Work Life Balance of Independent Professionals

Question: Discuss about the Work Life Balance of Independent Professionals. Answer: Introduction The business world has been moving faster in this scenario. The individuals face many difficulties in maintaining the work-life balance. Business companies tend to focus on the workforce with greater efficiency level for meeting the business objectives. On the other hand, the employees put their efforts to achieve their personal and professional targets (Wiese, 2015). Every individual goes through different types of occupational stress in the professional life. Maintaining work-life balance is much helpful for the individual in increasing the productivity. The synchronisation between the professional and personal life is important for achieving the pre-determined goals. I have selected my future profession in the Human Resource Management field. The literature study will explore the underlying concept of work-life balance and its importance in the individuals professional lives. The appropriate methodology will be applied to conduct the research in a sequential way. The enriched information extracted from the literature study will be helpful for deriving the ideas about the subject matter. Moreover, the information is useful for identifying the method of overcoming the potential challenges. Project Context I have selected my future profession in human resource management field. It is to be indicated that the HRM process is an integral part of an organisation. People management is the most important function of human resource management. The efficient human resource manager implements the relevant strategy that brings out the skilled performance outcome. The individuals work with potentiality in order to accomplish their personal and professional goals (Hougaard, Carter Coutts, 2016). The HRM notions are concentrating on three basic meanings, which are as follows: 1.Employees should be treated as the valuable parts of an organisation. Hence, it is necessary to invest efforts and times to implement people management initiatives. 2.The organisation should not treat the employees as the materialistic resources since they are the major requirements for achieving the business goals. In fact, it is necessary to pay attention towards the basic needs and requirements of the individuals to increase the organisational productivity (Isaacs, 2016). 3.The organisation needs to consider the stakeholders as the individuals with social realities, business functionalities, and units. The efficient human resource management follows the discipline for participating in the organisational functionalities. The remarkable contribution of the human resource management helps the organisation to grow further. In fact, the HR department guides and directs the individuals in the proper way that can lead towards success (Shanafelt et al., 2015). The most important responsibility of a human resource manager is to provide the proper training and development sessions to the employees for increasing their productivity level. Time management is essential for an organisation since individuals deal with different types of jobs. The human resource management provides the proper guidance to the individuals to manage their work schedule within the allocated time. The HR managers have to face some of the recognisable challenges due to the continuous changes in business demands. If the companies are unable to fulfil the needs of the workers, it will be challenging enough in retaining the employees for the future prospects. The HR managers thus have to pay the attention towards such demands and complete the business functionalities on time. It is important to manage the functionalities within a proper given time. It helps in keeping balance between the personal and professional life. The employees are expected to complete the allocated tasks within the given time. When the employees can keep the balance between their working life and personal life, they can pay more attention towards their responsibilities in their professional lives. In order to be a proper professional, the primary responsibility is to recognise my role within an organisational scenario. Moreover, as a manager, I need to be capable enough to see the big picture and adjust the actions accordingly. The professional person is always willing to help other associates for the job, which is sometimes beyond the schedule (Beddoes Pawley, 2014). While working in an organisation, I should be competent enough to manage the workforce and work together as a team. A competent professional has to be much trustworthy. It is seen that the workers are sometimes dependent on the manager as they structure the functionalities by concentrating on the time limitation. Hence, a professional person needs to adopt such attribute to manage the workforces associated with the organisation. Background of the Issue The work life balance is well maintained when an individual can gain the proper stability between the personal and professional life. Beauregard (2014) pointed out that the current competitive business scenario is continuously changing. Accordingly, the business demands are also changing within an organisation or an industry. The individuals stay more involved to achieve their targets in this challenging scenario. In many of the cases, it is noticed that the individuals fail to organise the different works within the given schedule. As a result, they are unable to maintain the balance between their personal and professional life (Fiksenbaum, 2014). In fact, due to the heavy work load and mismanagement of time, individuals are unable to pay attention towards their personal lives. In western culture, maintaining the work-life balance is mostly spoken out since they are well aware of the individual needs. It is believed that maintaining the stability between work life and personal life helps the individuals to stay more attentive towards organisational functionalities. In order to remain more competitive, the employers in the western countries pay attention towards fulfilling the needs of the individuals (Deery Jago, 2015). The study will thus focus on relevant strategy that helps the individuals to keep the balance between their professional and personal goals. Research Aim The research aims to focus on the concept of work-life balance that is much talked in west. The study also attempts to identify the potential challenges faced by the human resource management to improve the culture of maintaining work life balance. Research Objectives The objectives of the research are: To understand the importance of maintaining the work life balance in an organisational scenario To critically evaluate the reasons for maintaining work life balance more significantly by the organisations in western countries To recognise the potential challenges faced by the human resource management to implement the strategic process of maintaining work life balance Concept and Importance of Work Life Balance Work life balance is one of the most discussed in an organisational context. In current times, the technological advancements are changing the business requirements in a drastic way. In fact, due to such frequent changes in job demands, the competitive scenario is also increasing accordingly. Haar et al., (2014) pointed out that employees provide the best effort to shape their