Volume -10 | Issue - 4 | April - 2020 | PRINT ISSN No. 2249 - 555X | DOI : 10.36106/ijar
Original Research Paper
Management
WORK-LIFE BALANCE : ISSUES AND CHALLENGES OF BANKING
INDUSTRY IN INDIA
Ms. Pooja Maken
Dr. Shashi
Shekhar*
Assistant Professor, M.M. University, Mullana
Professor, Quest Group of Institutions, Jhanjeri, Punjab *Corresponding Author
ABSTRACT
The Banking industry is an emerging industry in India, the entry of private sector and foreign banks have brought various
essential changes in the banking industry. Work-life and personal life are two sides of the same coin. The menace of worklife imbalance is noticeable in the banking industry. Employees in the banks take a painful effort to deliver the various needs of its customers. Work
deadlines are getting compact and the individual's jobs are loaded and added with quality output. Due to work in pressure, it becomes hard to
maintain a balance between professional and family life.
The study attempts to nd out the issues related to managing professional and personal life of employees in the banking industry. The major
objective of this paper is to identify specic issues and challenges in Work-life balance in the banking industry and to suggest measures to improve
Work-life balance.
KEYWORDS : Work-Life Balance, Banking Industry, Working Condition, Employers, Employees
INTRODUCTION
Work-life and personal life are interconnected and interdependent.
Spending more time in ofce, allocating with customers and the
burdens of the job can delay and affect personal life, sometimes
making it difcult to even complete the domestic responsibilities.
Now a day's managing Work-life balance is a challenge for both
employers and employees particularly in the service industry where
employees are loaded with work at workplace and at the same time
they have to balance their personal life.
Work-personal life conict occurs when the burden, commitments and
responsibilities of work and family roles become mismatched. The
obligation of one can force an individual to neglect the other.
Work-life and personal life are two sides of the same coin.
There is no 'one size ts all' pattern of work-life balance practices. It is
important for employers to offer practices that appeal to all employees.
Employers may incur extra costs in assuming strategies to support
work-life balance, including enlarged managerial capabilities.
Ÿ Greenhaus et al. (2003) operationalized the concept of workfamily balance as comprising three components. These are:
Ÿ Time balance, whereby equal amounts of time are devoted to work
and family;
Ÿ Involvement balance, whereby an equal level of psychological
involvement in work and family roles exists; and
Ÿ Satisfaction balance, whereby an equal level of satisfaction is
derived from work and family roles.
Ÿ The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all
have different priorities and different lives, a good working
denition of Work-Life Balance is:
Work-life Balance
Greenhaus, Collins and Shaw (2003) dene work-life balance as the
extent to which an individual is equally engaged in – and equally
satised with – his or her work role and family role. Thus, employees
who experience high work-life balance are those who exhibit similar
investment of time and commitment, to work and non-work domains.
Meaningful daily Achievement and Enjoyment in each of the four life
quadrants:Family, Friends, Self and Work
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Johari et al., (2018) Inability to attain the correct balance with respect
to effort and reward has signicant linkage to the dearth of control over
workload as well as lack of energy in fullling personal needs and
obligation. When there is imbalance between effort and reward,
fatigue, poor performance and declined life quality can result.
Salas-Vallina, (2017) In academic studies, the importance of life
quality within the workplace has been dubbed as a major element. In
this study, happiness becomes a basic state to be achieved by nearly
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
everyone. Among the notable past studies are the ones that examine
how happiness in day-to-day work becomes attainable through better
management of work atmosphere.
Shaffer et al., (2016) Work-life balance encompasses a balance
between two entirely separate roles performed by a person namely the
roles of work and the roles of family, and to holder of the roles, both
bring satisfaction.
Kumar a swamy M, Ashwini S ( 2015) in their paper titled
“Challenges in WLB of married working women “ studied that it is
important for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work
and their private lives .Generally those employees who have better
work- life balance contribute more towards the success of the
organization. The organization can render better service to the
customers by having productive and efcient employees. Family
sphere changes that have impacted the Work-life balance of individual
in today's context include nuclear families, single parent household,
and dual earnings parents working at different locations and increasing
household works.
