the psychology of individual & organisational health work-life balance dr baljit kaur rana...

The Psychology of Individual & Organisational Health

Work-Life Balance

Dr Baljit Kaur Rana28/11/11

Faculty of Social Sciences, Division of Psychology, [email protected]

Lecture Outline Definitions of Work-Life Balance (WLB) Nature of the Problem WLB Business Case & Diversity Factsheets: stress, time, equality, WLB perceptions,

productivity, right to request leave and flexible working

Investors in People (IiP) – culture, strategy, action, effectiveness

HCIMA Checklist Challenging Organisational Culture & Introducing

Change Theories/Models

What on Earth…

…is ‘Work-Life Balance’?

Work-Life Balance is having

over

you work.

You have the right to a fulfilled life

of work…

Work-life balance benefits…

and society.business……the individual…

Definitions (cont.)

“WLB is the ability to balance the demands of working at Sears, and the demands of one’s personal life, and having success and satisfaction with both. In addition, there needs to be an understanding that the balance changes driven by personal ad hoc circumstances and life stages, and by changes in one’s job or career” (Sears)

The obligatory ‘definition’

It’s about having some control and choice over

how, when and where we work so we can achieve a relationship between paid work and the rest of our lives that we’re happy

with.

Work Life BalanceHow it changes the norm

The Norm:– Long hours– Family comes second– Male dominated world of work– 9 to 5 working pattern

WLB Change Agent– Flexible work and hours– Childcare– Contented life style

Nature of the Problem

Why the big debate?

Achieving work-life balance means different things to different people.


The option to work from home The option to work flexible hours The ability to finish work at a set

time The ability to work reduced hours The option to take unpaid

parental leave The option to take a career break Childcare support within the

organisation


Why the big debate?

Improving work-life balance is seen as a possible solution to some of the current

problems faced by industry.


Social Changes vs Work Expectations

“Eight hours for work, eight hours for play, eight hours for what we will.”


Why the big debate?

Businesses need to retain their operational effectiveness.


Why the big debate?

Social issues such as equality are interwoven with WLB arguments.

The Issues

Time Stress Perceptions Equality Productivity Diversity

From the point of view of the…

• Employee

• Employer

The UK has a diverse population.Businesses with a diverse workforce are likely to attract a wider customer base.

The WLB Business Case & Diversity

The UK has a diverse population.Businesses with a diverse workforce can provide a more tailored service to meet individual needs.


The UK has a diverse population.Businesses with a diverse workforce can provide the greater flexibility demanded by customers.


Support for diversityBetter staff morale and performanceReduced absenteeism and staff turnover

•Improved customer satisfaction

•Better-motivated workforce

•More willing to contribute to business success

Case Study:

• Jobs• Pay• Job satisfaction

• Profit• Expansion• growth

• Value for money• Quality• happiness

Employee meets needs of the customer

Employer meets the needs of the customer

Employee meets needs of the employer and vice-versa

Case Study:

•Increased sales to disabled people

•Increased overall customer satisfaction

•Enhanced brand

•Improved staff retention & productivity

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/index.jsp

Investors in People WLB Model

Helps shape and structure an organisation’s WLB solutions

Helps tie in current actions into an overall strategy

Includes measures to check the effect of the solutions being introduced

Helps you to build flexibility into solutions so there can be a culture of choice

Encourages creative thinking


Based on four basic principles:

–Culture–Strategy–Action–Effectiveness

How is each of these relevant?


Culture – the culture of the organisation creates an environment in which work-life balance is recognised and valued

Strategy – The work-life balance strategy is central to the organisation’s aims and objectives

Action – The organisation has successful work-life balance solutions

Effectiveness – The organisation can show that its work-life balance strategy is delivering positive results.

IIP WLB Model - Culture

Indicators under the cultural banner include:– Work-life balance is

central to the organisation’s value and how it works

– Managers take responsibility for the success of the work-life balance strategy

IIP WLB Model - Strategy

Indicators under the strategic banner include:– The work-life balance

strategy is developed to help the organisation achieve its aims and objectives.

