Meaning

Once you begin to establish healthy boundaries between your work life and your personal life,
you begin to feel more fulfillment 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 dont 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. This has been proven by studies and statistics which you will read about later in
this book. The studies on work life balance are truly impressive and have been eye-opening to
many employers.
Work-life balance is now the second most important driver of employee attraction and
commitment, says Corporate Executive Board (CEB) research.
Studies done by CEB research also show that employees work much harder for companies that
offer better work life balance. In the current economic environment, work life balance now ranks
as one of the most important workplace attributes-second only to compensation, according to
research conducted by the Corporate Executive Board among more than 50,000 global workers.
Did you know that employees who feel they have a better work-life balance tend to work 21%
harder than those that dont? (CEB Research).
According to the research done by CEB in 2006, 53% of employees felt they had a good work-
life balance. Yet, that number plummeted to 30% in the first quarter of 2009.
Right now, the most successful organizations recognize that the most appreciated service they
can provide to their employees is the gift of time. This is a very valuable nugget of
information. Its a great leverage tool for companies to use when hiring talent and for individuals
looking for employment. Time can be a factor included in your compensation negotiations.
In fact, the study done by CEB showed that more than 60% of the employees polled identified
flexible schedules as the most important work-life practice their employer could provide.
In essence, 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 lifethat which you get through work life balance.
So, even if you are not able to negotiate a higher salary, you can use work life balance as a
leveraging tool to create the lifestyle that you desire.
Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule an equal number of
hours for each of your various work and personal activities is usually unrewarding and
unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than that.

Responsibility of the employer
Employees want to balance work with the rest of the activities they wish to pursue in life. Work
balance is especially important to your millennial employees who are used to cramming their
days with diverse activities and hours of electronic communication.
Employers are not responsible for providing work balance for their employees, but they can
assist the employees to seek and maintain their own work balance. Optimistically, the decisions,
policies, values, and expectations in your workplace support employees in their work-life
balance choices.
In the best case scenario, these employer choices help you to recruit and retain the superior
employees you seek. Here are ten factors that you control that encourage or discourage employee
work life balance.
Offer a 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.
Companies have begun to realize how important the work-life balance is to the productivity and
creativity of their employees. Research by Kenexa Research Institute in 2007 shows that those
employees who were more favorable toward their organizations efforts to support work-life
balance also indicated a much lower intent to leave the organization, greater pride in their
organization, a willingness to recommend it as a place to work and higher overall job
satisfaction.
[

Employers can offer a range of different programs and initiatives, such as flexible working
arrangements in the form of part-time, casual and telecommuting work. More proactive
employers can provide compulsory leave, strict maximum hours and foster an environment that
encourages employees not to continue working after hours.
It is generally only highly skilled workers that can enjoy such benefits as written in their
contracts, although many professional fields would not go so far as to discourage workaholic
behavior. Unskilled workers will almost always have to rely on bare minimum legal
requirements.
[
The legal requirements are low in many countries, in particular, the United States.
In contrast, the European Union has gone quite far in assuring a legal work-life balance
framework, for example pertaining to parental leave and the non-discrimination of part-time
workers.
[

According to Stewart Friedmanprofessor of Management and founding director of the
Wharton Schools Leadership Program and of its Work/Life Integration Projecta "one size fits
all" mentality in human resources management often perpetuates frustration among employees.
"[Its not an] uncommon problem in many HR areas where, for the sake of equality, there's a
standard policy that is implemented in a way that's universally applicable -- [even though]
everyone's life is different and everyone needs different things in terms of how to integrate the
different pieces. It's got to be customized."
Friedmans research indicates that the solution lies in approaching the components of work,
home, community, and self as a comprehensive system. Instead of taking a zero-sum approach,
Friedmans Total Leadership program teaches professionals how to successfully pursue "four-
way wins"improved performance across all parts of life.
Although employers are offering many opportunities to help their employees balance work and
life, these opportunities may be a catch twenty-two for some female employees. Even if the
organization offers part-time options, many women will not take advantage of it as this type of
arrangement is often seen as "occupational dead end".
Even with the more flexible schedule, working mothers opt not to work part-time because these
positions typically receive less interesting and challenging assignments; taking these assignments
and working part-time may hinder advancement and growth. Even when the option to work part-
time is available, some may not take advantage of it because they do not want to be
marginalized. This feeling of marginalization could be a result of not fitting into the "ideal
worker" framework (see: Formation of the "ideal worker" and gender differences).
Additionally, some mothers, after returning to work, experience what is called the maternal wall.
The maternal wall is experienced in the less desirable assignments given to the returning
mothers. It is also a sense that because these women are mothers, they cannot perform as "ideal
workers".
[
If an organization is providing means for working mothers and fathers to better
balance their work-life commitments, the general organizational norm needs to shift so the "ideal
worker" includes those who must manage a home, children, elderly parents, etc.
Conflict between Work and Family Roles.

