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Work-life balance

Work life balance is defined as  the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend with your family and doing things you enjoy (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2019)

Work-life balance named two key everyday concepts that will help us come up with a positive and clearer definition of work-life balance: achievement and enjoyment. These two concepts always go together, meaning you cannot have feel fulfillment out of achieving something if you did not enjoy it, and you cannot enjoy doing something if you do not accomplish anything. These two, together, help an individual realize the full value of life.

The four quadrants of live are: Work, Family, Friends, and Self. All four are subject to both achievement and enjoyment. Let us simplify that quadrant by categorizing family, friends and self into personal life, and putting work into a separate category on its own.

Work-life balance is when you can objectively say that you were able to achieve and enjoy something with your family and friends. When you were able to achieve and enjoy something for yourself. When you were able to achieve something at work, doing a job that you enjoy doing.(Cleverism, 2019)

Technology has been a driver for work life balance, it has enabled people to spend more time away from work. Through different online platforms they can work remotely and be flexible. Cellphone generations has allowed different disciplines to thrive due to direct access of communication. Sales representatives or real estate agents can take their calls away from the office, send emails on the go. 

The downside of cellphones can cause over working, clients calling after hours for information. Some bosses don't respect working hours, therefore abuse employees by calling them after work.

Fear of job loss will drive the employees to continue working, interrupting work balance. People are different therefore work life balance cannot be the same for everyone. (Cleverism, 2019) A female employees priorities are not similar to those of a thirty year old. The younger one might be excited by the new job and has a desire to learn and impress therefore she might put more working hours. Deprive herself of the family time. While the older one with experience has the learnt the importance to balance work and life.

The balance come with many benefits which some point to less stress, improve efficiency, increase in profits, happier employees and low turnovers or absenteeism. They have positive attitudes towards work, are more committed to the organization and are engaged in their work. 

References

Cleverism. (2019). Work Life Balance: Definition and Practical Tips. [online] Available at: https://www.cleverism.com/work-life-balance/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].

Dictionary.cambridge.org. (2019). WORK-LIFE BALANCE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/work-life-balance [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].

Parkes, B. and more (2019). The real definition of work-life balance (according to candidates). [online] Seek Insights and Resources. Available at: https://insightsresources.seek.com.au/the-real-definition-of-work-life-balance-according-to-candidates [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].

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Employee engagement

Employees could appear contented at work but this does not necessarily mean that they are engaged in the true sense. These employees may turn up at work without complaining and get along to doing their tasks of the day. However, making them happy is far different from making them engaged.(R, 2019)

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don't work just for a paycheck, or just for the next promotion, but work on behalf of the organization's goals.(Forbes.com, 2019)

This means the engaged Restaurant manager will check the food before it is served to the clients, he would also go back to ask for feedback, without being asked.  A waiter who is also engaged will assist to clear a table that does not belong to him or her, even if he is not going to get a tip for it. A restaurant hostess will move things around to make a table available for clients in a full restaurant. 

The extra effort one put in for the organization enlightens a true understanding of the organizations goals.Engaged employees lead to better business outcomes. One of the outcomes is  higher net profit margins. Engaged companies have five times higher shareholder returns over years. 

(Tour et al., 2019) As a leader in your organization one must to focus on the 5 key drivers of employee engagement to ensure that the staff feel they are:

Connected: building relationships with others

Great leaders connect deeply with their employees by paying attention to what’s important to them. Carve out some time each week to grab lunch or a coffee with your key team members to get to know them personally.

Contributing: doing something meaningful

Ones direct reports help employees feel they are contributing something meaningful, share a client story that shows them the difference they’ve made in someone’s life. And don’t forget to recognize and publicly celebrate their accomplishments whenever you can.

Free: have a sense of choice and autonomy

Decentralizing whatever authority to give your workers more decision-making power. This will empower them and make your company much more efficient.

Growing: developing personally and professionally.

Ensure that each employee is constantly challenged so that they can grow. The greater a person’s belief in their own power to influence an outcome, the more likely they are to succeed with a new challenge.

Having Fun: really enjoying their time at work

Making your workplace fun will raise your employees’ morale and energy and is the key to stimulating their creativity and innovation. It will also help decrease stress and turnover, as well as strengthen the relationships of all of your employees.

An engaged worker are the ones who are fully immersed and enthusiastic about their work and takes positive action to further the company’s reputation and interests. The  effort they put forward does not only lead to better business outcomes but also able to improve their own sense of well-being.

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/#22143c077f37 [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].

Tour, P., Help, H., Recognition, R., Culture, U., Retention, I., Engagement, B., Us, A., Started, G., In, L. and Support, C. (2019). 5 Key Drivers of Employee Engagement. [online] YouEarnedIt.com. Available at: https://youearnedit.com/blog/5-key-drivers-of-employee-engagement/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].

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Organizational Commitment Part 2

Organizational commitment is defined as a view of an organization’s member’s psychology towards his/her attachment to the organization that he/she is working for. Organizational commitment plays a pivotal role in determining whether an employee will stay with the organization for a longer period of time and work passionately towards achieving the organization’s goal.

As per our last blog we will look deeply into the  distinguished theory in organizational commitment known as the Three-Component Model (TCM). According to this theory, there are three distinct components to organizational commitment:

 Affective Commitment: This is the emotional attachment an employee has towards the organization. This part of TCM says that an employee has a high level of active commitment, then the chances of an employee staying with the organization for long are high. Active commitment also means, an employee is not only happy but also engaged in the organizational activities like, participation in discussions and meeting, giving valuable inputs or suggestions that will help the organization, proactive work ethics. It is easy to spot happy employees in the hospitality industry, for example in a restaurant set up. He or she always arrives in time, happy to jump into his chores right away, wears an un ending smile and always giving a helping hand to others.

