Importance of Work Life Balance as a Employee Retention Strategy

IMPORTANCE OF WORK LIFE BALANCE AS A EMPLOYEE RETENTION STRATEGY

Name: Nashra Syedi

Course: MBA Executive

Register Number: 1528931

Email: syedinashra@gmail.com

Abstract:  Attracting and retaining the best talent continues to top the priority list of organizations of all sizes and industries. Inflexible work arrangements are a primary reason an organisation losses its best human resource.

The main aim of this article is to study the literature pertaining to retention of good employees and the role that work‐life balance (WLB) issues have in an employee's decision to stay or leave an organisation. The Article provides an overview of the key employee turnover literature, with specific attention given to the role of WLB issues in the turnover decision‐making process. The article also provides a theoretical framework to develop strategies for reduced employee turnover, with a focus on work life balance as retention strategy.

 The key findings from the literature review focus on job satisfaction and organisational commitment, the role of WLB in employee turnover and, the strategies provided to reduce turnover rates.

 Recommendations include the need for legislation on maximum, as well as minimum working hours, flexible working hours and arrangements, and family friendly work policies.

Key words – Flexibility Job satisfaction, Professional – Personal life and Retention.

IMPORTANCE:

The greatest challenge to the Human Resource Managers nowadays is to cost-effectively recruit, train and retain their employees. The organizations have now understood that the key resource for high tech organizations to compete in the new economy is no longer capital or hard assets but qualified, well trained talents.  Due to the constant changing economic conditions and demands of the society, work has changed its role all over the world. Employees are widely acknowledged as the most challenging and competitive capital of an organization. In order to retain the quality employees, organizations in the new economy must understand what the employees want and how they can obtain job satisfaction. The aggressive competition for talents has been called “the war for talent” (Chambers et al., 1998). This war needs to be won by the companies by encouraging a practical and workable work life balance policy, benefiting and meeting the needs of both the companies and its employees The better work life balance will positively improve the performance, productivity and the retention of employees. Most business owners and managers think retention is based on compensation issues--wage and salary levels, incentives, and golden handcuffs--when in reality the drivers go much deeper into the human psyche to the actions and attitudes that make employees feel successful, secure and appreciated.

Concept Of Work Life Balance:

Work Life balance has been a growing concern of the organizations nowadays which helps employees balance work and non-work responsibilities. This concept focused primarily on helping employees balance work and family responsibilities by offering family-friendly benefits. A number of changes in workforce demographics and social have brought work life balance issues to the attention of companies as a way of attracting and retaining employees.

Work Life Balance is defined as a Balance of Family, Life and Work. In broader sense, it is defined as a satisfactory level of involvement between the multiple roles in a person‟s life. It involves the examination of people’s ability to manage simultaneously the multi-faceted demands of life. Work Life Balance is defined as “A state of equilibrium in which the demands of both a person’s job and personal life are equal”. Work Life Balance is also defined as being about “effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people.”

Work Life Balance As a retention Strategy :

With the growing diversity of family structures represented in the workforce in the new millennium, it is important that human resource professionals better understand the interface of work and family relationships and the resulting impact in the workplace. Work-life balance that people demand today is not different from what people wanted yesterday. The only difference lies in the demands of the society, as society has changed from what it was yesterday to what it is today. Today the trend has moved towards single parent and dual-working parents with increased domestic responsibilities. It is very critical for the organizations to attract and retain their best human capital in order to remain competitive. The best way to do so is to consider “what employees want?” Today the answer to this question is “work-life balance” which majority of the employees want without taking into consideration their age, gender, type of the job, experience, etc.