This document discusses work-life balance and its importance for employees. It defines work-life balance as supporting employees' efforts to divide their time between work and other aspects of their lives. The document then provides several statistics that show the desire many employees have for better work-life balance and more time with their families. It also discusses some of the negative impacts that can occur when work-life balance is lacking, such as increased stress, health issues, and higher turnover. The document then covers various sources of conflict that can arise between work and personal life and potential solutions to address work-life balance challenges.

1. Prepared by Ezgi Merdin

2. “Work-life balance is a concept that supports the efforts of employees to split their time and
energy between work and the other important aspects of their lives.”
“WLB is fulfillment of multiple roles while maintaining positive quality of life.”
37% of women and 46% of men want 'a job that gives their life meaning'.
80% of mothers and 88% of fathers want 'more time with their families'.
Demos Report on Generation X, 1997
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3. In a survey of senior managers, a disturbingly high proportion feel unappreciated and
resent the sacrifices in their personal lives expected by the long-hours culture:
 49% thought morale was low in their organisation
 55% said they face frequent stress at work
 almost 30% thought their health and sex life were suffering because of their work
 20% turned to drink to ease the pressure of work
 more than 40% said they were likely to look for a new job within the next 12 months,
representing a major loss as well as replacement costs for their employer.
The Price of Success, 1999, Ceridian Performance Partners/Management Today
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4. Conflict stemming from
 Multiple roles (mother, worker, sister, volunteer, citizen, organizational
citizen…)
 Conflicting roles
 Conflicting demands (time…)
Brings
 Dissatisfaction with life
 Dissatisfaction with work
 Overload
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5. 3 Sources of Conflict (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)
Greenhaus & Beutel, 1985 5