– The organisation takes account of all relevant parties when developing and communicating its work-life balance strategy.

IIP WLB Model - Action

Indicators under the ‘action’ banner include:

– Work-life balance solutions are developed and put into practice according to the needs of the organisation

– Work-life balance solutions take account of the needs of the individual

– Work-life balance solutions are effectively put into practice.

IIP WLB Model - Effectiveness

Indicators under the ‘effectiveness’ banner include:– The work-life balance

strategy and solutions improve the performance of the organisation.

– The organisation continually improves its approach to work-life balance.

HCIMA (Hotel Catering & International Management Association) WLB Checklist

Approach– Investigating the need– Commitment from the

top– Developing policies– Involve and

communicate

HCIMA WLB Checklist

Individual Working Patterns– Flexi-time / Staggered

hours / Time off in lieu– Compressed hours– Annualised hours– Part-time– Job sharing– Term time working– Temping / casual work

HCIMA WLB Checklist

Team Planning and Working– Shift working– Shift swapping– Self rostering

Place– Working from home

HCIMA WLB Checklist Breaks from work

– Maternity leave– Parental leave– Time off for dependents– Paternity leave– Adoption leave– Bereavement/compassionate leave– Career break– Sabbatical– Public/community service leave– Leave for religious festivals– Volunteering– Leave to support personal achievement

HCIMA WLB Checklist Flexible benefits

– Workplace creche / daycare centre– Childcare or eldercare vouchers– Use of company facilities (gyms etc)– Accommodation and staff dining– Pensions and health insurance– Re-location packages– Awards– Training and development

Employee Support– Counselling (stress, work issues, domestic issues,

health, finance, drug and alcohol problems)– Childcare information

The Work-Life Balance

The successful employer, private or public, has to deliver on all these. This means

involving staff in decisions about change making sure their needs and aspirations are considered winning their commitment to new ways of working One of the most essential ingredients in the organisation of

work is time: when we work for how long how we balance working time with time outside of work.

The Work-Life Balance (cont.)

These are difficult issues which we have to resolve in the UK:

British workers work the longest hours in Europe stress is the greatest cause of absence from work many organisations have not introduced family-friendly

working, despite encouragement from government and positive reports from organisations which have.

Family-friendly concerns are not the only consideration – finding the time for learning, or taking part in community life, are equally powerful motivators for balancing life at work with life outside


1 in 5 of all workers would like their life to be more balanced than is how but just don’t know how to manage it and twice as many workers would rather work shorter hours than win the lottery!

33% of 4000 job seekers would prefer to work flexible hours than receive an extra £1000 a year (DTI Poll)

Can a definitive picture be drawn of what a well balanced life looks like?

Is it more than policies and quality management? Is it more to do with individual personalities and attitudes –

the role of work in our lives?

The Work-Life Balance Why is it the case that men still get more balance than

women and are much more likely to have outside interests (sport, committees, charity work) and are much more likely to put work before their personal lives?

And women are much more likely to use their spare time for domestic work and childcare and are more likely to take their stress home with them?

Job satisfaction and supportive work environment that acknowledges life outside work leads to lower stress and happier workplace

Business case reasons for helping to become better balanced can’t be realised by concessions (e.g. flexible working) on own

The Work-Life Balance Management Today ‘Worklife Survey (1988) – for

many work high source of satisfaction (84% admitted making important personal sacrifices in pursuit of career)

Second Management Today Survey (2001) – achieving proper balance seen as entitlement and reflects changing contract between organisations and individuals

But workload pressure increased and number of managers feel been forced to put work before family life is slightly up


No one standard WLB policy that will suit every business – no such thing as WLB but different work-life balances with different parts of the jigsaw taking greater importance at different times in working lives

More secure organisation and less competitive environment, more latitude manager has to encourage employees to lead balanced lives

Challenging Organisational Culture

What is organisational ‘culture’? It is the set of policies, vales, beliefs and attitudes

shared by the organisation’s members. Values are fundamental principles that people

have regarding what is right or wrong, important or unimportant and so on.

