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A comparative study of work life balance
Conference Paper · January 2015
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
*Dr. Nisha Chanana, Assistant Professor, School of Management Studies Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology
**Dr. Naresh Kumar, Professor, University School of Management Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
Abstract
In the current economic scenario, organisations are hard pressed for higher productivity and need employees with improved work-life balance as an employee with better work-life balance will contribute more meaningfully towards the organizational growth and success (Naithani and Jha, 2010). For the present study descriptive method is used. The sample was drawn from male and female customer associates working in retail stores of Chandigarh city, and their ages were in the range of 25-35. The sample of 50, i.e. 25 male and 25 female was drawn using purposive sampling procedure. For the present investigation the data has been collected in two ways i.e. primary data and secondary data. Work life balance scale is used in the present study, developed by Fisher (2001). Work life balance is a seven point scale, ranging from 1-7, containing 15 items, designed to assess three dimensions of work life balance, namely, work interference with personal life (WIPL-7 items), personal life interference with work (PLIW-4 items), and work/personal life enhancement (WPLE-4 items). It has been observed that females feel highly work interference with their personal life and personal life interference with work as compared to male’s customer associates. It has also been revealed that females feel low work/personal life enhancement as compared to males. Significant difference has been found between males and females customer associates towards their work life balance.
Keywords: Work life balance, personal life enhancement, work interference
1.1 Introduction
In this modern era, work life balance is very essential for the individuals and also for the growth of an organization. Work life balance was initially conceived in terms of work family conflict (Kahn et al., 1964), work family enhancement/ facilitation (Grzywacz and Marks, 2000), and work family balance (Hill, et al. 2001). Work–family balance was defined as “the extent to which individuals are equally engaged in and equally satisfied with work and family roles” (Clark, 2000 and Kirchmeyer, 2000). Work-family balance referred to the degree to which an individual is able to simultaneously balance the temporal demands of both
paid work and family responsibilities, whereas work-family conflict represented incompatibilities between work and family responsibilities because of limited resources like time and energy (Gropel,2005). According to Kirchmeyer (2000) a balanced life as achieving satisfying experiences in all life domains. Bailyn et al. (2001) defined work /life balance as harmonious and holistic integration of work and non-work, so that men and women can achieve their potential across the domains in which they play out their life roles. Fisher (2001) stated that work life balance comprises of four components. The first component is time, how much time is spent at work, compared to how much time is spent engaged in other activities. The second component is related to behavior, such as, work goal accomplishment, as work life balance is based on ones’ belief that he is able to accomplish what he would like at work and in his personal life. Two additional components are strain and energy.
Greenblatt (2002) described work life balance as acceptable levels of conflict between work and non-work demands. Duxbury (2004) defined work life balance as involving three things: role overload, work to family interference and family to work interference. Hudson (2005) defined work/life balance as a satisfactory level of involvement or fit between the multiple roles in a person’s life.
2.1 Review of Literature
Hammer et al. (1997) conducted a study on 399 dual-earner couples and observed that work family conflict had strong effects for both males and females. Frone et al. (1992) drawn a sample of 631 employed adults, in which 278 men and 353 women, he was found that work to family conflict is more prevalent than family to work conflict, it has been revealed that family boundaries are more permeable to work demands than are work boundaries to family demands.
Williams and Alliger (1994) examined the work life balance among 41 full time working parents (13 men and 28 women). It has been found that work interfered with family more than family interfered with work. Eagle et al. (1997) found that work to family conflict being significantly more prevalent than family to work conflict. Hsieh et al. (2005) found that very few Taiwanese managers had difficulty balancing work and personal lives and work interfered with personal life. Kinnunen and Mauno (2007) conducted a study in four organizations, namely, municipal and social healthcare, manufacturing for exports, a bank and a supermarket. Data was collected from a sample of 501 employees. The results showed that interference from work to family was more prevalent than interference from family to work among both sexes. No gender difference has been found either work to family or family to work conflict.
