Effect of Work-Life Balance on Employee Engagement and Commitment in Banking Sector

Effect of Work-Life Balance on Employee Engagement and Commitment in Banking Sector

IRLSPC-25 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

Sara Salim Al-Khusaibi

Undergraduate Business Student

Faculty of Business Management, Majan University College, Muscat, Oman Email address: 20901307@majancollege.edu.om

Pappusamy Udhayanan

(Majan University College)

Abstract

Do we work to live, or live to work? Many employees have started asking this question, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers are stressed and overworked and neglect their health and private lives. The recent pandemic has woken up employees and made people become more aware of work-life balance, even more than salary. Building an organization that supports work-life balance is difficult because it involves changing the way people think, which can be a long-term process. However, it brings many benefits not only to employees but also to the organization, such as employee engagement, employee commitment, attracting top talent, reduced burnout, and positive reputation. Organizations do not need talented and qualified employees; rather, they need talented, qualified, and happy ones. If employees are unhappy, they will not engage in their workplace, nor will they be committed to their jobs. Establishing a psychological contract will be a daunting task, and eventually, the staff quits and finds one that cares for their well-being. This study examines the effect of work-life balance on employee engagement and commitment in the banking sector of Oman. The main research void relates to the scarcity of specific studies examining how WLB affects employee engagement and commitment in Omans banking sector. There is a lack of comprehensive research focusing on this relationship in the Oman region. This research aims to shed light on whether work-life balance has any effect on the engagement and commitment of employees working in private banks in Oman. The other purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of work-life balance and how without it, workers will suffer from stress and literally break down, which could destroy not only their private life but also their professional lives.

This research adopts a subjective-interpretivist approach, as this will allow the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of employees mindsets. A mixed approach that uses both quantitative and qualitative measures, a structured questionnaire, and interviews will be adopted to collect the data. Both the questionnaire and the interview statement will be subjected to a test of reliability and validity before administration. A non-probability method involving snowball sampling will be used to collect data from 125 employees working in private banks. The questionnaires will be bilingual (English and Arabic), designed using Google form, and shared electronically through email and WhatsApp. In addition, the researcher will interview 20 employees of the 125 samples to conduct an in-depth analysis and triangulate the results. Statistical tools such a chi-square and multiple regression will be used to analyze the data, and to establish relationship patterns.

This study expects that worklife balance (WLB) positively affects employees engagement and commitment in Bank Dhofar. This study will garner details of the various factors that affect the WLB of employees and will help in understanding the various relationship patterns among WLB, employee engagement, and employee commitment. The above findings will assist Bank Dhofar to strategize appropriate interventions and develop WLB policies. In addition, this research will provide action plans by factoring the studys findings and gleaning the academic and practitioners perspectives through secondary sources.

Overall, it is a win-win situation when an organization cares about their employees' balanced lives, as it helps boost their engagement level and commitment, which results in higher performance and productivity. Worklife balance could be a solution to each company struggling to keep their employees or gain their trust.

Keywords: Bank Dhofar, employee commitment and engagement, work-life balance (WLB).

Volume 13, Issue 01

Published by, www.ijert.org

ISSN: 2278-0181