An attitude is a persistent inclination to feel and behave in a certain way towards a person or object.

More intuitive? “How are things done around here?”


Can culture be changed? Culture is the accumulation of the past, yet

the organisation needs to move forward. Change happens naturally over long time

periods. The introduction of a WLB policy may

require an organisation to make strategic and operational changes relatively quickly.


What sort of organisations cope with change more easily?

What is the answer to the question: How can we change people’s attitudes to WLB?

A good idea is to appoint ‘change agents’. What sort of people would be suitable?

What is the main cause of resistance to change?

Introducing Change

When introducing change, ensure that..– Employees see the reason for change– Employees understand why change is important –

how it will help them and the business– The people who need to be committed to the change

to make it happen are recognised– A coalition of support is built for the change– The support of key individuals in the organisation is

enlisted– The link between the change and other HR systems

(staffing, training etc) is understood.

Introducing Change When introducing change, ensure that..

– A means of measuring the success of the change is identified

– Plans are made to monitor progress in the implementation of the change

– Plans are made to keep attention focussed on the change– The likely need to adapt the change over time is

recognised and plans can readily be made and implemented for such adaptations.

Change processes, structures and systems first of all. This will force changes in behaviour which, in turn, will change attitudes.

People that embrace challenges and opportunities. If people feel they will be worse off than before. This happens

with poorly managed change

Combining work and family life theories

Sources of stress for dual-career couples – impact on well-being and occupational achievement greater for women

Dilemmas (Cooper & Lewis, 1994): Work overload as reflection of long hours and

‘workaholic syndrome’ Schedule incompatibility and inflexibility Spillover of stress/satisfaction from work into

family life, or vice versa Role conflict and identity


Effects on relationships Equity, time and energy – expectations of

spouse and perceptions of equality (housework, childcare, decision making)

Theoretical models of work-family interface – role of gender

Job demands model = how work can and does affect individual’s family life (Rushing & Schwabe, 1995)


Multiple roles/task overload perspective – 3 models:

Spillover theory (Bolger et al, 1995) = work and family experiences (time, behaviour, attitudes, personality) similar – family influences work (stress = negative conflict) or satisfaction (positive enhancement) and vice versa

Crossover (Barling, 1994) = one spouses role experiences at work/home can affect attitudes, role performance and emotions of other (e.g. parent-child interactions) – work demands intrude on family more easily for men


Compensation theory (Zedeck, 1992) = what’s provided by one setting makes up for what is missing in other

Segmentation theory = work and family spheres distinct so can be successful in one domain without affecting other (reverse to spillover) – more typical of men


Nature of conflicts between both domains and roles:

Time based conflict (Frone et al, 1997)

Strain-based conflict

Behaviour based conflict

Figure 1: The Quality Model for Work-Life Balance

POLICIES PROCESSES PEOPLE OUTCOMES

Time Flexibility Work organisation Role Models For Individuals

Location Flexibility Technology Inform/Educate/Consult/Empower

For the Organisation

Benefits and Support HR Systems Training For society/the

community

MeasurementBENCHMARKING AUDIT FEEDBACK REVIEW

ImplementationPLANS RESOURCES BEHAVIOUR SUSTAINABILITY

© Clutterbuck Associates 2003

Source: ww.barrymapp.co.uk/coaching/balance.html

http://www.barrymapp.co.uk/coaching/balance.html

References

DTI (2002), ‘Flexible working. The business case’; London: DTI Publication

Joshi, S et al (2002) ‘Work-Life Balance.A case of social responsibility or competitive advantage’ (www.worklifebalance.com)

Kandola, R; Fullerton, J (1998) ‘Diversity in Action. Managing the Mosaic’; London: CIPD.

Redman, T; Wilkinson, A (2009), ‘Contemporary Human Resource Management. Text and cases’; (3rd edition) FT Prentice Hall.

Rice, M (2002), ‘Balancing acts’; Management Today, Sept 2002, 52-57.

Torrington, D; Hall, L; Taylor, S (2008), ‘Human Resource Management’ (7th edition) FT Prentice Hall.

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