Work–Life Balance: A Strategic HR Need

Abstract

The issue of work–life balance (WLB) has been attracting increasing attention of employers and Human Resource (HR) professionals at the workplace. In a society, full of conflicting demands and commitments, WLB has become a serious issue and growing concern for employers as well as employees. Organisations these days have started to realise that in order to get the most out of their employees, they need to first encourage each one of them to have a life they desire. With the increasing complexity and demand at the work place as well as on the family front, HR professionals need to understand as to how to design their HR policies and programmes, which can help their employees achieve the necessary WLB. The present article review has attempted to study the work done by other authors in order to identify the issues related to WLB and how they might influence different individuals depending upon their age, gender, occupation, marital status or family structure. It has also tried to identify the ways in which an organisation through its supporting culture can help its employees minimise such conflicts in their work and personal lives and thus achieve a necessary WLB.