balance life managing work

Managing the work-life balance An explorative research about how professionals are coping with the demands from home and the workplace Thesis Master of Science in Management Joanne Aaftink Nyenrode Business University Straatweg 25 3620 AC Breukelen 8 December 2006 Preface The Master of Science program at Nyenrode Business University is concluded with a final thesis project. The thesis subject must fit in the educational background of the student. Students generally undertake an assignment for a company, usually in cooperation with another student. However, I chose to do research on my own at the university. Nowadays, many professionals struggle with balancing the growing demands of the workplace and family life. A lack of work-life balance results in a worrying increase of stress that could lead to burn-out. During our education, no attention was paid to managing this aspect of working life. So, I decided to find out how a professional could run both work and private life effectively. Keep in mind: stress prevention is better than any cure! During the interviews I conducted as part of my thesis, professionals shared their thoughts about work-life balance. As I sometimes had to ask very personal questions, I would like to thank the interviewees for their commitment and trust. Also I would like to thank Maggie Alarie and Aline Kruijer for the translation of the report. Lastly, I have to thank my supervisor, professor doctor Jeff B.R. Gaspersz, for his help and inspiration. Joanne Aaftink Breukelen, December Index SUMMARY 1 2 3 INTRODUCTION PROBLEM DEFINITION AND OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 4 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE DEMANDING LIFE ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE WORK-LIFE FRIENDLY POLICIES CONCLUSIONS 8 5 6 8 8 10 13 16 20 23 23 25 30 33 35 35 37 39 41 42 42 44 45 46 47 51 52 52 53 53 55 56 58 59 59 60 60 61 64 I II RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 CONCEPTUAL MODEL RESEARCH DESIGN INTERVIEWS CONCLUSIONS 5 RESULTS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 5.1 THE CAPTAINS 5.2 THE NAVIGATORS 5.3 THE ROWERS 5.4 OVERVIEW OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE STRATEGIES 5.5 SYNTHESIS 5.5.1 Stress-symptoms among profiles 5.5.2 Rational or personal? 5.6 CONCLUSION 6 THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE DIAGRAM 6.1 6.2 THE DIAGRAM CONCLUSION 7 CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS 7.1 CHALLENGES YOUNG PROFESSIONAL 7.2 DISCOVER YOUR WORK-LIFE BALANCE STYLE 7.2.1 Work-life balance statements 7.2.2 Implications of the test 7.3 TIPS FROM PROFESSIONALS 7.4 CONCLUSIONS 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS 8.2 IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH 8.2.1 Implications for the individual 8.2.2 Implications for managerial practice 8.2.3 Implications for society APPENDIX A RESEARCH DATA BIBLIOGRAPHY Summary Many professionals have difficulties in coping with the often conflicting demands of home and the workplace. When there is no equilibrium between work- and life activities, stress might occur. Employees with stress are losing motivation and productivity. A common mantra says that: prevention of stress is better than cure. This report investigates how a professional could manage both work and private life without introducing unacceptable levels of stress. The following research question has been defined: “Which strategies do professionals use to manage work-life balance in which they can reach their targets and could stay healthy and productive?” Two views regarding work-life balance strategies are defined in the literature. The rationalbased view is about organizing and protecting personal time, in which the challenge is to manage your personal resources in such a way that negative spill over (which results in stress) will be reduced. The second perspective, the personal-based view, recognizes people as complex individuals that are able to listen to their conscious in order to make choices that will improve their quality of life. Nowadays, attention for the personal-based view is growing. Authors propose that doing things that you like will diminish stress. However, former literature does not show the view‟s effectiveness regarding managing work-life balance. This research investigates which techniques, derived from both the rational-based and personal-based views, are most effective in maintaining a balance without stress-symptoms. Qualitative data provided insights and understanding of the work-life balance strategies. To seek effective work-life balance strategies for professionals, in-depth interviews with them were conducted. From the interview results three different “work-life balance strategy” profiles were composed, namely: the work-life balance captain, the work-life balance navigator, and the work-life balance rower. Each profile has its own work-life balancing style. The research attempts to score the three “work-life balance strategy” profiles on work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management. This