Work-Life Balance Interventions Prevalent in the Indian Industry

The increasing prevalence of work-life conflicts and increasing concern about work-life issues in the corporate arena present both a challenge and opportunity for Human Resource (HR) professionals. Work-life conflicts affect employee well-being in a myriad ways. Work-life balance initiatives designed to help employees balance their work and personal lives are not only an option, but also a necessity for many employers today. There is a need for organizations to adopt human resource strategies and policies that accommodate the work-life needs of a diverse workforce in the current business environment. This paper presents the results of the study on organizational policies and provisions regarding work-life balance of the employees, which was carried out among a cross-section of leading corporate entities (N = 30) in Chennai representing equally the three industrial sectors, namely, manufacturing, information technology and services. The results reveal the commonalities and differences in work-life balance provisions across the three sectors and also the impact of the global economic slowdown on the same. INTRODUCTION Work-life balance is an important area of Human Resource Management (HRM) that is receiving increasing attention from government, researchers, management and employee representatives and the popular media (Pocock et al., 2001). Factors contributing to the interest in work-life balance issues are global competition, renewed interest in personal lives/family values and an aging workforce (Lockwood, 2003). Sverko et al. (2002) attribute the growing relevance of work-life balance in industrialized societies to changing technology, changing values and changing demographic trends. Other factors include increasing complexity of work and family roles, the increased prevalence of dual income households and the expanded number of women entering the workforce. Though work-life balance was initially construed as the concern for working mothers, it has been recognized as a vital issue for all classes of employees (Bird, 2006). Despite increased interest in work-life issues, the organizational philosophy towards work-life concerns is varied. Many organizations still see them as individual not organizational concerns. Some organizations resonate the sentiment 'work is work and family is family - and basically, the two do not mix' (Bailyn et al., 1997). Other organizations view work and personal life as competing priorities in a zero-sum game, in which a gain in one area means a loss in the other (Friedman et al., 2000). Hence, it would be interesting to study organizational perspectives on work-life balance. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Felstead et al. (2002) have outlined the four theoretical positions that explain the factors associated with the adoption of work-life balance practices in the organizational context - institutional theory, organizational adaptation theory, high commitment theory and situational theory. According to institutional theory, organizations reflect and conform to normative pressures in society, albeit to varying degrees. These variations are explained by the extent to which organizations need to maintain social legitimacy. Organizational adaptation theory perspective not only retains the predictors proposed by institutional theorists but also attributes other factors to the organizational predisposition to work-life balance concerns. These additional factors are typically said to include characteristics of the workforce (like gender composition, nature of work profile, skill profile of the employees and so on) , the way in which work is organized and management attitudes towards issues of work-life balance. High commitment theory suggests that there is a link between an organization's human resource strategy and its adoption of family-friendly employment practices. This stems from an interest in work systems and worker-management relationships that aim to raise employee commitment to the organization. …