Understanding Work-Life Balance in Professions

This assignment delves into the concept of work-life balance, particularly focusing on the strategies and challenges encountered by professionals in different sectors. It examines academic research papers that shed light on topics like workplace stress, identity management, and the impact of social media on professional life. Students are expected to analyze these sources critically and synthesize their findings to provide a comprehensive understanding of work-life balance in contemporary professions.

Running head: DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Diploma of Business Administration
Name of Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Manage personal work priorities.....................................................................................................2
1. Reviewing the job description and business plans, business goals, policies and procedures
2
2. Establish five personal and team goals.................................................................................4
3. Developing KPI’s for measuring performance related to work goals..................................5
4. Activities for achieving the goals related to work................................................................6
5. Referring to the template in Appendix 1..............................................................................8
6. Ensuring a positive role model by managing life balance, stress and health.......................9
Develop and maintain professional competence...........................................................................10
1. Assessing personal knowledge against competency standards..........................................10
2. Assessing professional competencies.................................................................................11
3. Developing professional development plans......................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15

2DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Introduction
Managing work priorities is essential for the employees that can be achieved by maintain
proper balance both personally and professionally. As commented by Groysberg and Abrahams
(2014), personal and professional balance helps the individuals in achieving targets along with
developing their skills throughout the career. Therefore, both the employee and the
organizational performance are enhanced due to proper management of work priorities.
This report highlights the future actions that can be used by individuals for both personal
and professional development. The report highlights setting of goals and aligning them to the
business goals along with managing time and prioritizing work activities. Additionally, the report
emphasizes of identifying development opportunities thereby, maintaining professional
competence.
Manage personal work priorities
1. Reviewing the job description and business plans, business goals, policies and
procedures
As a manager of the organization, my role is to willingly examine and prepare the skills
and goals. This will help in staying in the right track by considering the professional
development. As a manager, I need to ask myself whether I have the skills or attitude for
the role allocated for me.
My role as a manager includes:
 Appropriate planning and time management

3DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
 Ensuring systematic work and being organized
 Providing the employees with appropriate resources and performance
management
 Monitoring the code of conduct and employee performance
 Maintaining confidentiality of the company’s information
 Reporting the senior management of the company
The business goals of the organization include:
 Increase profitability
 Increasing employee retention
 Increased organizational efficiency
 Organizational growth
The organizational policies include:
 Ensuring confidentiality
 Access and equity
 Codes of conduct
 Risk management
 Human resources
 Health and safety
The organizational procedures include:
 Employee incident response, reporting and investigation
 Service access

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 Alcohol consumption in workplace
 Client documentation and records
 Code of conduct
 Discipline and termination
 Equal employment opportunity
 Staff meetings including meetings for staff supervision
The list of organizational policies, procedures and plans are developed based on which the role
and responsibilities of the manager is developed. This provides an opportunity for the managers
to achieve the organizational goals by increasing the employee and organizational performance.
2. Establish five personal and team goals
The team goals include:
 To achieve maximum customer service
 To help the HR and the IT department in continuing recruitment procedure effectively
 To organize meetings with the internal and external stakeholders in order to gain deeper
insight of the present business requirement
 To complete the tasks undertaken within deadline and being organized
The personal goals include:
 To increase the morale of the team
 To complete the tasks and goals I have set for myself thereby, increasing the profit of all
departments by 60%
 Establish effective communication within the team

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As commented by Davila, Epstein and Shelton (2012), setting goals help the business
organizations to increase the overall profitability of the organizations. The goals set by the
organization have to be specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic and time specific.
According to McGivern et al. (2015), having set goal provides an opportunity for the business
organizations to move forward and gain competitive advantage. Goals help in ensuring internal
measurement by enhancing the morale of the employees. It is effective for the business
organizations to set goals, as it helps in organizational progress. This is because goal settings
provide a sense of purpose and direction towards which the organization and the employees
move. The SMART framework is one of the best frameworks that need to be considered while
developing goals and objectives. As mentioned by Galea, Houkes and De Rijk (2014),
developing personal and professional goal setting ensures both personal and professional
progress. Having goals provided a direction to the organization and the individual thereby,
allowing them to develop strategies to work towards it by developing appropriate strategies.
3. Developing KPI’s for measuring performance related to work goals
Business organizations develop key performance indicators in order to determine the
performance of the employees and the organizations thereby, enhancing the overall
performance. As commented by Parmenter (2015), based on the type of the business, the KPI
developed is distinct thereby, helping in effective performance indicator. The different types
of key performance indicators include sales metrics & KPI, marketing metrics & KPI,
financial metrics & KPI and supply chain metrics & KPI. According to Neiger et al. (2012),
KPI help in assisting the business organizations in defining and measuring the progress
simultaneously in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Additionally, KPI
also helps the business organizations remaining on track and attaining the beneficial

