Work-life balance is a well-studied topic in the business world, and much emphasis is placed on the quality of work and the work environment. The research was conducted with a questionnaire comprising four sections and using three well-structured instruments work/non-work interference, work quality and work stress.
Introduction
Problem statement and background
Previous research shows that a lack of work-life balance leads to occupational stress and causes social problems (Törnquist et al., 2017). From the above discussion, the problem statement can be formulated as follows: a poor work-life balance leads to lower perceived work quality and higher levels of occupational stress (Törnquist et al.
Rationale and significance of the study
In addition, the chapter focuses on the influence that an insufficient balance between work and life has on quality of work and occupational stress. A quantitative correlational research approach is used to research the influence of work-life balance on automation engineers, quality of work and occupational stress.
Aim and objectives of the study
Existing research lacks investigation of the challenges associated with working on projects away from home and implementing work-life balance policies. A change in management's approach to work-life balance can impact productivity and lead to healthier employees.
Research question and hypothesis
What are the perceived work-life balances, quality of work and job stress levels of automation engineers. H1a = There is a statistical relationship between automation engineers' perceived work-life balance, job quality, and job stress.
Preliminary literature review
- Work-Life balance
- Quality of work
- Occupational or job stress
- Relationship between work-life balance, quality of work, and occupational
The study concludes that there is a high effect of quality of work on work-life balance. Occupational stress therefore negatively affects the quality of work and work-life balance (Carvalho et al., 2017).
Definitions of key concepts
Work quality and balance between work and private life are connected and describe an employee's well-being. Research shows that there is also a negative relationship between work-life balance and work-related stress (Bowen et al., 2014).
Research philosophy
Work-life balance is defined as the amount of time spent at work compared to the amount of time spent with family or at home doing what one enjoys and is not related to a work-related task (Cambridge Dictionary, 2021). Shah (2017:86) defines work-life balance as a state of reconciliation between all priorities and aspects of life.
Research method
Positivism is structured and well defined and follows specific rules that use objective mathematical and scientific tools. The main purpose of quantitative research is to describe, explain, predict and compare the investigated variables (Silverman & Marvasti The current study will use an online questionnaire survey with a cross-sectional design to investigate the variables' correlation.
Research design
Delimitations, assumptions, and limitations of the study
The cooperation of the engineers was not as good as expected and only the results of company A were used to complete the survey. However, the reliability of the instrument is good and it is recommended that the survey includes the entire engineering industry for further research.
Population
The results were reliable for company A: it gives an insight into company A and shows that the tool can be used to measure a company on its own and help management to understand their employees. The main reason for including more women in future research is to make a concrete conclusion whether gender plays a role in the experience and handling of work-life balance, quality of work and work stress.
Measuring instruments
The Work Quality Questionnaire measures six factors: satisfaction and respect, bullying, psychological stress at work, cooperation, communication and feedback and assessment (Steffgen et al. The Measuring Quality of Work Questionnaire (MQW) offers a means of measuring the quality of work by testing the effectiveness of interventions or as an assessment tool.
Data coding and analysis
To compare the mean scores between age groups, years of work experience and qualification levels, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. Pearson product-moment correlation was performed to establish the relationship between work-life balance, quality of work and occupational stress.
Reliability of the measuring instruments
For the reliability of the job stress questionnaire, a test-retest analysis was performed using a rank-invariant method for analysis of paired-ordered categorical data. This method for assessing the reliability of a questionnaire has been used before and is recommended for analyzing ordered categorical data (Frantz & Holmgren, 2019).
Ethical consideration
The questionnaire used to analyze the quality of work has a Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 in a study conducted to validate the instrument (Steffgen et al., 2015). The percentage of agreement for the test–retest reliability of the items ranged from 55% to 98%, with a mean percentage of 77%.
Summary
Introduction
Theoretical framework of work-Life balance
Thus, work-life balance is achieving balance in life between career, family life and personal time. Dunn classifies work-life balance into three different types, namely (a) no work-life balance and zero flexibility, (b) maximum work-life balance, and (c) no flexibility and maximum flexibility flexibility (Dunn, 2019:13).
Work-life balance dimensions
Previous research shows that work-personal interference is negatively related to job satisfaction, and work-life improvement will be positively related to job satisfaction. It was also concluded that interference at work and improvement in personal life are related to the measurement of work stress.
Theoretical framework of Quality of work-life
The last and final dimension, personal life enhancement of work life, considers how personal life helps the employee to perform at her peak at work. Quality of work life is when there is a balance between one's health, stability at work and personal life and wealth.
Quality of work dimensions
Theoretical framework of Occupational Stress
Employees can sometimes be confused by the pressure and challenges created by management or the job (WHO, 2020). The model also shows that factors such as stress and the possibility of burnout increase when job resources are scarce and job demands are high (Janse, 2019).
