CHAPTER 1

INTRODUTION TO WORK-LIFE BALANCE

A nation may be endowed with abundant natural and physical resources and the necessary
capital and technology but unless there are competent people who can mobilize, organize and
harness the resources for production of goods and services, it cannot make rapid strides
towards economic and social advancement. The strengths and weakness of an organization
are determined by the quality of its human resources, which play a vital role in using other
organizational resources and the development process of modern economies.

Human

resource is the most strategic resource as no other resource can be fully utilized to generate
income and wealth of a nation without the active involvement of this resource. In fact, the
differences in the levels of economic development of the countries are largely a reflection of
the differences in the quality of their human resources and their involvement in national
building.

Ginzerberg points out that the key elements such as values, attitudes, general

orientation and the quality of the people of a country determine its economic development.

However, he says that human resources are being wasted through unemployment, disguised
unemployment, obsolescence of skills, lack of work opportunities, poor personnel practices
and the hurdles of adjusting to change. Human resource accounts for a large part of national
output and there exists a wide scope for increasing national wealth through their proper
development. Human factor provides value to physical resource and necessary dynamism in
the economy. Dynamic people can build dynamic organizations. Effective employees can
contribute to the effectiveness of their organization. Competent and motivated people can
make things happen and enable an organization to achieve its goals. Hence, organizations
should continuously ensure that the dynamism, competency, motivation and effectiveness of
the employees remain at high
levels. Human resource is even the most critical factor for determining the efficiency and
effectiveness of an organization because it is precisely the people who will decide when and
how to acquire and utilize various resources, including human resources, in the best interest
of the organization. The ultimate success and survival of an organization will invariably be
determined by the quality and competence of its human resources. Of all the tasks of
management, says Likert "Managing the human component is the central and most important
task, because all else depends upon how well it is done. Human resources are the most
valuable and unique assets of an organization. In the changing economic environment,
Human Resource Management is assuming much greater importance than ever before. It is
conceived to be different from the traditional and conventional notion of Personnel
Management. Subsequently Human Resource Management (HRM) has become the central
concern of any organization either in public, private sector or co-operative sector. It is
therefore necessary for all managers to understand and give due importance to the different
human resource policies and practices in the organization. Human Resource Management
outlines the importance and different functions in an organization. It examines the various
2

HR processes that are concerned with attracting, managing, motivating and developing and
retaining employees for the benefit of the organization. The economic development cannot be
accomplished in developing countries unless they have well educated and trained, highly
achievement motivated and properly developed human resources. An enterprise cannot make
any progress unless it has a well-trained, efficient and adequately motivated work-team.
Similarly, individuals cannot derive job satisfaction and lead a high standard of living unless
they are well trained and highly developed.

It may be noted that management of human

resources can assist in the attainment of these national, enterprise and individual goals
through effective utilization and proper development of human resources.

Though the

motivation of employees helps to secure their integration with the organization and attain
optimum level of efficiency and in achieving organizational goals, the assigned work load
might pose a time-pressure on employees by imposing excessive responsibilities.
Furthermore, it causes stress and negative feeling which also damages the individuals private
life. Even the working hours and schedule are the most crucial points of Work-Life Balance
in the organization point of view, as they affect the mental health, physical health and wellbeing of employees. Long working hours and certain kind of shift schedules might be the
cause of elevated risk for a range of mental and physical health problems. Further, a sense of
inequity among employees affects their attitudes and behaviors, absenteeism, low motivation,
lack of concern for the quality of products or services, with holding suggestions for
improvements, lack of commitments, and even sabotage may result. These attitudes and
behaviors affect costs, productivity, profits and hence the market value of the firm stock.

THE CONCEPT OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

The term work life balance (Work Life Balance) was coined in 1986 in response to the
growing concerns by individuals and organizations alike that work can impinge upon the
quality of family life and vice-versa, thus giving rise to the concepts of family- work
conflict (FWC) and work-family conflict (WFC). The former is also referred to as work
interferes with family (WIF) while the latter is also known as family interferes with
work(FIW). In other words, from the scarcity or zero-sum perspective, time devoted to
work is construed as time taken away from ones family life. Work/life programs existed in
the 1930s. The policies and procedures established by an organization with the goal to enable
employees to efficiently do their jobs and at the same time provide flexibility to handle
personal concerns or problems at their family People entering the workforce today are more
likely to turn down to promotions if it is new job means, the employee is having to bring
more work to home. In most developing countries, at least until recently, only men worked
outside of the home. The old, established joint Hindu family system facilitated a clear
division of responsibilities between the old and the young in terms of decision making, the
oldest male member in a patriarchal society is the head of household and would make all the
important decisions; male and female the men would work outside the household, whereas
the women are responsible for raising children and taking charge of a myriad household
responsibilities, including in some low-income families in certain parts of India, walking
many miles each day to fetch water and fire wood. More recently, the scarcity pers pective
4

