Work-life balance (WLB)

Work-life balance (WLB) is an important area of human resource management which is

receiving increasing attention from policy makers, organizations, management,
employees and representatives globally (McCarthy et al. 2009 p. 1). There has been a
shift, perhaps encouraged by the increasing work intensification and pressure, towards
valuing a slower and gentler pace, which allows more room for personal interest,
environment and family (Torrington et al. 2008 p. 739). For that reason, a lot of
organizations are getting onboard with WLB initiatives that would assist in bringing
about balance between work and life.

One such organization is the Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago; through
achieving work-life balance, its holistic approach is geared at making a positive impact
on employees while attempting to stimulate even greater levels of performance from all
employees (Atlantic LNG Employee handbook).

1.2 Research aim:

To determine to what extent the work-life balance practices at Atlantic is meeting its
goals.

1.3 Research Objectives:

To critically determine what are the present work-life balance practices at Atlantic by
reference to best practice, theories and models.

To determine the factors influencing the use of work-life balance initiatives and whether
it is strategically integrated in the organisation.

Asses benefits of practices and its impact on employees well-being and organisational
performance.

To make recommendations as necessary on the basis of findings.

1.4 Background of Atlantic LNG Company

The Atlantic Company of Trinidad and Tobago was formed on July 20th 1995 to develop
a liquefied natural gas plant in Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago.

Values

Atlantic is an LNG operating generating value for our shareholders, our employees and
the community in which we operate. We are dedicated first and foremost to the safety of
our people and our operations.

All of our activities are conducted in a manner that ensures the health and safety of our
employees, contractors, visitors and surrounding community.

As an operator we are driven to improve the way we maintain our plants and to ensure
utilization and optimization of available capacity. Our focus is to be a global benchmark
in the production of LNG.

Source: Atlantic LNG Company website

Available from:http://www.atlanticlng.com/pages.aspx?pid=13

Problem StatementJustification of studyWhy research is importantBenefits of

researchIntroduction

A literature review is a written summary of the findings of a literature search which

demonstrates that the literature has been located, read and evaluated (Collis and
Hussey, 2003). Its main purpose is to help you to develop a good understanding and
insight into relevant previous research and the trends that have emerged... and to
review the most relevant and significant research on your topic (Saunders et al. 2007).
Therefore, this review is important for the purpose of the researcher's topic: Work-life
balance.

By perusing the literature this review will attempt to critically evaluate Work-life balance
practices in an organisational context. The structure of the paper is broken down into
five sections which consist of subheadings relevant to work-life balance, all-
encompassing:
defining what is work-life balance,

work-life policies in practice and use,

drivers behind work-life balance,

Employer demand for WLB

Employee demand for WLB

the business case touching on work-life balance impact on performance.

Summary of literature review

What is Work-life balance?

There is a significant body of work in relation to alternative and flexible work practices
and concepts such as work life balance (Elbing et al., 1975; Morley et al., 1995; Lewis
and Cooper, 1995; Tregaskis et al., 1998; Lewis, 1997, 2001; Sheridan and Conway,
2001 cited in O'Brien and Haden 2008).

There are several definitions on this subject, however, two main suggestions are stated
below:

Sparrow and Cooper (2003:219)1 suggest that work-life balance concerns those
practices that enhance the flexibility and autonomy of the employee in this process of
integration and in the negotiation over the attention and presence required.

McCarthy et al (2009) argue that work-life balance (WLB) initially called 'family friendly'
(Kodz et al.2002 cited in Torrington et al. 2008) is an important area of human resource
management which is receiving increasing attention from policy makers, organizations,
management, employees and their representatives globally. Harrington and Ladge
(2009) put forward that the topic of work-life has evolved into one of the most significant
business issues of the 21st century. Rooted in the history of women's right and equal
opportunity in education and the workplace, the notion of work-life has shifted in focus
from solely a woman's concern to a workforce management issue.
Fleetwood (2007 p. 351) further suggests that work-life balance is about people having
a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an
individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected
as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society. Work-life
balance is indeed an important subset in the organisation as a whole and the practices
that make up the equation will be discussed in the next section, with reference to best
practice, models and theory.