Bailey (2008) examined the work and life balance of occupational Deans working in a community college. It has been found that Deans expressed a strong commitment to their families and indicated that the quality of their work lives is not good. Baral (2010) examined that working men and women in India experience more work family enrichment than the work family conflict. It was also found that there were no gender differences in the employee perception of work family enrichment. Malik et al. (2010) examined the effect of work – life balance and job satisfaction on the turnover intentions of doctors. It has been observed that doctors who are better able to manage the work and the life activities were more satisfied with their jobs and have less intention to leave their jobs. Smith et al. (2010) examined the difference between the work-life balance perspectives of male and female future accountants.
Result reported that work-life balance is very important in career decisions. Result showed that both male and female future accountants consider work-life balance issues to be important. It has been found that females have significantly higher scores in rating the importance of work-life balance. Smith (2010) indicated that future marketing professionals regard work-life balance issues as very important to their future careers. Future marketing professionals indicate that a healthy work-life balance affects job satisfaction, job performance, and ethical decision making. While no significant differences has been observed between male and female future marketing professionals regarding work-life balance.
2.1.1 Research gap
After reviewing the literature it has been found that good research has been done form various perspective on the topic of work life balance, but it has been observed that most of the researches done in other countries respectively. In India, work life balance is a crucial topic for research because it’s a very essential for the growth of the organization as well as for the employees. Some research has been done in the field but no study has been conducted in Chandigarh with a specific objective. So it has been decided to study and compare work life balance of males and females customer associates working in retailing sector, especially in Apparel industry.
2.1.2 Objectives of the study
1. To assess the work life balance of customer associates of Chandigarh.
2. To compare the work life balance of customer associates on the basis of gender.
3.1 Research Methodology
For the present study descriptive method is used. The sample was drawn from male and female customer associates working in retail stores of Chandigarh city, and their ages were in the range of 25-35. The sample of 50, i.e. 25 male and 25 female was drawn using
purposive sampling procedure. For the present investigation the data has been collected in two ways i.e. primary data and secondary data. Primary data is collected through questionnaire and secondary data is collected from various research journals, articles, books and with the help of internet.
Work life balance scale is used in the present study, developed by Fisher (2001).
Work life balance is a seven point scale, ranging from 1-7, containing 15 items, designed to assess three dimensions of work life balance, namely, work interference with personal life (WIPL-7 items), personal life interference with work (PLIW-4 items), and work/personal life enhancement (WPLE-4 items). The respondents were asked to give answer which they felt in a particular way during the past six months. It is a seven point time related scale (e.g. 1=Not at all and 7=All the time). The scoring was done as 7 to 1 (7 for Not at all and 1 for All the time) for the dimensions of WIPL (except item 7, which was reverse scored) and PLIW, since the items were negatively worded. For the dimension of WPLE, scoring was 1 to 7 (i.e. 1 for Not at all and 7 for All the time) as the items were positively worded.
A minimum and maximum score for WIPL is 7 and 49; PLIW and WPLE is 4 and 28 respectively. Cronbach’s alpha value of the work life balance scale for WIPL is .738, PLIW is .813 and WPLE is .841, indicating that the scale is highly reliable for this study. For descriptive statistics mean, standard deviation and z test is used. For comparison Mann- Whitney test is used to analyze data. The same is presented with the help of appropriate statistical tables.
4.1 Results and Interpretations
In the present investigation the mean score of male and females’ customer associates about work life balance has been shown in the table 1
Table 1: Mean score of males and females customer associates
S.No. Dimensions Gender Observed Mean
Standard Mean
SD SE z value
1 WIPL Male 25.36 28 2.138 .427 -6.18
Female 19.44 28 2.484 .496 -17.25
2 PLIW Male 18.36 16 4.794 .958 2.46
Female 12.44 16 2.022 .404 -8.81
3 WPLE Male 22.60 16 2.254 .450 14.66
Female 12.68 16 1.973 .394 -8.42
Note: z value significant 1.96 at 5 % and 2.58 at 1%
4.1.1 WIPL (Work interference with personal life)
It is clear from table no. 1 that observed mean score obtained by male is 25.36 lower than the standard mean score of 28; z value reveals that the observed mean score is
significantly different from the standard mean score (z=-6.18, p<.01). Thus the obtained finding reveals that males have highly work interference with personal life (WIPL).
