www.ijemr.

net ISSN :2250-0758

Volume-7, Issue-6, November-December 2017

International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
Page Number: 43-50

A Study on Work - Life Balance

Dr.P.Dolly Diana Dr.Y.Venkata Rangaiah
Dr.P.Siva Prasad
Professor Professor
Associate Professor
St.Martin’s Engineering College St.Martin’s Engineering College
St.Martin’s Engineering College
Hyderabad Hyderabad
Hyderabad

ABSTRACT lives.Work-life balance is equilibrium between theamount

Currently, the organizations need to ensure work- of time and effort somebody devotes to work and personal
life balance among their employees, since an imbalanced life activities, inorder to maintain an overall sense of harmony
leads to stress, fatigue, loss of control and even strained in life (Clarke, et al 2004, 121).
relationships among the employees. Many sectors have Several researches on work-life balance
started realizing the importance of balancing the wok and investigates the work-life balance issues such as (1)
personal life of employees and adapted many strategies to
overcome this issue in their respective sectors. Print media
spending high quality time with family members; (2) being
industry is one among the significant industries in India and able to relax in free time; (3) emotional well-being and
they face an acute problem in overcoming the work life health of family members; (4) high quality communication
imbalance among their employees since it happens due to its and support; (5) high quality child care and education; (6)
nature. The employees have to work intensively, particularly satisfaction with work and work load at home (Karakas
during emergencies with critical schedules and hence many and Lee 2004).
lose their balance in their lives. Therefore the researchers In the current scenario, the organizations need to
have decided to analyze the issue of work life balance among ensure work-life balance among their employees, since an
the employees working in press and newspaper organizations imbalanced life results in stress and fatigue, loss of control
located in the state of Tamilnadu, India. The primary data
were collected through the structured questionnaire with the
and even strained relationships.Work life balance helps the
sample size of 270 and the analysis was done with SPSS employees to effectively manage multiple responsibilities
software using statistical tools such as descriptive analysis, at work, home and in the society without any stress
Chi square test and two- way ANOVA. (Thomas & Ganster, 1995). Work life balance further
results in increased focus, motivation and job satisfaction
Keywords-- Work overload, career advancement, work (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998) knowing that family and work
stress, employee involvement, employee well-being, etc commitments are being met. But there exists always some
conflict between one’s work and personal life. Many
sectors have realized the importance of balancing the wok
I. INTRODUCTION and personal life of employees working with them and
adapted many practices to overcome this issue in their
Work-life balance supports the employees to respective sectors.Organizations have started
allocate their time and energy between work and the other implementing various work-life balance initiatives that
vital aspects of their lives such as family, friends, mayassist employees to better balance their work and
community participation, pleasure, spirituality, personal family responsibilities, gainimprovements in well-being
growth, self-care, and other personal activities, in addition and provide organizational benefits. There are a
to the Job demands. The term work-life balance ensures largevariety of family friendly policies which include but
that one commits an equal share of time to both work and are not limited to the following:flexible working hours, job
life.Work-life balance is defined as a satisfactory level of sharing, part-time work, compressed work weeks,parental
involvement or ‘fit’ between the multiple roles in a leave, telecommuting, on-site child care facility, (Hartel et
person’s life (Hudson, 2005).It helps the employees to feel al 2007).
that they are contributing to all the vital aspects of their