has given way to the expansion enhancement approach that views that work can facilitate
participation at home and vice-versa. This has given rise to the concepts of work-family
facilitation (WFF) and family-work facilitation (FWF) where experiences acquired at work
can facilitate participation at home and vice-versa. These two notions have contributed to the
construct of work life balance where a balanced life consists of work and family that are
mutually reinforcing-the family experiences of workers can enrich their contribution to work
and organizations, and vice-versa..
DEFINITIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
The word Work-Life Balance is sometimes considered as interwoven with Work-family
conflict. However, it can be argued that the latter is more limited in scope than the former
because the focus in work-family conflict is more on the relations between work & family. It
is also referred to as family friendly work arrangements, (FFWA), and in international
literature, as alternative work arrangements (AWA). Work-Life Balance is the relationship
between time and space of work & non-work in societies where income is predominantly
generated and distributed through labor markets. Work-Life Balance is being aware of
different demands on time and energy saving the ability to make choices in the allocation of
time and energy knowing what values to apply. Much confusion and ambiguity surrounds in
understanding and defining the term Work Life Balance. As a term in its own right WorkLife Balance is rarely defined for reasons that will become clearer as the discussion
progresses.
Many authors attempt to define Work-Life Balance policy or Work-Life Balance
arrangements. Nevertheless it is possible to discern a number of distinct strands in the
literature in relation to definitional and conceptual issues. The first of these themes concerns
the contention area of family friendly versus Work-Life family in order to reflect a broader

and more inclusive way of conceptualizing the issue and to enable men and those without
children, for example to identify with them . However the perception that Work-Life Balance
policies are a family matter and aimed solely at women with children is still held by many
employees & employers.
Despite the worldwide quest for Work-Life Balance very few have found an acceptable
definition of the concept: here are some proven definitions that will positively impact ones
every day value & balance. Best individual Work-Life Balance will vary overtime, often on a
daily basis. The right balance today will probably be different for tomorrow. The right
balance when one is single will be different when after marriage and having children; when
one is on a start to new career versus when one is nearing to retirement. There is no perfect,
one size fits all, as balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities
and different lives. However, at the core of an effective Work-Life Balance definition are two
key everyday concepts that are relevant, they are daily achievement and enjoyment, ideas,
almost deceptive in their simplicity. Enlarging a fuller meaning of these two concepts takes us
to most of the ways a positive Work-Life Balance achievement. Achievement means finish
something successfully, especially after trying hard or receiving what one wants. Enjoyment
does not mean happiness but it means pride, satisfaction, happiness, celebration, love a sense
of wellbeing and all the joys of living. Achievement and enjoyment are the two sides of the
coin value in life. One cant have one without the other. Trying to live a one sided life is why
so many successful people are not happy or not nearly as happy as they should be.

WORK LIFE BALANCE IN BANKING SECTOR

The rapid economic growth and development in the world has created new activities and
open new doors for all the business organizations. The globalization trend has put the
organizations hard to retain their competitive advantage. This trend has also affected the
banking sector. Banking sector become more competitive. The changes in business activities
bring change in culture and perception of the employees. Organizational changes due to
downsizing, mergers/ acquisitions and radical changes in technology have changed the work
setups. The employees in present are more involved in their jobs than in the last decade. The
long working hours, work pressure, high demanding jobs, use of sophisticated technology
made it difficult for employees to keep a balance between their job and work commitments
(Nadeem and Abbas 2009). Businesses are facing increasing demands to raise efficiency and
becoming more responsive to customers and employees. No longer is it just a matter of
remuneration and promotional prospects; job seekers are increasingly making employment
decisions on how well their current or potential workplace can support a balance between
personal lives and paid occupation (Tanvi and Fatama 2012). Considerable research has
already been conducted on work life balance and employee satisfaction in developed
countries. Developing countries have also started paying+ attention on this front to increase
employee job satisfaction.
Banking in India has been dominated by public sector banks since the 1969 when all major
banks were nationalised by the Indian government. However, since liberalisation in
government banking policy in the 1990s, old and new private sector banks have re-emerged.
They have grown faster & bigger over the two decades since liberalisation using the latest
technology, providing contemporary innovations and monetary tools and techniques.[1]
The private sector banks are split into two groups by financial regulators in India, old and
new. The old private sector banks existed prior to the nationalisation in 1969 and kept their

independence because they were either too small or specialist to be included in

nationalisation. The new private sector banks are those that have gained their banking license
since the liberalisation in the 1990s.
Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are banks where a majority stake (i.e. more than 50%) is held
by a government.[1] The shares of these banks are listed on stock exchanges. There are a total
of 27 PSBs in India [21 Nationalised banks + 6 State bank group (SBI + 5 associates) ].
In 2011 IDBI bank and in 2014 Bharatiya Mahila Bank were nationalized with a minimum
capital of Rs 500 cr.
Objective of this study is, thus, to examine the impact of work life balance on employee job
satisfaction and to identify which factors of work life balance have more influence on
employee job satisfaction in banking sector. This research can be helpful for banks to identify
the factors which influence the employee work-life balance and the job satisfaction in the
result. And to take measures to restore this balance.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Review of Literature on Work Life