Present Work-life Policies in Practice

McCarthy el at. (2009) these authors make the point that essentially, work-life balance
initiatives are offered by organizations to assist staff manage the demands of work and
personal life. There are three broad types of work-life balance policies and practices
that can facilitate this: flexible work options, specialised leave policies and dependent-
care benefits (see figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Range of different organisational work/life balance initiatives

1 Compressed work week

2 Flexitime

3 Job sharing

4 Home telecommuting

5 Work-at-home programs

6 Part-time work

7 Shorter work days for parents

8 Bereavement leave

9 Paid maternity leave

10 Paid leave to care for sick family members

11 Paternity leave

12 On site/near site company childcare

13 Company referral system for childcare

14 Program for emergency care of ill dependents

15 Childcare programs during school vacation

16 Re-entry scheme

17 Phased retirement

18 Sabbatical leave

19 Professional counselling

20 Life skill programs

21 Subsidised exercise for fitness centre

22 Relocation assistance

23 Work and family resource kit or library

Source: Bardoel (2003 cited in Hudson Highland Group 2005).

Available from: http://au.hudson.com/documents/emp_au_Hudson_Work-

Life_A4_Std.pdf

According to Harrington and Ladge (2009 p. 149) many organizations see work-life
initiatives as a way of extending their employee health and wellness programs. In such
organizations, work-life may be closely associated with EAPs (Employee Assistant
Programs); initiatives in this area may be seen as part of a comprehensive solution to
the continually escalating cost of health expenses for employers and employees.
Most organisations in the work-life balance 2007 survey described the current status of
their work-life balance efforts as "progressing but with ongoing changes ... nearly two
thirds (64%) also agreed with the positive view that their efforts were steadily growing in
support and impact". One of the indicators of the success of work-life balance initiatives
is the proportion of employees who can access flexible work options. Overall, 44% of
employees in the survey could do so - an increase of 11% since the 2006 survey.

Thornthwaite and Sheldon (2004) continuing in the same vein, examines two leading
cases of Austrian organisations providing employee self-restoring for work-family
balance. The cases highlights that such practices can be successful for managements
and employees even in highly routine, mechanised environment.4

On the other hand, Greenhaus el at. (2003 cited in Hudson 2005) conducted a study
which explored and measured three aspects of work-life balance. The authors present
this model of work-life balance, with time, involvement and satisfaction components,
which enables a broader and more inclusive picture to emerge.

Time balance, which concerns the amount of time to work and non-work roles.

Involvement balance, meaning the level of psychological involvement in, or commitment

to, work and non-work roles.

Satisfaction balance or the level of satisfaction with work and non work roles.

For example, someone who works two days a week and spends the rest of the week
with his or her family may be unbalanced in terms of time, but may be equally
committed to the work and non-work roles (balanced involvement) and may also be
highly satisfied with the level of involvement in both work and family (balanced
satisfaction).

Someone who works 60 hours a week might be perceived as not having work/life
balance in terms of time. However, like the person who works only a few hours a week,
this individual would also be unbalanced in terms of time, but may be quite content with
this greater involvement in paid work (balanced satisfaction).
Alternatively, someone who works only 36 hours a week doesn't enjoy his or her job and
spends the rest of the time pursuing preferred outside activities may be time-balanced
but unbalanced in terms of involvement and satisfaction.

However, Haymen and Summers (2004) on the basis of empirical evidence, suggest
that there are major problems associated with current UK practices over work-life
balance and conclude that many employees continue to face difficulty in reconciling
their work and domestic responsibilities. They also put forward that employers seem to
offer few work-life balance provisions that exceed the statutory minima set by
government.

Beauregard &Henry (2009) supports the view of the above authors and argues the case
that employees fail to achieve the balance between work and life due to unawareness.
Additionally, there is the matter of lack of use because of the problems related with
practices. The authors found that in cases of awareness few men make use of policies
preferring to take vacation upon the birth of a child. Hall (1990 cited in Beauregard and
Henry 2009) refers to this as the 'invisible daddy track'.

Eaton (2003 cited in Beauregard and Henry 2009) found that the provision of work-life
practices improved employees' organisational commitment, but only to the extent that
employees felt free to use the practices without negative consequences to their work
lives - such as damaged career prospects. Beauregard and Henry (2009) go further to
suggest that there is an increasing amount of research supporting the notion that
workers who make use of work-life practices suffer negative perceptions from
colleagues and superiors.

Hudson (2005) will not disagree with the above authors and make the point that the low
uptake in some organisations appears to be related to different organisational
environments, also known as 'organisational work/life cultures' which affect the extent to
which flexible work options can be utilised and work-life achieved.

