UGB353 - HRM Dissertation: A Critical Analysis of Work-Life Balance

This report provides a critical analysis of research techniques employed in a study concerning work-life balance, drawing from an article in the Human Resource Management Journal. The analysis focuses on the objectivity of the article, the research approach (deductive), and the data collection method (secondary data). It evaluates the author's emphasis on the relationship between working and non-working time, the impact of organizational support, and the limitations of traditional work-life balance studies that primarily focus on parents. The report further discusses the influence of unemployment rates, temporary work, and self-employment on work-life balance. It also highlights the importance of flexible working arrangements and evolving workplace relationships, emphasizing the need for organizations to adapt traditional practices to accommodate modern employment dynamics. Desklib offers a range of similar documents and study resources for students.

Assessment 1: Research Techniques

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Critique of research approach and techniques.................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Work-life balance is described as the balance that needs to be maintained by an individual
between the time that is allocated for work and other essential factors of one’s life. Presently,
work and life are the two important aspects of a person that needs to take care of 1(Perrons D.
Work–Life Balance. International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment
and Technology: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology, 2016). “Work” in this
context, refers to the time in which a person is involved in some kind of organizational activity
and life is something apart from that, which includes family, leisure activities, social life and
time for catering personal interests. Work-life balance is essential and needs to be given much
attention. There exists several consequences of a bad or a good work life balance. The study
below will focus on the elaboration that the author has made on work-life balance and will
critically analyze it to highlight the important aspects that the author has focused upon. It will
also shed light on the research approach, design, accuracy, objectivity, ethics and data collection
method that is used by the author, while formulating this particular article of the “Human
Resource Management Journal”.
Critique of research approach and techniques
Objectivity of the article:
The main objective of the article according to the author was to find out and analyze the need for
re-conceptualizing the work-life balance to take into account the contemporary developments
that are related to both life and work. The author also focuses on the fact that it is indeed
necessary to extend the existing dimensions of work, life and the balance between them. The
author argues that apart from taking care of children, some employees have certain other things
to fulfill in their respective lives, which involves education, hobbies, exercising, caring for
others, community activities and others. The author identifies that it is essential to involve the
1 D. Perrons. Work–Life Balance. International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology: People, the
Earth, Environment and Technology, 1-2, 2016

impact of the cultural beliefs and their effects on the values that are attributed to work-life
balance.
Research approach and techniques:
The author had selected deductive research approach by utilizing and analyzing the relevant
information that are already available information. He has used the secondary data collection
method by collecting data from journals and articles rather than interviewing candidates with
survey questionnaire, which has made the research more detailed, easy to be conducted and less
time consuming.
Critical analysis of the article:
The author has given importance to the relationship of working time (work) and non-working
time (life). He has critically provided with definition of work life balance as the balance that
needs to be maintained by an individual between his working time and non-working time. work
according to the author is the time in which an individual is engaged doing his organisational
activities which in simple words means the time a person spend in the office doing office work.
Life according to the author is the time which an individual invests in taking care of children,
education, leisure activities, fulfilment of hobbies and others 2(Kossek E. E. and Groggins A,.
Work‐Life Balance. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 2015). The author states that there has
been a constant debate on the work life balance issue, which is true in the real time. In the busy
and competitive world people I'm not able to maintain proper balance between their work and
life due to high amounts of pressure at the organisations to achieve the organisational goals.
However, this can affect a person's performance and motivation 3(Bratton J. and Gold J.. Human
resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. 2017). The author has highlighted the fact
that it is a good practice by the organisation if they help their employees to maintain a good
work-life balance, which will in turn enhance their performance. This is an essential point and is
said absolute correctly by the author.
2 E. E., Kossek, and A Groggins,. Work‐Life Balance. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-4, 2015
3J. Bratton, and J. Gold. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. 2017