Balance
Review of related literature is an important step in undertaking research. It helps in clarifying
and defining the problem, stating objectives, formulating hypotheses, selecting appropriate
design and methodology of research as well as interpreting the results in the light of the
research work already undertaken. In this chapter, an endeavour has been made to provide an
overview of various aspects of this study through the review of existing literature. The
sources referred include various journals, books, doctoral theses, working papers, reports,
magazines related to human resource, internet sites, newspapers etc.
Bardoel et al. (2008) identified the major themes and research methods that have dominated
work life research between the period 2004-07. The identified themes were grouped in eight
categories, i.e., organization approaches to work life and work family issues, work
characteristics, occupations/industries, government policy and legislation, health outcome
issues related to work life, family structure and children, gender and other additional themes.
With regard to the research methods, out of the total 86 papers examined, 73% of the papers
were empirical while 27% were conceptual. Majority of the empirical papers used
quantitative methodology. As many as 51% used survey method for data collection while the
9

remaining 49% were fairly split among case studies, focus group and interviews. Out of 63
empirical papers, 20 were classified priori with variables identified and relationships
proposed before any theory was apparent. The remaining 43 articles were classified as post
hoc as there were no specific relationships proposed before data collection and analysis. In
order to have a justified and in-depth review of the literature, the studies have been classified
under the following headings:
Work family conflict/work life balance studies
Individual related variables and Work life balance/work family conflict
Family related variables and Work life balance/work family conflict
Work related variables and Work life balance/work family conflict
Family and Work related variables and Work life balance / work family conflict
Outcomes of work family conflict/work life balance
Individuals strategies for work life balance
Organizations strategies for work life balance
Organizations initiatives and programmes for work life balance
WORK FAMILY CONFLICT / WORK LIFE BALANCE
Some researchers like Gutek et al. (1991), Frone et al. (1992a), Williams and Alliger (1994),
Eagle et al. (1997), Frone et al. (1997), Hammer et al. (1997), Hsieh et al. (2005), Wesley and
Muthuswamy (2005), Kinnunen and Mauno (2007) and Rajadhyaksha and Ramadoss (2010)
have focused on assessing work family conflict/ work life balance among employees in
various settings and also identified the direction of spillovers. Gutek et al. (1991) conducted a

10

study using two separate samples of employed people with families, a systematically selected
sample of psychologists and a volunteer sample of managers. The findings indicated that the
two types of perceived work family conflict (work interference with family and family
interference with work) were clearly separable and relatively independent of each other. The
people perceived less family interference with work than work interference with family.
However, when Frone et al. (1997) developed and tested an integrative model of work family
interface using a sample of 372 employed adults who were married and/or parents, the
findings supported the indirect reciprocal relation between work to family and family to work
conflict. Family to work conflict was found to have indirect influence on work to family
conflict via work distress and work overload. Work to family conflict had indirect impact on
family to work conflict via increased parental overload. Rajadhyaksha and Ramadoss (2010)
tested the model given by Frone et al. (1997) on a sample of 405 women in India and found
that Indian data moderately supported within and cross domain relationship hypothesized in
the model. The findings of the studies reported above suggest that wok to family conflict is
more frequent than family to work conflict. However, Baral (2010) in a study of 485
employees working in varied organizations in India found that working men and women in
India experience more work family enrichment than the work family conflict. It was also
found that there were no gender differences in the employee perception of work family
enrichment.
INDIVIDUAL RELATED VARIABLES AND WORK LIFE BALANCE/WORK
FAMILY CONFLICT
A number of individual variables, viz. gender, age, marital status, emotional intelligence, etc.
affecting/ related to work life balance/work family conflict have been studied.

11

Studies by Gutek et al. (1991), Williams and Alliger (1994), Higgins et al. (1994), Loscocoo
(1997), Aryee et al. (1999b), Grzywacz et al. (2007), Rajadhyaksha and Velgach (2009)
reported gender differences with respect to work family conflict.
Gutek et al. (1991) indicated that women reported more work interference in family than
men, despite spending about same number of hours in paid work as men. Although women
spent more hours in family work than men, they reported the same level of family
interference in work.
Higgins et al. (1994) examined the impact of gender and life cycle stage on three components
of work family conflict (i.e. role overload, interference from work to family and interference
from family to work). The results indicated significant differences for gender and life cycle.
Women reported experiencing significantly greater role overload than men. Again women
were found to experience greater work to family interference than men. Interference was
highest when the children were young, and lowest in families with older children. Further,
women reported significantly higher levels of family interference with work than men in
early years, but interferences levels were comparable to mens in the third life cycle stage (i.e.
children 10 to 18 years).
Relationship between work life balance and emotional intelligence has also been studied and
significant correlation has been found between the two variables.
Carmeli (2003) examined the extent of which senior managers with high emotional
intelligence, employed in public sector organizations, develop positive work attitudes,
behaviour and outcomes. Data was collected by sending questionnaires to 262 senior
managers. The results showed that senior managers who had high emotional intelligence were
more likely to effectively control work-family conflict than those who have low emotional
intelligence. Sjberg (2008) in a study of 153 respondents (94 men and 59 women)