careers and meet the professional goals. In most of the cases, due to repeated work pressure, people fail to manage the quality time that should be invested on their personal lives. In fact, it becomes much difficult for many individuals to separate the professional functionalities from the personal activities. Lyness and Judiesch (2014) pointed out that employees often fail to manage their time as per their work schedule. They often face difficulties to separate their private times for families and friends since they stay involved with professional activities. In such cases, the human resource management is ex pected to take active participation in managing the entire workforce and help them in scheduling their tasks within the allocated time. Comparison between the eastern and western perspectives of Work-Life Balance It is to be indicated that the work-life balance is a much debated concept discussed in the organisational scenario. The employers in different countries take the diverse initiatives to promote the work-life balance. Edson, Henning Sankaran, (2016) argued that the employers in western countries accept the work-life balance as one of the most fruitful techniques of achieving the competitive position. The comparison between the eastern and western perspectives will thus provide the ideas about the necessity of work-life balance in individuals life. Work Life Balance in Eastern Countries It is noticed that employees in eastern counties work for long hours in a week to meet the business goals. Therefore, it becomes quite difficult for them to extract time for their personal interests. Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2014) implied that the employees must provide a large chunk of time in order to participate in a competitive scenario of the business world. In Singapore, employees work extra hours to compensate the expensive lifestyle in current times (Lewis et al., 2016). The young generation think that if they provide the extra effort in working and meeting the professional target, it will be helpful for their bosses to adopt the healthy work-life balance. In Korea, it is noticed that the fathers spend most of their times at their workplace whereas the mothers stay busy raising children and managing the household activities (Nakamura Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Therefore, the women have to face trouble in establishing their careers in professional lives. The successful business stories in western countries instigate the employers in eastern countries to take more strategic approaches for remaining competitive. The employees are thus expected to provide their extra time and effort to match the competition level and set the high-standard business. On the other hand, in usual cases, it is noted that the employers in western countries take the work-life balance as the fruitful technique to engage the employees with proper job satisfaction. When employees can avail the opportunity to spend sufficient time on their personal lives, it generates the sense of job satisfaction (Lewis et al., 2016). More specifically, the instability between personal and professional life distracts the mind from the ambition. The continuous works in fact create the health issues for the employees. However, it is also noted that some of the organisations in western countries still have the long working hours in a week. Work Life Balance in Western Countries It is notice that the employees in Canada face many struggles in keeping the balance between their personal and professional lives. Sanduleasa and Matei (2014) opined that many employees are forced to take the official works to their home. The lack of flexible working hours leads to employee absenteeism and lower productivity. In America, there are no mandatory paternal leaves for the male workers. They are usually forced to overwork. United States holds the largest ranking work weeks for the single mothers. According to Lirio (2015), in western countries, the organisations contribute much in promoting the work life balance, which is much helpful in gaining the competitive position. As per the western perspectives, reading books is much helpful in increasing focus towards the personal life. It makes the people more attentive and satisfied towards the work life as well. The above analysis specifies that the work-life balance in the western countries become troublesome sometimes. However, the employers take the appropriate initiatives to promote the method of maintaining work-life balance. It is still argued that the human resource management is providing much effort to promote work-life balance in western countries (Hari, 2016). The technique is much useful for making the employees more focused towards work during their official hours. When they complete their works on time, it becomes easier for them to spend sufficient time for their recreational activities. The human resource management even has to face some of the potential challenges to promote the work-life balance within the organisation. Role of HRM in promoting Work-Life Balance among the Employees The human resource managers in the organisation play the vital role in promoting the perfect organisational culture. An efficient human resource department is always concerned about the employee welfare that can increase the overall organisational productivity (Allen et al., 2013). Moreover, the HR manager realises that the stabilised work life balance leads towards organisational success. In current advanced world of business, it is noticed that the job demands and frequently changing. The employees sometimes have to deal with innovative jobs that consume more time to complete. Therefore, in usual cases, they fail to manage the time within the schedule and invest maximum time in achieving the professional target. The lack of flexible work schedule is also another major concern that creates trouble for the HR manager (Annink, 2016). Moreover, during an emergency situation, the employees have to complete the extra works. Consequently, they receive lesser time for their families and fr iends. Increasing work life conflicts are affecting the efficiency level of the employees. The companies need to focus on the regulations imposed by the government to promote work-life balance among the employees. The HR manager needs to allocate the particular timing for each of the activities (Michel, Bosch Rexroth, 2014). If the employees follow such scheduled time, they can maintain the stability between professional and personal life. Gaps in the literature The literature study provides the idea about the conceptual analysis of work life balance by comparing the eastern and western perspectives. However, the literature fails to address the significant regulations that can improvise the work life balance strategies in the organisations. In fact, there is no source of verifying the authenticity of the gathered information. The current business world has been undergoing the drastic and frequent changes. Hence, the lack of the updated information is also one of the significant limitations in the literature. Research Methodology The research methodology helps in conducting a research study in a structured and sequential way. The use of the proper research philosophy, design, and approach is the basic requirement to formulate a proper research paper. The research philosophy is classified into