The authors significantly highlighted the fact that the concern of the employers for helping the
employees to maintain work life balance has a very good impact on the process of recruiting,
motivating and retaining the employees. This is highly important as the employees need to be
motivated in order to fulfil their work with full potential that will be beneficial to the
organisation in achieving its goals 4(Kirby E. L Work–Life Balance. The International
Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication, 2017). Thus the authors’ emphasis on the fact
was absolutely correct as there will be positive impact on the employee’s performance that can
be well explained by gift exchange and social exchange theory, according to which the
employees are willing to respond to the opportunities to be able to tailor their arrangements of
working to comfortably fit with their daily lives 5(Blau P . Exchange and power in social life.
Routledge. 2017). Thus, if the employees are able to fit and balance their work and life it will
have positive impact on both the field.
The author has stated that most of the studies that are conducted on work life balance have
essentially focus only on the challenges that the parents face for managing their child while
working for some organisations. however this is not only the case as work life balance not only
include family and caring for children but it also includes several other factors and aspirations
that an employee might have such as going out on trips, enjoying with friends, fulfilling hobbies,
which also needs attention as they are a part of life. The traditional studies of work life balance
are mainly concerned with working mother taking care of child 6(Neal, M. B., and Hammer, L.
B. Working couples caring for children and aging parents: Effects on work and well-being.
Psychology Press. 2017). However, there are many people who are single or have a family
without children do not have somebody to be dependent on them. This identifies the fact that
some people do not have dependent children, thus their work life balance does not include taking
care of children. the research motive should be made more white in this context as already
4 P. Blau . Exchange and power in social life. Routledge. 2017
5 M. B Neal and L. B Hammer,. Working couples caring for children and aging parents: Effects on work and well-being. Psychology Press.
2017
6

mentioned above taking care of children is not only the responsibility of the employees they also
have other wishes to fulfil.
The author has also stated that there are many countries in which unemployment rate is high,
people residing there are willing to take up work whenever it is available, this has negative
impact on the work life balance. Some people have also study that workers open choose
temporary work over permanent employment, which may be a choice that is influenced by the
opportunities that are perceived for maintaining the balance between work and life. Other forms
of employment includes self-employment in which the person Run his or her own businesses
7(Noe R.et al. Human Resources Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, Tenth Global
Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. 2011). Records have shown that the people who are self-
employed are able to maintain more work life balance and are satisfied with their jobs due to
their autonomy. However there are differences between self-employed men and women in
which the women are found to be able to maintain better work life balance as they carry on their
organisational activities along with domestic practices better than men. This makes self-
employment to be a paradox in which some maintain good work life balance and the others
cannot.
Maintaining work-life balance is a crucial component for a happy life. When individuals are not
able to manage professional and personal life, the productivity of the employees decreases in an
organization 8(Collings et al. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human
Resource Management 2012). In real life, both parents are working in the today’s world.
Therefore giving time to the children has become a grave issue. Most of the parents are unable to
give time to their children. In such a scenario, the organizations should help the employees to
maintain balance between work-life and personal life 9(Delery,. J. E and Doty D. H. Modes of
theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and
configurational performance predictions. Academy of management Journal, 2016). People who
7 R. Noe et al.Human Resources Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, Tenth Global Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. 2011
8 Collings et al. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management 2012.
9 J. E Delery,., and D. H. Doty Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance
predictions. Academy of management Journal, 39(4), 802-835. 2016

are unable to create balance between personal life and personal life cannot contribute their cent
percent to the growth of the organization. Therefore, it is also the duty of the organizations to
help the employees to create a balance between personal and professional life. The employees in
the organization should be given with some facilities so that they create balance between
personal and professional life. The male and the female employees should be given flexible
working hours from the organization. The female employees are given the facility of flexible
working hours however, there is a still stigma attached to flexible working hours regarding the
men in the organization. The human resource managers in the organization together with the
management should give the option of flexible working hours to the male employees as well. In
addition to this, the new parents should be given paternal leaves so that they will be able to give
primary care to the newly born. The human resource managers has to understand the fact that if
flexible working hours is not provided to the male employees it can hinder the growth of the
women in their professional life 10(Reiche, et al, International human resource management.
SAGE Publications Limited. 2018). Therefore, flexible working practices related to the male
employees should be given to the male employees of the organization as well. Flexible working
hours for the male and the female employees in the organization will not only help them with
childcare, it will also help them to treat their elderly parents and other ailing relative as well.
In the recent times, many new changes have been observed in the working arrangements and the
nature of the relationships in the workplace has even changed. Zero hour contracts and self-
employment has witnessed growth in the recent times. But in the present scenario, the above
mentioned changes have not been incorporated in the concepts regarding work-life balance
11(Reiche B. S., et al Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor &
Francis. 2016). Majority of the organizations present in business today still practice working
arrangements that are traditional in nature. The nature of employee relationships in many
companies have remained traditional. The traditional practices are permanent employment, full-
time employment, full time employment and working with a single employer at a same time. It is
very important for the organizations now to understand the fact that traditional employment
10 B. S., Reiche, et al Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor & Francis. 2016
11 B. S., Reiche, et al, International human resource management. SAGE Publications Limited. 2018

