Work life balance is increasingly used as a strategy to attract and Essay

Work life balance is increasingly used as a strategy to attract and retain employees. Argue the business case for and against implementing Work Life Balance initiatives - Essay Example This is where work-life balance steps in. Work life balance has many facets. Wood describes this as the adjustments that need to be made to ‘working patterns’ in order to allow people to manage other facets of their lives along with the work (2001). Furthermore, the same term is used by other experts to denote the difficulties or the problems that arise in the efforts to carry work life and personal life simultaneously. The ideal, actually, is to achieve a balance between the two. This balance should be unique for every individual as the work priorities and personal priorities of everyone are unique to him or her. However, companies offer a standard set of programs that fall in the work life balance initiative which may or may not satisfy an individual. Therein lies the dilemma that upends this balance and raises the question: is work life balance important after all? This is discussed in detail in this paper. The emergence of this concept has been resulted from a variety of factors which are described by Tausig and Fenwick: â€Å"The notion of a perceived time bind between work and family/personal life (an implied imbalance between them) stems from the changing nature of work and families—e.g., longer work hours, the proliferation of non-standard work schedules, flexible schedules, part time work, increased participation of women in the labor force and the increasing number of â€Å"non-traditional† families.† Having taken a look at the need for this balance, lets take a look at the pros and cons. Companies that offer work life balance are able to attract a growing pool of men and women who are actively seeking a balance in their work and personal lives. This is manifested through a range of work life balance initiatives that come in many forms and offer something to every age group and gender including work that is part time, telecom-enabled or adjusted working days. Furthermore, many companies now make a block