The subject has assumed gigantic importance in the current scenario owing to the stressful work environment we are endowed with. Balancing work life on the one hand and life at home on the other is of paramount importance since the imbalance between the two throws life into turmoil. Stress and unhappiness inevitably result. No doubt, dedication to office and official assignments is important, but at the same time, the same should not be at the cost of family. During my career, I had the opportunity to observe workaholics, who neglected family life thereby consigning the family to the throes of agony.
I heard the story of a manager of a PSU who used to sit late in the office and attend to official assignments. Perhaps he preferred to remain glued to his chair in office, rather than going home. His attitude had disastrous consequences on the home front. The irony was that his being a workaholic did not reflect in his performance, which used to be lacklustre. He could not reach assigned targets. At the same time, his family suffered due to his lack of attention and presence.
In contrast many attach all importance to the family and least importance to official assignments. Such people are found almost in every organization and they are just like mercenaries-doing some job for the money they are paid. They are a bane and drag on the organization, whose goals cannot be identified with corporate goals. They live in their comfort zone, apparently oblivious to the growth of the organization. They are satisfied with what they are and with what they have. They cannot be motivated for a better performance or a rise in career. There is a tilt in favour of family and work-life balance is upset. Theirs is a glaring case of work-life imbalance.
It would be interesting to quote another manager, who would leave office sharply at five. The striking feature was that his superiors had no room for complaints and used to perform his tasks well and with a high rate of efficiency. What he did was use the time management concept to the fullest.
a) Immediately after reaching the office in the morning, he would devote some time to planning his work for the day.
b) He would prepare a list of priorities and would allot the work to his team in an effective manner to ensure efficient performance by his team.
c) He would be monitoring the performance on an hourly basis very meticulously, providing guidance and clarification with the result that by about 4 pm whatever he had planned to do in the morning would be completed successfully.
d) The management principles of planning, coordination, direction, motivation and time management were properly applied to attain success.
e) After five, he clearly understood, was the time for his family. We can conclude that this manager had amply balanced his work and life.
Let me move on to another example.
* In a PSU an employee applied for casual leave and he cited the reason for leave as “to take rest.” Immediately upon reading the application, the superior officer quipped “he is a fool! Rest he can take right here, not at home.”
The following day the employee returned from leave and the officer had a chat with him and said, “if you feel that you can take rest at home, you are mistaken. You can take some rest here, but not at home. Moreover, you are not moving any mountains here.” He paused to observe the reaction of the employee and continued, “if you sit at home and try to relax, your wife will be giving you assignments one after another and I advise you not to take leave for rest” The above statement, though seemed to be exaggerated, cannot be dismissed as untrue.
* The concept of work-life balance aims at integrating career and ambition on one hand and family & leisure on the other.
* A person is caught between various demands like job demands, family requirements and social requirements. If no balance is achieved stress is bound to occur and high stress will cause emotional problems like depression, guilt, anxiety, tension and health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, headaches and recourse to alcohol consumption or drug use.
The organization in the form of lack of job performance and absenteeism causes costs to produce losses and other resultant issues.
As a result of the imbalance, the following situations develop:-
* Feeling tired, depressed, anxious and tense
* Deterioration in performance
* Personal relationships suffer
* The person will feel out of control so far as time management is concerned
One part of your life is dominating your time and attention, utterly neglecting the other part.
Steps to Achieve Work-Life BalanceÂ
* Stress management: Recognise stress as a sign that your work-life balance is under threat. Stress can cause health problems since the secretion of stress hormones like Epinephrine, Norepinephrine and Cortisol affect the activity of the heart and damage the lining of arteries. Hence stress has to be effectively managed to pre-empt the disastrous consequences.
* Anxiety is not a solution to anything, write down the possible things you could undertake to counter your anxiety.
* Living healthy: Eating well, taking exercise, sleeping well, relaxing regularly
* Ensure your well-being. You live your life to the full and enjoy your work and leisure.
* You have to spend time with your family and friends and occasionally undertake pleasure trips with your family.
* You have to decide to be happy. As regards happiness, choice is yours and none else can make you happy.
* Love the organization you work for, love your job and love your team.
Recognize success, reward your team for success, and celebrate success with your family.
* Set yourself realistic and achievable goals and review goals.
* Appreciate values in official life as well as in family life.
* Conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself. Look at your strengths, and weaknesses and avail opportunities for change & growth.
* Time management techniques to be utilised to the maximum benefit.
* Set your priorities.
* Never procrastinate.
* Have trust in people. Delegate authority.
* As far as possible, do not get angry. Anger spoils relationships, hurts other and hurts you.
It can be concluded that balance in work-life brings about overall happiness to self and family and you have a healthy and enjoyable life. For the organization work-life balance brings about more efficiency and productivity.
Abraham Kottisseril