Balance of Life and Work
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Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
College of Humanities and Social Studies, Grand Canyon University
COM-500: Relationships in the Workplace
Dr. April Williams
August 9, 2023
1
The Balance of Life and Work
Adopting a healthy work-life balance is critical for maintaining one’s overall mental,
physical and financial well-being. Having this balanced life helps employees to be productive,
creative, and satisfied with their job. Work-life balance is a justifiable and effective allocation of
self between work and life responsibilities, demanding a strong separation between “work” and
“life” with slight crossover of one into the other (Iyer, 2022). This adjustment in one’s daily
routine reduces the possibility of burnout, health issues, alienation of family and mental distress.
Employees should take advantage of the work-life balance opportunities provided by their
employer to stay healthy. In the Nigerian culture, organizations do not help employees with
balancing work and personal demands because that is the obligation of the employee (Okolie et
al., 2023). Employers can help their employees prioritize work-life balance by offering flextime,
telecommuting, wellness programs and tuition reimbursement. Creating this policy will help
employees deal with personal and professional lives more efficiently. Organizations must first
assess the needs of the employees, develop the policy, establish guidelines, implement,
disseminate the information, and conduct an annual review.
Assessing the Employees Needs
To get an understanding of employee’s concept of work-life balance, conducting focus
group forums and surveys is useful. Employers are able to gain solicited insight from the
employees, and they will feel like they have a voice in creating a work-life balance policy. This
process will provide the employer with information regarding the employee’s needs and
challenges. It will start the process of the employer creating a policy that will promote a healthy
work environment and increase job satisfaction which creates longevity of employees. During
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the forums employees are able to ask questions and pose concerns regarding the new policy and
how it will benefit them.
Development of Policy
Policies are created to establish rules and regulations that will promote fairness, equality,
and efficiency. They also state the expectations of the employees and holds them accountable for
their actions. Policies benefit organizations by creating an environment that supports creativity,
collaboration, health, and well-being of their employees, and achieving organizational goals.
Developing an effective policy determines what needs to address the concerns of the employees.
That is why the assessment from the employees is vital. Are they suggesting flextime,
telecommuting, wellness programs or tuition reimbursement? Decision making regarding work-
life balance policy is a collaboration between employer and employees and how this policy will
also benefit the organization.
Guidelines
Establishing clear and concise guidelines stating what employees should expect regarding
the work-life policy will benefit them and the organization. It provides the employees with a
first-hand look at what is being offered, how they can manage their schedule, increase
productivity, job satisfaction, encourages a healthy lifestyle and education incentive. Creating
this policy will help retain talented employees, attract new ones, boost morale, and create a non-
hostile and stress-free environment.
Implementation
The implementation of a work-life balance policy will meet some resistance from
management and employees until they understand it is created to help their well-being.
Organizations that have a work-life balance policy is vital for their employee’s job satisfaction,
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mental wellness, and productivity. Having this stated policy is one way to attract and retain
valuable employees and create a positive and safe work environment. Organizations should
consider these elements when developing their policy: flextime, telecommuting and wellness
programs to foster a supportive work environment. According to Griffin et al., (2020) flexible
working locations can be inside or outside of the office, because it is more portable (laptop,
tablet, or smartphone) than paper and pencil. Spending time away from the office encourages
engagement and fosters wellness. Happy employee, productive employee.
Flextime:
permits the employees to adjust their start and end times. This allows employees to
take care of personal matters without disrupting working hours and employers don’t have to
questions if the work is getting done on time.
Telecommuting (flexible working locations):
permits employees to work remotely from home
or other locations beside the office. The reduces the need for large office space.
Tuition Reimbursement:
employees can purse a particular degree or certificate and the
company is willing to contribute a specific dollar amount per year. Encourages employees to
pursue a degree with the possibility of an increase in pay. Keeps talent within the company.
Wellness Program:
improving employees health with onsite weight management classes, quiet
rooms, monthly massages, or volunteering in the community.
Disseminating the Policy
Communicating this new policy to employees ensures they are aware, informed and
understand how it works. This will allow open dialogue between employer and employees,
creating transparency. Being clear and concise regarding the implementation of said policy will
make the employees who contributed to the focus group forum or survey feel heard and valued.
Conducting Townhall Meetings on different days, times and virtually will give all employees the
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opportunity to ask questions and address their concerns. Instead of providing hard copies of the
policy, make it accessible on the organizations Human Resources webpage. Therefore, there is no
question about one receiving the current policy because it is always available on the company’s
website. This takes the burden off Human Resources keeping track of who received a hardcopy
and who did not.
Annual Review of Policy
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy there must be checks and balances
annually. This can be conducted again by focus group forums and surveys. This should be
performed at the beginning of the third quarter because this will allow time to collect and review
the data and make any necessary adjustments. Feedback will provide the data to determine how
effective the policy benefits the organization. Data can also be collected regarding employee’s
absenteeism, productivity, and job satisfaction. Adjustments can be made to benefit the
organization and the employees’ well-being. The purpose of this review is because needs change
due to downsizing, restructuring and company growth.
Conclusion
Many factors should be considered when implementing a work-life balance policy.
Organizations downsize, restructure, and grow their population constantly. Therefore, policies
must be adjusted to support this change as needed to reduce the stress and uncertainty employees
may have regarding the company. The implementation of a work-life balance policy is to benefit
the employer as well as the employee, generate collaboration, engagement, positive morale, and
employee satisfaction ultimately achieving the goals of the company.
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References
Griffin, R. W., Phillips, J.M., & Gully, S.M. (2020).
Organizational behavior: Managing people
and organizations
. Boston, MA: Cengage ISBN-13: 9780357689998
Iyer, A. (2022). Work-life balance what is it and how do we attain it?
Psychiatric Times
,
39
(8),
12–14.
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=ccm&AN=158405713&site=eds-live&scope=site
Ugo Chuks Okolie, Akpomuvire Mukoro, & Atare Otite. (2023). Work-life balance policy and
practice in Nigeria.
Journal of Social Studies
,
19
(1), 63–78. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.21831/jss.v19i1.58628
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