12

hypothesized emotional intelligence to be a factor in successful life adjustment, including the

successful achievement of a well balanced life. It was found that both the dimensions of
balance, i.e., family/leisure interference with work and work interference with family/leisure
were strongly negatively correlated to emotional intelligence. Results, thus, showed that high
emotional intelligence was associated with a better balance of life and work.
Higgins et al. (1994) and Frye and Breaugh (2004) also studied work family conflict in
relation to parental demands. Higgins et al. (1994) along with the finding that women
experience greater work to family interference than men, also found that interference was
highest when the children were young, and lowest in families with older children. Further,
women reported significantly higher levels of family interference with work than men in
early years, but interference levels were comparable to mens in the third life cycle stage (i.e.
children 10 to 18 years).
Work family conflict has also been studied in relation to personality type and situational
factors. Carlson (1999) determined how dispositional and situational factors differentially
affect the three forms (time, strain and behaviour based) of work family conflict, and also
considered the impact of dispositional variables on work family conflict beyond situational
factors. The sample consisted of 225 individuals who were employed full time and worked
for a variety of organizations. 142 (63%) were females and 83 (37%) were males. The results
showed that dispositional variables do play a role above and beyond situational variables in
determining the level of experienced work family conflict. Negative affectivity was found to
be the most highly related variable with time based conflict. It was also significantly related
to strain based conflict. From the work domain, the variable of role conflict was found to be
related to strain based conflict. Further, work and family role conflict, Type A, and negative
affectivity were found to be significantly related to behaviour based conflict.

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FAMILY RELATED VARIABLES AND WORK LIFE BALANCE/ WORK FAMILY

CONFLICT
Family related variables such as spouse support, spouse work hours, couples employment
status, number of children, parental responsibilities, home responsibilities have been studied
in relation to work life balance/conflict. Suchet and Barling (1986) in a study of interrole
conflict, spouse support and marital functioning found that support from ones husband may
assist employed mothers cope with their own interrole conflict, as husbands supportive
behaviour and attitude might help in reducing the opposing role demands on, and unrealistic
role expectations of employed mothers.
Loerch et al. (1989) examined the relationships among family domain variables and three
sources of work family conflict (time, strain and behaviour based) for both men and women.
Family domain variables examined included time based (number of children, spouse work
hours per week, couples employment status) strain based (conflict within family, spouse
support, quality of experience in spouse or parent role) and behaviour based antecedents,
family intrusions (parental, marital, home responsibilities) and role involvement. The results
indicated that the time based antecedents (number of children, spouse work hours, couples
employment status) were not significantly related to any form of work family conflict for
men or women. Strain based antecedent, conflict within family, was found to have a positive
relationship with work family conflict. However, the negative relationship of other strain
based antecedents (spouse support, quality of spouse and parental experiences) and work
family conflict was not supported. The behaviour based antecedent, role congruity, was not
significantly related to any form of work family conflict. The variable of role involvement
significantly predicted only the time based conflict for men. Adams et al. (1996) developed
and tested a model of the relationship between work and family. The results suggested that

14

higher levels of family emotional and instrumental support were associated with lower levels
of family interfering with work.
Frone et al. (1997) reported that family related support (spouse & other family members) may
reduce family to work conflict by reducing family distress and parental overload. Higgins et
al. (1994) and Frye and Breaugh (2004) also studied work family conflict in relation to
parental demands. Higgins et al. (1994) along with the finding that women experience greater
work to family interference than men, also found that interference was highest when the
children were young, and lowest in families with older children. Further, women reported
significantly higher levels of family interference with work than men in early years, but
interference levels were comparable to mens in the third life cycle stage (i.e. children 10 to
18 years).
Frye and Breaugh (2004) found that having child care responsibility was predictive of familywork conflict and showed a positive relation to such conflict. From the studies reported
above, it can be concluded that higher the parental demands higher is the work family conflict
and higher the spouse support, lower is the work family conflict.
WORK RELATED VARIABLES AND WORK LIFE BALANCE /WORK FAMILY
CONFLICT
Relationship between work related variables, viz. task variety, task autonomy, task
complexity, role conflict, work schedule flexibility, number of hours worked and work life
balance/work family conflict have been studied.
The studies by Greenhaus et al. (1989), Voydanoff (2004), Butler et al. (2005) found task
autonomy to be associated with work family conflict. Greenhaus et al. (1989) examined
different types of work domain pressures as sources of work family conflict among two

