Even though success can be defined in different ways by different individuals, the balance between work and home is the real success that one can achieve. Even if employees were expected to be fully committed to the duties assigned to them in the past, with recent trends to have a qualitative human capital, which will add a value into the organisation, companies began respecting employees’ right to succeed at home. Accordingly, it is considered that succeeding at work as well as home creates a more creative and tension-free workforce. Employees, whose life does not clash with work, can actively contribute towards the organisation. In other words, employees’ satisfaction will also result in customers’ satisfaction. Therefore, new strategies should be made to direct employees for succeeding at work and home alike.
Since we are living in a world where competition and unpredictability are on the rise, unprecedentedly, the time that was previously set aside for being with family members, visiting relations, has gone down considerably. Employees are required to be at the workplace, working hard, sometimes, working overtimes. On the other hand, the modern family system has faced challenges that couldn’t be seen earlier. The time for being together at home is on the decrease, opening a can of warms. Under these circumstances, almost every employee, irrespective of their designations, has begun finding ways to succeed at work and home alike, as being an extremist in this journey leads to a tragic destination.
Work and home can never be separated from each other, as both can be considered two pillars that bear the burden of human life, ultimately bringing prosperity into the life. Work-life balance can be defined as an individual’s ability to meet his work and family commitments, as well as other non-work responsibilities and activities. Let’s have a closer look at work and home with a human approach which produces sustainable solutions.
Home
Home is the first to be discussed in this respect, for people associate with home from birth to death and home cannot be replaced by any wonderful place in the world. It is at home that people feel that they are really living. Home is the place that everyone expects. Employees, as parents and spouses, have to take care of their loved ones living at home. Because family members are diverse in all senses of the word, personalized strategies are required, as if customized strategies are necessary for a business.
For most people, juggling the demands of a career and a personal life is an ongoing challenge, especially at a time when many companies have slashed their ranks and expect more from the survivors. Consequently, the conflict between work and home seems to have got worse.
When having a closer look at the family system, modern trends are that the number of family members has gone down and the strength of relationships among members is getting weaker day by day. It is under these circumstances that the family members have to support one another for balancing work with home.
Stop doing your office work and thinking of the office being at home can be considered factors which really test your discipline. Use time to have at least your dinner with your family members, as it is a great opportunity for tightening your ties with them.
Work
If people can live without working, they really don’t work. Hence, it has to be emphasized that people work for earning their bread and butter. Most probably, the success of career depends on the success of family life. Therefore, it is an inter-related concept.
As people spend much of their time for fulfilling their duties at the workplace, what they do at work has an impact on their life. Some, who really waste their time doing unnecessary things at work, take the work home for completing. Say NO to those who try to steal your time.
Balance
It is needless to say that imbalance results in stress and anxiety in the minds of employees. Those that experience the imbalance tend to exhibit lower levels of job satisfaction and organisational commitment, leading to higher absenteeism. When employees struggle with the imbalance, they project a bad image on the organisation. Then, it is difficult for the particular business to recruit best professionals.
Organisations need a qualitative workforce, but not a quantitative workforce. What is more important to note here is that the number of employees working in the organisation means wages paid, perks and privileges, while the quality of employees brings values and profits to the organisation. Hence, it is up to the employers to find the ways in which the quality of employees can be improved. In doing so, the employers have to identify some strategies which make life balanced.
(By Amila Muthukutti holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Colombo and can be reached at [email protected])
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