Research Article
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A Comparative Study on the Work Life Balance of Employees Pre and Post Covid
Work Culture
Krishnasamy. T1, Sruthi .C2, Sabari Sri Chellamal .B3, Jayadevan.K4
1Assistant Professor, School of Management, Sri Krishna College of engineering and technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. 2, 3, 4 MBA Student (Human resource and Finance) school of management, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
Article History: Received: 11 January 2021; Revised: 12 February 2021; Accepted: 27 March 2021; Published
online: 10 May 2021
ABSTRACT
Work life balance is one of the key factors for the employees to achieve success. Organizations have devised various plans, policies, programs to help their employees to achieve the balance between their work commitments and family responsibilities. The present pandemic caused by COVID-19 has caused unprecedented turmoil in human lives. Invoking the typology of crises, we classify COVID-19 as an intractable crisis that necessitated nations to impose lockdowns. As national economies and businesses got a severe blow with this closure, organizations encouraged employees to work from home. Drawing upon the employee isolation literature, we aimed to examine the impact of work from home on employees before and during the lockdown. This investigation would help us learn about the nature and quality of work in the context of the current crisis. Towards this, the study was conducted by taking primary and secondary data sets and the analysis was made. The study was conducted by collecting data from employees of different sectors. The study found that work responsibilities negatively impact the personal life of employees. Employees reported an increase in working hours, major changes in their roles, reduced levels of productivity, and increased levels of stress. Thus, the present study aimed to assess how employees were coping with work from home during this unprecedented lockdown.
Keywords: work life balance, COVID work culture Introduction
Evidence from past economic crises indicates that recessions often affect men's and women's employment differently, with a greater impact on male-dominated sectors. The current COVID-19 crisis presents novel characteristics that have affected economic, health and social phenomena over wide swaths of the economy. Social distancing measures to combat the spread of the virus, such as working from home and school closures, have placed an additional tremendous burden on families the effect of COVID-19 on the working arrangements, housework and childcare of couples where both partners work.
Most of us at the beginning of the global pandemic were convinced that COVID-19 is foreign to India. Hardly, did we ponder over its spread and its cascading effect on our lives. As the situation worsened, the Indian government authorities enforced strict guidelines to the public to combat the pandemic. That did not suffice, the ever increasing number of the infected led to a complete nationwide lockdown for almost 2 months. Businesses not falling under the category of essentials were completely shut down; whereas the work arrangements in the majority of organizations, companies, institutions, universities had to undergo expeditious changes; the safest and accomplishable alternative to be adopted by employees was ‘work-from-home’.
In normal circumstances, for India employees balancing work-life has always been a herculean task due to many factors such as high work demands, pressing time deadlines, high performance pressure, dealing with competition in the market, limited or non-availability of resources at work, availability or non-availability of resources in family to support employees in balancing their work and non-work lives.
In a recent survey, About 48.90 per cent of people surveyed believe that the lockdown has affected their work life balance owing to salary cuts and layoffs, the survey- Job Market and Work Life Balance-Post COVID -19 Unlock Phases in India. The survey found that 28.64 per cent people felt that the reduction in manpower has led to an increase in work pressure thus impacting the overall work life balance.
About 32.9 per cent employees interviewed have opined that they are not satisfied with the work in the lockdown, with 20.33 per cent stating that work life balance needs improvement, it added.
The survey also revealed that 48.51 per cent people also felt that the current work from home schedule does not allow them to spend adequate time with friends and family.
Employee Performance and Work life balance
Work-life balance is becoming increasingly important because today’s workforce compromises of four generations — Baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. The time period of a person’s birth may affect his views on work-life balance. Some research suggests that the employer is most responsible for the work-life balance of employees because they create workplace policies, culture, and management practices that eventually affect work-life balance.
Work-life balance is the equilibrium between the amount of time and effort an employee devotes to work and personal activities in order to maintain an overall sense of harmony. It is the ability of individuals regardless of age or gender to find a rhythm that will allow them to combine work with non-work responsibilities, activities and aspirations. It pertains to all individuals who are in paid work regardless of whether they have family responsibilities or not. Around the world, more and more employees are looking for flexible work arrangements and interestingly, organizations are starting to meet these needs and offer a variety of family-friendly policies.
