Environmental decisions and the work/life environment: a story of how the edge brought prioritisation to the fore

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 256
Author(s):  
Eve McDonald-Madden
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Decisions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Work And Life

Finding your feet in the world of work/life balance is challenging. There are so many things to consider. Sometimes it feels like a disaster on all fronts. In reality we have to make trade-offs and prioritise between work and life but unfortunately doing this is not just common sense. Making good decisions hinges on a way of problem-solving steeped in decades of research in the fields of economics, applied mathematics, philosophy and psychology – known as decision analysis – an approach famously described as a formalisation of common sense for decision problems which are too complex for informal use of common sense. Examining environmental decisions through the lens of this approach is the focus of my groups’ research. In this reflective piece I share my struggle with the complex and dynamic trade-offs between work and family life, and outline the steps of decision analysis in this context drawing on parallels with my research in environmental decision-making.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of Wellness Programmes as Work-Life Balance Strategies in the South African Public Service

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Ethel N. Abe ◽  
Ziska Fields ◽  
Isaac I. Abe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
The South ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Work And Life

Abstract: This paper aimed to evaluate the wellness programs adopted by the South African Public Service to ascertain their efficacy at addressing work-family challenges and aiding employees to achieve work-life balance. Understanding the effectiveness of wellness programmes as work-life balance strategies is necessary especially when the cost of implementing such strategies is considered exorbitant. Many institutions have put in place work-life balance strategies, but discrepancies concerning definitions, formulation and implementation could make it impossible for them to fully reduce work-family challenges and assist employees in achieving the envisaged work-life balance. A sequential transformative mixed-methods study design was adopted. Data was collected using self-report questionnaire administered to 307 individual managers. Additionally, 11 top management members were interviewed. The major findings are as follows; (a) significant relationship exists between the wellness programmes and work-life balance strategies (b) wellness programmes qualified to be addressed only as life strategies because they did not address work challenges faced by employees. (c) work-life balance strategies predicted only 7.1% of the variations in wellness programmes in the South African Public Service. The peculiarity and value of this article lies in the discovery that work and life balance strategies adopted by organisations may not address employee work and life challenges and assist them in achieving work-life balance. Summarily, wellness programmes are not work-life balance strategies, and the South African Public Service should endeavour to adopt strategies that could assist employees in balancing work and family needs.Keywords: Wellness Programmes, Work-Life Balance Strategies, Work-family challenges, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)

Impact of Work and Family Role Demands on Work Life Conflict amongst Working Woman

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
Kaur, Anmol Preet ◽  
◽  
De K. K De K. K ◽  
Tripathy Manas Ranjan
Keyword(s):  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Family Role ◽  
Role Demands ◽  
Working Woman ◽  
Work Life Conflict

HRD Interventions that Offer a Solution to Work-Life Conflict

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-152
Author(s):  
Emily Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Performance Expectations ◽  
Employee Support ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Work And Life ◽  
Work Life Conflict

The Problem Balancing work and life can be difficult. In a new world of work amidst COVID-19, balancing work and life has become even more challenging. Employees are struggling to adjust their work-life obligations while maintaining performance expectations. Providing employee support to reduce stress and minimize adverse effects on performance outcomes requires employer action. The Solution HRD interventions are recommended as organizational support mechanisms. These interventions are designed to reduce stress produced by work life conflict, particularly during stressful organizational events. Through organizational support, employees are offered the opportunity to increase individual performance. The Stakeholders HRD and HRM professionals, scholars, organizational planners, organizational leaders and managers, and all others who have a vested interest in employee well-being.

Teleconference focus groups with fathers: ‘You’re on the line with …’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Burnett ◽  
Caroline Gatrell
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Entire Process

This chapter analyses methodological issues experienced in the employment of audio teleconference focus groups in fatherhood research. It cites a research project entitled ‘Work Life Balance: Working for Fathers?’, which explores how men with dependent children combine work and family commitments. As part of this research, when recruiting fathers for face-to-face interviews and focus groups proved difficult, scholars utilised the medium of recordable teleconferencing technology. In the context of research on fatherhood, the chapter evaluates the emergent complexities integral to the entire process of running ‘teleconference’ (telecon) focus groups. The first part of the chapter describes the technological and procedural challenges in the commissioning of telecon focus groups, while the second reflects on fathers' confession-like admissions.

scholarly journals Beyond ‘Juggling’ and ‘Flexibility’: Classed and Gendered Experiences of Combining Employment and Motherhood

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Interview Research ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Uk

This paper proposes that there is a need to push beyond the popular discourses of ‘flexibility’ and ‘work-life balance’. Developing a feminist-Bourdieuian approach and drawing on three illustrative case studies from my interview research with 27 mothers in the UK, I show the importance of maintaining a focus on class and gender inequalities. In the first part of the paper the concepts of capitals, dependencies and habitus which shaped, and were shaped by, this interview research are discussed. An analysis of three women's accounts of their experiences across work and family life is then used to illustrate that although these women all used terms such as ‘flexibility’ and ‘juggling’ in describing their work, the experience of that work was crucially influenced by their histories and current positioning. Tracing each of these women's trajectories from school, attention is focused on the influence of differential access to capitals and relations of dependency in the emergence of their dispositions toward work. Overall, the paper points to the significance of examining the classed and gendered dimensions of women's experiences of employment and motherhood.

