent outcome. Many industries continue to the nine to five work hours whilst others prefer flexitime. The 9-5 job is still very familiar with some industries. However, the balance in dealing with career and family life is an issue that concerns both employees and industries. Employees who have a balance between career and life are likely to be more satisfied with their life rather than those who only focus on work. Therefore, work and life balance would greatly enable productivity and ensure an employment arrangement that enables positive office morale. One of the best ways to enable employees to reach a good balance between career and family life is through flexitime. Hawks explained flexitime as “a work schedule that requires employees to be present for predetermined core hours but allows them the flexibility to vary the rest of their schedule based on their needs and preferences” (2014, para. 2). Flexible schedule originated in Germany in 1967 (Ministry of Manpower, 2001). It aimed to mitigate the commuting issue and in 1972, being introduced to the United States by the Hewlett-Packard Company (Stafco, 2014). Flexitime is widely known as a flexible work option. This system involves 40 hours of a work week, but these hours