Critical Factors Influencing Work Life Balance of the Engineer- A Review

Critical Factors Influencing Work Life Balance of the Engineer- A Review

S. Saran

PG Student, Department of Civil Engineering

Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, SRIT Coimbatore, India

Abstract: The study examines work-life balance (WLB) using a replica of 153 employees addicted to a large New Zealand organization. Analysis of company policies identied sixteen WLB initiatives currently being accessible. Employees were surveyed to determine the extent of their awareness and use of nowaccessible initiatives. Factors inuencing WLB initiative use and employee outcomes for initiative use were investigated. No support is found for the role of coworker hold on WLB initiative applies. Initiative use wasrelated to reduce work-to-family conict. Work-to-family conict, family-to-work conict, and commitment to the organization were related to intention to turnover. The consequences highlight the importance of workplace culture in enable an environment that is helpful of WLB and consequently use of initiatives that are offered by the organization

Keywords: Stress, Occupational Health, Job Satisfaction

1. INTRODUCTION

   Maintaining a balance between ones personal and professional life has become a prominent topic in the society. The expression Work-life Balance (WLB) was first used in the middle of 1970s to describe the balance between ones work and personal life. In the year 1977, Kanter opined about the myth of separate world and called attention to the reality that work and home are inescapable linked. In past few years, there has been increasing interest in WLB in the press and in scholarly journals well as government, management and employee representative. This increase interest is in part driven by concerns that unbalanced work-life relationships can result in reduced health and low performance outcomes for individual, families and organization.

   In a society filled through conflicting responsibilities and commitments work life balance has become a pre-dominant issue in the workplace.

   Work Life Balance: A state of equilibrium into which the demands of both a persons job and personal life are equal. Work-life balance consists of three components: Time balance, Involvement balance and Satisfaction balance.

   Work-life balance is anmain issue to the construction industry, in conditions of both organizational effectiveness as well as occupational health. When individuals struggle to maintain and satisfy the demands placed on them with both the work also family domains, an imbalance may occur. Work- family conflict canisterbe defined as a source of stress resulting from irreconcilable pressure from the work and family spheres. Work-life balance has become an increasingly pervasive concern to both employers and employees of most

   Mr. R. Manoj Kumar

   Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering

   Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, SRIT Coimbatore, India

   organizations. Work-life balance which mostly deals with an employee ability to suitably prioritize between work and his or her lifestyle, social life, health, family etc., is greatly linked with employee productivity, performance and job satisfaction. Where there is proper balance between work and life, employees tend to put in their best efforts at work, because their family is happy.

   The study carried out with the collection of 100 samples. Total of 100 samples where distributed and mean while 100 were collected. From the collected data the progress was carried out. There were three analysis carried out respectively, frequency analysis, discriminate analysis and significant analysis. From the following carried out analysis it was found that which factor affects the work life balance of an engineer the most.

   Most research studies have exposed that when nearby are happy homes, work places automatically become conflict free and enjoyable places to be. Increasing attrition rates and increasing demand for work-life balance have forced organizations to look beyond run of the mill Human Resources interventions. As a result, initiatives such as flexible working hours, alternative work arrangements, leave policies and benefits in lieu of family care responsibilities and employee assistance programs have become a significant part of most of the company benefit programs and compensation packages. Important Indicators of WLB includes Poorer mental and physical health, Less life satisfaction, Higher levels of stress, Higher levels of emotional exhaustion, Less physical exercise, Higher likelihood to engage in problem drinking, Increased anxiety and depression levels, Poor appetite.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

   Karatepea and Sokmen (2004), the paper objective is to reduce the developing stress in frontline employees. Identify the effects of role work & family role variables on frontline employees. The methodology here used was setting and Samples measures.This result suggests that female employees have difficulty in balancing work requirements with family and homemaking responsibilities and other commitments outside the workplace, or vice versa.With this realization, managers need to arrange effective training programs for supervisors so that they may provide frontline employees with clear and accurate guidance about how to perform job-related tasks better. Effective training programs may be possible remedies to reduce the detrimental effects.

   Lingard, et. al., (2007), the objective of this paper is to adopt new way of scheduling work in construction industry. The methodology used here are Interviewed, Intervention and Questionnaire survey. Finding shows Employees wellbeing and satisfied with the work life balance.This arrangement is designed to ensure that project cost targets are met but that commercial participants cannot suffer losses greater than their corporate profit and overhead in the project. A mechanism is then developed by which any cost savings are shared between the alliance participants.

   Noor, (2011), the objective is to identify whether job satisfaction and organizational commitment will mediate the relationship btw WLB & intention to leave. The methodology done is Study framework, Population & samples, Data collection and Demographic questionnaire. ToIndicates that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are partial mediators for the relationship btw WLB & intention to leave.The extant literature on the subject of work-life balance tends to make numbers of assumptions and one of those is that improving an organizations work-life balance leads not only to greater productivity but to greater company loyalty and low level of intent to leave.

   Lingard and Francis, (1977), the main objective in this paper was to Quantify work experience, Explore relation btw work condition & other variable and Work life issue. The methodology done was Data collection and Questionnaire design. The paper concluded that the Work overloaded and Lack of control was found. There was insufficient reward and Age & life stage was also considered as a factor. An organizational culture needs to be fostered within which work- life policies are understood to be a right, instead of a benefit. Employees must feel comfortable about utilizing these options without being branded as being lacking in commitment to their work.

