Whilst dealing with professional and personal life, it has been very much focused on how to improve the work-life balance of employees so that they can contribute greatly and increase their efficiency by the possibility of having a flexible work schedule.
After the post-Covid, multinationals are thinking on the
line for a conducive environment i.e. favourable to parent employees and how to
increase their productivity.
The main motto is to ensure the balance of professional life
– family life and the evolution of this balance over time. The connection between the field of
professional life and that of personal life, more precisely, of the family, has
been a constant concern in the modern trend!
It is quite obvious that professional and family life is
based on a series of human needs. Now we
should look at the need of the employees to ensure harmony between professional
and personal life.
We have witnessed the Covid-19 pandemic and how the health
crisis is a challenge. The working-from-
home concept has evoked significance and this transition can be difficult
because many employees who have worked all the time in a formal environment
will not be able to make a clear distinction between work and leisure in the
conditions ‘Working from Home’.
After the coronavirus, now we are amid monkeypox, and it is spreading from Europe to Asia. The monkeypox disease is expected to spread to more places and therefore countries should start paying attention to monkeypox precautionary measures.
It is important how to maintain work-family balance in
general, but especially in the Covid-19 and recently the monkeypox era.
In order to contribute to a better work-life balance, it
would be appropriate for most companies to commit to creating a change in
managerial practices. It is necessary to have a favorable environment for
employees who are parents and to ensure non-discriminatory conditions for
pregnant women.
An individual’s how the balance between professional and
personal life is the optimal solution and to harmonizes the requirements of the
two areas in order to get a sense of fulfilment, which, in turn, improves the
quality of life and work alike.
Whilst dealing with this we cannot ignore the negative
effects of family life on work and also the health crisis. Professional life can have negative
implications on family harmony and balance, or the family can affect, at
certain moments, professional satisfaction and implicit performance at work.
Isolation and social distancing can be negative factors in ensuring this
balance, because of the pressure placed on employees to work from home.
We should understand the nature of the relationship between
work-life balance and the emotional exhaustion experienced by employed
individuals while working from home during the restrictions. The concept of “working from home” is still
new and still little exploited and the aspects regarding the maintenance of a
balance between family and profession in this context present a novelty for
sociologists.
Work-Family Balance Theory
It is quite obvious that we should understand the
work-family balance theory. The main
theory behind the study of the relationship between work and family is that of
stress and exhaustion and is based on the idea that the individual has limited
energy resources to perform many roles, and their management is difficult and
inevitably involves tensions.
The studies have focused on the interdependence between the
role at work and the family and the effects of labour-family conflict.
LABOUR-FAMILY CONFLICT: CAUSES AND EFFECTS
According to Greenhaus and Friedman, these three theories are:
Transfer theory focuses on the impact that
satisfaction and pleasure in one area have on another area. Positive transfer
refers to situations in which satisfaction, energy, and a sense of
accomplishment from one area are transferred to another. On the other hand, the
negative transfer is represented by the various problems that are transferred
from one domain to another. For example, increased satisfaction
(dissatisfaction) at work leads to increased satisfaction (dissatisfaction) in
family life.
Compensation theory is a two-way theory that
emphasizes the relationship between work and a distinct field one in which one
field can compensate for what is missing in the other field. It is therefore
likely that these areas will be interrelated in a way that balances qualities.
For example, individuals dissatisfied with family life may try to achieve
performance at work and vice versa.
The theory of segmentation is applied to each field,
separately, so that satisfaction derives from work, family or both. Therefore,
the segmentation theory is the opposite of the transference theory in which it
is argued that man can separate the competing requirements of the role.
Now in the modern trend, many companies even traditional
ones are looking for e a collaborative attitude between employee and manager in
achieving professional and personal goals with benefits for both business and
personal lives of employees and managers.
A new concept used in sociology is that of organizational
culture "family-friendly environment". This is a culture that offers programs and
policies that ensure/contribute to achieving a balance between the professional
and family life of the employees. Both women and men want a successful career
and a fulfilled personal life - gender arguments.
Social norms on femininity and masculinity have changed a
lot in the last say 30 years. The division of labour between women and men in
industrial society is very obvious, paid work became very important, while
household work decreased in importance.
ANALYSIS OF STUDIES ON THE WORK BALANCE - FAMILY AND MAIN
FINDINGS
It is imperative that balance should be maintained and a
clear distinction between work and leisure and tend to perform their duties
throughout the day.
As the job market evolves, companies are realizing that in
order to hire and retain talent, they need to focus on flexible work policies,
such as offering a choice of workplace locations.
A frequently asked question of young married people refers
to: "how can I have a successful career and at the same time a fulfilled
personal life?". Because traditional roles in the family and at work have
changed, both women and men want to build a career and, at the same time,
achieve their personal and family goals. Rising expectations and living costs
cause many people to work harder, despite their personal needs and
responsibilities recognized and asserted by them.
The balance between work and personal life can be achieved
by finding and maintaining an optimal rhythm between career and personal
responsibilities.
THE WORK-FAMILY BALANCE DURING THE COVID – 19 PANDEMIC
Working from home during the coronavirus pandemic has been
and is quite difficult for most employees.
Whether they work alone or have a family around them, doing household
chores and having children are the main stressors. During the state of emergency, but also in
the state of alert, the coordination between professional and family activities
was a daunting task for each employee.
It is assumed that while working from home, employees
encountered difficulties in creating and maintaining temporal, physical and
psychological limits due to which they may have encountered some difficulties
in maintaining work-family balance. The chances of interference between work and
personal life or the actual interference of family life with work life or both,
during this pandemic, cannot be ignored.
Due to such a conflict between personal and professional
life during the coronavirus pandemic, employees may feel emotional exhaustion,
stress and burnout. During work from
home, the line between work and family life can be quite thin during actual
working hours. In such a work-family context, the role of participatory
leadership in establishing the work schedule and the level of task performance
is important.
Given the stress that employees are subjected to during this
pandemic, an organization might consider offering an online counselling service
by a trained person. Such a proactive initiative of an organization during a
stressful environmental situation could also help employees maintain their
psychological well-being.
The feeling of fulfilment and satisfaction given by the
balance between work and family is not only due to efficient management of
time, but also results from the attitude towards work, towards life and oneself.
Work and personal life should not be perceived as two areas
that are in permanent competition, but on the contrary two areas that must
complement each other very well to generate bilateral benefits.
During the state of emergency, the homework scenario was
quite different from the normal scenario. All family members were locked up in
the house, there were no opportunities for recreation and socialization and no
support was available for household chores.
Though it was an unprecedented scenario, now most of the offices are opening slowly with full swing and proper office timings, hope people re-connect with colleagues and near and dear ones and slowly there will be ample opportunities to relieve stress and exhaustion sources among employees.