43 Copyright © 2017. IJEMR. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN :2250-0758

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM organizations could set up a work- life balance strategy
and projects that would help their workers in satisfying
Work-life balance mainly deals with an their authority work at the working environment and their
employee’s ability to properly correlate the work and individual obligations outside the work environment also
his/her lifestyle, social life, health, family etc, and is (Kim, 2014).However, insimpler terms, work-life
normally linked with job productivity. Currently, balance means maintaining a suitable balance between
maintaining a good work life balance in the organizations two equally significant domains,work and Life.
is an essential part of human resource management. Many Change in work practices:
industries have started realizing the significance of work- The aim of work life balance is to improve
life balance and have started adapting and following the workers’ conditions through altering work practices
various strategies for improving the same. Print media (Atkinson and Hall, 2009).The main thrust and perception
industry is one among the significant industries in India of work life balance include the negative attitude towards
and they face an acute problem in overcoming the work work, the problem of work long hours and separation of
life imbalance among their employees since it happens due work from life. The changing nature of work, according to
to its nature. The employees have to work intensively Waller and Ragsdell (2012) has been affecting work life
particularly during emergencies with critical schedules and balance negatively especially making staff accountable to
due to this many lose the balance in their lives. Hence the their work and promotion. The increase in long hours of
researchers have decided to study and analyze the issue of work may include organizational downsizing, job
work life balance among the employees working in press insecurity of those working harder for fear of losing their
and newspaper organizations located in the state of jobs and economic recession (Burke and McAteer, 2007).
Tamilnadu, India. Work Overload:
Work overload was the strongest predictor of full-
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY time employees' work-life conflict. Work hours, their fit
with preferences, and control over work scheduling also
To study the work-life balance among the demonstrated small to moderate associations with work-
employees working in the different organization belonging life conflict (Natalie Skinner, Barbara Pococ, 2008). This
occurs when the total demands on time and energy
to Press and Newspaper organizationslocated in the state
of Tamilnadu, India. associated with the prescribed activities of multiple roles
are too great to perform the roles adequately or
comfortably.
IV. RATIONALE AND SCOPE OF THE Career Advancement:
STUDY Career Advancement in common terms means
promotion, movement to higher levels, higher
This research study has been conducted for jobresponsibilities etc. Numerous studies have
analyzing the work life balance prevailing among the acknowledged the relationship between work life conflict
employees belonging to the press and newspaper industry. and jobperformance,job satisfaction, motivation,
Employees working in press and newspaper industry face productivity (Lyness and Judiesch, 2008). The career
many problems especially working for long hours in tough advancement opportunities however lead to work life
working environment.Hence this study is performed to balance among the employees in the organizations.
analyze the work life balance among the employees Quality Family Time:
belonging to the Print Media industry. This research would People who work irregular hours or an excessive
help the organizations to think about the various measures amount of overtimealso spend less time with their children
that are to be followed in order to improve the employees’ and spouses and, once at home, they spend part of their
work-life and provide a motivational environment in which time doing household chores to the detriment of family
the employees are highly satisfied to improve the interactions (Barrette, 2009). The work-life imbalance
productivity. occurs when an employee fails to spend proper time with
their family members.
V. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS Employee well-being:
Employee well-being is ensured in the
Work Life Balance: organizations when the employees have their basic needs
Work-life balance refers to the flexible working met.Employee wellbeing is ensured in the companies when
arrangements that ensure both parents and non-parents to they strive to make sure their employees remain happy and
enjoy the working arrangements that provide a balance motivated in their work. This can include things affecting
between work and personal responsibilities. Organizations physical wellbeing, such as natural daylight and
can focus on workers' work-life balanceto ensure the temperature control. Mental wellbeing is ensured through
responsibilities among their employees. Hence, the employee assistance programmes or informal areas for