scholarly journals The increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) among employees: Implications for work-life interaction

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wihan De Wet ◽  
Eileen Koekemoer
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Flexible Working Hours ◽  
Information And Communication

Technology has become one of society’s everyday functional tools, changing rapidly and providing widespread mobility. In South Africa alone, the number of Internet users grew from 8,5 million to 24,9 million in only three years (2011-2014). Currently, 90 per cent of these users access this facility from their mobile devices. Statistics illustrate that South Africans are moving towards a continuously connected lifestyle, a situation in which information and communication technology (ICT) seems to have become ubiquitous. Given the rapid growth of ITC technology and its absorption into people’s lives (both personally and professionally), the general aim of the present research was to investigate the use of ICT among employees and how it affects their work-life interaction (WLI). The researcher employed a qualitative research approach in accordance with which a sample of 25 employees was interviewed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and processed by means of thematic analyses. Three themes with corresponding sub-themes were extracted: use of ICT (i.e. in both work and family domains); challenges that ICT use presents; and the way in which employees manage their WLI by means of ICT. The participants experienced WLI as mostly negative. However, they also mentioned two different approaches that helped them manage interaction between their work and family domains. These approaches entail 1) applying limits to their use of ICT, and 2) using ICT to create flexibility. This article advises that organisations should consider adopting ICT to assist their employees in the management of these two domains. This could be done in two ways. First, organisations could implement a code of conduct or provide guidelines for eliminating the intrusive and excessive use of ICT, especially after working hours. Secondly, organisations could pilot or implement flexible working hours and possible telecommuting initiatives.

scholarly journals Verbal Decision Analysis: Foundations and Trends

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen M. Moshkovich ◽  
Alexander I. Mechitov
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Decision Process ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Human Information Processing ◽  
Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis ◽  
Organizational Environments ◽  
Verbal Decision Analysis

The primary goal of research in multiple criteria decision analysis is to develop tools to help people make more reasonable decisions. In many cases, the development of such tools requires the combination of knowledge derived from such areas as applied mathematics, cognitive psychology, and organizational behavior. Verbal Decision Analysis (VDA) is an example of such a combination. It is based on valid mathematical principles, takes into account peculiarities of human information processing system, and fits the decision process into existing organizational environments. The basic underpinnings of Verbal Decision Analysis are demonstrated by early VDA methods, such as ZAPROS and ORCLASS. New trends in their later modifications are discussed. Published applications of VDA methods are presented to support the findings.

scholarly journals Dimension of Work Life Balance in Software Companies

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deivasigamani J. ◽  
Dr. Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Software Companies ◽  
The Media ◽  
Convenience Sampling ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Significant Attention ◽  
Work And Life

Work-Life balance is a concept with several connotations and varied consequences within and among different stakeholders. Over the past two decades the issue work-family and work-life balance have received significant attention from employers, workers, politicians, academics and the media. Concerns about work-life balance have become salient for number of reasons. Demographic and social changes have resulted in more women entering the workforce, working mothers becoming the norm rather than the exception. In this view, the researcher has done a study to understand the employees work life balance with reference to software companies in Chennai.This study was conducted based on the objectives to know the work life balance of the employees in the software companies. There were 110 sample of respondents were chosen based on convenience sampling. Questionnaire was administered to collect the responses which have been formulated in such a way to meet the objectives of the study.The results of the study brought out various interesting findings. However, this study also had thrown few suggestions for managing the work and life in software companies.

scholarly journals A decision analysis framework for stakeholder involvement and learning in groundwater management

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 8747-8780 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Karjalainen ◽  
P. M. Rossi ◽  
P. Ala-aho ◽  
R. Eskelinen ◽  
K. Reinikainen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Groundwater Management ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Analysis Framework ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods are increasingly used to facilitate both rigorous analysis and stakeholder involvement in natural and water resource planning. Decision making in that context is often complex and multi-faceted with numerous trade-offs between social, environmental and economic impacts. However, practical applications of decision-support methods are often too technically oriented and hard to use, understand or interpret for all participants. The learning of participants in these processes is seldom examined, even though successful deliberation depends on learning. This paper analyzes the potential of an interactive MCDA framework, the decision analysis interview (DAI) approach, for facilitating stakeholder involvement and learning in groundwater management. It evaluates the results of an MCDA process in assessing land-use management alternatives in a Finnish esker aquifer area where conflicting land uses affect the groundwater body and dependent ecosystems. In the assessment process, emphasis was placed on the interactive role of the MCDA tool in facilitating stakeholder participation and learning. The results confirmed that the structured decision analysis framework can foster learning and collaboration in a process where disputes and diverse interests are represented. Computer-aided interviews helped the participants to see how their preferences affected the desirability and ranking of alternatives. During the process, the participants' knowledge and preferences evolved as they assess their initial knowledge with the help of fresh scientific information. The decision analysis process led to the opening of a dialogue, showing the overall picture of the problem context, and the critical issues for the further process.

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