Female have also low score on the dimension of WIPL, hence, it has been cleared that they feel highly work interference with their personal life. The observed mean score of female 19.44 is lower than the standard mean score of 28. Further the departure from expectation was tested by applying z test. The value of z= -17.25 is found significant at .01 level.
It has been observed from the table no. 1 that females have low mean score as compared to males, thus it is cleared that females feel highly work interference with their personal life than males customer associates.
4.1.2 PLIW (Personal life interference with work)
A perusal of the table 1 reveals that on the dimension of personal life interference with work (PLIW) among males is scored 18.36 indicates moderate interference is there. The observed mean score of males on the dimension of PLIW is higher than standard mean scored (16). Further the departure from expectations was tested by applying z test. The value of z (2.46) is significant at .01 level.
The observed mean score of females 12.44 is lower than the standard mean score of 16, indicates highly interference is there on the dimension of personal life interference with work. The value of z is (-8.81) significant at p<.01 level.
It has been revealed from the table no. 1 that females have low mean score as compared to males, thus it is cleared that females feel highly personal life interference with work as compared to males customer associates.
4.1.3 WPLE (Work/personal life enhancement)
As depicted by table 1, the observed mean score obtained by the males customer associates 22.60 is higher than the standard mean score 16 and z value is 14.66, (p<.01). Thus the obtained finding reveals that the males have high work/personal life enhancement.
However, the observed mean score obtained by the females’ customer associates 12.68 is lower than the standard mean score of 16, indicating thereby that there is a low work/personal life enhancement (z=-8.42, p<.01).
It has been depicted from the table no. 1 that females have low mean score as compared to males, thus it is cleared that females feel low work/personal life enhancement as compared to males.
4.1.4 Compare the work life balance
Table 2: Compare the work life balance of customer associates on the basis of gender
S.
No. Dimensions
Mann- Whitney
U
Z
Asymp Sig.
(2-tailed) 1 WIPL (Work interference with personal life) 13.00 -5.833 .000
2 PLIW (Personal life interference with work) 103.00 -4.081 .000
3 WPLE (Work/personal life enhancement) .000 -6.082 .000
Table no. 2 showed that there is a significant difference between male and female on the dimensions of WIPL, Mann-Whitney U= 13.00, z= -5.833, .000<.01. On the basis of gender, significant difference has been found among males and females customer associates of Chandigarh on the dimension of PLIW (U= 103.00, z= -4.081, .000<.01). Both males and females customer associates were significant different on the dimension of WPLE (.000<.01).
5.1 Limitations of the study
All the findings are based on the information provided by the respondents, and are subject to the potential bias and prejudice of the people involved. The scope of the study is restricted to the Chandigarh customer associates only. As such, the findings may change if the study were to be applied to a different area, demographic landscape or economy.
5.2 Conclusion and Suggestions for future research
Work life balance is very important for the growth of the organization as well as for the employee. Females feel highly work interference with their personal life and personal life interference with work as compared to male’s customer associates. It has also been concluded that females feel low work/personal life enhancement as compared to males. Significant difference has been found between males and females customer associates towards their work life balance. It has been suggested that organizations should make some employee assistance program and employee wellness program especially for women for maintain their work life balance.
The present study was limited to Chandigarh customer associates only. An attempt may be made to investigate work life balance among other employees of other cities.
Demographic variables such as age, experience, marital status, qualifications etc. in relation to work life balance may also be included to enhance the scope of the study.
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