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Abstract
Purpose: The difficulties of employees coping with work and other aspect of life sphere remain a challenge. Therefore, this study seek to examine the strategies in organizational work schedule and arrangements that can be designed in encouraging and achieving work life balance.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a critical review of different studies in the area of work life balance and flexible work schedule and arrangement with the aim of broadening existing knowledge and providing a better understanding of the position and contributions from various scholars, authors and experts in the field.
Findings: Findings reveal that flexible work schedule and arrangement is an effective means of achieving work life balance. Flexi-time, working from home, part time, job sharing and tele-working have been depicted as effective strategic approaches of achieving work life balance. Shift work has however been found to be negatively interfering with work life balance.
Practical Implication: Though work life balance has gained wide attention, yet, many organizations are still lacking in sourcing and implementing appropriate strategies to minimize work life conflict and achieved work life balance. This growing awareness of the issue of work life conflict has resulted in major growth in attempted work-life solutions during this decade, and this study provides some of the best, easiest, and cost effective strategies of work schedule and arrangements that can be adapted, implemented and practiced.
Originality: This study provides a collaborative evidence of various explores and studies, thus it present tested and approved collective method of achieving work life balance with a proposed framework that can be tested empirically.
Keywords: Flexible work schedule/arrangement, work life balance (WLB)
Paper Type: Review Paper
Introduction
Work life balance (WLB) has become an essential element in sustaining and achieving balance between individual life and work life. Although emerged as solution oriented attempt to ease the women workforce of conflict arising as a result of their involvement in the workforce, WLB gained wide attention and has gone beyond a women oriented strategic solution. The practice of WLB was solidified in the 1990s after Kellogg Company first introduced the practice through structured work-life program of four-six-hour shifts to replace the traditional three daily eight-hour shifts. During the 1980s, organizations such as Merck, Deloitte and Touché, and IBM began to change...