15

career couples. The results showed that work role stressors (role conflict and role ambiguity)
accounted for a significant portion of the variance in time based and strain based conflict for
both men and women. The task characteristics (autonomy and complexity) were found to be
associated with work family conflict and were somewhat stronger for women than for men.
Work schedule characteristics were found to be generally unrelated to work family conflict.
Among women, it did not explain significant portion of variance in either time based or strain
based conflict and among men, it was related to only strain based conflict.
Butler et al. (2005) surveyed 91 parents employed in non-professional occupations for 14
days about their job characteristics and work family conflict. Results showed that there was
significant daily variation in work to family conflict (WFC) and work to family facilitation
(WFF) that was predictable from daily job characteristics. Greater daily demands were
associated with increase in daily levels of WFC and higher levels of daily control at work
were associated with decrease in daily levels of WFC. Daily skill levels used at work were
not related to daily WFC. It was further seen that greater demands at work were associated
with decrease in daily levels of WFF and greater daily control and skill level at work were
associated with increase in daily levels of WFF.
Work schedule flexibility has been found to be negatively associated/related with work life
balance / work family conflict. Higher the flexibility lower is the work family conflict. In
other words, higher the work schedule flexibility, higher is the work life balance. Loscocoo
(1997) examined how people with considerable control over their work lives construct and
experience work family connections. The data was collected through in-depth interviews of
30 self employed people. The results showed that self employed people had considerable
control over their work lives and this helped them to curb the intrusion of work into family
life. However, women emphasized the importance of flexibility more than men. Hammer et

16

al. (1997) reported that higher levels of perceived work schedule flexibility were related to
lower levels of work family conflict.
Hill et al. (2001) examined the perceived influence of job flexibility in the timing (flex time)
and location of work (flexplace) on work family balance. Data was taken from a 1996
International Business Machines (IBM) work and life issues survey in United States (n=
6,451). The results indicated that paid work hours was strongly and negatively correlated and
perceived flexibility was strongly and positively correlated with work family balance. It was
also found that employees with perceived flexibility in timing and location of work could
work longer hours before work family balance became difficult.
FAMILY AND WORK RELATED VARIABLES AND WORK LIFE BALANCE /
WORK FAMILY CONFLICT
A few studies undertaken by Pleck et al. (1980), Aryee (1992), Grzywacz and Marks (2000),
Saltzstein et al. (2001), Frye and Breaugh (2004), Luk and Shaffer (2005), Kinnunen and
Mauno (2007) examined the relationship among different family and work related variables
and work life balance / work family conflict.
Pleck et al. (1980) in a survey study of workers found that substantial minority of workers
living in families experienced conflict between work and family life. Parents reported more
conflict than other couples. Specific working conditions, such as excessive hours at work,
scheduling and physically or psychologically demanding were associated with experiencing
work family conflict, which in turn was related to diminished job satisfaction and
contentment with life in general.
Saltzstein et al. (2001) used 1991 surveys of Federal Government Employees to test a
theoretical framework regarding the relationships between work and family demands, family

17

friendly policies, satisfaction with work family balance and job satisfaction for diverse
groups of employees with different personal and family needs.
The findings indicated that a variety of family friendly policies and practices were used to
varying degrees by these diverse groups of employees. Further, the job related factors (job
demands, job involvement) were found to be the most significant determinants of satisfaction
with work family balance and job satisfaction. In addition, it was found that organizational
understanding had more impact on both satisfaction with work family balance and job
satisfaction than all family friendly policies. Reliance on flexible scheduling was found to
have no significant impact on work family balance or job satisfaction for most of sub
population groups.
Milkie and Peltola (1999) found that women and men report similar levels of success in
balancing work and family and kinds of work family tradeoffs. However, the tradeoffs
reported by respondents were gendered. Longer working hours negatively affected mens
sense of balance, but did so only marginally for women. For women who worked full time,
work hours did not affect balance. It was also found that young children in the household had
a negative impact on success in balancing paid work and family life for employed women but
not for employed men. Again, sacrifices made at work affected men more than women
whereas scarifies made in the family affected women more than men.
Grzywacz et al. (2007) found that both the level and the antecedents of work to family
conflict differed by gender. Greater physical workload as well as more frequent awkward
postures and repetitive movements were correlated with greater work to family conflict
among women. For men, greater skill variety and greater psychological demands were
correlated with more work to family conflict.

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OUTCOMES OF WORK FAMILY CONFLICT/ WORK LIFE BALANCE

A number of researchers like Adams et al. (1996), Duxbury and Higgins (2001), Martins et
al. (2002), Fisher-McAuley et al. (2003), Schieman et al. (2003), Ezzedeen and Swiercz
(2002), Grzywacz and Bass (2003), Sandhu and Mehta (2006), Pal and Saksvik (2007), and
Haar and Bardoel (2008) found that work life balance /work family conflict affects job
satisfaction, family satisfaction, life satisfaction, career satisfaction and job stress.

