The role of leadership in employee work life balance : Better work life balance starts with Managers.

Leaders in any organization are expected to perform tasks at the highest level with limited resources in

order to maintain the competitive edge and sustain profitability of the organization. Employees, on the

other hand, are searching for strategies to successfully manage their personal and professional lives.

Successful employers understand how crucial it is to have a satisfied, performing and engaged workforce

in the organization. While the concept of work-family culture has been defined in various ways, 

supportiveness within organizations is a consistent factor. Thus, the supervisory or the managerial support

becomes a  major aspect.

“We all want to live rich and meaningful lives — at work and at home — without sacrificing aspects of

either. Around the world, more and more employees are seeking flexible work arrangements as a result, and

companies looking to meet these expectations are increasingly offering a variety of family-friendly policies”

However, despite how wonderful these policies appear on paper, many of them have unforeseen effects onemployees.

Flexibility does not always translate into better work-life balance. Being able to communicate

with coworkers at any time via their devices means that remote workers frequently endure high

work intensity and decreased autonomy. Distinguishing between work and non-work activities

may become more difficult due to this continuous connectedness.

Paid family leaves and/or childcare support can raise perceptions of unfairness in the workforce.

Workers who want the same level of work-life balance but don't have any urgent family obligations

are generally not eligible for such policies, which are generally reserved for those who provide

care for others.

When it comes to using flexible work arrangements, the majority of employees are hesitant to do

so. Many worry that it will reflect poorly on their work ethic and harm their career prospects.

Based on our research, businesses that want to help their teams achieve a healthy work-life balance should

concentrate their efforts on two key areas:

1. Train supervisors

When employees have a supportive supervisor—someone who provides both practical and

emotional support, sets a positive example, and is a creative problem-solver—they

experience less work-life conflict, better health, and greater fulfilment both at work and at

home.Businesses that focus only on creating formal policies will not achieve the same level

of success as those that teach their leaders about the organisational benefits of providing

employee a healthy work-life balance. The first step that organisations can take is to educate

supervisors on the importance of providing performance, family, and personal support to

their teams. Through extracurricular activities, workers can expand their networks, develop

new skills, and find a stronger sense of purpose in both their personal and professional lives.

2. Seek to have a more supportive company culture

Higher work-life balance and lower work-family conflict are typically experienced by

employees who work for companies that encourage, rather than penalize, workers who

don't fit the traditional mold. If their supervisor is encouraging, these workers are also

inclined to work fewer hours and to utilize flexible work schedules. Consequently,

individuals typically exhibit higher levels of job satisfaction and group loyalty.

Leadership, Employee Job Satisfaction and Work-life balance :

Different styles of leadership can be identified within an organization.  But every style of leadership

does not have the same impact on job satisfaction. transformational leadership is identified as a kind of leadership that emphasizes on the followers’ intrinsic satisfaction and personal growth. 

In the current context Many changes in the workplaces and employee lives have created a challenge

in balancing work life and personal life. This also leads to a complicated relationship between the

organization and its employees. Transformational leader’s objective is to keep the employee satisfied

thus engaged through idealized influence (charisma), inspiration, intellectual stimulation, or

individualized consideration. To achieve this goal transformational leaders influence subordinates to

acquire a positive work-life balance. 

Barriers to Manager Implementation of Work-Life Policies/Strategies :

When Bardoel (2003) looked into the relative contributions of managerial versus institutional and resource-

dependent factors to the explanation of work-family programs offered by employers and a welcoming work

place culture in Australia, he discovered that managerial factors accounted for the majority of the variation.

The total number of initiatives offered was correlated with the attitudes and tactics of the managers.

Institutional factors had more influence on the workplace culture that supports work-family initiatives.

This suggests that effective management is essential to the positive effects of work-life balance policies,

like higher productivity. Nevertheless, Organizational culture and attitudes, as well as resistance from

supervisors and middle management, are the primary obstacles to the implementation and management

of work-life balance strategies, according to De Cieri et al. (2002) research. Further, there are a number

of studies that have identified barriers to managers implementing work-life policies and strategies.

These include the absence of formal written policies, operational and resource constraints, a lack of

support from senior management and a supportive workplace culture, concerns about equity among

employees, traditional management styles and beliefs, a lack of training on how to manage a flexible

workforce, and a lack of accountability through performance measures.

How to Improve Outcomes from Work-Life Initiatives by Attention to the Role of Managers/Workplace Culture

Training and Support :

Organisations should start with creating a manager toolkit that outlines the fundamental abilities and information required for them to successfully manage flexible working hours. examples include, setting goals and objectives, keeping track of accomplishments, redesigning tasks, managing team dynamics in a flexible workforce, preserving and enhancing team communication, managing performance and career planning, and presenting a convincing business case for flexible working. This should be followed by supporting managers to oversee teams that are collaborating in novel and various ways.

Accountability :

Managers should be made accountable for accomplishing work-life balance goals and objectives. A written work-life strategy action plan can be used to tie promotion, salary, and performance reviews to specific accomplishment.

Creating a culture of acceptance and encouragement :

It should begin with presenting the business case to upper management in order to win their support and leadership for the work-life policy through recourse allocation, role modeling and assistance for other managers in pitting it into practice. The focus then needs to change to the line maangers' and supervisors' accountability, support, training and communication of business objectives. Lastly, implementing the work-progress as well as an evaluation of the work-life needs of employees in a specific organization or local branch.

Resourcing :

Resources must be made available for the written work-life action plan's implementation and assessment results. This involves providing managers with training and explaining plans and strtegies, along with their justification and goals.

To date, organizations—or at least those interested in work-life balance issues as a means of enhancing productivity and attracting and retaining employees—have focused primarily on policy development, with a smaller amount of effort going toward building the business case and winning over senior management. The next stage is to put that into practice by creating documented action plans and assigning management responsibility for carrying them out.

In conclusion, it is understood that managers irrespective of their proximity to the c-suite, serve as the

public face of the organisation to their subordinates. They possess the ability to incentivise or dissuade

workers from utilizing family friendly policies by means of their attitudes and actions, which may include

or fail to indicate that individuals who give equal weight to their family and professional obligations will

face consequences. An employee;s work-life may suffer if their supervisor sets expectations that are

incompatible with their personal objectives. Studies have indicated that  younger generations are

particularly affected by their supervisors.

References

References

Eid, D. (n.d.). THE ROLE OF MANAGERS IN WORK-LIFE BALANCE IMPLEMENTATION. www.

-academia.edu. [online] Available at: https://www.academia.edu/36624044/THE_ROLE_OF_MANAGERS_IN_WORK

-_LIFE_BALANCE_IMPLEMENTATION [Accessed 19 Dec. 2023].

‌‌Russo, M. and Morandin, G. (2019). Better Work-Life Balance Starts with Managers

-. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2019/08/better-work-life-balance-starts-with-managers?registration=success.

Suryanto, E., Syah, T.Y.R., Negoro, D.A. and Pusaka, S. (2019). TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

- STYLE AND WORK LIFE BALANCE: THE EFFECT ON EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION THROUGH EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 91(7), pp.310–318.