resulted in a work-life diagram. The captain is both a work-life balance leader and a work-life balance manager. The navigator is also a work-life balance leader. Some improvements could be made regarding managerial skills. By contrast, the rower has difficulties in being a work-life balance leader. Fortunately, one can learn the skills to become a work-life balance leader! In conclusion, a work-life balance in which one can reach targets and stay healthy and productive depends on work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management. From the research, both work-life balance leaders and work-life balance managers are identified. Professionals can discover their work-life balance style by means of a specially designed test. The test has been included as figure 7. Work-life balance leaders have certain skills that enable them to find a suitable balance. Personal-based strategies support the process of finding a work-life balance through which one can stay healthy and productive, while rational-based strategies help professionals run their lives more efficiently. 1 Introduction Professionals struggle with the growing, and often conflicting, demands of the workplace and family life. The lack of work-life balance results in a worrying increase on stress which could result in employee burn-out. It can cause even committed employees to lose motivation and become disillusioned. Stress is a serious issue for employers and society. Employees become less productive and sometimes have to be replaced. In the Netherlands, the total yearly costs of burn-out are assessed to be 4 billion euros. Half of these costs are related to disability pensions. Industry health care, trade industry, the public service, and the transport industry are relatively the most expensive branches (Blatter et al, 2005). The most recent census (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek [CBS], 2006) clearly shows an increase in employees who have been facing burn-out symptoms over the last five years. In 2000, around 8% of employees faced burn-out symptoms. Nowadays, 11% of the employees are showing these symptoms. Organisations feel responsible for the well-being of their employees, but it is not their task to determine employee‟s private lives. During business-focused educational programs, such as the Master of Science program at Nyenrode Universiteit, little attention is paid to the subject. Therefore this research could be used to make graduates aware of the work-life balance phenomenon. The research would make clear how professionals can manage the ever-increasing demands of work and private life. The goal of the research is to develop a test for professionals that will help them to better manage their work-life balance. Chapter 2 elaborates on the problem definition and the objective of this research, and a discussion of the literature consulted and theories used will follow in chapter 3. Two views regarding work-life balance strategies are defined in the literature, namely the rational-based view and the personal-based view. After studying the relevant literature, a conceptual model was prepared. This model and the research design are presented in chapter 4. Data was obtained through conducting interviews; chapter 5 presents the results of the data analysis. From the interview results three different “work-life balance strategy” profiles were composed, namely: the work-life balance captain, the work-life balance navigator, and the work-life balance rower. In chapter 6, a link between the profiles found and the problem is made. The results are linked to the rational-based view and the personal-based view. Besides, the three profiles are scored on work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management. In chapter 7 research‟s consequences for the work-life balance strategies for young professionals are described. Finally, chapter 8 is an overview of the conclusions drawn and the accompanying recommendations. -5- 2 Problem definition and objective of the research Many professionals are working in challenging and very demanding functions. In this research, a professional should be conceived as a person who practices an occupation involving a high degree of intellectual knowledge. To acquire this knowledge, the professional has completed a bachelor, post-bachelor, or master program successfully (in Dutch: “hoogopgeleide”).1 Professional functions require much attention. For example, professionals are responsible for leading a team, a project, or running a company. The amount of time required to undertake these responsibilities often makes it difficult to fulfil demands in private life as well and, as a result, little attention is left for activities in private life. Often, a professional is facing a disturbance of work-life balance, which could affect their wellbeing. The following research question has been defined: “which strategies do professionals use to manage work-life balance in which they can reach their targets and could stay healthy and productive?