M. N Jane, and N. M James (2014) The aim of this research was to
analyze the relationship between Work-life balance policies and
employee job satisfaction. Work-life balance entails attaining
equilibrium between professional work and other activities, so that it
reduces friction between ofcial and domestic life. Job satisfaction
refers to the attitude people have towards their job and the
organizations they work for. The quality of Work-life policies is
increasingly becoming part of the business strategy and the focus is on
the potential of these policies to inuence employee's quality of
working life and more importantly to help them maintain work-life
balance with equal attention on performance, commitment at work and
job satisfaction.
Kumari T. K and Devi R. V (2013) The concept of Work-life balance
has stemmed from the fact that an individual's Work-life and personal life
may put forth conicting demands on one another and the demands from
both the domains are equally important. Work-life balance refers to
maintaining the balance between responsibilities at work and at home.
Work-life balance is one of the most challenging issues being faced by
the women employees in the 21st century because of the type of roles
they play at home and the spillover of personal life over Work-life.
Lalitha Kumari (2012) in her study emphasized that each of the
Work-life Balance factors on its own is a salient predictor of job
satisfaction and there is signicant gap between male and female
respondents with job satisfaction with reference to various factors of
Work-life balance. The result of the study had practical signicance for
human resource managers of especially banks to improve staff
commitments and productivity along with designing recruitment and
retention of employees.
Vartha Raj & Vasantha (2012) studied the Work-life balance of
Volume -10 | Issue - 4 | April - 2020 | PRINT ISSN No. 2249 - 555X | DOI : 10.36106/ijar
working women in service sector. They specied that the ultimate
performance of its employees which in turn depends on numerous
factors. The relationship between personnel and professional life can
be achieved through emotional intelligence. Better emotion
management is necessary in order to accomplish objective of life.
According to Klopping (2012) contribution, in the modern times,
human resource department's one of the major emphasis is to maintain
a balance between the professional and the personal life.
IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Work-Life Balance is more than just an exhortation – it's for real.
Employers who have responded to the uctuating public and
professional atmosphere and made Work-Life Balance policies into
their culture have promoted enormously. Attaining "work-life balance"
is not as simple as it sounds.
Work-life balance= Time management + Stress management.
Work personal life conict occurs when the burden, obligations and
responsibilities of work and family roles become incompatible. The
obligation of one can force an individual to neglect the other.
Increasing work pressures, globalization and technological
advancement have made it an issue with both the genders, all
professionals working across all levels and all industries throughout
the world. The objective of this paper is to identify an issue related to
Work-life balance in the banking industry in India.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To nd out the Reasons behind Work-life imbalance in the
Banking Sector
2. To suggest the Strategies to bring Work-life balance and Job
Satisfaction
BENEFITS OF HEALTHY WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Work-Life balance is advantageous for the employees and
organization as well. A balance between the work and personal life
helps in improving employee productivity, morale and health
condition. In fact, work-life balance should be a priority for all of us.
An imbalance in any of the front will make life difcult and pose
several hazards or challenges in terms of health, happiness and
emotional stability.
Benefits to the Organization from Work-Life Balance Culture
1. Helps in Gaining a Competitive edge or an advantage:
Organization's Work-life balance policies and practices in the
form of exible work options, shift work and a lot more will make
the organization more competitive and address the changing
demands of the customers as well as help an organization achieve
its strategic mission or goals.
2. Build a Loyal Workforce: An organization's employee-friendly
policies or programs which support the overall well-being of the
employees will denitely help in building a loyal and committed
workforce.
3. Reduction in the Conflicts: Offering exible-work options, will
help the employees in restructuring their schedule to t in their
personal commitments or otherwise work from home, which in
turn will reduce the possibilities of any work-life matters related
conict.
4. Strengthen the reputation of the organization: Work-life
balance programs if effectively planned and implemented can
strengthen the reputation and the image of an organization by
being recognized by the people as one of the best places to work
and help in attracting top talent.
5. Reduction in the Absenteeism rate: Studies show that Work-life
balance programs if effectively implemented by an organization
can reduce the absenteeism rate by almost 50%.
6. Improve employee motivation & morale as well as their
commitment towards the work. Studies reveal that motivated
employees are more productive and provide the best support in the
organization's professional journey.
7. Retention of Employees: Work-life balance initiatives may not
only increase the percentage ratio of employee retention but
equally contributes to a saving in the extra cost which an
organization might have to incur due to an employee exit or
turnover.
