Book Review

Achieving Work-Life Balance

Thomas Kalliath and Paula Brough (Eds)

ISBN: 978-0-9775242-4-2; 2008; ii+106 pages; eContent Management, Maleny;

Barry M Rogers
Health Wellbeing and Development, Monash University; Consultant Psychologist, Melbourne VIC

As the articles in this issue of JFS underline, employee health and wellbeing is now a central issue for many workplaces and organizations. Likewise, positive approaches to work-life balance (WLB) are emerging in educational contexts. For example, some schools are establishing wellbeing centres for students' overall development; and via the influence of the Positive Psychology movement, school curricula are starting to reflect this shift in their workplace outlooks - as are universities, also via their wellbeing and work-life balance policies.

In their opening discussion, Poelmans, Kalliath and Brough (2008, 2008a) review some operational issues in implementing WLB. Its symbolism needs further attention given that 'balance' will have different meanings, reflecting personal outlooks about meeting demands and responsibilities at work and in family contexts. Achieving a uniform and validated set of measures for WLB is another issue for research, as is the idea of how to prioritize WLB issues within an organization's aims. As Poelmans et al. conclude: 'We urgently need more research relating WLB and performance, motivation and competencies on the individual, group, and organizational level' (2008: 230). In some respects, this need reflects what Arie de Geus (1997) and Peter Senge (1990) in his understanding of 'metanoia' as a positive construct for organizational change have both argued for previously in reviewing management outlooks and practice.

In their paper, Bardoel, De Cieri and Mayson (2008) discuss the measurement issue in WLB/ work-life initiatives as a way of linking objectives and outcomes central to an organization's purpose, arguing that WLB needs to garner a positive return for the organization as well as for its employees. Collection and review of data on the effectiveness and impact of a workplace initiative will complement the traditional measurement of efficiency in workplace research. Their own research study explores these concepts of measurement of WLB in 27 organizations. Bretherton reviews her research outcomes from successful implementations of work and family policy in two very different organizations: a major bank (Westpac) with 27,000 employees, and a large girls' secondary college (Avila). In their research with 16,000 Australian employees Parkes and Langford (2008) were unable to find a relationship between WLB policies and outlook in an organization, and a person's intention to stay in their work position. Among other recommendations, they argue for a better approach to work-life 'alignment' for employee satisfaction through similar goals and values; increased social responsibility in organizations; better health and safety regimens; work appraisal outcomes - including rewards - linked to work performance; developing fair-minded, supportive supervisors; and, more inclusive decision-making processes in workplaces.

In contrast to WLB research in organizations, Kirkwood's and Tootell's (2008) study of 58 entrepreneurs (mainly in the service sector) explores how well they traverse work-family conflicts in the quest for WLB and their strategies for effective achievement of work-family balance. Abbott and De Cieri (2008) provide another important perspective here, including their brief reporting of a longitudinal case study of two organizations. In arguing for some clear understandings of both management and employee understandings of WLB, their exploratory schema for further research includes environmental and organizational influences relevant to legislation; recruitment markets; changing workforce demographics; time span - in relation to management decisions and outcomes; and patterns of employee retention. All of these factors have special relevance in times of global and local economic downturn.

The editors provide an important coda on determining the central meaning(s) of the WLB construct in brief reviews of six key concepts: WLB as a multiple role/inter-role phenomenon; as equality of time/satisfaction with regard to person's multiple life roles; as levels of satisfaction between a person's multiple roles; coherence between effectiveness and satisfaction in their work and family roles and present 'life role priorities'; in terms of the central psychological constructs in WLB, of conflict and facilitation (resolution?); and as a measure of autonomy or control. They steer us towards two particular concepts as a fillip towards further action research in their proposal for defining WLB as 'the individual perception that work and non-work activities are compatible and promote growth in accordance with an individual's current life priorities' (2008b: 326).

There are important insights here for CEOs, general and middle managers and human resources managers in particular, for designing and implementing workplace policies and organizational practices that lead to increased levels of health, wellbeing and overall development of staff.

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