Management Analysis: Work-Life Balance Effects on Engagement Levels

This essay examines the impact of work-life balance on employee engagement, drawing from the author's experience in a retail setting. The primary issue identified was the lack of work-life balance, leading to decreased morale and productivity. The essay discusses how excessive workloads and uncompensated overtime contributed to employee exhaustion and turnover. It highlights the importance of employee engagement for organizational success, referencing various studies on its benefits. The author reflects on the lessons learned regarding the necessity of work-life balance and employee motivation, emphasizing that creating a supportive environment boosts productivity and overall employee well-being. The essay concludes that addressing these issues is crucial for effective management and organizational improvement. Desklib provides similar essays and assignments for students' reference.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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While I was working at a retail store previously as a customer care executive, my shift
timings were from morning 8:30 A.M to 5:00 P.M. When I was working there, there were
different kinds of issues which was faced by me during the tenure which was regarding the
management of the company as I felt it was not effective in nature. The main issue which was
faced by me in the respective retail store was the lack of work-life balance and this affected
my morale in performing the different activities in the store.
In the respective organization, I was working under a supervisor who helped and
guided us in performing different kinds of activities related to the different floor activities
which are required to be performed in the retail store. The first few months went quite well
and I was happy with the working atmosphere as well which helped me in performing best in
the different activities. However, after a few months I felt that the work environment was
becoming hectic and this affected my work-life balance.
There was huge pressure of the work in the organization and this was inclusive of
overtime and this affected my health as well. Moreover, I noticed that there was lack of
employee engagement in the organization which led to decrease in the overall productivity of
the organization and the employees working in the organization. According to Alagaraja and
Shuck (2015), the employee engagement is the extent to which the different employees is
passionate about the jobs and they are the ones who are committed towards achieving the
different goals of the organization.
Due to the lack of work-life balance, I had to perform overtime and there was no extra
pay which was provided to the different employees working with me. Our supervisor was not
at all cooperative in nature and this led to staff turnover in the organization and this affected
the overall productivity of the organization in a negative manner as well. This was the main
barrier of employee engagement which was faced by me in the organization and this affected

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my level of productivity in the organization as well. There was exhaustion due to the long
working hours on frequent basis and without any kind of extra pay or non-financial reward
system as well. This kind of exhaustive work pressure affected my personal and professional
life in a negative manner.
Due to the respective barrier in the employee engagement strategy, this created huge
disadvantages from the point of view of the different employees. On the other hand, Albrecht
et al. (2015) commented that this was a big advantage for the organization and the employer
as well who are working in the organization. From this respective scenario, I tried to learn
various kinds of aspects which are required to be followed and kept in mind while following
the different kinds of aspects in mind.
I feel that there is a direct relationship between the work life balance and the
employee engagement. The negative impact of the work life balance reduces the effort at
work, this lowers the performance of the different employees working in the organization
along with increased absenteeism as well. This was the same case which was taking place in
our organization and the main sufferers were the lower level employees.
When we noticed that there was so much pressure in the work, we tried to approach to
the higher authorities. However, there was no such action taken regarding this matter and the
same continued for few months. Due to the lack of work-life balance which is the main
barrier in the employee engagement, the employees felt exhausted and there was lack of
control and they faced from lower level of self-esteem as well. However, we noticed that the
higher management officials were benefitted from the same wherein they tried to make the
employees work overtime and their tasks were being completed on time as well.
I feel that from employee engagement, this will help the employees in performing
effectively and this will increase the overall productivity of the organization. On the other

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hand, this will be disadvantageous for the employers in the organization. The same case
happened in the organization wherein I worked as the employers felt if there is engagement
among the employees, there can be revelation of the different policies and this can affect the
privacy of the firm. Bailey et al. (2017), commented that the other risk which is being faced
by the organization is that security is the major risk and this can be an expensive procedure
which will be a huge problem for the company and this can affect the profitability of the firm
in a negative manner. However, on the other hand, employee engagement is essential for the
different employees who are working in the organization as this increases the overall morale
of the employees and creative work will be delivered.
From the respective situation which was faced by me, I have learnt that employee
engagement is essential for the different employees who are working in the organization. Due
to this, the decision-making process becomes effective and employees will be getting added
value in the organization while performing their tasks. Furthermore, Breevaart et al. (2014),
has hypothesized that the sense of responsibility will be increased and increases the capacity
of the work which will be performed by them. The employee engagement is the major aspect
which is required to be analyzed effectively and gain sense of superiority in the organization.
Lastly, from the above incident which was witnessed by me in the previous
organization is the barrier of employee engagement which is relating to the low work life
balance and this affected the morale of the different employees. There was no motivation
provided to the employees and this affected the employee’s productivity in a negative manner
as well. Moreover, there should be work life balance between the professional and personal
life which will help in increasing the morale of employees and increasing the overall
productivity of the employees and the organization as well. The employees are required to be

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provided with proper motivation which can be motivational or non-motivational to help them
in completing their tasks.

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References and Bibliography
Alagaraja, Meera, and Brad Shuck. "Exploring organizational alignment-employee
engagement linkages and impact on individual performance: A conceptual model." Human
Resource Development Review 14, no. 1 (2015): 17-37.
Albrecht, Simon L., Arnold B. Bakker, Jamie A. Gruman, William H. Macey, and Alan M.
Saks. "Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive
advantage: An integrated approach." Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and
Performance 2, no. 1 (2015): 7-35.
Bailey, Catherine, Adrian Madden, Kerstin Alfes, and Luke Fletcher. "The meaning,
antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis." International
Journal of Management Reviews 19, no. 1 (2017): 31-53.
Breevaart, Kimberley, Arnold Bakker, Jørn Hetland, Evangelia Demerouti, Olav K. Olsen,
and Roar Espevik. "Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee
engagement." Journal of occupational and organizational psychology 87, no. 1 (2014): 138-
157.
Mone, Edward M., and Manuel London. Employee engagement through effective
performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge, 2018.
Mone, Edward M., and Manuel London. Employee engagement through effective
performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge, 2018.
Othman, Abdul Kadir, Zamalia Mahmud, Sheeren Noranee, and Fauziah Noordin.
"Measuring Employee Happiness: Analyzing the Dimensionality of Employee Engagement."

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In International Conference on Kansei Engineering & Emotion Research, pp. 863-869.
Springer, Singapore, 2018.
Sharma, U., & Rajput, B. (2017). A study of employee engagement in information
technology sector in India. ACADEMICIA: An International Multidisciplinary Research
Journal, 7(5), 81-95.