8. Saving of Employee time: By facilitating a supportive and
conducive work culture, organizations can achieve higher
productivity from the employees and help the employees in
planning and utilizing their time more efciently by setting clear
priorities.
Benefits of Work-Life Balance for Employees
1. Improved Productivity: Greater work-life balance will improve
employee productivity and performance at work.
2. Taking breaks periodically during work hours: Meditation,
relaxation or breathing techniques and stretching help in
improving both mental and physical health.
3. Spending time on Entertainment during breaks: Studies reveal
that, by spending some time on entertainment such as net surng
and leisure time activities during short breaks, the productivity
level is expected to increase by 9%.
4. Taking off: Working exhaustively for long hours is not healthy or
desirable as the consequences may be fatal. One should not miss
the chance of planning and distributing their holidays for
vacations, as studies also reveal that people who spend quality
time in vacationing are relatively more productive than the
sloggers.
5. Strengthen Relationship: Work-life balance facilitates
collaboration in a professional and personal relationship.
Conicts are better tackled or addressed when there is a balance
between both.
6. Health: A balanced work-life will help in reducing health-related
complications and the risk of various serious diseases of heart,
hypertension, stress or lifestyle-related ailments.
7. Fulfilment: People who maintain a balance between work and
personal life experience a sense of fullment and contentment in
their life.
Triggers or Signs of Work-Life Imbalance
An imbalance between the personal life and Work-life can have serious
or adverse effects on health and well-being. This imbalance usually
occurs when the boundaries between professional life and personal life
are not clearly demarcated and followed with discipline. Work-life
imbalance leads to emotional stress, depression and anxiety.
Extensive studies and research on Work-life Balance reveal that, more
than nancial pressures or family problems, work-life imbalance
affects the health considerably and may trigger serious complications
if left ignored.
Let's analyze the Symptoms of Work-life imbalance
1. Increased Level of Stress: Work-life imbalance can add to the
level of stress and increase the risk of various health hazards or
lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular diseases, compromised
immune system, Headaches & Migraine attacks, Backaches,
Acne, Stiff Muscles, Nervousness, Irritability, Depression, Mood
Swings, Weight Gain, Fatigue, Poor Self-Esteem, etc.
2. Absence: Work-life imbalance increases the pressure of fullling
professional commitments within stringent deadlines, as a result
of which you may miss out on crucial events of the family such as
anniversaries, birthdays or special moments of get together with
the loved ones. Absence may badly impact the relationship with
the loved ones and build up instabilities or pressures in personal
life.
3. Exhaustion: By working for long hours tirelessly and regularly,
you may run the risk of being faced with both mental and physical
exhaustion, end up messing up with all the fronts of the life due to
confusion and tiredness. An exhaustive schedule if followed for a
long time, may build up confusion, increase the susceptibility of
mistakes at work and affect the overall productivity. Several
problems occur such as lack of hand-eye coordination, poor
reexes, problems with concentration and the risk of accidents,
injuries, liability or professional upsurges are few other hazards of
an imbalance in the Work-life schedule.
4. Staying Away from Friends: Friendships are required to be
nurtured by spending quality time with close friends. By
dedicating a major chunk of the time to your career, you may end
up being a loner. Friends are an integral part of our life and they act
as the support system by being there during moments of stress or
testing times. By having the support of the friends and loved ones,
one can experience a sense of contentment and lead a satisfying
life. But, for the friends to remain by your side for life-long,
quality time needs to be dedicated and frequent communication
must take place.
INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
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Volume -10 | Issue - 4 | April - 2020 | PRINT ISSN No. 2249 - 555X | DOI : 10.36106/ijar
Diverse Work Strategies Or Solutions For Effective Work-life
Balance. Each Strategic Alternative Is Described Below:
1. Results-Only-Work-Environment: The main proponents of this
strategy were Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson and their work was
published in the book “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it”. As
per this method, an employee's performance is evaluated in terms
of their contributions towards the realization of the organizational
goals and in meeting the desired results or output, which should be
measurable. Mere physical presence at work or number of hours
worked isn't the focus, but the only measurable or quantiable
outcome is given due importance by the employers. Organizations
like MindTools, departments of Gap use ROWE to accomplish
their work-related goals and promote maximum employee
productivity.
2. Unlimited Vacations: Companies like Mammoth HQ, Netix,
LinkedIn and a lot more adopt this exible-work strategy.
