Abstract
Work-Life Balance is increasing interest in academic literature, legislation and public sector. It is meaningful daily achievement and enjoyment in life. Organizations have started introducing various schemes to attract, retain employees and commitment. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Fountain University. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made accountants, marketers, senior staffs and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Work life balance describes the relationship between your work and the commitments in the rest of your life, and how they impact on one another. Employers, employees and government want to maximise participation in the workforce. However, in our demanding lives many people struggle to balance work and the responsibilities of caring for children, family members with a disability or elderly parents. For other workers it's often difficult to find time outside work for study, volunteering, taking care of their own health or participating in sport and recreation. There is no ideal work life balance; everyone is different and the ‘right' balance may alter over time as families grow older and personal commitments change. Having options about how work is organised makes managing work and life demands possible by allowing employees to work in non-traditional work patterns and locations that better fit their personal commitments. Overall quality of life improves and businesses also benefit from employees' higher morale and commitment. For employers the capacity to negotiate flexible work arrangements provides an antidote to loss of skills and experience and the high cost of recruitment and retention in a competitive labour market. Employers who provide flexible work options immediately gain a competitive edge in the labour market by becoming 'employers of choice. The concept of work-life balance, also referred to as ‘work-life conflict’ or ‘work-family conflict’, has received a great deal of attention from scholars in recent times. Whilst there have been various interpretations of the term, here we use the definition from the New Zealand Department of Labour website (2007) that describes it as “…effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people”.
Work-life imbalance can appear in various forms from the inability to remove oneself psychologically from the demands of the job (Messersmith, 2007:430), to a blurring of the lines between work and home life (Boswell and Olson-Buchanan, 2007:593).Despite being a relatively new body of thought, the existence of academic studies on work-life balance is broad. Focuses range from political action (see Bryson, Warner-Smith, Brown and Fray, 2007) to the impact of technologies (see Boswell et. al. 2007) to its effect on worker’s attitudes (see McPherson, 2007). This saturation is hardly surprising given that, according to a report written on behalf of global research organisation ESOMAR, over two thirds of people across 23 different countries believe they lack work-life balance and nearly half felt personally affected by the imbalance (Echegaray, Cornish, and Donnelly, 2006:9).The research shall therefore determine work-life balance and employee commitment
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problem confronting this research is to appraise work-life balance and employee commitment. The basis for the research stems from numerous complaint and the inability of employees to maintain a balance between their official work and personal and family lives. It is also a significant dimension in human resources management to proffer solution to work-life balance and employee commitment.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are:
- To examine the effect of work life balance on employee commitment.
- To ascertain if there is any significant relationship between work life balance and employee commitment
- To examine the influence of imbalance Work-Life practices on organizational commitment
- To examine ways of enhancing proper Work-Life balance practices amongst employees
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
The following research questions where formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study
- i) Does work life balance have any effect on employee commitment in Fountain University?
- ii) Is there any significant relationship between work life balance and employee commitment in Fountain University?
iii) Is there any influence of imbalance Work-Life practices on organizational commitment?
- Are there ways of enhancing proper Work-Life balance practices amongst employees?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following research hypotheses where formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study
H0: There is no significant relationship between work life balance and employee commitment in Fountain University
H1: There is a significant relationship between work life balance and employee commitment in Fountain University
H0: Work life balance does not have any effect on employee commitment in Fountain University
H2: Work life balance does have an effect on employee commitment in Fountain University
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is believed that at the completion the findings will be of great importance to the management of Fountain University as the findings of the study will help them explore the adequate strategies to get the best out of their employee. The study will also be of importance to researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the findings of the study will serve as a reference point to further study. Finally, the study will be of importance to researchers, students, teachers, academia’s, lecturers and the general public as the study will contribute to the pool of existing literature on the subject matter and also contribute to knowledge.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study proffers an appraisal of work-life balance and employee commitment and elucidate a significant human resource dimension strategy to managing work-life balance an employee commitment. In the course of the study, there are some factors that limit the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
- c) Finance: Limited Access to the selected to the required finance was a major limitation to the scope of the study as a result of the Covid-19 restriction.
1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Work-Life Balance: Work life balance describes the relationship between your work and the commitments in the rest of your and how they impact on one another
Employee Commitment: Is the psychological attachment and the resulting loyalty of an employee to an organization.
1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study