44 Copyright © 2017. IJEMR. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN :2250-0758

taking a break or catching up with colleagues.The three One of the most common consequences of work -
measures of wellbeing include sickness absences, both life imbalance is depression, resulting in decreased
short- and long-term, Subjective and Physical discomfort productivity and higher absenteeism (Layous, Chancellor,
at work. Lyubomirsky, Wang & Doraiswamy, 2011; Seligman,
Work Stress: 2011).
Work life imbalance can increase the incidence of Low work-life balance can also lead to employees
stress which can lead to high turnover rate and absenteeism experiencing low morale and higher absenteeism (Brought,
which have impact on organizational productivity and staff O’Driscoll & Kalliath, 2005), and organizations
performance.A key aspect of well-being is connectivity experiencing higher staff turnover, lower productivity and
with family, community, and co-workers. The common poorer work quality (Seligman, 2011; Hill, 2005).
source of stress is the work life conflicts which are caused
by the multiple roles of individual with limited time VII. METHODOLOGY
(Carlson et.al 2009). This conflict affects the general
wellbeing of the employee. The researchers attempted to describe the various
characteristics related to work life balance and also
VI. REVIEW O F LITE R ATURE identified the association between the selected socio
demographic variables and the variables related to work
Hence very limited number of research have been life balance. Hence descriptive research design has been
conducted in work life balance related to the Print Media adopted for conducting the study. The population for the
industry, the literature from other related researches have study included the employees working in various Press and
been provided in this study.Employees with work-life Newspapers organizations located in the state of
balance feel their lives are fulfilled both inside and outside Tamilnadu, India. A structured questionnaire with 5 scale
of work and they experience minimal conflict between rating was used to collect the primary data from the
work and non-work roles. respondents.Totally 295 questionnaires were distributed
Work-life balance is generally associated with out of which 270 responses were collected and considered
equilibrium between the amount of time and effort for analysis.The collected data was coded analyzed using
somebody devotes to work and personal activities, in order the software SPSS version 19. Various tools like
to maintain an overall sense of harmony in life. (Clarke, et percentage analysis, chi square and two way anova were
al 2004, 121).Any competing demands of work and family used to analyze the data andderive the findings.
life will cause conflict and negatively affect the wellbeing
of workers (Clark, 2000; Frone, 2000). Clarke et al. (2004) VIII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
and Clark (2000) agree that measurable aspects of WLB
are satisfaction, lack of role conflict and an overall sense Reliability Analysis was done and the Cronbach’s
of harmony. Alpha value was estimated to be 0.724 which ensures an
Higher demands on employees’ duties and longer acceptable level of internal consistency with the responses
working hours reduce the time workers have Byrne. (2005) received from the sample for the study
to spend with their families (Hill, 2005).Malik, McKie, 8.1 Profile of the Respondents:
Beattie & Hogg. (2010) Heavier work demands faced by Among 270 number of respondents, maximum
employees also result in higher levels of stress, which number of respondents are males(93.3 %) and 53.3% of
negatively impacts workers’ physical and psychological the respondents belong to the age group of 31 to 40 years.
wellbeing. 54.5% of the respondents have done only schooling(HSC
Grady et al.(2008)and Burke(2000) argue that and Below) among which 12.2 % of the resp0ndents have
organizations and managers need to understand the their work experience of more than 10 Years and 35.6 %
importance of WLB, its impact on employees’ wellbeing, of the respondents are machinists.
and the effects it has on organization’s productivity and
performance.

Table- 8.1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics

S. No. Socio-Demographic characteristics Frequency Percentage
Gender of the Respondents
1 Male 252 93.3
Female 18 6.7
Age of the Respondents
2 Below 25 years 30 11.1
25 to 30 years 60 22.2

45 Copyright © 2017. IJEMR. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

31 to 40 years 144 53.3

Above 40 years 36 13.3
Educational Qualification of the respondents
Below HSC 102 37.8
3
HSC 72 26.7
Diploma 48 17.8
Degree 42 15.6
PG 6 2.2
Designation of the respondents
Machinist 75 27.8
Foremen 30 11.1
Dispatcher 96 35.6
4
Agent 42 15.6
Photographer 6 2.2
Editor 12 4.4
Reporter 9 3.3
Experience of the Respondents
Below 2 years 27 10.0
5 2 to 5 years 93 34.4
6 to 10 years 117 43.3
Above 10 years 33 12.2