Drew and Murtagh (2005 cited in O'Brien and Hayden 2008), claim "prevailing
organisational cultures run counter to attempts to achieve work-life balance". The key
implications in this section propose that the availability of work-life balance practices in
itself is not sufficient to demand use. However, Beauregard and Henry (2009) suggest
what is needed is the managerial support and the work-life climate of an organisation to
moderate the link between work-life balance practice provision and both employee use
of practices and perceptions of organisational support.

Irrespective of issues regarding the uptake of practices organisations ensure the

provision and integration of WLB policies .Hence, in the next section the researcher will
discuss what drives these initiatives.

Drivers behind Work-life balance

Employer demand for WLB

Work undertaken by Wood (1999 cited in Beardwell 2007 p. 149) for the National
Centre for Economic Research suggest that employers' motives for introducing work-life
balance initiatives can be summarised within a four-fold theoretical classification;

institutional theory;

organisational-adaption theory

high-commitment theory

practical response theory

Wood argues that those organisations operating in the public sector need to be seen to
be proactive, and in the private sector there is visible kudos to be earned from setting
the lead in developing and implement work-life balance solutions whilst firms with trade
union presence are more likely to conform. Firms conforming to organisational adaption
theory are likely to be towards work-life balance initiatives because of specific
organisational circumstances.

Within Wood's framework high-commitment theory is used to explain the up-take of

WLB initiatives where it is understood that mechanisms to help employees achieve a
better WLB may in turn engender greater levels on employee commitment. Finally,
practical response theory applies to organisations who display a rather more ad hoc
approach to the development and introduction of WLB initiatives; resorting to
implementing WLB practices if they are perceived to be beneficial in helping to address
organisational difficulties.
In commenting on Wood's analysis Cluttterbuck (2004 cited in Beardwell 2007 p. 150)
suggest that the primary drivers for WLB in the EU differ from those typically forwarded
by US organisations. In the US he recognises a model firmly centred upon WLB as a
source of competitive advantage whilst in the EU motives typically push social
responsibility to the fore.

IRS (2002 cited in Torrington 2008 p. 736) added that the most popular reasons for
employers to introduce work-life balance policies were recruitment and retention.
Torrington el at (2008 p. 736) write a further influence of WLB is the need for employers
to respond to what is now termed 'a 24/7 society' which deviates from normal working
hours to longer working hours. Wise and Bond (2003) continuing on the same vein cites
four main drivers for introducing work-life policies:

Recruitment, enables becoming an "employer of choice", also countering negative work

practices such as longer working hours.

Retention "more responsive to the workforce's changing and diverse needs".

Supportive working environment - improving organisational culture with resultant

heightened morale and motivation among staff.

Equality - improving access through inclusiveness

However, Eikhof el at. (2007) takes a different view and argues that flexible working
hour schemes are offered as work-life balance allowing employers to appear employee-
friendly whilst meeting business needs.

On a different note with the pressures driving the WLB concept, Harrington and Ladge
(2009 p. 149) state that: "many organisations couple their work-life initiatives with their
diversity and inclusion program", one such company is IBM Corp.'s. Their work life
balance efforts include dependent care, flexibility, and women's advancement
programs, that fall under their umbrella of the company's diversity and inclusion efforts.

Employee demand for WLB

Coughlan 2000; DFEE 2000; Fisher 2000, Ryan & Kossek, 2008 (cited in McCarthy el
at. 2009) propose that changes impacting on the work environment over the past ten to
fifteen years such as globalization of competition, and the fast pace of technological
innovations have put extra time demands on employees... An increase in dual-career
families (Swody & Powel, 2007), long commuting journeys and growth in the diversity of
family structures (Duxbury & Higgings).These have all been main factors in employee
demand for WLB.

Similarly, Torrington el at (2008 p 736) claim that work-life balance policies originate
from the changing demographic make-up of our potential workforce, changing social
roles, the changing responsibilities of organisations and legislative pressure. The
increasing number of women in the workforce wishing to combine family and work
responsibilities is an obvious driver. The ageing workforce, a tight labour market, caring
responsibilities, work-life conflict [] , work intensification and greater levels of stress form
part of demands of life.