Adams et al. (1996) found that relationships between work and family can have an important
effect on job and life satisfaction and the level of involvement the worker assigns to work and
family roles is associated with this relationship. Duxbury and Higgins (2001) examined the
effects of three types of work family conflict - role overload (having too much to do), work to
family interference and family to work interference on the organizational performance and
quality of life of employees. It was found that work-life conflict had a negative impact on
organizational performance and on employees. Employees who are overloaded or whose
work interfered with family (vice-versa) were highly stressed, experienced burnout,
expressed dissatisfaction with life, and were in poor mental/ physical health.
Fisher-McAuley et al. (2003) examined the relation between employees beliefs about having
a balance between work and personal life, and the feeling of job stress, job satisfaction, and
reasons why one might quit his/her job. The data was collected from two independent,
heterogeneous samples of employees. The first sample comprised of 603 fitness professionals
while the second consisted of 545 managers employed in a variety of organizations spanning
many industries and functional departments. The findings indicated that having a lack of
work/life balance was an occupational stressor that leads to strains, including feeling of

19

overall work strain, job dissatisfaction, non work related reasons for leaving and turnover
intentions.
INDIVIDUALS STRATEGIES FOR WORK LIFE BALANCE
Individuals adopt strategies such as accommodation, negotiation to enhance their work life
balance or reduce work family conflict. Singh (2001) in his qualitative study used work/life
border theory to explore how British and Swedish managers dealt with competing
commitments. A sample of 35 managers (18 Swedish, 17 British ; 18 males and 17 females)
ranging from directors to project managers, aged between 28 to 59 years, was taken and
semi-structured interviews were held on site in UK and Sweden. The study showed a tension
between managers own needs for more balanced work lives and corporate attitudes to
balance - seekers and career choices. Findings suggested that four kinds of strategies were
used by the managers for maintaining work life balance. These included accommodating
family terms, negotiating with the family, accommodating the organization and staggering
commitments. The study showed that managers enact their work life balance strategies with
both their employer and their family, particularly their partner, who also enacts boundaries
between home and employer, so there are four parties to the negotiation or accommodation of
needs. Some managers use their own views as reference points for dealing with subordinates
need for work life balance.
Powell and Greenhaus (2006) examined how individuals manage incidents of work-family
conflict that pose difficult choices for them. The study examines two interrelated processes:
a) the actions that individuals take to avoid conflict in such incidents; and b) the choices they
make when the conflict cannot be avoided. First, they may try to mobilize tangible support
from a role sender in either the work or family domain to reschedule one of the activities. If
successful, this strategy avoids workfamily conflict by enabling individuals to participate

20

fully in both activities. If support mobilization is unsuccessful or not attempted, individuals

decide whether to participate partially in some combination of both activities or to participate
solely in either the work or family activity. It was found that individuals use multiple cues in
deciding how to respond to situations of potential work family conflict.
ORGANIZATIONS STRATEGIES FOR WORK LIFE BALANCE
Organizations adopt strategies such as separation and integration as responses to nonwork. Kirchmeyer (1995) identified three types of organizational responses to non work
(separation, integration, respect) and used the data collected from 221 managers, active in
multiple domains, to assess the effectiveness of these organizational responses. Separation
was a response where employers were concerned mainly with workers fulfilling their work
responsibilities, and viewed workers non work lives as solely the concern of workers
themselves. In the case of integration response, employers treated work and non work as
related worlds that affected one another, and acted to reduce the gap between them in an
effort to help workers manage their multiple domains. Respect referred to the employer
acknowledging and valuing the non work participation of workers, and committing to support
it. The effectiveness of these responses was assessed in terms of their ability to reduce the
negative spillover from non-work, and to enhance both organizational commitment and the
positive side of spillover. Integration and respect responses revealed positive correlations
with organizational commitment, whereas separation response showed a negative correlation.
It was found that the type that enhanced the flexibility of the work- non work boundary and
involved the employer in providing resources for workers to fulfill non-work responsibilities
themselves proved most effective.
ORGANIZATIONS INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMMES FOR WORK LIFE
BALANCE

21

A number of work life balance initiatives/ programmes have been undertaken by the
organizations and various researchers like Kossek et al., 1994; Osterman, 1995 ; Thomas and
Ganster, 1995; Milliken et al., 1998; Newman and Mathews, 1999; Maxwell and McDougall,
2004; and Doherty, 2004 have attempted, to identify these programmes and to study reasons
for provision of these programmes, benefits accruing to employees and organizations as a
result of these programmes and barriers in implementation of these programmes.

The

organizations make a wide variety of work life arrangements to enhance the work life balance
of employees. Kossek et al. (1994), Kirchmeyer (1995), Osterman, (1995), Galinsky and
Johnson (1998), Konard and Mangel (2000), Guest (2002), Maxwell and McDougall (2004),
Coughlan (2005), and Cieri et al. (2005) studied and identified different work life
arrangements. These included: parental leave, paternity leave, maternity leave, adoption
leave, sabbaticals, flexible work timings, job sharing, job splitting, flexi time, compressed
working week, annual hours system, banking of hours, telecommuting, supervisory training
in work family sensitivity, on site day care, emergency child care, elder care arrangements.
Maxwell and McDougall (2004) conducted seven case studies (five in public sector and two
in voluntary sector) and found that parental leave, study leave, flexitime, part time working,
job sharing, emergency leave, and extra maternity leave were the most frequently accruing
forms of flexibility offered by these case study organizations. Further, two rationales for
introducing work life balance were found to be consistent across all the case studies. First
was to improve the recruitment of the best people and second was to improve retention of
staff. A number of studies have reported the benefits that accrue to the organizations that
provide work life programmes/policies. Thomas and Ganster (1995) examined the direct and
indirect effects of organizational policies and practices that are supportive of family
responsibilities on work family conflict and psychological, physical and behavioural
measures of strain. Data was collected from 398 health care professionals who represented all