‟” First, the research question deliberately contains the term “managing”. On one hand, the professional has to supervise work-life balance while, on the other hand, the professional also has to run (=to exercise) work-life balance. Mindful of this, the word “managing” serves to define the process of balancing work-life more precisely than, for example, the word “sustaining”. Some professionals are consciously facing a disturbance of the work-life balance. Some claim to not even want a balance in work and life. Some professionals enjoy their work so much that they do not mind the lack of balance, or would like to climb the career ladder, as illustrated in box 1. Hammonds (2004) proposes that work-life balance does not exist at any one time. According to the author, “anything important and anything done well” requires one‟s full attention. At some times, it may be a big project or a deadline at work, and „life‟ will suffer. At others, it may be a sick child. Therefore, the author contends that people could reach balance of work and life only over time. 1 www.faststart.state.ri.us/bfs_glossary.html; www.state.mi.us/mdcs/Advisories/adv98/486-98a.htm -6- Box 1: Hot company, hard choices Jeff Treuhaft, 27, director of security, platforms, and tools at Netscape: “When I started at Netscape in May 1994, I worked 100 hours a week. I slept only when I got the chance. I did not have a schedule. I simply tried to time myself so I could see my wife and son every day – preferably when he was awake. But sometimes, when I would come home at 4 Am, the best I could do was peek into his bedroom and see him sleeping. My wife and I pretty much led separate lives back then. I have thought about how that will affect my son. But working at Netscape is a great opportunity!” (Krueger, 1997) This research wants to get insight and understanding of work-life balance strategies. The variety of methods in discovering brings forth similarities, differences, and patterns. From this, strategies to manage work-life balance have been derived. By means of case studies, professionals could verify both the strategies already used and the missing strategies. The research passes points for improvement to the professional regarding management of worklife balance. -7- 3 Literature review 3.1 Historical perspective Emancipation Forty years ago a single-income household was common in the Dutch society. A woman stayed at home, if she had caring responsibilities. In the 1970s, the emancipation of women began. Female factions, like the Dolle Mina‟s, kicked against traditional sex roles. Throughout the eighties and the nineties, female participation in the labour market was rising. Nowadays, the female participation rate is 65% (OECD, 2002). Work and family life has changed significantly. Historically, one had either caring responsibilities or working responsibilities. Now the patterns are blurred, both men and women want to combine paid activities with unpaid activities. For example working by day and studying by night. “Raplexity” Simultaneously with the emancipation of women, automation began. The introduction of new technologies such as electronic databases and computers resulted in increased productivity and efficiency. Lower and middle management functions disappeared as employees had to fulfil more requirements. Nowadays it is common that all employees are capable of working with computer programs like Word and Excel. Fifteen years ago it was an exception rather than the rule. Such developments within companies are growing rapidly as the complexity of jobs increases (Hamaker, 1998). Many employees have difficulties in keeping up with all these changes. The mental load at the workplace has increased over the last decades. New common diseases, like stress and RSI, have come up. In the Netherlands, total yearly costs due to psychosocial load are estimated to be 4 billion euros. Almost half of these costs are caused by costs due to disability pensions. (Blatter et al., 2005) Figures indicate that 10% of the Dutch labour force is facing burn-out symptoms (CBS, 2006). Most vulnerable are high educated women and managers (De Valk, Meyer) (Van Dijk). Life-time employability The traditional thinking about careers has also changed over time. In the past, the employer was seen as a caretaker. When an employee did a job well, the employee could stay forty years with one company. From manager trainee, one became area manager. From area manager, one became department manager, and so on. Phases in career and life were incremental. This is no longer always the case. For example, world travel will follow-up a three year during traineeship, or starting a new company will follow up a career at a multinational. Nowadays, people have an average of eight jobs throughout the course of their careers (Sheets HRMlecture Gaspersz, 2005). Jobs have also become more insecure. Think about the recession after the dot-com bubble and September 11. Even if an employee works well, the person could be dismissed for economic reasons. This has resulted in employees that are less dependent upon one employer. For companies, this implies that