three major divisions, such as positivism, realism, and interpretivism. The research is based on the identification of the hidden truth that describes the subject matter with more details. Positivism philosophy is used for this research study because it deals with the truth and free from human interpretations (Creswell, 2013). On the other hand, the research approaches are divided into two divisions, such as deductive and inductive approach. The study deals with the inductive approach that helps in formulating the theoretical concept by gathering the enriched knowledge about the subject matter. The research design is also classified into three divisions, such as exploratory, explanatory, and descriptive (Bryman Bell, 20 15). The study explores the ideas of the importance of work-life balance in western countries and the role of HR managers in promoting the method among the employees. Hence, the application of the exploratory research design would be justified for this research study. The research study will be conducted by gathering the secondary information. The secondary data collection process concentrates on revealing the enriched data gathered from the secondary sources. The information will be collected from the books, journals, websites, and peer reviewed journals. By the application of the proper methodology, the information can be explored to understand the underlying concept. The further section of the study will provide the thematic analysis of the gathered data and link the findings with the information derived from literature review. Gantt chart Activities Week 1-2 Week 3-5 Week 6 Week 7-9 Week 10 Week 11-12 Week 13-14 Selecting the Topic Layout Development Review of Literature Research Plan Development Research Process Selection Data Collection Technique Selection Data Analysis Technique Selection Data Findings Conclusion Final Submission Table 1: Gantt chart (Source: Created by Author) Findings from the Secondary Research The obtained idea from the secondary research study emerges several themes based on the objectives of the study. These themes are as follows: Theme 1: Importance of Work Life Balance The volatile business market comprises more challenges for the working professionals. The individuals tend to focus more on achieving the professional targets and shift their focus from the personal lives. In most of the cases, people remain frustrated that may lead towards health issues. The physical and mental stresses due to extreme work pressure sometimes distract the employees from their focused goals. As implied in the literature study, spending time with families and friends help the employees to be more energetic to perform the professional tasks. Moreover, the recreation times releases the stress, which is beneficial for the employees to work in an energetic way. Therefore, it is much necessary to maintain the sequence and stability between the personal and professional life. Theme 2: Work Life Balance is much talked about in Western countries In keeping pace with the industrial revolution, it is necessary to pay attention towards separating the professional and personal life. The employers in the western countries usually engage the employees for more working hours. However, the HR practices are focusing on promoting the work life balance culture in the organisations. Wattis, Standing and Yerkes (2013) implied that when the employees can provide sufficient time to their families, it will energise them to become more attentive towards their professional life. The literature study specifies that the efficient HR manager helps in guiding the workers to manage the time properly for performing each of the tasks. Completing those tasks on time helps in keeping balance between professional and personal life. Therefore, the human resource management has to take the responsibility to establish the proper time management practices among the workers. The development of the technologies is also one of the major reasons for inefficien t management of work-life balance. The workplace ethics maintained in the western countries is also resolving the issues related to the inefficient time management. Theme 3: Challenges faced by the HR It is noticed that the issues with the maintenance of employees work life balance is often discussed in the organisational context. However, the HR managers face the significant challenges while developing the sustainable work-life balance culture within an organisational scenario (Butts, Casper Yang, 2013). The organisations usually lean on the knowledge, skills, and customer orientations. The employee engagement ensures the productivity level of the organisation as a whole. The literature study has specified some of the potential challenges faced by the HR manager. It is often seen that during the emergency situations, some workers may take the unscheduled leaves. In order to finish their works, HR often has to give the responsibility to other competent employees. It becomes very difficult to manage these employees since they have to complete other tasks as well. Generally, they provide extra time and efforts to finish. Eventually, they fail to keep the balance between their perso nal and professional life. Hence, the challenges are affecting the business functions as well as the competency level of the associated employees. The efficient performance parameter of the employees is helpful enough in achieving the competitive advantage and accomplishing business goals. One of the major issues faced by the HR manager in developing the work life balance of the associated employees is the changing job demands. Figure 1: Dissatisfaction of Work Life Balance in 2012 (Source: Statcan.gc.ca, 2012) Discussions The obtained information from the literature review explores the conceptual ideas about work-life balance. It is noticed that due to the technological advancements, the overwork has become an integral part of the business professionals. The study depicts the concerns of the western countries related to the work-life balance. The western countries are much fond of retaining the competent employees with proper motivations. The companies believe that if the employees receive the opportunity to maintaining stability between the professional and personal life, it will lead them towards success. Moreover, it will help the organisations to increase the productivity parameter. The human resource manager is thus trying to develop the work life balance culture to make the employees more competitive and attentive towards achieving the organisational goals (Michel, Bosch Rexroth, 2014). The government needs to improve the legislations of managing the time in the organisation. Managing the prope r time schedule would be effective enough in completing the works and spend times in the personal lives (Sanduleasa Matei, 2014). However, the information derived from the literature review and secondary analysis points out that time management is the major weapon to maintain a synchronisation between professional and personal life. The employees need to learn the proper time allocation for each of the activities that will gradually help them to achieve their targets. Accordingly, the employees will provide sufficient time to their personal lives. Conclusion The study reveals that work-life balance is much talked in western countries. 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