22

acute health care facilities. The results of the study suggested that family supportive work
policies and practices produce significant benefits in terms of employees attitudes and well
being. Supportive practices, flexible scheduling and supportive supervisors, were found to
have direct positive effects on employee perception of control over work and family matters.
Control perceptions in turn, were associated with lower levels of work family conflict, job
dissatisfaction, depression, somatic complaints and blood cholesterol. Konrad and Mangel
(2000) examined the adoption of work life programmes and the impact of work life
programmes on firm productivity. The findings suggested that the productivity impact of
work life programmes depended on the type of workers employed by the firm. It was found
that firms employing higher percentage of professionals and higher percentage of women
showed a stronger relationship between the provision of extensive work life benefits and
productivity.
Matthew Kelly believes that work- life balance was a mistake from the start. Because we
don't really want balance, we want satisfaction.

23

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The core purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of work life balance on the employee
productivity in the banking sector.

Study the existing Work Life Balance Practices in the Banking Sector.
Analyze the impact of Work Life Balance Practices on Employee Retention.
To study the different aspects of Work Life Balance.
To compare work life balance in private and public sector banks.
To suggest ways to enhance work life balance.

SCOPE OF RESEARCH

24

The significance of choosing this study is to understand employees Work-life Balance level
and its effect on employee productivity at banks.
Through this study I came to know that
What benefits and facilities banking jobs providing to the employees.
What conditions or requirements based on age, sex, religion, caste and ethnicity
employees think should be provided by job.
This helps banks to know Where they are lacking in having a satisfied workforce in
terms of Work-life Balance presently.
How they can modify it in future?
LIMITATIONS
This study is restricted to Bank employees only
This study was conducted only from the bank employees who resides in kalyanDombivli
Reluctance on part of some employees in responding to the questionnaire
PRIMARY DATA
Primary data is comprised of information collected from the questionnaires. The survey was
conducted on employees of both public and private sector banks. 15 employees of public
sector and 17 of private sector ,total of 32 employees were approached to ascertain their
views on Work-life balance. The targeted employees were managers, officers and clerks.
The questionnaire consists of two sections.
SECTION A
It includes the demographic and socio-economic variables like age, marital status, education,
total service experience, type of family, income, designation, etc
25

SECTION B
It consists of total 10 statements based on Work-life Balance of respondents. The respondents
were asked to mark the response in accordance to their levels of satisfaction in terms of
Work-life balance.
SECONDARY DATA
Secondary Data were collected through the sources like internet and books.
SAMPLE SIZE
A random sample of 32 respondents was taken from both public and private sector banks, on
whom a questionnaire was administered and information was obtained.

CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION
The main findings of the study are discussed under following sub-heads:
PROFILES OF THE RESPONDENTS OF BOTH THE BANKS

SECTION A:
RESPONDENTS PROFILE

26

SR.NO

SOCIO-PERSONAL TRAITS

TOTAL

1. AGE(YEARS):
21-34

21

65.63

35-48

28.13

49-62

6.25

MALE

11

34.38

FEMALE

21

65.63

15.63

11
16

34.38

2. SEX:

3. EDUCATIONAL STATUS:
HSC
GRADUATION
POST-GRADUATION

50
4. MONTHLY SALARY (RS)
>10000

15.63

10000-30000

13

40.63

<30000

14

43.75

21

65.63

11

34.38

24

75

25

5. MARTIAL STATUS
MARRIED
UNMARRIED
6. SERVICE EXPERIENCE
1-14
15-28

RESPONDENTS PROFILE
The profile of the respondents has been discussed as under:

27

AGE :It has been observed from the data in the Section A that majority of the respondents(21 out of
32) in Bank were in the age group of 21-34 years whereas those who were in the age group
of 35-48 years were 9 and 2 respondent was in the age group of 49-62
SEX :11 employees were male whereas 21 of them were female employees of Bank
EDUCATIONAL STATUS :It is clear from the data that 34.38% of the employees were graduate, 50% were post graduate
and the remaining were HSC Passed.
Therefore, the study implies that the majority of the employees were highly educated.

MONTHLY SALARY :15.63% of employees were earning a monthly salary of Rs. More than 10000 and 40.63% of
them falls in the range of 10000 to 30000 and 43.75% falls in the range of above 30000
MARITAL STATUS
65.63% of employees were married whereas 34.38% of them were unmarried.
TOTAL SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Majority of the employees (75%) had the total service experience of 1-14 years and little of
them (25%) had 15-28 years of service.

