MGTS2609 40% Assessment task

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The University of Queensland *

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MGTS2609

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Management

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Apr 3, 2024

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Introduction Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the repercussions of work / life balance amongst employees and the role HR professionals play in ensuring this balance remains intact within an organisation. Work / life balance is defined by Lockwood (2003), as “a state of equilibrium in which the demands of both a person's job and personal life are equal.” This correlates with work / life balance placing importance on HRM strategy within an organisation to ensure focus on the linking of HR activities with the organisational objectives. In order to retain this balance human resource professionals must provide options for employees to enable flexibility via communicative links. These options/policies enable success from the fundamental structure of an organisation, retain employees, formulate a positive work culture, and improve employee morale. This research orientated paper will centre on personal lives/family values, an aging workforce and global competition. These aspects will be discussed in relation to how strategic HRM can benefit levels of communication between employees and employers to minimise stress formed around work / life balance. Personal lives/family conflict Personal lives and family values are one of the most important aspects to consider when discussing work / life balance, due to the fact it considers the ‘life’ variable of the concept. A study conducted by Garcia (2015) investigated the effects of work-life conflict on female principals and found that the expectations of fulfilling family and work responsibilities was the biggest contributor to work-life conflict. Further, the use of support systems was considered extremely beneficial when regarding stress levels amongst participants Garcia (2015). This raises questions surrounding stress being a core contributor towards life balance and minimisation could be achieved through support systems as a key target. Within this study there is a clear bias regarding female principles compared to the general population which displays the variance between organisations, the culture displayed and the employees themselves/the lives they lead. Furthermore, Boyar, Maertz, P, Pearson, W & Shawn (2003) examined work-family conflict and the effects on turnover within an organisation. It was discovered throughout the study of 432 factory workers that work-family conflict was a large contributor to turnover rates within

the workplace. Additionally, work stress factors were directly related to work-family conflict and was said to lead to higher levels of family-work conflict. Therefore, when discussing personal lives and family values stress has been a direct contributor in both studies surrounding work/life balance. Thus, showing the importance placed on reducing stress intrinsically and externally within a workplace via the support systems of HR. Garcia (2015) found the support systems that worked in order to reduce stress were mentoring programs, husbands, extended family members and formal/informal networking. Support is one of the most common resources when discussing work-life balance Grawitch et al (2010). These systems are put in place for the reduction of stress at an individual and organisational level. The main underlying issue for personal lives and family conflict is the level of workload and how it impacts the employees home life. These hours can fluctuate between career, however, are the main issue when discussing stress resulting from work/life balance. This can be mitigated by a range of different avenues provided by management to put policies in place to ensure employees are not being burnout, have support systems in place for stress management and ensure the culture of the workplace is positively correlated with the goals of the organisation ensuring employees have a positive perspective towards their work. Aging workforce The aging workforce will be a continuous issue relating to work/life balance as the age of retirement continues to increase especially within third world countries. Vives, Gray, González & Molina (2018) discuss work–life balance and the health of men and women in an ageing workforce. This study specifically targets Chilean workers who have limited protection and generally poor working conditions. In this scenario health is the main determinator of employment within these third world countries as a further importance is placed on finances. The double work burden is further discussed amongst women who must care for a child but also provide financially for a family. In relation to HRM theory, human resources planning is the primary issue that can benefit the aging workforce to the greatest extent. Planning environmental issues arise when discussing the future of the workforce, these issues extend into scarcity of talent, globalisation, a multigenerational workforce, and women in the workplace. These issues must be planned for

to ensure that workers have fair rights especially within third world countries where these issues are most prevalent. According to Young and Kleiner (1992), skills, emotions, attitudes, and behaviour can be transferred from employees who are developed better in a home state (family/individual life) into work roles. Further extending, the study of González & Molina (2018) to a work/life balance aspect, specifically amongst women. How can employees have a positive level of skills, emotions, attitudes, and behaviours when there is such a high demand in a multigenerational workforce. The aging workplace is specifically targeted towards women in the workplace, González & Molina (2018) found that the need to be both at home and at work at the same time for women remains over 30%. This results in several problems which must be addressed by HR professionals within the workplace. A level of work/life balance amongst an aging workforce can be achieved via HR planning, fair work policies being put in place and ensuring the work environment is safe and providing correct health measures for employees. Global Competition In the ever-evolving world with organisations pushing each other via competitive advantage importance is put towards global competition in relation to work/life balance. This constant pressure management undergo to ensure their employees continue to uphold and exceed expectations to ensure the organisation continues to grow can put pressure on work/life balance within employees. Farndalea, Scullion & Sparrow (2009) discuss global talent management regarding increasing global competition for talent and new form of international mobility. Discussion surrounds supply and demand of the current industry and competition addressing the issue at different perspectives and levels. Professional HR will formulate strive for a competitive advantage through recruitment and selection. Selection importantly enables the best candidates in order to achieve a competitive advantage over the industry. In accordance with this, Sivatte, Gordon, Rojo, Pilar & Olmos (2015), discuss work-life culture on organisational productivity. The importance of culture within an organisation will

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be said to be a main determinator for work/life balance. This is due to employees being more inclined to enjoy the workplace and avoid ‘work’ level stressors. Conclusion Personal lives/family conflict, the aging workforce and global competition are mainly contributors with work/life balance. These three areas formulate HRM issues and can be alleviated via HR professionals following correct areas within their region. Within personal lives and family conflict it was found that stress was the main issue and can be combatted with positive support systems intrinsically for an employee. The aging workforce will always be an issue however, with the proper HR planning protocols can be mitigated and enable that employees have fair work rights that respect them in their said role as employees of the organisation. Finally, with global competition comes pressure from management upon employees. This can be tough to combat as this is a constant pressure within the workforce, importance can be placed on the culture within a workplace to combat this issue and the ‘work’ aspect of employees is respected and creates a sense of happiness to alleviate stress surrounding work processors.

Bello, Garbra Ibrahim. 2020 Review of Work-Life Balance Theories. December 2020GATR Global Journal of Business Social Sciences Review 8(4):217-227 Boyar, S. L., Maertz, Carl P., Jr, Pearson, A. W., & Keough, S. 2003. Work-Family Conflict: A Model Of Linkages Between Work And Family Domain Variables And Turnover Intentions. Journal of Managerial Issues, 15(2): 175–190. De Sivatte, I., Gordon, J. R., Rojo, P., & Olmos, R. 2015. The impact of work-life culture on organizational productivity. Personnel Review, 44(6): 883–905. Farndale, E., Scullion, H., & Sparrow, P. 2010. The role of the corporate HR function in global talent management. Journal of World Business : JWB, 45(2): 161–168. Garcia, B. E. 2015. Work-life balance: A phenomenological study on how female principals balance their professional and personal lives. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Nancy R Lockwood. 2003. Work/life balance: Challenges and solutions. Benefits Quarterly, 19(4): 94. Stone, R. J., Cox, A., & Gavin, M. (2021). Chapter 1: Strategic human resource management. In, Human resource management (10th ed.). John Wiley and Sons Australia. Vives, A., Gray, N., González, F., & Molina, A. 2018. Gender and Ageing at Work in Chile: Employment, Working Conditions, Work–Life Balance and Health of Men and Women in an Ageing Workforce. Annals of Work Exposures and Health, 62(4): 475–489.

MGTS2609 40% Assessment task

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