Work, family or personal life: Why not all three?

Abstract

Byline: T. Sathyanarayana Rao, Vishal. Indla Work is taking over the lives of many of us in today's fast-paced, global environment, and if we do not guard ourselves against work-life imbalance, there could be increasing work-family conflicts and stress resulting from long hours and workload escalation. Vacations are getting shorter and are often clubbed with work, or even worse, many do not have the time for a vacation. Quality family time is getting invaded by the omnipresence of media and the internet. It has been well established that most adults suffer adverse health effects from stress, and 75-90% of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide. [sup][1] People who experience stress typically go through different stages and degrees of suffering and along the way they pass on their stress to their direct environment, their families, co-workers and friends. Research in the field of work and family has well established the spillover and crossover effects of stress affecting co-workers, spouses, children, and the community at large. [sup][2] Decrease in work-life balance has been linked to higher unwanted turnover, lower physical and psychological well-being, lower productivity, greater stress-related ailments, and the like. The Waste is immeasurable. Myth of the Ideal Employee Myth of an ideal employee perpetuated by the society creates intense time pressure, or what some refer to as a time famine, [sup][3],[4] which can lead to stress and job dissatisfaction, possibly creating work-family conflict. The male model of work prescribes an ideal employee who is male, full-time, and continuously at work from the end of the education, fully committed to the organization, and without any responsibilities outside of work. [sup][5] This model is no longer valid and has become outdated. [sup][6] In addition, we can also observe a change in attitudes toward what constitutes a successful career, especially among the newer generations. The current generation started to question old assumptions about how work is done, how to show commitment, where and when to work, and how to advance in the company. Along with having a highly paid job, they strive for a more complete life that includes both a successful professional and a personal life. Organizations that monopolize the time of employees challenge the ability of employees to perform well in other important roles within the family and the community. The cover of Fortune's November 2005 issue was dedicated to the stress and burnout of the most elite group of employees within organizations today - the senior executive level. In this issue, senior executives were surveyed about their issues of work-life balance. While 49% of respondents were self-confessed workaholics, 64% of respondents stated that at this stage of life, they would choose more time over money. The most profound result was that 87%of the respondents agreed that the companies that restructure senior management jobs in ways that would both increase productivity and make more time for a life outside the office would have a competitive advantage in attracting talent. Changing Demographics and the Impact on Work-Life Balance The percentage of women in the active work population has increased rapidly in many countries around the world, including ours. As a consequence, we have seen the proliferation of dual-income families where role expectations toward men and women, both in their work activities and their domestic responsibilities, have radically changed. [sup][7] Apart from the many positive effects of women's integration into the work force, like the increase in nations' productivity, the wealth and consumption power of families, the financial independence of women, and an improvement of gender equity, there are some negatives in the form of pressure on family time. …