White Paper: Work-Life Balance
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Executive Summary
Studies have shown that ignoring work-life balance can have adverse effects on the health of employees and hence harm organizational productivity. Work-life balance is an organizational culture whereby employees have enough time for family and other social activities. Studies have shown that having a work-life balance is essential for employee happiness, health, and productivity. In the olden days during when the baby boomer generation dominated the work-force there was little emphasis on having a work-life balance. Generation X began the revolution toward integrating work-life balance to organizational culture, and the millennial generation has coalesced this principle to contemporary organizational culture. Corporates have used strategies such as flexible work hours, telecommuting, considerate family and health leaves, and encouraging employees to go on vacations to promote work-life balance.
Introduction
A myriad of revolutionary approaches is changing the corporate culture of America. One of the aspects of the corporate culture that is changing in the USA is the work-life balance much to the relief of the American worker. Studies have shown that many American workers experience stress because of the unhealthy work-life balance that forms the culture of many American corporations (AIS, 2019). While going to work and earning an income is important, it is also vital for employers and employees to achieve a balance between going to work and having a life outside work. Work-life balance is the “satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home, with a minimum of role conflict” (Rantanen et al. 2010). This white paper will investigate the history of work-life balance culture in American corporate history, and outline the previous approaches companies have taken to help their employees achieve a work-life balance. The paper will then investigate the new findings regarding work-life balance and the different new trends that corporates have taken to help employees have a good and healthy work-life balance.
Previous Approaches
As industrialization and modernization set off in America in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the need to get a job was very high, and labor laws and rights of employees had not yet been well established in the work-force of America. At the time, the conception of hard work as one of the crucial ingredients of capitalism was perversely understood, and this perverse interpretation was ingrained in many Americans and workers around the world. Workers had little to no rights, with little regard for their welfare by their employees. This was similar to the baby boomer generation, which was similarly forced to cope with the hardships of the Second World War. This generation craved having a stable source of income and put a strong emphasis on simply having a job and moving up the ranks of the companies or organizations that they worked for. Because of the social and economic realities of the time, this generation did not prioritize work-life balance. Studies show that baby boomers tended to stay at the same companies and organizations for extended periods of time relative to the generations that followed them. Many of the baby boomers currently hold senior positions in many American companies. Baby boomers’ mild regard or total disregard for a work-life balance can explain why statistics show that 80% of this generation report average to high levels of stress (Kohll, 2018).
After the baby boomer generation came to the Gen Xers born between 1961 and 1980 and grew up seeing their parents struggle with work-life balance. It is this generation that started the move towards ensuring that companies and organizations adopt policies that provide workers with a work-life balance. Generation X can be attributed to many of the work-life balance approaches that dominated the corporations in the 90s and early 2000s. Generation X started campaigning for and utilizing paid time off. It was also this generation that started work-life balance trends such as paid maternity and paternity leave, working from home, and championing for adequate vacation time.
In spite of the tremendous improvements to the work-life balance pioneered by Generation X, the work-life balance in the United States still remains wanting. As the premier economic nation in the world, the United States does not rank in the top ten in the world in terms of work-life balance (Charlton, 2019).
New Findings
In the last few years, work-life balance has been a major buzz phrase in the corporate world. This trend of organizations emphasizing work-life balance and putting at the center of organizational culture has largely been prompted by the increasing number of millennials in the workplace. Studies show that millennials will account for 75% of the work-force by the year 2025 (Kohll, 2018). For millennials, work-life balance is pertinent and, to an extent, unnegotiable when it comes to choosing the companies they want to work at.
An unhealthy work-life balance leads to chronic stress. Chronic stress is one of the main issues affecting American workers in various industries. Chronic stress has adverse physical and psychological effects, and these effects affect the productivity of workers. Examples of physical harm caused by chronic stress include hypertension, heart problems, and even digestive illnesses. Psychological illnesses caused by chronic stress include depression and insomnia. With these physical and psychological impediments, workers cannot work at their optimum capabilities. Overworking employees are also prone to burn out. According to studies, burn-out leads to losses of up to $125 billion in healthcare spending in the United States every year (Kohll, 2018). Therefore, employees who prioritize a work-life balance have happier employees, save money, and hence enjoy more productivity. However, while millennials take over the employment sector of the USA, it is important to remember that there are still baby boomers and generation Xers in the workplace and finding a balance that will allow all employees to have a healthy work balance is crucial.
Companies in the United States have developed some ingenious strategies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. One of the most commonly used techniques is giving employees flexible working hours (APA, 2020). That is allowing the employees to decide which time they go to work and leave as long as they fulfill their roles at the organization. In this way, employees are able to plan out their time well and balance between their life and work. This technique also communicates to the employees that the company trusts hence improving their sense of self-efficacy which enables them to cope well with stressors (Parris, 2017). The other technique that has been adopted by many companies is the work from home policy (Kramer & Zaveri, 2020). While this strategy has caught on because of the coronavirus pandemic, many companies had started adopting it before the advent of the pandemic. With the integration of technology into people’s lives, it is no longer important for employees to go to work every day when they can complete their tasks from home at the luxury of their sofas and on their laptops. Allowing, employees to work from home gives them a chance to spend time with their families and to organize their work in a manner that they deem fit. Also, working away from the pressures of the office is beneficial to employees. Other strategies that can be used to promote work-life balance for employees is by offering considerate leave options for both male and female employees such as reasonable maternity and paternity leaves, and medical leaves. Using these strategies, the organization will be one where employees are healthy, have a high organizational performance, committed workers, client and employee satisfaction and lower turnover rates for employees.
Conclusion
Work-life balance in most companies was largely ignored as urbanization and industrialization took root in the United States. Employment was highly sought after and with little labor laws employers dominated the affairs of employees. The baby boomer generation largely worked with an unhealthy work-life balance. However, Generation X changed this culture. Generation X began putting emphasis on work-life balance. This generation introduced norms such as family leaves such as extended maternity leave, paid leaves, and telecommuting. This set the precedent for the new trends in strategizing organization culture around work-life balance. The millennial generation have further revolutionized the approach toward achieving work-life balance. Work-life balance is now more tailored to the lifestyles of employees. Strategies include job flexibility, encouraging employees to work from home, offering considerate health and family leaves and giving employees meaningful vacation times.
References
AIS. (2019, September 25). 42 worrying workplace stress statistics. Retrieved from https://www.stress.org/42-worrying-workplace-stress-statistics
APA. (2020). APA center for organizational excellence: Work-life balance. Retrieved from https://www.apaexcellence.org/resources/creatingahealthyworkplace/worklifebalance/
Charlton, E. (2019). Revealed: The countries with the best work-life balance. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/countries-work-play-life-balance-stress-netherlands/
Kohll, A. (2018, May 23). The evolving definition of work-life balance. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/03/27/the-evolving-definition-of-work-life-balance/#565dff389ed3
Kramer, M., & Zaveri, M. Z. (2020, May 5). What if you don’t want to go back to the office? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/business/pandemic-work-from-home-coronavirus.html
Parris, J. (2017, July 12). Why work flexibility is good for employer and employee well-being. Retrieved from https://www.workflexibility.org/work-flexibility-good-employer-employee-well-being/
Rantanen, J., Kinnunen, U., Mauno, S., & Tillemann, K. (2010). Introducing theoretical approaches to work-life balance and testing a new typology among professionals. Creating Balance?, 27-46. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16199-5_2