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Employers reap the benefits that come from having happy and productive employees. The workforce of the future demand flexibility. When employees know they are in control of their own lives, they work better with management and they can attend to work and family issues distinctively without interference. Organizations that encourage work-life balance are attractive to skilled, experienced, qualified candidates and draw a valuable pool when recruiting. These organizations enjoy higher employee retention rates, commitment, satisfaction and loyalty. Below are cities ranked for best work-life balance (2019) based on employment factors such as average commute times, working hours, leave, employee welfare etc.Effects of Work-life imbalance
Work-life imbalance has serious consequences for employees, organizations and the society. An imbalance affects the quality of life and career accomplishments of employees. A study conducted by UCL of more than 10,000 participants stated that white-collar workers who worked three or more hours longer than required had a 60% higher risk of heart-related problems than those who didn’t work overtime. Poor work-life balance can lead to:
• Lack of Family Time: The two most important parts of an adult’s life are work and family. Being engrossed
in work may lead to missing special family occasions and events. Lack of imbalance has led to decreased life satisfaction, family strife, violence, divorces, challenges with parenting and control of children, and increasing rates of juvenile delinquencies.
• Health Issues: work overload, working long hours etc. can cause stress-induced illness which can severely affect the immune system. Stress also makes people vulnerable to substance abuse.
• Fatigue: Tiredness decreases an employee’s ability to work efficiently. This can affect the quality of service offered to customers.
Review of Literature
• Evidence from past economic crises suggests that recessions often affect men’s and women’s employment differently, with a greater negative effect on men (Rubery and Rafferty, 2013; Hoynes, Miller and Schaller, 2012
• As reported in very recent studies (Hupkau and Petrongolo, 2020, Alon et al., 2020), the current recession is instead likely to have a similar impact on male and female employment, since the social measures taken have affected sectors where both genders are employed (ILO, 2020).
• In fact, the current COVID-19 crisis is not just an economic crisis, but a health and social one, too. The labor market is just one dimension of human work. COVID-19 is also expected to have major consequences on family work, due to increased housework and childcare resulting from the closing of schools and nurseries. Many women are already struggling to make it to work at all, given the need for at least one parent to stay home and mind the children (Queisser, Adema and Clarke, 2020).
• Preliminary evidence from Spain (Farré and Gonzalez, 2020) and from the UK (Sevilla and Smith, 2020) show that there has been a shift towards a more equal distribution of household and childcare between men and women, but most of the extra work caused by the crisis has fallen on women.
• As per the definition of work-life balance posited by Grzywacz& Carlson (2007) work-life balance does not necessitate excellent performance.
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A word of caution to all the decision makers: the work-from-home option may not necessarily lead to a higher job performance and higher job satisfaction. Hence, working in home Pajamas even after the lockdown ends may not be a great solution for all Indian employees.• Employee’s attitudes towards their hours of work, and perceptions and complaints about work-life imbalances actually deals with working time and complaints about time pressure which are unrelated to hours actually worked (Roberts, 2007).
• Business performance can be affected by number of ways but one of these is Work- life balance policies as in the present scenario of competitive labour market, employers can attract better recruits by offering Work-life balance policies with having competitive remuneration packages. However, work-life balance policies can enhance productivity; reduce cost by improving staff retention rates, decrease negative spill-overs, reduce extended hours and fatigue to reduce negative effect on productivity which further minimizes stress and contribute to a safer and healthier workplace (Ratzon et al., 2011).
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• To make a comparative analysis on the work life balance of the employees on pre and post COVID work culture.
• To Study about the work life balance of the employees in the pandemic situation. • To identify the factors that impact the employees work life balance.
• To know the relationship between employee’s job and its impact on employee’s personal life.
• To identify the main factor that affects the work life balance of the employees in the post COVID situation.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study is focused on the work life balance, issues in work from home culture, which gender of employees are affected more, performance and employees job satisfaction in regards with the COVID work culture.it also takes in account of the employees work life balance before and after the pandemic, suggestions to improve the work life balance and ways to managing the stress arising from work.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The project is an exploratory research design to study the comparative analysis of the work life balance of the employees before and after the COVID pandemic. The study focuses on the aspects of the main causes of work life imbalance, work culture and environment, employee’s personal preferences about the work nature and some suggestions to overcome work life stress. The study is made based on the perception of the employees on their work life balance.
The comparative analysis is made based on the data collection tools and statistical analysis tool. A Questionnaire is prepared based on the objectives of the project and the data is gathered from the employees of various domains of work. A sample of 75 respondents chosen and the responses are collected for the purpose of study. The data analysis is made using the SPSS software. The data sample is analyzed through various statistical analysis tools and the interpretation is made. Based on the interpretation and findings, the final analysis made and thus, the result is found.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
▪ Time constraints
▪ The respondents of the study were from diversified fields of work, so doing the analysis was strenuous. ▪ Some of the respondents showed lack of interest in filling the questionnaire.