   Hudson, (2001), this paper has the objective to practices to attract and retain talent it also demand greater attention to work/life balance. The Methodology done was Public policy development and Organizational demand. The findings and conclusion here says Time expectation, Gendered perceptions and Co-worke support are considered. And importantly, organizations not providing real opportunity for employee work/life balance are opening themselves up to increasing numbers of dissatisfied also unproductive employees and hence increased attrition rates.

   E-Facts family issue and WLBs (2006). European Agency for Safety and Health at Work The objective is to identify causes, consequences and how to improve level of this. The final conclusions shoed here was how the Work to family conflicts occurs and vice versa how Family to work conflicts occur.

   Lingard, et.al, (2010), the objective of this paper to capturing the number of hours worked and satisfaction with work-life balance for 21 consecutive weeks. The methodology of the paper is Data collection, the data was collected and samples were being analyzed. The findings and conclusion here

   says the results highlight the (negative) correlation between hours of work and construction workers satisfaction with work-life balance. The impact of project events and opportunities for rest and recovery.

   SobiaShujat, et.al, (2011), the main objective of this journal was to analyze job satisfaction as per gender, age and managerial position. The methodology used here was data collection in primary source and secondary sources. This paper given the conclusion that it can be beneficial for improving policies and for various benefits program. The core purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of work life balance on employee job satisfaction in private banking sector of Karachi. The data were collected keeping in consideration features such as gender, age, managerial position and tenure of job. Factors involved are job satisfaction and work life balance with respect to flexible working conditions, work life balance programs, employee intention to change/leave job, work pressure/stress and long working hours.

   IoanLazr, et.al, (2010), the objective of this paper is to analyze importance of WLB to improve organizational performances. The survey was done and the data were collected from various employees in order to improve our understanding, choice, implementation and effectiveness of work-life practices. The function of this paper is to start whether work- life balance initiatives and practices can be considered as considered human resource management decisions to can translate interested in improved individual and organizational performance.

   Jennifer Smith, (2007), Employees were surveyed toward determine the extent of their awareness and use of currently offered initiatives. Factors inuencing WLB initiative use and employee outcomes for initiative use were investigated. Female employees and younger employees used more WLB initiatives while employees reporting higher levels of management support and supervisor support, and perceiving fewer career damage and time demands also used more WLB initiatives. The results highlight the importance of workplace culture in enabling an environment that is supportive of WLB and consequently use of initiatives that are offered by the organization.

   HarshadaMulay, et.al, (2014), the study tries to look hooked on the work related stresses that affect the work life ultimately creating an imbalance in the work-life balance. The Analysis of the interviews and the scope of the employees to have a balance between their work and life offered to them in the organization, the role of the team leaders with the level of job satisfaction. Factors that affect the work- life balance of the employees were investigated. The importance of the workplace culture that enabled employees to attain a balance between work and life was highlighted in the results.

   Littig, (2005), It has been claimed that most people work in construction out of necessity not of choice. The massive size of the industry and involvement of large number of stakeholders over a relatively long lifecycle of the construction project, provide great opportunities to provide

   well-beings to community in social context. This paper aims to uncover the underlying social values that can be delivered through the development of construction project. Utilizing a questionnaire survey carried out in Saudi Arabia, the opinions of construction people were sought and evaluated. The results derived from descriptive and statistical factor analyses, indicate that certain social factors are highly critical to be incorporated in construction processes for delivering well- beings to the construction stakeholders. Operation Health and Safety, psychological comfort, Capital performance and Accessibility were found to be the crucial social factors for enhancements of well-being.

   Jawaharrani, et.al, (2011), A changing economy also an aging workforce can join together to create an employment environment where competent employees who are unhappy in their current situations are motivated to find a new place to "hang their hats." A highly engaged workforce is 50% more productive than an unengaged workforce. The majority of HR professionals (78%) feel employee engagement is main or extremely important to business success. Employee engagement has emerged as a critical driver of business winner in today's competitive marketplace.

   Devi (2014), the objective here is to avoid conflicts in family and work. The balance to be maintained in between the family and work. The findings here defines Work place flexibility is important factor , Long working hours increases stress level, Child care support are required, Rehabilitation and Medical service. The working conditions in the construction industry have been improved during the past decades and efforts have been made to reduce the amount of heavy lifting and carrying, but hard physical labor, static work, climatic influences, noise, and dust are still consider able burden for construction workers. Women constitute 48 per cent of India's population but their share and participation in its development is nominal. Reforms, special legislations, creation of a number of institutions supposed to cater to their needs and increase in the, budgetary allotments over the years have not altered the basic life-styles of large masses of women.

   Jim Bird, This article provides the methods for you to accelerate the implementation of a very successful work-life strategy within your organization. First we cover why work-life is critical to the key objectives of your organization and its executive team. A brief history of work-life efforts follows so you can learn from the trial and error of others and avoid their mistakes. Finally, we describe the two parts of a successful work-life strategy and how you can most quickly and effectively implement them.

3. CONCLUSION

The react to changing market conditions more effectively and meet customer demands for example shift work, part time work and flexitime can help you open longer without marking your employees work longer hours. Meet seasonal peaks in your business. Boot your competitiveness. Become recognized as a business that people want to work.

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