6. 3 Sources of Conflict
There is limited time
Allocation of time is crucial
Long hours of work, tight schedules and shifts create conflict
with children quality time, spouses and larger family time.
Religious rituals are part of time-based conflict, too.
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7. 3 Sources of Conflict
Possible solutions:
Buying services to free up time like:
- cleaning
- housework
- childcare
- event planning
- catering
Covering less time for social interaction with:
- internet
- social media
- online marriage
- marriage agencies
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8. 3 Sources of Conflict
Limited tolerance to stress
Reflections of illness, family conflict or spouse support at home
Reflections of role based conflicts in the organization
Uncertainty
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9. 3 Sources of Conflict
Possible solutions
- Social Support
- Church Attendance
- Extended family
- Sports
“In general, working people rely on informal and social networks to
help them establish work-life balance; without institutional support”
(Aycan, 2010)
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10. 3 Sources of Conflict
Work related behaviors
( secretiveness, objectivity)
conflicting with the style of domestic or social behaviors
( warmth, openness etc..)
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11. 3 Sources of Conflict
Possible solutions:
- refraining from showing work – related behavior at home
- not being managerial
- not very authoritative
- not very paternalistic ( or maternalistic) at work, also.
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12. Turkish Banking Industry (Çarıkçı, 2001)
The data were obtained by questionnaire from a sample of 380 employees in 17 banks.
The results showed that work family conflict was more prevalent than family work conflict for
women only.
For men, there was no difference.
Work family conflict was best explained by three work domain variables :
-number of working hours per week
-regularity of working schedule
-organizational position
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13. Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict
occurred recently?
Demographics:
“Generation Y”, the under-28s.
Increasing number of working mothers
Transformation of modern society
Dual income households with dependent children
Increased rates of divorce and separation
Single parent households
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14. Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict occurred
recently?
Boundaryless Organizations:
Virtual organizations
Network organizations
Cluster, ad hoc, horizontal, reengineered org.s etc…
Removing vertical boundaries (removing levels and hierarchy)
Removing external boundaries (less geographical, more global)
Reducing horizontal boundaries (open offices, reducing walls)
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15. Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict
occurred recently?
Fluid Jobs:
Less rigidity
Personalized talent and knowledge workers
Cross functionalism
Decentralization
Teamwork
Need for openness and trust
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16. Greenhaus & Beutell wrote in 1985. What new sources of conflict
occurred recently?
Bifurcation of Working Time:
Erosion in standard working hours
While some are subcontracted, mobile and home office workers with short part – time
schedules;
Some are still working very long hours due to downsizing, delayering, travelling etc.
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17. WLB policies WLB strategies WLB business benefits
Flexible working Working patterns Improved recruitment and retention
Working families leave Personal WLB Staff motivation and commitment
Childcare and career support Leave provision Improvements in productivity
Sabbaticals Career support Reduced overheads
Sick leave Well-being Reduced stress and absenteesim
Flexible benefits Advisory services Improvements in employee relations
Volunteering opportunities Financial services Improvements in employee health and
well-being
Employee care
Counseling
Flexible training and
development
Flexible retirement
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18.  Flexi-time outside the agreed core times
 Staggered hours different start, finish and break times
 Time off in lieu is when employees take time off, to make up for extra hours worked. It's often
used to compensate employees who attend meetings in the evenings.
 Compressed working hours lets people work their total number of hours over fewer days.
 Shift swapping lets staff negotiate their working times and shifts amongst themselves.
 Self-rostering involves working out the number of staff and type of skills needed each day,
then letting employees put forward the times they would like to work (in some hospitals and care
services)
 Annualised hours means that total working hours are calculated over a year rather than a
week.
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19.  Job-sharing involves two part-time employees sharing the duties. Job-sharers divide pay,
holiday and other benefits.
 Term-time working is to take unpaid leave during school holidays.
 Working from home Examples are: assembly work, sewing, or paid consultants working with
new technology, such as service engineers, are mobile.
 Tele-working involves working at home, and using a telephone and computer
 Breaks from work are often due to maternity or parental and paternity leave. Also unpaid
career breaks and sabbaticals.
 Flexible and cafeteria benefits include childcare information or vouchers, funding and time
off for learning, pension or insurance contributions, laundry services, use of staff facilities, and in-
house medical and dental care. 'Cafeteria benefits' means a person can pick and choose those
benefits that best suit their needs.
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20.  Sainsbury's offers their retail non-management employees a range of
contracts. This helps families balance their working hours with childcare,
and helps students balance their working hours with exams and study
periods. It even allows them to work in one store in term-time and another in
the holidays.
 Compass, the food service and hospitality company, has flexible working
practices. Field working, extended leave and job-sharing are among its
work-life balance policies.
 IBM has more than 50 different programmes promoting work-life balance.
40% of its employees today work off the company premises.
(the Economist)
 25% of Marks and Spencer sales assistants are housewives or students,
seeking for WLB.
(secretcv.com)
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21.  WARNING!
 Embeddedness in organizational culture
 Supervisor support
are crucial to obtain positive outcomes of WLB strategies.
 They can only work when employees know they will not face negative consequences
of using these strategies.
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22.  Employers who provide childcare referral services for their employees save an
estimated £2 for every £1 they spend on the service and reduce costs - possibly by
£50 million in the course of a year - as a result of reduced sickness absences.
 (IES study 'Who cares? The business benefits of carer-friendly practices', 1997, as described in Shirley Dex and
Fiona Scheibl, 'Business performance and family-friendly policies', Journal of General Management vol. 24 No. 4
Summer 1999)
 Where supervisors support work – family balance, job satisfaction is higher and
conflict is lower. Employee-satisfaction surveys should include work/life questions
 Personally, flexibility and self - responsibility brings a stronger internal locus of
control, satisfaction, feeling of pride and self – control.
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23.  Personal Strategies
Self – assess yourself, your activities and
your time allocated.
Balance the underdeveloped spheres of life.
Outsource domestic services
OR
Downshifting : the voluntary reduction of both working hours and income
In UK and Australia, 20-25% of adults have downshifted in any form in last ten years
(Hamilton & Mail, 2003)
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24. •Aycan, Z. (2010) “Work – Family Interface in Turkey” Network News Vol. 12 (5)
•Blyton,
P., Blunsdon, B., Reed, K. and Dastmalchian, A. (2006) Work – Life Integration. Palgrave
MacMillan
•Greenhaus,J.H. & Beutell N.J. (1985) Sources of Conflict Between Work and Family Roles.
Academy of Management Review, 10: 76-88.
•Harvey, C. D. H. (2000) Walking a Tightrope: Meeting the Challenges of Work and Family. Ashgate
USA
•economist.com
•nationalarchives.gov.uk
•secretcv.com
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