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outcome. For example, a certain instances KPI’s are used in projects in order to measure the
delivery of the service.
As mentioned by Wu (2012), effective and successful performance is dined when the
goals are achieved efficiently. Therefore, it is essential for me to maintain personal
performances in varying working conditions and contingencies. According to me, five major
steps help in maintaining performance under any working conditions and contingencies.
The following steps can be followed in order to maintain performance under varying
conditions and contingencies:
Step 1: Identifying the available time for completing the task
Step 2: Listing the essential tasks that needs to be conducted in order to complete the task
successfully
Step 3: Scheduling the high priority urgent tasks in order to ensure progress for the goal
Step 4: Blocking appropriate contingency time in order to develop the ability to handle
unpredictable situations
Step 5: In the remaining time, scheduling the activities that address my priorities and personal
goals
4. Activities for achieving the goals related to work
A wide range of activities needs to be planned and conducted in an organized manner in
order to achieve the goals or objectives successfully. As commented by Koerner (2014), an
action plan or strategy needs to be developed in order to proceed towards the goal. The range
of activities to advance work goals include making a list, having clear objectives, reviewing

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daily, daily to-do list, long terms and short term goals, specific action plans, effective
communication and time management. Additionally, having a realistic and measurable
approach also helps in advancing the work goals (Kath et al. 2013). Within the range of
activities that needs to be undertaken to complete the tasks successfully, the ones with top
priority includes having clear set of objectives, maintaining a daily check list, developing
short term goals, time management and maintaining an effective communication. As
mentioned by Bakker, Tims and Derks (2012), having a clear set of objectives helps the
individuals in strategizing appropriately to achieve the goal. Therefore, one of the significant
responsibilities of the manager is to have a clear objective and communicate it effectively to
the team members.
Effective communication helps in clear flow of information within the team thereby,
making it easy to track the progress and communication among the team members.
Additionally, effective communication also helps in building a strong relationship within the
team members that eventually makes it easier to achieve the goals (Shockley-Zalabak 2014).
Time management is a crucial aspect as this helps in appropriate planning by allocating time
for the short-term goals. Achieving the short-term goals successfully motivates the team
members thereby, ensuring dedication and enthusiasm to accomplish the goal successfully.
The two work goals that needs to be achieved are:
 To achieve maximum customer service
 To complete the tasks undertaken within deadline and being organized

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5. Referring to the template in Appendix 1
Work activity Description Goal/s KPIs Time
frame
Person
responsibl
e
 Time
manage
ment
 Effective
communi
cation
 Creating
short-
term
goals
 Maintain
ing a
daily
check list
 Improvin
g
customer
service.
 Developi
ng
strategies
 Evaluatin
g the
current
market
trend and
customer
demands
To
increas
e the
custom
er
service
by 20%
 Overall
satisfactio
n of the
customers
(Custome
r
satisfactio
n Score)
 Net
Promoter
Score
(NPS)
 First
response
time
 Customer
retention
rate
 SERVQU
Withi
n 6
month
s
 The
man
age
men
t
 The
man
ager
 The
emp
loye
es

9DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
AL
 Time
manage
ment
 Effective
communi
cation
 Being
organize
d
 Reviewin
g daily
work
 Maintain
ing a
daily to-
do check
list
 Arrangin
g
meetings
daily
 Effective
communi
cation
within
the team
members
 Organizi
ng
training
 Maintain
ing a
daily to-
do list
To
complet
e the
tasks
underta
ken
within
deadlin
e and
being
organiz
ed
 Alignmen
t between
internal
and
external
goals
 SMART
objectives
r goals
 SMARTE
R
objectives
and goals
Withi
n 2
month
s
since
the
initiati
on of
the
projec
t
 The
tea
m
me
mbe
rs
 The
man
ager
6. Ensuring a positive role model by managing life balance, stress and health
There is no agreed definition of work-life balance but it does appear that the ‘right’
balance for one person may differ from the next. Balance is achieved in different ways for
different people. Some people do it to balance their caring responsibilities for children with

10DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
work, while others want more time to themselves, engaging in leisure activities.
Effectiveness and efficiency are likely to improve if an individual maintain an appropriate
work-life balance and control stress levels. Reducing stress, allows a person to manage better
your energy and efficiency. Increased concentration and a less stressed workforce ensures
increased productivity. Work-life balance, in its broadest sense, is defined as a satisfactory
level of involvement or ‘fit’ between the multiple roles in a person’s life (Darcy et al. 2012).
Work-life balance for any one person is having the ‘right’ combination of participation in
paid work (defined by hours and working conditions) and other aspects of their lives. This
combination will change as people move through life and have changing responsibilities and
commitments in their work and personal lives. Work-life balance policies can assist
employees achieving the balance between their work and personal commitments that is right
for them. The policies need to be supported by the workplace culture, which reflects the
beliefs, values and norms of the whole of the organisation from the CEO to staff members.
Other important factors in the success of work-life balance policies include proper
communication of commitment to the policies to existing and future employees, raising
awareness of the policies, education of managers about the importance of policies, and
training of managers on ‘how to’ implement these policies (Sortheix and Lonnqvist 2014).
Develop and maintain professional competence
1. Assessing personal knowledge against competency standards
To ensure the maintenance of organisational standards, take steps to monitor and assess
individual performance. Utilise individual job description, duty statement or statement of
conduct and performance appraisal as a tool to measure your professional competency. These

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documents can assist an individual in determining your level of personal knowledge and skills.
They will help the individual prioritise the activities to ensure that the work is done efficiently
and effectively (Kunter et al. 2013). It is important that the individuals also take steps to monitor
their performance. Competency standards can be used to measure the level of your performance.
A competency standard is a document used as a frame of reference by your employer to
determine how they expect the job and the performance of the job to be done and to determine
how competent an individual is at their job. Competency standards aim to ensure that the
individual can perform at a specified minimal level.
The main types of competency standards are:
 Nationally endorsed units of competency consistent with work requirements, these are
recognised nationwide and service as a basis for assessment and the issue of formal
qualifications 
 Enterprise-specific units of competency consistent with work requirements
 Organisational standards that are in-house and specific to your employer
 In-house standards are developed to ensure you meet the minimal level for your
employer. If you identify weaknesses in competency standards, corrective action should
be taken to address the issue.
2. Assessing professional competencies
Performance can be measured in several different ways including:
 Observing people’s reactions to you - For interpersonal relations and to reinforce
individual as position as a role model, take the time to observe whether personnel react to

12DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
the person in a positive manner. Particular attention should be paid to others’ body
language (Rudd et al. 2014).
 Do people ask for your opinion? - If no one asks for the opinion of an individual, a red
flag should be raised. The individual have either intimidated them and don’t feel they can
approach you or they do not respect your opinion. Do not make assumptions. Gather
feedback to find out the actual situation (Moen et al. 2013).
 Exposure to other members of management - Communication is a two way process.
Understand what other members of management think about your skills and knowledge.
Observe their skills and knowledge to assist you in identifying ways in which you can
improve your own personal skills and knowledge (Moreland, Levine and Wingert 2013).
 Identify what skills, knowledge and behaviours are ‘required’ for you to do your job well:
At this stage, it is also worth thinking about the skills, knowledge and behaviours that
you may need to develop in the future in your current job. The individual may know, for
example, that the role will be changing or that the individual will be working on different
projects or that the individual is interested in a career change. What new or different
skills, knowledge and behaviours will the individual need? Go back to the life or career
goals to include in your development plan (Cottrell 2015).
 Look at the skills, knowledge and behaviours you actually have now: It is important to
ask some rigorous questions at this stage and answer honestly. Are there areas of work,
for example, where developing more confidence would make a real difference to
individual success in the job? Are there knowledge, skills and behaviours that individual
only need on occasion that would benefit from some development (Todd and Binns
2013).

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 Compare ‘actual’ with ‘required’ to identify the gaps: Try to be as specific as possible
about what the individuals need to do differently. This will really help the individuals
when deciding how to address the development needs in the best way possible. It will
also help the individual review and measure their success.
 Decide how to meet identified needs: The next step is how best to address the
development needs you have identified.
 Practicalities 
 How do I prefer to learn?
 Finding the best solution
 Where to go for more help
3. Developing professional development plans
Time frame Description of opportunity/
training
Skills/ competency to
develop
Within 6 months  Communicating with
team members daily
 Working on both
verbal and non-verbal
communication
 Patiently listening to
the team members
 Keeping aside
personal agenda
Effective communication
Within 3 months  Maintaining a daily Time management

14DIPLOMA OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
to-do list
 Following up with the
team members
 Allocating specific
time for each task
 Writing the progress
daily
Conclusion
In this report, it can be concluded that it is essential to manage personal work priorities in
order to ensure professional development. Managing personal and professional work effectively
helps in successful completion of work thereby, ensuring accomplishment of goals. As a
manager, it is essential to influence the employees along with fulfilling the professional
responsibilities successfully at work. This helps in enhancing the overall performance of the
organization and the team members. In order to achieve the organizational goals successful, it is
essential to emphasize on effective communication, time management, having clear set of
objectives, prioritizing the tasks along with maintaining a daily commotion checklist. This helps
in keeping track of the progress of the project and predict the future of the project.

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Cottrell, S., 2015. Skills for success: Personal development and employability. Palgrave
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