Dimensions of occupational stress
In addition, it looks at the level of stress these objects have on the individual. Finally, the fourth point looks at the individual's work-life balance, taking into account the individual's work time compared to private life.
Comparison of mean scores for work-life balance, quality of work, and
The first dimension considers the influence the individual has on his work and working environment, for example controlling the workload and influencing decisions in the workplace. The second dimension measures how the person involved is in the organization by considering the goals, workload, task and conflict.
Relationship between work-life balance, quality of work, and
Research reveals the existence of a negative relationship between work-life balance and occupational stress - when an imbalance in work-life and work quality is present, occupational stress is also present (Bowen et al., 2014). Thus, work stress negatively affects work quality and work-life balance (Carvalho et al., 2017).
Summary
The imbalance between work demands and private life creates severe mental and physical stress for employees (Nyati, 2012). While work stress is known for negatively impacting employees' health, it also negatively impacts their productivity and job satisfaction.
Introduction
Research philosophy
One of the reasons for choosing a quantitative research method is that it analyzes and interprets the collected data using measurement instruments that allow the researcher to reach conclusions that are measurable, more objective and more open to testing than with a qualitative approach. Positivism requires research to be valid, reliable and representative (Johnson, 2018), and quantitative research helps the researcher in this process.
Research method
Quantitative research will focus on how engineers experience work-life balance and occupational stress in their everyday lives. The main purpose of quantitative research is to describe, explain, predict and compare the investigated variable (Silverman & Marvasti.
Research design
A quantitative approach was chosen, which enables the generalization of the sources of work-life balance and occupational stress at the workplace in the engineering project environment and also the comparison of the result with previous studies (Törnquist et al., 2017).
Population and sample
The main purpose of quantitative research is to describe, explain, predict and compare the investigated variable (Silverman & Marvasti, 2008:144). The participants who formed part of the sample were convenient for the researcher and easily accessible (Bryman et al. via their human resources department.
Procedure of data collection
Measuring instruments
Mental strain: The three items covered by this factor relate to an increase in working hours and workload, as well as the requirement to carry out different tasks simultaneously. Appraisal: this factor relates to an employee's internal locus of control, namely whether he/she assesses their work as valuable or not.
Reliability of measuring instruments
Statistical techniques used for data analyses
As discussed above (see Section 3.3), the study follows a quantitative approach, using SPSS software to analyze data, make predictions, and indicate relationships between the constructs. Cronbach's alphas were performed to measure the reliability of instruments measuring work-life balance, quality of work, and occupational stress measures.
Ethical considerations
An independent sample t-test was performed to compare the mean scores for work-life balance, quality of work, and work-related stress. A Pearson product-moment correlation was performed to establish the relationship between work-life balance, quality of work and work-related stress.
Summary
Profile of respondents
A decision was made to use only the information received from company A and discard information received from companies B, C and others. The data from the sample of 51 completed questionnaires (N = 51) were used to analyze the correlation between the descriptive statistics and the various summaries.
Demographic information
The new (young) engineers who join the company fall in the age group of 20 to 29 years and make up only 14% of the total. For this reason, the biographical data will be disregarded in the rest of the discussion.
Descriptive statistical data and results
If question 52 is “partly” or “not”: Do you perceive not knowing what tasks your job duties include as stressful. If question 68 is "yes" or "partially": Do you perceive not setting limits on tasks as stressful.
Reliability of data gathered
Because of work, you find it difficult to find time to be with your loved ones. Because of work, you find it difficult to find time for your leisure activities.
Comparison with biographical data
According to WEPL (enhancement of personal life part), the effect size is medium with a value of 0.63. Regarding PLEW (enhancement of personal life or work), the effect size is large with a value of 0.84.
Correlation between instruments
Work-life balance and quality of work
The correlation between QWS_Satisfaction (Quality of work satisfaction) and WLB_WIPL (Work-life balance – Work interference with personal life) has a value of -0.620. The correlation is the same for QWS_Satisfaction and WLB_PLEW (Work-life – Personal enhancement of work-life).
Work-life balance and occupational stress
The correlation between the QWS_Cooperation and work-life factor is small: WLB_WIPL and WLB_WEPL are positive, while WLB_PLIW and WLB_PLEW have a negative correlation. When the conflict at work is high, it means that the improvement of one's personal life and work life is low.
Quality of work and occupational stress
Although the positive correlation between WS_Work_Leisure, WLB_WEPL, and WLB_PLEW is relatively low, it indicates that reducing time spent at/with work and intentionally spending more time with family and friends can improve personal life and work life. The correlation between work commitment and cooperation is almost zero, which means that the abstracts do not influence each other.
SUMMARY
The questionnaire is suitable for use in other companies to measure employee satisfaction in a company.
Conclusions from the study
The research objective
Recommendation and practical implementations
Areas of future study
Limitations of the study
Conclusion