they have to look for new ways to build employee loyalty, which is illustrated in box 2 (Gaspersz, Verhoeff, 2001). -8- Box 2: New psychological contract ABN AMRO communicates a new psychological contract with employees. Main points are:     The relation employer - employee = partnership More initiative expected from workers in developing themselves on a permanent basis and consequently changing jobs, departments, locations more regularly. The bank will offer chances to accomplish this. Managers will have to offer opportunities for employees to make use of these chances. The bank will only care for employees who want to adapt to these new requirements (Sheets HRM-lecture HRM Gaspersz, 2005) Work-life friendly policies Moreover, the new generation of employees is not motivated by a big payroll (Gunneweg, 2006). Work-life policies are used to recruit highly educated people, especially women, and to retain employees (Lewinson, 2006). Work-life friendly policies can improve productivity and the quality of work. Given declining birth-rates and the ageing work-force, the reconciliation of family life with a chosen career path is facing increasing importance for both the economy and the individual company. There is an increase in employees who are facing the demands of both parenting and elder care; they are called the “sandwich-generation”. Deloitte and Touche offer flexible working schedules to keep these employees within the company, which has saved the company $41.5 million, see box 3. Box 3: Measuring return of work-life balance programs Deloitte and Touche have been measuring the savings of flexible working arrangements for over 10 years. This is done by applying the standard replacement multiplier to the average annual salary of workers who would have left had flexible work schedules not been an available option. The firm then multiplied those figures by the number of respondents to an internal survey who said they would have quit the firm for that reason. The savings up till now are $41.5 million dollars. (Lewinson, 2006) Coming of the information-age Advanced information technologies and communication structures, like the internet, are altering the way firms are competing. Nowadays, information has become a source of value -9- creation. Companies are outsourcing manufacturing activities to countries with relatively cheap labour like India. For example, only 6% of IBM‟s employees are working in industrial manufacturing (Sampler, 1998). In the age of information, human capital has become increasingly important. The number of highly educated people, also called professionals, is rising. In 1996 only 20% of the labour force was considered highly educated, in contrast of today‟s roughly 30%. At the same time, the share of low-educated people dropped from 40 to 30 percent. Predictions for the future are that our economy will solely consist of service providers and knowledge workers. Work-life balance is hot Work-life balance has gained its own domain in society, as well in politics. In Europe several developments are in progress. At the Lisbon European Council policy targets have been made for 2010 (Lambert, 2006). Europe would like to “become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion”. Besides, Europe has set a goal of increasing employment rates, especially the participation rate of women (EWCO, 2002). For example, Europe wants to tackle the long-hours work culture in the United Kingdom. However, the British Government refuses to take the steps necessary to do so. A public debate is waging in this area. In France, collective bargaining has lead to experiments synchronizing working times with other forms of social time, such as school and child care services. The Dutch society differs from Europe in two ways. First, in the Netherlands there is a culture of part-time working, especially for women. Thirty-three percent of the Dutch labour force is working part-time (EWCO, 2002). This is much higher than in other European countries. For example, in Greece only 5% of the labour force is working part-time. Secondly, the use of child care facilities is low. Only 9% of the Dutch children go to day nursery, while in Denmark this percentage is 48% and in Belgium 27%. In France almost all children are sent to such facilities (SMO, 2002). Child care services are not paid by the Dutch government. In the Netherlands the attention to the „Danish‟ model is growing. During the elections „child care‟ was hot on the agendas. Some political parties, such as the VVD, plead for free childcare facilities to increase the labour participation of women (Verkiezingskijker, 2006) and, in so doing, enhance work-life balance of working mothers. As it generally takes a long time before such initiatives are implemented, this research presents strategies people could exercise by themselves in order to improve their work-life balance. 