Continuance Commitment: To easily relate to this type picture one of the oldest employees in your organization who has seen it all and withstood the test of time. Then we can say it is the  level of commitment where an employee would think that leaving an organization would be costly. When an employee has a continuance in commitment level, they want to stay in the organization for a longer period of time because they feel they must stay because they have already invested enough energy and feel attached to the organization – attachment that is both mental and emotional. For example, a person over a period of time tends to develop an attachment to his/her workplace and this may be one of the reasons why an employee wouldn’t want to quit because they are emotionally invested. 

Normative Commitment: This is the level of commitment where an employee feels obligated to stay in the organization, where they feel, staying in the organization is the right thing to do. What are the factors that lead up to this type of commitment? Is it a moral obligation where they want to stay because someone else believes in them? Or is it that they feel that they have been treated fairly here and that they do not wish to take the chance of leaving the organization and finding themselves in between the devil and the deep sea? This is a situation where they believe they ought to stay. This is driven by good leadership that one boss who is nice and treats people fair and equal, also the pay might be competitive making it difficult to look at other opportunities.

It is important to understand that the level of commitments depends on multiple factors and can vary from one individual to another. Once one has understood the above they can creatively and continue to improve the organizational commitment.

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Organizational Commitment

For any organization to be successful it needs not only employees that put in the work but also that are devoted to it. Today we look into organizational commitment, what it is and what it means to us as an employee.

Organizational commitment is the bond employees experience with their organization.  Employees who are committed to their organization generally feel a connection with their organization, feel that they fit in and, feel they understand the goals of the organization. The employees that are committed to their companies recognize themselves as one with the company, and become the organization number one fan. Some organization even try to install this by letting the employees use their product, for example working for a bank, they offer you preferential pricing on the products so that one becomes a brand ambassador by default. In my own experience our establishment gives discounts and all access to luxurious offerings  for the staff that decide to come and eat at our restaurant when they off duty or soon after they knock off work. The added value of such employees is that they tend to be more determined in their work, show relatively high productivity and are more proactive in offering their support.

Therefore organizations should finds ways to increase commitment as it is beneficial to them. One can undergo investigation through interviews with the employees once a quarter to find out what makes them loyal to the company. When we did ours at the Brass bar on 85, we find out that most of our staff rated competitive compensation as the top element. A good salary with recognition for the work put in, we celebrated  the best employee of the month through awards.

Career mobility such as promotions and skill development came  second. Employees seeking development or training while at work so that they get better skills  and tackle new challenges other than same routine tasks. At the brass bar we catered for that trough a designed calendar week for each staff member to shadow a higher grade employee. For example a waiter gets a chance to spend time with a chef or manager to for insight and inspiration. If they enjoy the work they will be slowly introduced to it.

The surprise was the work life balance that was mentioned the least, this could be due to the understanding of the employees on the type of industry they are in. Hospitality industry always has long ours,  and the compensation is based on the time one puts in. However this could also have a negative impact on the long run as the body gets tired will lead to low productivity, or the change in life stages might drive employees to require more family time leading to turnover.

For employees who are not committed to their organizations they have been reported to be frequently absent, the causes range from poor management, compensation, long working hours. Some employees even indulge in theft and wastages especial in the hospitality industry. Eventually the above mentioned is a driver to staff turnover and the organization will be forever replacing employees. This is a bad indicator to clients and poor service is inevitable in such situations.

John Meyer and Natalie Allen reveal  organizational commitment in great detail. Their research enlightens us of three distinct types of organizational commitment, Affective commitment, Continuance commitment and Normative commitment. which we will have a close look on our next episode but worth mentioning to close the chapter with knowledge that we can go deeper into organizational commitment.

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Work based attitudes.

I often heard people within the work space describe other colleagues as individuals with attitude. This has led me to closely look at work based attitudes and their effects on people and their organizations. 

According to Robbins et all. (2016:99) attitudes are defined as “evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable about object, people or events.” he goes on to mention that they reflect how we feel about some thing. Therefore the question is how do we feel when we are at work. 

When work based attitudes are discussed the often looked at elements are Job satisfaction and Job involvement which lead to organizational commitment.

Robin Fincham (2012:215)  states that job satisfaction is more affective than cognitive response therefore one cannot discuss job satisfaction without mentioning the well being of individuals. More so Robbins et all. (2016:103) second the above by his description of job satisfaction as a positive feeling about a job. I enjoy my work more when I know I will be greatly rewarded and recognized. Preferred rewards are always monetary as I can enjoy myself however I want. Recognition in the form of referral builds and motivates me. This also increases my clientele as a bar owner. More people knowing my establishment.

The degree which people identify psychologically with their job and consider their perceived performance level important to self worth is known as job involvement Robbins et all. (2016:103). When job involvement is high it motivates the employees to perform at their optimum. Job involvement can be broken down to 3 elements which are psychological empowerment, job security and employee engagement. 

When the above mentioned are high, employees find meaning in their work. therefore they worker harder in my line of business. I noticed barmen or waiters that are engaged offer better service to customers, smile more and even receive more tips. However the opposite gives a negative output. Staff on try outs tend to be nervous most of the time making mistake with orders and forget to be human with the fear of loss of opportunity. 

So how does one jump this huddle and find out the balance on the work based attitudes? I will continue exploring these elements to fully understand and advise on the outcome. I hope you travel with me on this journey as we unlock and develop these issues.