8.2 Percentage Analysis:  34.4% of the respondents disagree that they can
 Majority (67.8%) of the respondents strongly spend enough time with their family members.
agree that the nature of work provided is good in  54.5% of the respondent agrees that their family
their respective organizations. does not suffer with the working hours in the
 Only 15.6 % of the respondents disagree that their organization
organizations provide healthy working conditions.  Majority (68.9%) of the respondents agree that
 30.0% of the respondents do not agree that their they are able to fulfill their family responsibilities
organization provides good infrastructure and obligations.
facilities.  Only 38.9 % of the respondents agree that they
 28.9% of the respondents do not agree that they manage to attend their family functions
arecomfortable with working hours in the  Majority (71.1%) of the respondents agree that
organization. their organizations provide leave for personal
 30% of the respondents disagree that they plan occasions.
and work according to the working schedule in  Majority (75.6 %) of the respondentsagree that
the organization and 24.4% of the respondents do their organizations care about their well being
not agree that they are clear with their duties and  28.9% of the respondents disagree that
responsibilities provided in the organization theprofessional counseling is being provided by
 Majority (72.2%) of the respondents disagree that their respective organizations
they can meet the target and requirements without  Majority (82.2%) of the respondents disagree that
working long hours in the organization the personal telephone facilities are being
 31.1 % of the respondents disagree that they think provided by their respective organizations.
about their work even during travel timeand 80 %  63.4 % of the respondents agree that the work
of the respondents agree that they work even stress causes irritation at home and 68.9 % of the
during holidays. respondents agree that the work pressure is more
 30% of the respondents are not satisfied with the in their respective organizations
leave policy in their organizations.  68.8 % of the respondents agree that the job
 Majority (61.1%) of the respondents agree that produces strain in their organizations
they have good career prospects in the 8.3 Chi Square Test:
organization. 8.3.1 Respondents’ designation Vs Nature of work:
 Majority(71.1%) of the respondents agree that H1: There is no significant difference between the
they able to balance home and work life without designation of the employee and the nature of work done.
hindering their career progression.

46 Copyright © 2017. IJEMR. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

Table- 8.3.1 Respondents’ designation vsNature of work

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
Pearson Chi-Square 10.675 6 .099
Likelihood Ratio 11.720 6 .069
Linear-by-Linear Association .103 1 .748
N of Valid Cases 270
a. 8 cells (57.1%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .64.

Inference: 8.3.2 Respondents’ designation vs Good infrastructure

Chi Square Value= 10.675, Dof = 6, p = 0.099. H2: There is no significant difference between the
Since p>0.05, we accept the Null Hypothesis and we designation of the respondents and their perception
conclude that there is no significant association between regarding the good infrastructure facilities.
the designation of the employee and the nature of work
done.

Table- 8.3.2 Respondents’ designation vs Good infrastructure

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 31.151a 18 .028
Likelihood Ratio 32.445 18 .019
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.338 1 .247
N of Valid Cases 270
a. 22 cells (78.6%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .07.

Inference: 8.3.3 Respondents’ designation vs Healthy working

Chi Square Value= 31.151, Dof = 18, p = 0.028. condition:
Since p<0.05, we reject the H0 and we conclude that, there H3: There is no significant difference between the
is a significant association between the designation of the designation of the respondents and their perception
respondents and their perception regarding the good regarding the healthy working conditions.
infrastructure facilities.

Table-8.3.3 designation vs Healthy working condition

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 32.998a 18 .017
Likelihood Ratio 31.967 18 .022
Linear-by-Linear Association .923 1 .337
N of Valid Cases 270
a. 22 cells (78.6%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .02.

Inference: 8.3.4 Respondents’ designation Vs Equal access to

Chi Square Value= 32.998, Dof = 18, p = 0.017. promoting and T&D:
Since p<0.05, we reject the H0 and we conclude that, there H4: There is no significant difference between the
is a significant association between the designation of the designation of the respondents and their perception
respondents and their perception regarding the healthy regarding the equal access to promotion and T & D.
working conditions.