An examination of the literature on conflict between work and family roles suggests that work-
family conflict exists when:
(a) Time devoted to the requirements of one role makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of
another;
(b) Strain from participation in one role makes it difficult to fulfill requirements of another;
(c) Specific behaviors required by one role make it difficult to fulfill the requirements of another.
A model of work-family conflict is proposed, and a series of research propositions is presented.
Work-life conflict is defined as a form of inter-role conflict in which work and family demands
are mutually incompatible so that meeting demands in one domain makes it difficult to meet
demands in the other (Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Greenhaus & Beutell 1985). This definition
implies a multi-directional relationship where work can affect family and vice versa (Frone,
2002). When work and family are in conflict, obtaining rewards in one domain requires
foregoing rewards in the other (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000). Work-life conflict can be
considered to have two major components: the practical aspects associated with time crunches
and scheduling conflicts (i.e. an employee cannot be in two different places at the same time),
and the perceptual aspect of feeling overwhelmed, overloaded or stressed by the pressures of
multiple roles. In our research, we conceptualize work-life conflict broadly to include:
Role overload: This form of work-life conflict occurs when the total demands on time
and energy associated with the prescribed activities of multiple roles are too great to
perform the roles adequately or comfortably.
Work-to-family interference: This type of role conflict occurs when work demands and
responsibilities make it more difficult to fulfill family-role responsibilities (e.g. long
hours in paid work prevent attendance at a child's sporting event, preoccupation with the
work role prevents an active enjoyment of family life, work stresses spill over into the
home environment and increase conflict with the family).
Family-to-work interference: This type of role conflict occurs when family demands
and responsibilities make it more difficult to fulfill work-role responsibilities (e.g. a
child's illness prevents attendance at work, conflict at home makes concentration at work
difficult).
Caregiver strain: Caregiver strain is a multi-dimensional construct defined in terms of
"burdens" in the caregivers' day-to-day lives, which can be attributed to the need to
provide care or assistance to someone else who needs it (Robinson, 1983).
Reducing work-life conflict, regardless of the form it takes, will benefit all
Canadians
These findings leave little doubt that high work-life conflict is associated with several indicators
of physical and mental health problems at the employee level. Employees who are stressed,
depressed and burnt out are not as productive as those in good mental health. Stress, depression
and burnout are also linked to increased absenteeism, greater use of prescription medicine and
employee assistance programs (EAP) and lower levels of creativity, innovation and risk taking,
which, in turn, can all be expected to negatively impact an organization's bottom line and
Canada's ability to be globally competitive. We have also ascertained that high work-life conflict
has a negative impact on the organization's bottom line, impairs an employee's health (both
physically and mentally), reduces participation in and enjoyment of family roles, negatively
impacts employees' abilities to enjoy and nurture their families and increases health care costs.
If things remain as they are, the proportion of the Canadian workforce at risk with respect to
work-life conflict can be expected to increase due to a number of well-documented demographic
and structural changes in the family

and in the nature of work

(Barnett, 1998; Frone, 2002;
Hammer et al., 2002). It is hoped that the findings from this report will help policy makers and
employers put into place strategies, policies and interventions that stem the work-life conflict
tide. This report should also prove useful to Canadians who wish to make lifestyle changes to
restore balance to their lives.
The history of work life balance
Which brings us to today. There is no doubt that the way we work, how we live and what we
value as workers and citizens of the world make the balance movement more compelling than
ever. Here's how:
At work: Technological advances, consumers need for instant gratification and response,
the increasing number of features associated with quality customer service and the
reported rise in work intensity lead us to a 24/7 workday. If we work based on what the
market demands are, we will be caught up in an endless workday. Which may be ok for a
while, until we keel over in our cubes. Anyone heard of Karoshi?
In our personal life: There is an increase in single-parent families, a larger number of
women in the workplace, a spillover of work hours into evenings and weekends and a
high rate of burnout among workers. We may want to work longer hours, but our
lifestyles simply don't allow it. And even when we try, we fail. Burnout is our bodies and
minds' way of saying 'I'm so tired that I need to force an emergency shut-down so I can
get some rest'. Because our bodies are wiser than we are.
Our values and attitudes: Workers have experienced economic turbulence and job
instability. Millennials, the youngest and largest up till now generation of workers are
fans of the 'fluid' workday and apt to structure their careers around their personal life.
Overall, people have become more cynical, less loyal to their employers. Work has lost
its central role in peoples lives and there is a focus on leisure and personal time to
achieve life satisfaction.
It seems to me that the work/life balance movement has been picking up steam for the past
couple of centuries. It is far from a fad' and hardly insignificant. It isnt even as revolutionary
a notion as many people say it is.