Unlimited vacation is based on the principles of mutual respect
and trust. If the organizations select and hire the best of the talent
pool by conducting an extensive review of their talent and
personality traits, such employees can prove to be assets for the
company and needless interference or stringent regulations to
ensure higher productivity. Such employees work for the benet
of the organization and also take care of their personal interests.
Unlimited vacations will suit such organizational conditions,
where the employees are self-motivated and have a clear idea
about their accountabilities and work expectations. Unlimited
vacations, on the other hand, can have many benets for the
employers as well by saving on the cost spent on each employee,
reduce the absenteeism cost and improve organizational
productivity as a whole.
3. Job Sharing: Organizations like Qualcomm and a lot more
depend a lot on Job sharing programs in which two or more than
two professionals collaborate on some mutual agreement to
perform one job. It can be interpreted that the professionals
engage in a part-time engagement by working for 2-3 days a week,
which is then carried on by the other professional accordingly for
another 2-3 days of the week. But they handle a full-time job by
working as part-timers and based on their mutual understanding
plan or allocate their working hours.
4. Remote Working: The employees work entirely away from the
ofce premises. Since the employees can operate remotely and
need not visit the ofce at all, they can work from any part of the
world by depending heavily on the tools like video conferencing
and virtual communication methods regularly. A remote working
strategy can be effective if adequate attention is given to the
strengthening of relations with the employees, using various
technologies for remaining connected, by providing training and
development opportunities, setting clear goals and aligning
performance with rewards and recognitions.
5. Work Hours Customization: As per this method, the employees
are granted complete freedom to choose their preferred hours for
working. This provides the employees ample opportunity to
schedule their time accordingly, decide upon their most
productive hours for working by choosing their own personal
hours for work (example 3 pm - 8 pm), deal with their personal
commitments, health and profession too.
6. Condensed Workweeks: This is also one of the exible working
options in which an employee can plan and distribute his work
hours for a few days of the week. A professional may prefer
working for long hours (approx. 10 hours) for around 4 days of the
week, instead of distributing the 40 work hours around the whole
week. But care should be taken for implementing this kind of a
work schedule for the employees by assessing the feasibilities and
acceptance from the employees or new hires.
7. Part-time opportunities: The biggest limitation of this kind of
work option is most of the employees do not continue a job or quit
because of salary issues or perks limitations.
8. Time Management: Time management is one of the most
essential skills contributing to the success of an employee as well
as the organization. An employee needs to manage his/her time
well to complete assignments within the stipulated time frame and
deliver results on time.
Let us go through some useful time management tips:
I. Learn to prioritize things: Prepare a “TO DO” list and jot down
all important tasks to be nished within the desired time frame.
II. Understand your roles and responsibilities in the
organization: Accept responsibilities as per your expertise, past
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INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH
experience, specialization and interest levels.
III. Do not answer unwanted phone calls and emails: Instant
messaging services keep you busy with your cell phone the entire
day.
IV. Do not waste your time in unnecessary gossips at the
workplace: Do not unnecessarily waste time in loitering around,
surng useless websites and spreading baseless rumours about coworkers. After all, nothing is more important than your career
growth and success.
V. Avoid doing personal work at the office: Avoid booking movie
tickets, paying your mobile bills, browsing Facebook at the
workplace to save time and concentrate on productive work.
CONCLUSION
Work and personal life were once considered to be two separate
priorities. But with the changing times due to globalization and everincreasing work pressures, maintaining work-life balance has attracted
the attention of the organizations and employees as well. The
employees, who devote a crucial period of time of their entire day at
work or sometimes work for extended hours, are faced with the
challenge of balancing their personal lives with the demands of their
profession. Work-Life balance refers to effective management or
striking a balance between the work which is remunerated and the
personal or social responsibilities which an individual is expected to
perform. Work-life can inuence organizational productivity and also
the well-being of the employees in different ways.
A work-life initiative is not a choice but an imperative for the
management in the present scenario. It is because the employees look
forward to the support and concern of the management towards their
work-life related issues. HR today holds the extra responsibility of
implementing a gamut of initiatives for making their organization an
attractive place to work for the employees especially in the banking
industry.
The study concluded that the Work-life balance has become a quest for
professionals of banking industry both in private and public sector and
also that employee's work better when they do make time for family
and personal interests.
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