▪ The sample respondents were from diversified group.
STATISTICAL TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS
The research study involves 3 types statistical tool for analysis. ➢ Correlation Analysis
➢ Regression Analysis ➢ Chi square Test
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION Regression Analysis
Hypothesis:
Ho = There is no significant relationship between the respondents’ life imbalance and Age H1= There is significant relationship between the respondents’ life imbalance and Age
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 2.881 2 1.440
1.136 .327a
Residual 92.527 73 1.267
Total 95.408 75
a. Predictors: (Constant), GENDER, AGE
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As the significance value is 0.327 and it greater than 0.05. Null hypothesis H0 is accepted. Thus there is no significant relationship between the respondents’ life imbalance and ageCorrelation Analysis Hypothesis
Ho= There is no significant relationship between respondents’ gender and better work life balance before pandemic situation.
Analyzing the correlation coefficient between gender and having better work life balance before pandemic situation.
Correlations
Gender
Better work life balance before pandemic situation
GENDER Pearson Correlation 1 .033
Sig. (2-tailed) .777
N 77 75
BETTER WORK LIFE BALANCE BEFORE PANDEMIC SITUATION Pearson Correlation .033 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .777 N 75 75 Correlations Gender
Better work life balance before pandemic situation Spearman's rho Gender Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .097
Sig. (2-tailed) . .409
N 77 75
Better work life balance before pandemic situation
Correlation Coefficient .097 1.000 Sig. (2-tailed) .409 .
N 75 75
Since the sig vale is 0.409 where, it is greater than 0.001 the null hypothesis accepted and has a positive correlation. Thus, there is significant relationship between respondents’ gender and better work life balance before pandemic situation.
Chi-Square Tests Hypothesis:
Ho: There is no statistically significant association between gender and the most preferred work culture Analyzing the Chi square Test between gender and the most preferred work culture
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided) Pearson Chi-Square .042a 1 .838 1.000 .517 Continuity Correction .000 1 1.000 Likelihood Ratio .042 1 .838 Fisher's Exact Test
Linear-by-Linear Association .041 1 .839 N of Valid Cases 76
4.3.2 Symmetric Measures
Value Approx. Sig. Nominal by Nominal Phi -.023 .838
Cramer's V .023 .838 N of Valid Cases 76
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• As p=0.517 which is greater than 0.05 and H0 is accepted. Thus There is no statistically significantassociation between gender and the most preferred work culture
• Phi and Cramer’s V measures the strength of association. Thus the association between gender and the most preferred work culture is week. (0.838<1)
FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION Findings
• Among 75 respondents majority of the respondents were women 54.5% and 45.5% were men.
• Among 75 respondents 57.1% of the respondents were about 20-25 years of age, 24.7% of the respondents were 25-35 years 7.8% from 35-40 years and 0.4% belong to the age group of above 40 years.
• Most of the respondents 61.0% are unmarried and 39.0% are married.
• In the total respondents 20% were new parents having kids from the age group of 0-5 years 7% of them having kids from 5-10 years, 8% having kids from the age group of 10- 15 years, 1% having 15-20 years and 3% having kids above 20 years.
• From the total respondents 77.3% are private employees, 20.0% were self- employed and 2.7% of the respondents were government employees.
• From the total respondents 38.2% of the respondents stated that they never work in shifts, 23.7% stated that they had to work in shifts always, 15.8% work often on shift basis, 11.8% of them had to work sometimes and 10.5% stated that they rarely work in shifts.
• Among the total responses 56% stated that they work 7-10 hours a day, 22.4% stated that they work 5-7 hours per day, 13.2% work more than 10 hours and 13.2% work 3-5 hours.
• 14.3% from the total respondents strongly agree that they like working from home, 29.9% agree that the like to work from home, 6.5% disagree to work from home, 7.8% strongly disagree and 32% are neutral about willing to work from home.
• Among the total respondents 51.3% of respondents feel that they sometimes feel unable to balance work life, 14.5 of the respondents feel that they feel often that they are unable to balance work life, 13.2% feel that they rarely feel about having an imbalanced work life, 9.2% always feel that they are unable to balance work life and 9.2% deny about having an imbalanced work life.
