Work-Life Balance Dilemma: How Do You Juggle Career Growth and Personal Life?

Dear Partners,

Sometimes it appears that work-life balance is more about balancing the perceptions of your employer and the rest of society against your perception of the lifestyle you have chosen to lead. The general definition of work-life balance is considered as minimizing the overlapping of your work and personal lives over each other. But in today's 24/7 client-servicing environment, where flexible or extended working hours are expected from employers and their employees due to work strategies varying almost on an hourly basis, it seems to ultimately come down to how much of your career growth you are willing to sacrifice to maintain that fine line between your personal/family life and your work life. This is because taking a hit on career growth, in many cases, has been observed to result in a hit on the personal finances front, which in turn makes it difficult to sustain a lifestyle acceptable in normal social circles today, ultimately affecting the economic survival of your personal/family life again.

Could you help me out with your views on the practical side of creating or maintaining a good work-life balance?

Regards, Nelson Thomas

Companies are not working 24/7 now. These have been working for more than 100 years or so. But then what mattered was restricting the working hours to 8 or making the workers work in three shifts.

After the economic liberalization, the service economy grew significantly. Since mostly it is office work, increasing working hours became quite easy. In the service sectors, employee cost was the major cost. To cut down the cost, employees were made to work longer hours. Along with this, there was an increase in project-based companies. Since the completion of the deadline of the project was the main criterion, it reduced strictness from the adherence to the daily working hours.

Work-life balance or imbalance

Work-life balance or imbalance became a challenge because of the long working hours in the office. Causes of the long working hours are as follows:

a) The top boss sits for a long time in the office, and juniors are forced to imitate him.

b) The top boss thinks that sitting long in the office is a sign of loyalty to the company.

c) An astronomical hike in the salaries forces the employees to do double work.

d) Not all employees are ready to work long hours. But they do it because many of them have taken a housing loan. Monthly EMI leaves no room for them to say no.

An additional reason for the work and personal life imbalance is the long time spent in commuting. In most cities, the roads are clogged, and the average working professional spends far longer time on the road than their European counterpart.

Improving work-life balance

To improve work and personal life balance, employers should not allow their employees to work more than eight or nine hours. Sitting long should be considered a sign of inefficiency. This is what Australians think we Indians need to imitate vigorously.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Analyzing Employee Needs for Work-Life Balance

You are very correct if the person concerned is up to the level of safety needs as per Maslow's theory. However, in the case of belongingness and love needs, and esteem needs, your theory will not work, and the organization must focus on spiritual quotient, values, and spiritual set rather than mindset. In the case of self-actualization, employees will automatically manage their work-life balance.

You are advised to analyze your team honestly and take action according to their level of needs. Only one theory cannot be a good solution for all. If you would like to discuss in detail, you can talk to me.

Regards,

The Changing Dynamics of Work-Life Balance

In the past, particularly in the 1930s and beyond, our elders often worked for a single company for 35 years and retired from there. Loyalty was valued by employers, and our parents could easily manage work-home life balance. They had ample time to spend with family due to the lack of technological advancements. There were no mobile calls from employers after office hours, no email work assignments after work hours, and no work on laptops after work hours.

In the current scenario, however, job security has become a significant concern in the private sector, unlike in the old days. Employers aim to maximize human resource utilization with multitasking. In the IT and ITES sectors, both employers and employees are compelled to meet project schedules as per unrealistic project contract agreements, leading employees to spend more hours at the office.

While income comes from a single source (employer), expenses have multiplied. Employees tend to increase their debts (car loans, housing loans, costly mobiles, compulsory weekend movies, regular dining at hotels, more money spent on electronic gadgets) to match their increasing salaries. This results in a compulsion to safeguard employment to pay EMIs, forcing them to comply with employers' demands. The outcome is extended work hours, and many live in an artificial world.

We have more friends on Facebook but no contact with our neighbors. Our priorities determine the work-home life balance.

Dear Colleague, in my view, work-life balance has twin dimensions. First, employers own the responsibility to facilitate employees by providing time off, work from home, flexible hours, leaves, or part-time work options to manage family responsibilities or participate in family events. Second, employees, on their part, willingly work extended hours during times of urgency and high work pressures. They not only complete their own tasks but also assist their team members who are absent due to work-life balance policies.

I believe that work-life balance is not a myth but a dire necessity in today's stress-inducing work culture. It would be mutually beneficial if employers adopt work-life balance-friendly policies and employees reciprocate by going the extra mile.

Regards, Vinayak Nagarkar HR Consultant

Dear Colleagues,

There are still people who maintain work-life balance despite their busy schedules and business compulsions. They tune their minds, make work plans for both the office and home, and maintain good understanding with family members. In my opinion, calmness of mind helps implement work plans in a better way. Work-life balance becomes difficult where people are overly ambitious or when both husband and wife are employed.

R K Sutar
Bhubaneswar