Introduction
After the global financial crisis in 2008, many companies experienced a dip in their profits. Most companies were forced to adopt major structural reforms. Some of the structural reforms involved retrenching employees. The remaining employees had to take up the extra workload. Therefore, this has brought to the fore the issue of work-life balance.
Benefits of an effective work-life balance
A review of related literature revealed several benefits associated with an effective work-life balance. One of the key benefits identified is increased productivity. In this case, both the employee and company benefit. Past studies indicate that increased productivity resulted in increased sales volume that translated into an improved bottom line for the company.
Additionally, the employees also enjoyed benefits such as getting ample time for other activities, including spending time with friends and family. Also, an effective work-life balance enabled the employee to plan and prioritize his or her activities around the company’s objectives. Therefore, the employee was able to achieve both company and personal objectives without strive.
Tips for better work-life balance
In the review for related literature, we came across several tips for better work-life balance. Results from past studies indicate that to achieve an effective work-life balance, it was important for an employee to schedule a time for family and friends. Therefore, an employee was always aware of the time allocated to family and thus did allocate the time to other activities. Secondly, an employee was required to ensure that he or she spends quality time with family and friends. This involves engaging in outdoor activities, such as attending sports events.
Furthermore, self-discipline was also identified as a critical component of an effective work-life balance. It involves strictly following an established schedule. It ensured that the employee did not allocate family time to other activities. Another tool of time management identified is timing oneself while performing various tasks at the place of work. Therefore, an employee was in a position to evaluate performance, thus can improve on the time taken to complete a task.
Work-life conflict
While reviewing related studies, we discovered that there are several things associated with work-life conflict. One of the aspects associated with work-life is an unmanageable work load. Employees were, therefore, not in a position to allocate any time to family time. Also, work-related stress was identified as a source of work-life conflict where employees couldn’t competently handle roles from a place of work and home.
Conducting the study
There several things that we were learned in the course of the research process. The study was conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total of 80 participants were used where 40 were women, and the rest were men. The research design employed in the study surveyed. One of the advantages of the survey is that one can collect a lot of data for analysis. To increase the validity of the research results, participants in the study were parents who held full-time jobs.
The main tool for data collection was questionnaires. Before the actual study, the questionnaire was subjected to a pilot study. In conducting the pilot study, we observed that results from the pilot study were very helpful in designing the final questionnaire. We removed all ambiguous questions as identified by the participants.
This helped to save on money and time. The final questionnaire was both in English and Arabic. Therefore; participants were in a position to comprehend the questions. In data analysis, we used modern data analysis tools, including software such as Microsoft Excel which we used to generate percentages from our study. Finally, the research results can be used by both employees and organizations in developing effective work-life programs.