• 48% of the respondents agree that their work life balance was better before the pandemic situation, 13.3% strongly agree, 13.3% of them disagree that the work life balance was better before the pandemic situation, 6.7% strongly disagree the fact and 6.7% feel neutral about the fact.
• 35.5% of the employees feel that they always find enough time to spend with their family, 28.9% state that they often find time for family, 30.3% say that they sometimes get to have time and the rest 4% say that they hardly find enough time to share with their family.
• Out of 75 respondents, 54 respondents stated that they would prefer office environment to work and 22 prefer the work from home culture.
• Regarding the motivating factor of employees to work better, 26.3% feel that they need higher pay scale,21.1% want good work environment and culture, 19.7% prefer scope for better carrier development
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and promotion,14.5% choose to have better rewards and benefits, 7.9% go for better learning and development opportunities and 10.5% choose to have flexible working hours.• 32.9% of the respondents strongly agree that a good work life balance can impact in better performance and job satisfaction 31.6% agree the statement, 5.3% of the respondents disagree the statement and 25% feel it to be neutral.
• 68.8% of the respondents agree the fact that both men and women are equally affected with the work life balance, 29.9% of them say that only women are mostly affected and 1% feel that men are affected the most.
• When it comes to stress management, 44.7% say that they manage the work stress by having hangouts with family and friends, 23.7% chose to spend a relaxed day at home, 18.4% go on movies and dinner outs with family or friends, 5.3% go for party nights and 7.9% go for yoga and meditation camps to manage their stress.
Suggestions
The COVID pandemic work from home culture has made people stress upon both the economic and working culture. Many feel that they had a better work life balance before the lockdown period. The main cause of this is the over work load non flexible work hours with no time bound. The employees also miss working in the fun filled office environment, lack of peer engagement and the main issue that both the employees and managers face is the communication barrier. The organizations should find new strategies to overcome these barriers, as this situation is going to be the new normal for some years, this working culture should not affect the company as well as its human capital in the performance and growth. Organizations should start framing new corporate strategies which will be apt for the current situation. The managers should also conduct regular meetings and maintain frequent contact with the employees so that the employees feel to be in touch with the regular working culture. The organization can also plan to have child engagement programs with fun filled activities with the employees who have kids less than 10 years of age. This could help the employees have less distractions with their kids during the work hours. And I also highly recommend organizations to build a unique platforms or apps specially for their company or any specific departments, so that they can have better interaction with their colleagues and this can also reduce the threat of privacy and data theft to a better extent. They can also give to have flexible work hours by considering the employees personal life in relation with the pandemic situation. They must also be provided with proper work breaks and work to be done with time bound.
Conclusion
Work Life Balance is a very important issue in the Human Resource Management field and it has a vital impact on the productivity and growth of both the organization and the employee. Work life is all about a measure about controlling on when, where and how they work. Today’s workers have many competing responsibilities such as work, children, housework, volunteering, spouse and elderly parent care and this places stress on individuals, families and the communities in which they reside. Work-life conflict is a serious problem that impacts workers, their employers and communities. Many factors are acting as supporting elements for employees to achieve balance between work and personal life. Many organizations are considering adopting home working policies, but there is some uncertainty as to how to proceed and a lack of agreed guidelines. Creating a balance between work and home life is certainly a goal worth pursuing. One suggestion is to offer semi-career breaks, where those with young children are offered part-time employment while they prioritize caring for their children. If the same type of semi-career break was offered to mothers and fathers, this might help some small way to closing the gender divisions in childcare and therefore contribute to a shift in the work– life balance for many. Improvements are needed in people management practices, especially work time and work location flexibility, and the development of supportive managers, contribute to increased work-life balance. Work-life balance programs have been demonstrated to have an impact on employees in terms of recruitment, retention/turnover, commitment and satisfaction, absenteeism, productivity and accident rates. Companies that have implemented work-life balance programs recognize that employee welfare affects the “bottom line” of the business. Parameters are required to ensure that programs are having the desired effect on both employees and the company. Six parameters that can be used to evaluate work life balance programs are: extent of management buy-in and training, how programs are communicated to employees, corporate culture, management controls, human resources policies and employee control.
Finally, self-management is important; people need to control their own behavior and expectations regarding work-life balance.
References
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4. Balaji, R. (2014). Work life balance of women employees. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 3(10).
5. Doherty, L. (2004). Work‐life balance initiatives: implications for women. Employee relations. 6. Singh, S. (2013). Work-life balance: A literature review. Development, 27(5), 437-466.