47 Copyright © 2017. IJEMR. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

Table- 8.3.4 Respondents’ designation Vs Equal access to promoting and T&D

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
Pearson Chi-Square 65.341 24 .000
Likelihood Ratio 43.418 24 .009
Linear-by-Linear Association 4.921 1 .027
N of Valid Cases 270
a. 28 cells (80.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .02.

Inference: 8.4 Univariate Analysis of Variance (Two wayAnova):

Chi Square Value= 65.341, Dof = 24, p = 0.000. H4: There is no significant difference between the
Since p<0.05, we reject the H0 and we conclude that there experience and education and the expectation of the
is no significant association between the designation of the respondents regarding their remuneration as per their
respondents and their perception regarding the equal knowledge and skills.
access to promotion and T & D.

Table- 8.4.1 Between-Subjects Factors

Value Label N
Experience 1 Below 25 years 27
2 2 t0 5 years 93
3 6 to 10 years 117
4 Above 40 years 33
Education 1 HSC 72
2 Diploma 48
3 Degree 42
4 PG 6
5 OTHER 102

Table- 8.4.2 Descriptive Statistics

Dependent Variable: Getting remuneration as per skills and knowledge
Experience Education Mean Std. Deviation N
HSC 4.5000 .57735 12
Diploma 5.0000 . 3
below 25 years Degree 2.0000 1.00000 9
PG 2.0000 . 3
Total 3.4444 1.50923 27
HSC 3.7143 .75593 21
Diploma 4.0000 .92582 24
2 to 5 years
OTHER 3.8125 1.32759 48
Total 3.8387 1.09839 93
HSC 4.5556 1.01379 27
Diploma 4.5714 .53452 21
Degree 3.7500 1.28174 24
6 to 10 years
PG 5.0000 . 3
OTHER 4.3571 .92878 33
Total 4.3333 .98230 117
48 Copyright © 2017. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.
www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

HSC 4.0000 1.41421 12

Degree 4.0000 1.73205 9
above 40 years
OTHER 4.2500 1.50000 12
Total 4.0909 1.37510 33
HSC 4.2083 .97709 72
Diploma 4.3125 .79320 48
Degree 3.4286 1.45255 42
Total
PG 3.5000 2.12132 6
OTHER 4.0882 1.19005 102
Total 4.0444 1.15058 270

Table- 8.4.3 Levene's Test of Equality of Error Variancesa

Dependent Variable: Getting remuneration as per skills and knowledge
F df1 df2 Sig.
1.650 14 75 .085
Tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable is equal across groups.
a. Design: Intercept + A2 + A3 + A2 * A3

Table- 8.4.4 Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Dependent Variable: Getting remuneration as per skills and knowledge
Source Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
a
Corrected Model 27.555 14 1.968 1.635 .089
Intercept 526.569 1 526.569 437.510 .000
A2 13.684 3 4.561 3.790 .014
A3 11.291 4 2.823 2.345 .062
A2 * A3 9.903 7 1.415 1.175 .327
Error 90.267 75 1.204
Total 1590.000 270
Corrected Total 117.822 267
a. R Squared = .234 (Adjusted R Squared = .091)

Inference: Since F = 1.175, p =.327 and p>0.05, there no

 From Levne’s Test for Equality of Error significance n between the experience & income level of
variances, we can see that we have homogeneity the respondents and their expectations regarding their
of variances of the dependent variable (The remuneration as per their knowledge and skills.
expectation of the respondents regarding their
remuneration as per their knowledge and skills) IX. CONCLUSION
across group since the significance value is more
than 0.05. Work-life balance initiatives by the organizations
 Since F = 3.790, p =.014 and p< 0.05, there is an would significantly reduce absenteeism rates, improve
significance between the experience of the employee morale and retain knowledgeable staff. In
respondents and their expectations regarding their today's global environment, as the organizations
remuneration as per their knowledge and skills. concentrate on cost reduction, they need to understand and
 Since F = 2.345, p =.062 and p>0.05, there no deal the critical issues of work-life balance with unique
significance between the income level of the work-life programs. Work-life balance practices are
respondents and their expectations regarding their deliberate organizational changes in programs or
remuneration as per their knowledge and skills. organizational culture that are designed to reduce work-life
conflict and enable employees to be more effective at work

