Recently, Jack Ma’s espousal of the 996 concept led to a huge outcry. The founder of Alibaba talked about work hours 9 am to 9 pm six days a week. Of course the idea was rejected by advocates of work-life balance. Workforce all over the world including India are increasingly seeking to balance work and their private lives. Millennials are increasing in numbers in the workforce, and they are at the forefront of asking for better work-life balance.
Employers will need to pay attention to the growing demand. To remain competitive, in terms of acquiring and retaining talent, they will need to offer better incentives than merely bigger salaries or career growth in a linear fashion. The desire of the work force to have greater control over their time and to have a balance between their work life and personal life, compels the employers to think in terms of solutions such as flexible work arrangements and telecommuting.
Flexible working essentially is an arrangement that benefits the employees as well as the employers. Both the parties agree on the rules of the game, concerning when, where and how the work of the organization will get done by the employee. Flexible work arrangements can be informal in nature and discretionary or they can be formal. Formal arrangements are officially approved by the HR policies of the organization.
According to a survey conducted by Kelly Services, almost 69% of the workforce in India acknowledged that flexible work arrangements were immensely beneficial to bring about work-life balance. Participants mentioned that flexible work schedules, working remotely or telecommuting and facilities like health club memberships and other employee wellness programs all contribute to a healthy work-life balance.
Earlier, flexible work arrangements were seen through the narrow prism of gender issue. It was felt that only women seek and need flexible working to care for their families. With millenials, it is no longer a gender issue. Both men and women now desire jobs and working hours that work well with their personal time. Of course, it is never very simple to achieve this. Cellphones, emails and video conferences have all made it difficult to leave work at the workplace. This unending and constant work leads to disengagement ultimately, leading to a loss in productivity. For attention span of human beings is limited. Stress levels of the workforce also increase in such a scenario.
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Achieving work-life balance can be a very elusive thing. Work is an important part of human being’s life as are self, family and community. True work-life balance would actually mean a harmonious integration of all these on a broader level rather than achieving it on a day to day basis. On some days, work perhaps would take precedence, on others self and family matters would call for attention. So, yes, a work culture is evolving in India where employers are encouraging employees to harmonize their work and personal lives by working for shorter hours and taking enough down time.
Maintaining a balance between work and personal time is the primary responsibility of the employees themselves yes, but they need an encouraging environment to be able to do so. Many multinationals in India are now making policies that help their employees enjoy a satisfying personal life. Cannon, for example, offers five day virtual working and flexible working.
Asians and Indians historically, have believed in work is worship concept and have been putting in long and hard working hours. Not anymore. Now work-life balance is no longer something that they merely aspire for, they expect it as a given. Shine.com, an employment portal has stated that the resumes that they receive now, have flexible work arrangement as a key consideration. According to a survey done by shine.com, nearly 60% of the respondents wanted flexible working.
This change in attitude has been brought about by a few factors such as changing demographics, dual income families and an increased demand for talent. The employers realize that they need healthy initiatives to retain talent and remain competitive. According to International Workplace Group Survey, flexible work arrangement is the main element to facilitate work-life balance. When people do not waste time in commuting for work, their travel induced stress is reduced and their struggle to achieve work-life balance is lessened. Employers are now alive to the fact that it is in their interest to provide specific work environments for different work functions to improve productivity. One size does not fit all.
Globally as well as in India, work-life balance is emerging as an important even critical initiative. From the employers perspective, the work style reform isn’t only about employee welfare. It is a strategy to help companies stay competitive and productive. Improved working environment leads to improvement in employees’ quality of life which, in turn, brings about employee satisfaction and commitment. Organizational behavior improves dramatically.
Benefits of work-life balance are not merely for the employees but for the organizations as well. It has been seen time and again that employees that have a better control and ownership on their working lives usually have a better working relationship with their employers. These employees are more motivated and ultimately more productive. Workplace conflicts are reduced. Organizations practising and promoting work-life balance gain positive reputation thus, helping them attract the best talent. They remain competitive. In a harsh, volatile and uncertain business world, businesses look for agility and productivity above all and this is achieved by keeping employees motivated and engaged.
References:
- 69% of talent in India sees flexible work arrangements as positively impacting work-life balance: Kelly Services
- Impact of work life balance on company culture, 16 Jan, 2017
- Is work-life balance a myth? Vaishali Dar, 30 Jun, 2019