Abbott el at. 2008 extend the view of Torrington el at (2008) and write that empirical
literature has suggested that legislation, changing workforce demographics and the
increasingly competitive recruitment market are important influences on stakeholders
who are external to the organisation (whom we refer to as 'environmental
stakeholders'). The extant literature also identifies time span and retention of employees
as factors that influence stakeholders who are inside the organisation ('organisational
stakeholders') 7.

O'Brien and Haden (2008) make the point that there are various drivers with social and
political agendas behind many of these flexible work schemes - trade unions, social
partners, employee, employer, government, the European Union, advocacy groups,
etc6.

Likewise, Lewis (1997 cited in O'Brien and Hayden 2008) cites five main reasons for the
introduction of flexible work practices:

to meet the demand;

to meet family friendly goals;

political agenda;

equality agenda; and

the business case - inter alia skills shortages, staff retention, and avoidance of
workplace stress, curtail absenteeism.

Taking a different view Roberts (cited Eikhof el at. 2007 p. 3) argues that the problem of
long working hours is overstated and that workers are satisfied with their jobs. The
author states that "historically, the UK and the rest of the EU have falling hours of work
and less than one-third of workers in Austria think that their hours are too long. Though
some of the drivers remain unchallenged and a bit overstated, these authors have
shown various factors that actually drives the use of WLB initiatives and the importance
of the employees need for balance with work and life.

Consequently, this highlight the rational for the initiatives and also the benefits gained
both to the employer and the employee resulting in a 'win-win' situation. Hence, the
benefits to the employee, employer and the impact on organisational performance will
be examined in the following section.

The Business Case

Employers for Work Life Balance, (2006 cited in Fleetwood 2007 p. 351) write that good
work-life balance policies and practices are good for business, and some benefits can
be directly measured financially. These include: increased productivity; improved
recruitment and retention; lower rates of absenteeism; reduced overheads; an improved
customer experience; a more motivated, satisfied and equitable workforce.

Similarly, Thomson el at. (2008) in a research paper found that the company Vodafone
made substantial measureable improvement to the level of service through the
introduction of flexible working and turned the company around from failure to award-
wining in two years. The company's flexible working pattern is compressed hours,
where the employer chooses to work longer hours per day and take an extra day off
regularly. The authors continue in this vein and writes that if flexible working is
introduced strategically it can make a major contribution to the bottom line.

For example, Human Resource Management International Digest (2008 p. 1) in a case

study carried out on UK computer training company, Happy Computers found that
flexible working helps keep staff motivated. The paper reveals the "employees turnover
is 10% a year at the company, compared to an average of 17% for the information-
technology training sector".
Likewise, Research conducted by the Working Families Publications (2008) findings
support the intuitive expectation that the employee who is better able to integrate work
and non-work will experience enhanced well-being. This in turn reduces stress which is
linked to well-being and WLB, the research was able to identify that flexible workers
were more committed to the organisation. Also, increased job satisfaction was largely
reported by those who work flexibly. Overall the results of the seven organisations
which participated in the two-year project found that there was a positive relationship
between flexible working and individual performance.

However, Beauregard and Henry (2009) claim that the business case for work-life
balance practices, rest on attracting better applicants and reducing work-life conflict
among existing employees in order to enhance organisational performance. They found
that there is evidence for the claim regarding recruitment, but there is not enough
evidence to support the idea that work-life practices improve performance by means of
reduced work-life conflict.

The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (2009) takes a different

perspective on WLB benefits. Its view is that employers that have reduced benefits
because of the economic recession may find that learning employees' preferences and
introducing new expanded work-life benefits will position them well for the recovery.

In the final analysis, WLB initiatives play an important role in transforming the employee
and organisation performance, forcing employers to think different and act flexible. The
authors above do not dispute that there are evidential benefits to WLB provision and
uptake via recruitment and selection however; a reduction in work and life imbalance
may not improve performance.

Summary of Literature review

The articles studied suggest that organisations and governments have recognised the
role of work-life balance and the need to strategically align it with their objectives.

