Work life balance as a strategic approach to retention

Organizations must possess the ability to implement policies to tackle work-life balance, such as flexible scheduling of working hours and hybrid arrangements, to build an atmosphere that can retain employees (Kalliath and Brough, 2008). According to Grzywacz and Carlson (2007), work life balance can be defined as the “accomplishment of role-related expectations that are negotiated and shared between an individual and his/her role-related partners in the work and family domains” Moreover, “achieving satisfying experiences in all life domains and to do so requires personal resources such as energy, time, and commitment to be well distributed across domains” can be defined as work-life balance (Kirchmeyer, 2000).

Similarly, employees who report a good balance between their work life and their personal life outside of work will have higher levels of job performance, job satisfaction, and overall health and well-being (Hooja and Sen, 2018).

 Also, according to the research study conducted by Brough et al. (2020), the outcomes of maintaining better work-life balance has described as “when employees perceive themselves as having an acceptable level of work–life balance, they experience positive work-related outcomes due to the accumulation of resources, increase in self-beliefs to achieve goals, positive spillover of resources from the non-work to work domain, and reciprocity of favorable treatment to the organization” (Brough,2020). Work-life balance, as defined by Dasgupta and Arora (2011), is achieved by decreasing work-related stress, which in turn increases productivity and company growth.

However, the negative effects of a poor work-life balance can be regarded as the key cause of high employee turnover and will also lead to under-performance, high employee absenteeism, as well as recruiting and training costs (Department of Trade and Industry, 2001).

Work-life balance policies are becoming increasingly vital to the success and longevity of any organization as more individuals recognize its significance in attracting, motivating, and retaining exceptional employees (Garg and Yajurvedi, 2016). Work-life balance has a direct impact on an employee's decision to stay or leave a company, so it is critical for employees to have a healthy and balanced work-life (Deery, 2008).

O'Driscoll (1996) established five fundamental work-life balance models, including segmentation, spillover, compensation, instrumental, and conflict.

• •        Segmentation- Individuals are assumed to have two different domains in his life such as work domain and non-work domain. With well-defined areas of responsibility, the individual's life is not disrupted, and no aspect of lifestyle can be considered to affect any other aspect.
• •        Spillover- It implied a potential for constructive or destructive effect between domains. An individual's working life might have an impact on their family life, and vice versa.
• •        Compensation- It implied the individual would try to make up for inadequacies in one domain by strengthening other domains.
• •        Instrumental- Accomplishments in one area of life serve as steppingstones to achievements in other areas.
• •        Conflict- A theoretical framework predicated on the idea that stress and burnout arise when an individual is forced to make tough decisions because of an abundance of pressure in all areas of life (O'Driscoll, 1996).

In their research study, Sumanarathna and Samarakoon (2019) outlined five forms of work-life balance policies: working hours, company leave policies, training and professional development opportunities, a reduced workweek, and workload management. The authors further explained that training and professional development opportunities, as well as workload management, are the two most important aspects of work-life policies in terms of employee retention.

Furthermore, a flexible set of work-life policies, benefits, and arrangements to cover different work-life situations can enable a higher degree of work-life balance among employees such as flexible working hours, annualized hours, buddy systems, flexible working locations, career breaks, special leaves, Health, wellbeing and employee assistance programmes, childcare/elder care subsidies, phased retirement, remote working, and hybrid working (Charted Management Institute, 2015).

According to the article author's personal experience, employees should be provided with appropriate workload management training programs for their personal development and growth, as well as for the effective achievement of organizational goals. In addition, it is recommended that companies conduct awareness programs on the impact of work-life balance on employees' private lives and organizational lives. This can be achieved through life management training programs, which are essential for identifying lifestyle obstacles and issues.

References

Brough, P. et al. (2020) “Work–Life Balance: Definitions, Causes, and Consequences,” Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health, pp. 1–15. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05031-3_20-1.

Charted Management Institute (2015) Work life balance, www.managers.org.uk/. Chartered Management Institute. Available at: https://www.managers.org.uk/~/media/Files/Checklists/Work-life-balance.pdf (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Dasgupta, R. and Arora, A. (2011) “Analysis of work life balance: A study at the targeted corporate sectors in and around Nagpur with a small number of samples,” International Journal  of  Research in  IT and Management, 1(8), pp. 50–60. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ANALYSIS-OF-WORK-LIFE-BALANCE-(A-STUDY-AT-THE-IN-A-Dasgupta-Arora/90a425d135c240140ff61b4a9e70403bcbe4124f.

Deery, M. (2008) “Talent management, work‐life balance and retention strategies,” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Edited by N. D’Annunzio‐Green, 20(7), pp. 792–806. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110810897619.

Department of trade and industry (2001) The essential guide to - work-life balance, flexibleworking.co.uk. London: DTI. Available at: http://www.flexibleworking.co.uk/Juggle%20Not%20Struggle.pdf (Accessed: December 12, 20022).

Garg, P. and Yajurvedi, N.[ ] (2016) “Impact of Work-Life balance practices on employees retention and organizational performance – a study on IT industry,” Indian Journal of Applied Research, 6(8), pp. 105–108. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326607206_Impact_of_Work-Life_Balance_Practices_on_Employees_Retention_and_Organizational_Performance_-_A_Study_on_IT_Industry.

Grzywacz, J.G. and Carlson, D.S. (2007) “Conceptualizing Work—Family Balance: Implications for Practice and Research,” Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(4), pp. 455–471. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422307305487.

Hooja, H.R. and Sen, C. (2018) “Work-Life balance: An overview,” International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research, 7(1), pp. 1–5. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348164280_WORK-LIFE_BALANCE_AN_OVERVIEW.

Kalliath, T. and Brough, P. (2008) “Work–life balance: A review of the meaning of the balance construct,” Journal of Management &Amp; Organization, 14(3), pp. 323–327. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5172/jmo.837.14.3.323.

 Kirchmeyer C (2000) Work–life initiatives: greed or benevolence regarding workers’ time? In: Cooper CL, Rousseau DM (eds) Trends in organizational behavior: time in organizational behavior, vol 7. Wiley, Chichester, pp 79–94

O'Driscoll, M.  (1996).  The interface between job and off-job roles: Enhancement and conflict. In C. Cooper, & I.  Robertson (Eds.), International Review of  Industrial  and  Organizational Psychology (pp. 279-306). Chichester: John Wiley

Sumanarathna, B. and Samarakoon, S.M.A.K. (2019) “The Effect of Work-life Balance Policies on the Retention Intention of Executive Women Employee in Information Technology (IT) Industry in Sri Lanka,” Kelaniya Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), p. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4038/kjhrm.v14i1.63.