49 Copyright © 2017. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.

www.ijemr.net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

and in other roles.Nowadays, employee expectations are [10] Babbie, E., & Mouton, A. (2010). The practice of
very high in regard to flexible work conditions. So it is social research. London: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
imperative for businesses to have highly functional work [11] Baral, R., & Bhargava, S. (2013). Work–family
life balance options to stay competitive and attract the enrichment as a mediator between organizational
highest skilled staff. interventions for work–life balance and job outcomes.
Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(3), 274–300.
REFERENCES [12] Kalliath, T, Brough, P, O'Driscoll, G et al. (2014).
Organisational Behaviour: An Organizational Psychology
[1] Byrne U. (2005) Work life balance: Why are we Perspective. (2nd ed.). Australia: McGraw Hill Australia.
talking about it at all?. Business Information Review, [13] Christensen, K. E., & Staines, G. L. (2011). Flextime:
22(1), 53-59. A viable solution to work family conflict. Journal of
[2] Lapierre L M & Allenm TD. (2006). Work –supportive Family Issues, 11(4), 455-476.
family, family-supportive supervision, use of [14] Layous, K., Chancellor, J., Lyubomirsky, S., Wang,
organizational benefits and problems-focused coping: L. & Doraiswamy, P. M. (2011). Delivering happiness:
implications for work family conflicts and employee well Translating positive psychology intervention research for
being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11(2), treating major and minor depressive disorders. Journal of
169-181. Alternative Complementary Medicine, 17(8), 675-683.
[3] Natasha Khamisa, & Karl Peltzer. (2016). Work related [15] Cooper, R. D., & Schindler, S. (2014). Business
stress, burnout, job satisfaction and general health of research methods. Boston, Irwin: McGraw-Hil.
nurses: A follow-up study. International Journal of [16] Malik, F., McKie, L., Beattie, R., & Hogg, G. (2010).
Nursing Practices, 22(6), 538–545. A toolkit to support human resource practice. Personnel
[4] Altman, J. H. (2013). Career development in the Review, 39(3), 287-307.
context of family experiences. In Diversity & women’s [17] McCarthy, A., Darcy, C., & Grady, G. (2010). Work-
career development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage life balance policy and practice: Understanding line
Publications. manager attitudes and behaviors. Human Resource
[5] Carlson, D.S., Grzywacz, J.G., & Zivnuska, S. (2009). Management Review, 20(2), 158-167.
Is work-life balance more than conflict and enrichment. [18] Natalie Skinner and BarbaraPocock. (2008). Work—
Human Relations. 62(10), 1459-86. life conflict: Is work time or work overload more
[6] Clark, S. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: A new important? Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources,
theory of work/family balance. Human relations, 53(6), 46(3), 303-315
747-770. [19] Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). A visionary new
[7] Clarke, M. C., Koch, L. C., & Hill, E. J. (2004). The understanding of happiness and wellbeing: Flourish.
work‐family interface: differentiating balance and fit. Australia: Random House Australia Pty Ltd.
Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 33(2), [20] Elliot, M. (2013). Work and family role strain among
121-140. university employees. Journal of Family and Economic
[8] Ashar, A. (2013). The impact of perceptions of training Issues, 24(2), 157-180.
of employee commitment and turnover intention. [21] Thriveni, K. K., & Rama, D. V. (2012). Impact of
International journal of human resource studies, 3(1), 74- demographic variables on work-life balance of women
88. employees (with special reference to Bangalore City).
[9] Frone, M. R. (2000). Work-family conflict and International Journal of Advances in Management and
employee psychiatric disorders: The national comorbidity Economics, 1(6), 226-229.
survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(6): 888-895.

50 Copyright © 2017. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.