WORK LIFE & FAMILY LIFE.   Term Paper ID:29622 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Discusses issues involved in these two major aspects of life. Conflicts between the two. Problem of achieving a balance between both. Stresses feld by workers. Need of employers to be less demanding, and workers to accept responsibility for balancing their activities. Strategies useful in reducing work/life pressures. Paper Introduction: There are several unique phases of individual growth, identified by Stanley (2002), as moving the individual from a first adolescent job to graduation from high school or college and on to working and living as a single adult, moving into autonomous living in a place other than one’s parents’ home, marrying and beginning a family, and continuing to advance in one’s career. At each stage of this cycle of development, the individual faces real challenges while enjoying equally important opportunities; however, as Stanley (2002) pointed out, achieving a satisfying family life and meeting one’s responsibilities as a husband, father and employee requires developing a number of important managerial skills. Romano (2001) discussed this challenge and stated that the difficulties of balancing work life and family are a source of stres Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Taken together, these stressors place enormouspressures on adults to conform to the expectations of two groups withdifferent goals, objectives and requirements. These strategies can include, as noted above,flexible work hours, family leave in times of emergency or crisis, and theprovision of counseling and other supportive services in the workplace thatfacilitate achievement of a better degree of work/family balance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(4), 655-685.Spinks, N., & Moore, C. Critical to the ILP model is the willingness of the business sectorto recognize that the basic features of family life in industrialized,advanced nations have changed; the stay-at-home wife responsible for homeand child care has given way to a woman who is as likely to have a careeras her spouse. (2 1). Borders are seen as necessary toretain the autonomy of each domain, but also as sources of strain andstress between they admit that the individual "lives" in two potentiallyquite disparate worlds. All too often, says Clark (2 ), enhancement ofone domain leads to diminishment (and resulting strain) in the otherdomain. This conflict is stressful, but it can be reduced if notentirely eliminated.Romano (2 1) recommends that more and more business organizations(including universities) are beginning to recognize that stressed employeesconflicted about familial and work obligations need support and someemployers are providing support through flex time, group counseling, andother strategies. Reward programs, counseling, supporteffort, and so forth can be helpful in reducing the stresses that workersfeel, but one suspects that the current era is one in which these conflictsare likely to remain strong. Spinksand Moore (2 2) assert that as the world in which we live and work becomesmore and more complex and uncertain, achieving a desirable balance betweenthe two most important aspects of our lives becomes equally moresignificant. (2 1). A more flexibleworkplace which shares many of the values of the family home isrecommended. Review of Business, 22(1), 86-93+. Canadian HR Reporter, 15(5), 11+.Stanley, T.L. There are several unique phases of individual growth, identified byStanley (2 2), as moving the individual from a first adolescent job tograduation from high school or college and on to working and living as asingle adult, moving into autonomous living in a place other than one'sparents' home, marrying and beginning a family, and continuing to advancein one's career. The more energy that is put into a career, the lesslikely the individual is to have sufficient time for family members andobligations. Rothbard (2 1) and Karofsky, et al (2 1) call for creation of newways of enriching work that are responsive to the family needs andobligations of workers. This may be especially useful forpeople with dependent children who require a parental presence at school,sporting events, and other activities (Karofsky, Yilmaz, Smyrnios,Tanewski, & Romano, 2 1; Verespej, 1999). Work-family conflict and emotional well-being in American family businesses. Compelling evidence of the need for corporate work/life balance initiatives: Results from a national survey of stressful life events. Rising incidence of substance abuse and alcoholism; . The demands of children, community, and work have changed,with each segment of social interaction requiring that its participants bemore directly contributive to the overall "mission" of the group. Family Business Review, 14(4), 313-324.Romano, C. Journal of Employment Counseling, 38(1), 38-42+.Karofsky, P., Millen, R., Yilmaz, M.R., Smyrnios, K.X., Tanewski, G.A., & Romano, C.A. Whilemany of the more immediately observable conflicts between work and familyare centered in larger corporations and business entities, Karofsky, et al(2 1) note that the family-owned and operated business is also a locus forsuch conflicts; in this setting, the borders between the home and thebusiness tend to become blurred, and stressors encountered in both the homeand the office or business site become at times inextricably linked. This brief report has examined some of the issues that directly impactupon achieving a proper balance between work life and family life. (2 1). Human Relations, 53(6), 747-77 .Hansen, L.S. (2 ). Integrating work/life strategies with recognition programs. Career Development Quarterly, 49(3), 261-27 +.Hobson, C.J., Delunas, L., & Kesic, D. A survey by Hobson, Delunas and Kesic (2 1) provided compellingevidence of the need for corporate work/life balance initiatives. Clark (2 ) suggests that a number of variables directly impact uponthe working adult with a family. Work/family border theory: A new thoery of work/family balance. One strategy that is useful in reducing work/life pressures is flextime, a system whereby workers structure their work hours to permitparticipation in family activities. Work/life issues, according to Verespej (1999), are endemic not onlyin the United States, but in other countries and cultures as well. Spinks and Moore (2 2) called upon corporations and employers tointegrate work-life strategies with company recognition programs.Recognizing and rewarding employees has always been associated withenhanced job satisfaction and higher levels of motivation towardproductivity. Inthis situation, creating "borders" or barriers between the two "worlds" maybe necessary. Balance is achieved when all partners (spouses orsignificant others/partners in the home, colleagues and superiors at work)recognize the legitimacy of the alternative domain and the demands that itplaces on the individual. What these researchers call for are corporate recognitionprograms that reward productivity with such benefits as the gift of timeoff, greater flexibility in determining working hours and locations, andchoice in rewards. To that end, Walls, Capella, and Greene (2 1) theorized that amongthe factors most likely to cause strain in terms of achieving a balancebetween family and work are role conflict (particularly important when bothadult partners in the family work outside of the home), inter-role conflictbetween sets of opposing pressures, work-family conflict in general withcompeting demands for attention, time constraints, and conflicts over child-rearing responsibilities. This theory suggests that most adultscross this border each and every day, moving between the separate but inter-related domains of work and family. Having alternative rewards tells employees that their need tobalance work and family life is recognized; it also empowers workers tomake their own choices as to which rewards will be most facilitative ofboth job satisfaction and home life. (2 1). Get a life and a career. For example, employees might respond positively torewards such as theater or sorting event tickets for themselves and theirfamilies, gift certificates for shopping, dining, travel, spa days, and soforth. (2 1). Hansen (2 1) says that ILP is based on the foregoing assumptions andcalls for businesses to be more proactive in providing flexible workarrangements, counseling to employees, the development of more family-affirming work practices and activities, and realization of the holisticnature of the human life experience. Industry Week, 248(8), 37-42.Walls, G.D., Capella, L.M., & Greene, W.E. Integrating work, family and community through holistic life planningwas the subject of a discussion of these issues by Hansen (2 1). This mandates that employers becomeless demanding of their employees, and that workers accept responsibilityfor balancing their activities. Toward a source stressors model of conflict between work and family. (2 1). life. Thus, while somefirms have created flex time work arrangements and family leave policies,what is now needed is a better theoretical understanding of how work andfamily are in conflict and how this conflict can be ameliorated if noteliminated. Similarly, workers must lead their organizations to arecognition of this necessity. Increased levels of stress and stress-related illness; . Included are domain integration andsegregation, border creation and crossing, border management, participationin border crossing. Enriching or depleting? Growing problems with parenting and supervision of children and adolescents; . The negative impact of imbalance on corporations is also substantial.Hobson, et al (2 1) identified these effects as increased employeeturnover, burnout and absenteeism, lower productivity, decreased jobsatisfaction, rising health care costs, and lower levels of organizationalcommitment and loyalty. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(28), B12-B14.Rothbard, N.P. And relationships between border-crossers and othersat home and work. Thisanalyst suggested that the use of a model called Integrative Life Planning(ILP) can help individuals with work/family balance issues to resolve thoseissues, reduce stress, and restore an acceptable degree of balance in theirlives. Workers and their employers must join together to achieve a properbalance between these two domains. The American Salesman, 47(6), 25-27+.Verespej, M.A. This results in the aforementioned problems and can have disastrousconsequences in both domains. Similarly, Rothbard (2 1) commented that whenindividuals experience extreme or excessive conflicts between work andfamily obligations, they tend to become less engaged in either interaction. Integrating work, family, and community through holistic life planning. Theorists have argued withvalidity that the workplace is an important component of an individual'slife, but the exact nature of the relationships between work and family -or the strategies for striking an acceptable balance between the demands ofthe two) is not as yet known (Karofsky, et al, 2 1). (2 2). Romano (2 1) discussed this challenge and stated that thedifficulties of balancing work life and family are a source of stress formany individuals. There are no easy solutions to this problem, though Clark (2 )recommends that organizations themselves should take steps to assistworkers in achieving greater work/family balance. Clark (2 ) also considered the theoretical underpinnings ofwork/family border theory, a body of theoretical literature that suggeststhe presence of a perhaps flexible "border" between the two most importantcomponents of an individual's life. Compared to workers in many other countries,Americans (particularly families with two working parents) may face lessthreatening conflicts that nevertheless impose stress. Lower life and job satisfaction; . Individuals must be allowed to have multipleidentities and not confronted with extreme choices between competingobligations. Individuals who fail to achieve satisfaction in either orboth aspects of their lives are not likely to enjoy either work or home(Stanley, 2 1). Work vs. Escalating rates of juvenile delinquency and violence (Hobson, et al, 2 1). What a concept! (2 2). Higher rates of family strife, violence and divorce; . At each stage of this cycle of development, theindividual faces real challenges while enjoying equally importantopportunities; however, as Stanley (2 2) pointed out, achieving asatisfying family life and meeting one's responsibilities as a husband,father and employee requires developing a number of important managerialskills. Time,balance, and flexibility predominate in the United States, but in othercountries crime, political instability, economic pressures and so forth maybe more significant. The dynamics of engagement in work and family roles. You are the CEO of your life. (1999). ReferencesClark, S.C. Amongthe results of this survey were the following findings indicative of thenegative effects of poor work/life balance: . Rather than demanding that a workeraccept "either/or" demands, organizations must understand that satisfiedworkers are those who achieve a proper balance between their personal andprofessional lives. 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