The authors have shown that there are diverse elements to the work-life balance
concept and the importance of implementation to the organisation resulting in
quantitative benefits. However, despite the challenges to work-life balance initiatives it
has been integral in shaping the behaviour of the employees, organisations and
governments.
Beardwell, J., and Calydon, T., 2007. Human Resource Management: A Contemporary
Approach. 5th ed. England, Pearson Education Limited

Dictionary of Human Resource Management, 2001, p406-406, 1/7p

(Human Resource and Skills Development Canada 2005

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/lp/spila/wlb/faq/01individuals.shtml#1

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/752313_731206573_713993698.pdf Arthur,
Lore(2004) 'Work-life balance', Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern
Europe,

Volume12: no. 2, 137 - 153 23 February 2010 Publisher Routledge

Fleetwood, Steve(2007) 'Re-thinking work-life balance: editor's introduction', The

International Journal

of Human Resource Management, 18: 3, 351 - 359

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/93448_731206573_773151032.pdf

Self-rostering
Emaraldhttp://site.ebrary.com/lib/anglia/docDetail.action?docID=10149878&p00=w
ork-life%20balancehttp://www.xperthr.co.uk/article/32677/having-a-life--work-life-
balance-in-practice.aspx?searchwords=work-life+balance HDFC5 Lacking
balance?: Work-life employment practices in the modern economy(emarald)6
Lacking balance?: Work-life employment practices in the modern
economy(emarald7 Influences on the provision of work-life benefits: Management
and employee perspectivesJournal of Management and Organization, Jul 2008 by
Abbott, Jacqui, De Cieri, HelenMethodologyDefinition of Methodology

Methodology refers to the overall approach to the collection and analysis of the data
(Collis and Hussey, 2003). The methodology is very important because it gives a clear
guideline to the reader of how the researcher acquired his results.

The methodology is concerned with the following issues:

Table 1Methodology Characteristics

Why you collect certain data

What data you collected

When it was collected

Where it was collected

How you collected

How you will analyse it

Source: Collis and Hussey 2003, p. 55

Theoretical Approach

Towards achieving the objectives set out in this research project it is essential to
develop a research paradigm. Vogt (1993 cited by Collis and Hussey 2003) defines this
as "the art of planning procedures for conducting studies so as to get the most valid
findings".

There are two main research paradigms available to the researcher:

Positivistic

Phenomenological

There alternative terms are qualitative and quantitative paradigms, respectfully.

Table 2 Features of the two main paradigms

Positivistic paradigm

Phenomenological paradigm

Tends to produce quantitative data

Uses large samples

Concerned with hypothesis testing

Data is highly specific and precise

The location is artificial

Reliability is high

Validity is low

Generalises from sample to population

Tends to produce qualitative data

Uses small samples

Concerned with generating theories

Data is rich and subjective

The location is natural

Reliability is low

Validity is high

Generalises from one setting to another

Source: Collis and Hussey (2003)

The methodology or approach which the researcher would use to obtain answers to the
above research aim and objectives should be phenomenological. The term
"interpretivist" is another term used for phenomenological because it suggests a
broader philosophical perspective. Collis and Hussey (2003) define this research
paradigm as being "concerned with understanding human behaviour from the
participant's own frame of reference".
Collis and Hussey (2003) proposed that, positivism is founded on the belief that the
study of human behaviour should be conducted in the same way as studies conducted
in the natural science. Therefore, this paradigm is not suitable for the research because
it demands that the subject must be measurable. Also, it may not be possible to place a
"numerical value" on experiences, feelings and attitudes.

The phenomenological method seeks to obtain different perceptions of the phenomena,

thus it is most appropriate because the paradigm highlights feelings, experiences,
attitudes and human behaviour. Hence, it makes it suitable for the researcher to employ
because it may be difficult to separate perception from facts. Still, the phenomenological
paradigm was used as opposed to the positivistic paradigm as the later lean to an
artificial and controlled environment, where as the natural workplace environment.

Research Approach

Saunders et al. (2007) defines a research approach as "the general term for inductive or
deductive research approach". Collis and Hussey (2003) proposed that "deductive
research is a study in which a conceptual and theoretical structure is developed which is
then tested by empirical observation; thus particular instances are deducted from
general inferences". On the other hand, "inductive research is a study in which theory is
developed from the observation of empirical reality; thus general inferences are
inducted from particular instances".

In this proposal, the researcher will adopt the induction research because it allows room
to build theory based on collection, evaluation and analysis of data. However, the
deductive approach is viewed as building theory on a rigid methodology and leaves no
room for alternative explanations, making it unsuitable for this study.

Research Strategy

Saunders et al. (2007) defines the research strategy as a general plan of how the
researcher will go about answering the research question. There are many types of
strategies available to the researcher they are as follows.

Table 3 Methodologies assumptions of the main paradigms

Positivistic
Article name: Work life balance Practices of Atlantic LNG essay, research paper,
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