relations would not work in the current scenario 12(Schuler R. S and. Jackson S. E, Strategic
human resource management. Wiley-Blackwell. 2015). The human resource managers in the
organizations needs to develop new strategies to enhance the relationships between the
employees. A recent study has revealed facts that the traditional working environments that are
followed in the organization ignore their personal life and only concentrate on the professional
ones. Flexible working practices can be given out to the employees in the organization.
However, the factors that will be considered in the flexible practices depends upon the
organization and its management. People now are not only employed in full-time jobs 13(Tichy
N. M Strategic human resource management. 2018). Many people in the current word are doing
part-time jobs in order to enhance their standards of living. There are some part time workers
who work for more than one employer. Flexibility can help these employees to enhance their
quality of life. Too much of work pressure creates unwanted pressure on the employees. This
unwanted pressure can be detrimental to the productivity of the employees. When the employees
are pressurised they tend to loose motivation and thus the productivity of the organization
decreases 14(P. M Wright, and S. A Snell. Toward an integrative view of strategic human
resource management. Human resource management review, 2013). It is very important to
reduce the working hours for the employees in the organization so that they can have the balance
between work-life and personal life. It has been seen that people who are part time workers are
able to maintain a healthy work-life balance than the ones who are employed in full time jobs.
Along with this, the motivation among the employees is much more those who are involved in
part-time job opportunities.
Conclusion
This assignment in human resource management has discussed many facets of the crucial
department present in the organizations. A journal has been taken into consideration in this
12 R. S Schuler and S. E. Jackson, Strategic human resource management. Wiley-Blackwell. 2015
13 N. M Tichy. Strategic human resource management. 2018
14 P. M Wright, and S. A Snell. Toward an integrative view of strategic human resource management. Human resource management review, 1(3),
203-225. 2013

assignment and through analysis has been done on the journal selected. For completing this
assignment a journal on human resource management has been considered. It is important for the
human resource department to understand the fact that employees in the organization are its real
assets and drafted employee friendly policies for them is very necessary. In this assignment,
analysis has been done on the research technique used in this research. Along with this, a critical
analysis has been done on the content of the journal. The journal highlighted one point majorly
that is the importance of maintaining work-life balance in order to enhance the productivity of
the employees as well as the organization. The human resource managers in the organization
should be able enough to understand the importance of maintaining work-life balance among the
employees of the organizations.

References
B. S., Reiche, et al Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor &
Francis. 2016
B. S., Reiche, et al, International human resource management. SAGE Publications Limited.
2018 Retrieved from https://harzing.com/publications/international-human-resource-
management
Collings et al. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource
Management 2012. 10.4324%2F9781315299556-1
D. Perrons. Work–Life Balance. International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth,
Environment and Technology: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology, 1-2, 2016
Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0026
E. E., Kossek, and A Groggins,. Work‐Life Balance. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1-4,
2015 Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118785317.weom050079
E. L. Kirby. Work–Life Balance. The International Encyclopedia of Organizational
Communication, 1-21, 2017 Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc219
J. Bratton, and J. Gold. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. 2017
J. E Delery,., and D. H. Doty Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management:
Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions. Academy of
management Journal, 39(4), 802-835. 2016 Retrieved from
https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/256713
M. B Neal and L. B Hammer,. Working couples caring for children and aging parents: Effects
on work and well-being. Psychology Press. 2017 Retrieved from
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351536387
N.M Tichy. Strategic human resource management. 2018 Retrieved from
https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMR.1979.4498309

P. Blau . Exchange and power in social life. Routledge. 2017 Retrieved from
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781351521208
P. M Wright, and S. A Snell. Toward an integrative view of strategic human resource
management. Human resource management review, 1(3), 203-225. 2013 Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/1053482291900155
R. Noe et al.Human Resources Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, Tenth Global
Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. 2011 Retrieved from
http://www.kansaigaidai.ac.jp/asp/pdf/course_syllabi/BUS4.pdf
R. S Schuler and S. E. Jackson, Strategic human resource management. Wiley-Blackwell. 2015
Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19416520.2014.872335