28

SECTION B
Worklife balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between work (career
and ambition) on the one hand and life (Health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual
development) on the other. Related, though broader, terms include lifestyle balance and
life balance.
Q1. From how many years you are working in this organization?
a. 0-5 Years
b. 5-10 Years
c. 10 to 15 Years

29

d. More than 15 Years

No. Of Years
25%

34%

0-5 Years
5-10 Years
10-15 Years

13%

Above 15 years
28%

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 34% of employees are working in the bank in the range of 0-5 years
and 28% in the range of 5-10 Years, 13% in the range of 10-15 years and 25% in the range of
Above 15 Years.
Q2. How many hours do you work in a day?
a. 0-7 Hours
b. 7-9 Hours
c. Above 9 Hours

30

Working Hours

28%

0-7 Hours
7-9 Hours
50%

Above 9 Hours

22%

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 50% of employees are working in the bank in the range of 0-7 Hours
a day and 22% in the range of 7-9 Hours, 28% in the range Above 9 Hours.

Q3. Are you satisfied with the working hours of the organization?
a. Yes
b. No

31

Satisfaction Level
Satisfied
Dissatisfied

41%
59%

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 41% of employees are satisfied with the working working Hours of
bank and 59% are dissatisfied with the working hours of bank.
Q4. Does after working hours you get enough time for your family ?
a. Yes
b. No

Spend enough Time for Family

34%

66%

Interpretation:

32

Yes
No

Among 32 respondents 34% of employees spend enough time with the family and rest 66%
are still finding it difficult to spend enough time with their family.

Q5. Do you feel that you are able to balance your work life?
a. Yes
b. No

Work -life Balance

28%

YES
NO

72%

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 28% of employees feel that they can better balance their work-life
and remaining 72% feel that they are unable to maintain work-life balance.

33

Q6. Do you have more pressure of work in the organization or it is evenly distributed?
a. Have Pressure
b. Work is evenly distributed

25
20
15

Work Distribution

10
5
0
Work Load

Work Distributed

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 21 employees feel that they have more work load in the organization
and 11 employees feel that work is evenly distributed.
Q7. Does the Bank provide Flexible working hours facility?
a. Yes
b. No

34

Flexible Working Hours

25
20

Flexible Working Hours

15
10
5
0
YES

NO

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 21 employees agree that they get Flexi working hours facilityday
wise but not weekly i.e (either 10am to 5pm or 9am to 4pm,etc.) and 11 employees disagree
with flexi facility provided by the bank.

Q8. Does the Bank provide maternity and paternity leave to the employees?
a. Yes
b. No

35

30
25
20
Maternity/Paternity Leave

15
10
5
0
YES

NO

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 30 employees agree that they get maternity leave and they are
satisfied with the leave period and only 2 employees disagree with the leave period in Banks.
Q9. Does the Bank organize Holiday camps and picnics to manage work life and personal
life?
a. Satisfactory
b. Dissatisfactory

36

Satisfaction Level
18
16
14
12

Satisfaction Level

10
8
6
4
2
0
Satisfactory

Dissatisfactory

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 18 employees are agree that the camps are organized by the banks and
they are satisfied with the different experience and about 14 employees disagree with the
Holiday camps facility by Banks.

Q10. Do you think that if employees have good work-life balance the organization will be
more effective and successful?
a. Yes
b. No

37

Organisation Success

NO
Organisation Success

YES

10

15

20

25

Interpretation:
Among 32 respondents 23 employees think that if employees have good work-life balance
the organization will be more effective and successful but 9 employees think that employees
Work-life Balance is not the only factor that contributes the Organizations success.
.

FINDINGS

38

 Out of the total respondents 28 percent expressed their ability to balance their work in
their organization on the other hand 72% are not confident to balance their work in
any manner.
Work to family conflict is more prevalent as compared to family to work conflict.
No definite conclusions can be drawn with respect to the gender differences in work
life balance. However, on the basis of the studies which reported gender differences, it
can be concluded that women experience more work family conflict.
Emotional intelligence has been found to be positively related to work life balance.
The higher the importance accorded to work in life, the higher is the work family
conflict.
Job related variables (task autonomy and work schedule flexibility) have been found
to be positively related to work life balance.
Work pressure in Private sector bank is very high as compared to Public sector. There
is a 24 hours botheration of work targets, clients, documents etc in Private sector
banks whereas in public sector bank this is not the scenario.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Facilities such as flexible timings, leave plans, leave on all Saturdays must be
introduced.
Undertake a review of existing policies and improve current practices on flexible
working arrangements.

39

 Workshops on stress management, time management and counselling sessions should

be organized.
At work seniors must take care of the employees and make necessary changes to
facilitate the requirements of the employees.
WLB improve the productivity and eliminate job stress, employers can also make
efforts to know the workload and job demands.
More and more career and advancement opportunities should be provided to the
young employees for professional as well as personal growth.

40