3.2 Demanding life The professional is facing lot of pressure and/or stimuli from the environment. At work the professional has to prepare meetings, empower subordinates, and reach targets. Besides work, the people also fulfil roles such as parent, secretary, or friend. The demands of the different roles are clarified through an example: see box 4. - 10 - Box 4: Demands at work and private life Maria (27) is working at a factory for clinical products. She is the assistant of the Supply Chain Manager. Maria is sitting behind her desk. She is looking to the figures at the screen, but the lead times and stock out rates could not reach her attention. Maria just sits there brooding. „The week should have eight days instead of seven‟, she is thinking. To finish her report before the deadline, she has to work the whole night. She would like to become the Supply Chain Manager of the SBU next year. But tonight she has two appointments already! First, her mother asked to come for dinner tonight. „She is always annoying me by saying that we should spend more time together...‟ Second, she has to go to the annual general meeting of the tennis club. „The commission needs me, I am the secretary.‟ After all, she would continue her success as Supply Chain assistant and decides to cancel her appointments for tonight. „After calling her mother and the chairmen of the tennis club, she is feeling guilty and starts doubting again… „My private life is such a mess…‟ Like Maria, it seems that many professionals are lacking the time needed to fulfil their various roles. Maria is feeling unsatisfied because she could not make her private appointments. However, Bartolomé (1983) proposes that lack of time is not a cause of unsatisfactory life. The author explores some contributing factors to a disappointing personal life, such as having the wrong assumptions in the first place, being excessively afraid of confronting conflict, and taking a tomorrow-based approach to problems. For example one thinks: “let‟s do it tomorrow”, but tomorrow never comes. How could Maria deal with her roles and live a satisfactory life? How could she find a balance in work and life activities? Before continuing, the definition of work-life balance must be clear. Lim (2005) uses the definition of Kofodimos: “Balance is a satisfying, healthy, and productive life that includes work, play, and love; that integrates a range of life activities with attention to self and to personal and spiritual development; and that expresses a person‟s unique wishes, interests, and values.” That sounds rather complicated, but it gives a good idea of all the attributes involved. Work-life balance is more usefully described as the absence of unacceptable levels of conflict between work and non-work demands (Greenblatt, 2002). Work and non-work demands cannot be seen as two separate entities. Failure at the workplace cannot be squared with a successful marriage. According to Freud the main sources of self-esteem and pleasure in individual‟s life are work and love. Therefore, failure at work has to be compensated by success in work-like activities and vice versa (Bartolomé & Lee Evans, 1980). When there is no equilibrium between work-like activities and life, stress might occur. In psychology, stress is defined as tension that appears when a person is facing a (threatening) disturbance of the balance between burden and carrying capacity (Joppen, Brand, Schreurs 1992). The causes of the disturbance are divided into three categories: work-related causes, life-related causes, and person-related causes. First, stress could be caused by work. These are the activities which must be done at the workplace and at home. At the workplace a report must be finished for the deadline or a subordinate must be reprimanded. At home, a second workday begins. Cooking must be done and a sick mother must be visited. Secondly, causes of stress could be found in life. In - 11 - this way, one can think of situations that lead to irritation, such as a glass of wine that falls on the couch. Beside that there are more serious happenings which could lead to stress, like a divorce or death. Thirdly, causes of stress are related with the style of living. According to Joppen, Brand & Schreurs (1992), the most important person-related causes of stress are:unhealthy eating patterns, smoking, and drinking (alcoholics) insufficient physical exercise assertive behaviour type A behaviour (aggressive, excessively performance driven) inadequate social network insufficient self-control or influence on the environment Many authors connect work-life balance with work-related stress. The combination of everincreasing demands at the workplace and the demands at home are causing unbalances in work-life. This approach may be too narrow. Circumstances in one‟s life and personality should not be underestimated as they are also capable of influencing the well-being of the employee. Thus, life-related and person-related stress will influence the productivity of an employee indirectly. Previous researcher has found a relationship between stress-symptoms and whether employees saw their private life as more significant than their workplace. According to the authors Frame and Hartog (2001), “stress would also appear to be strongly related to employees‟ allocation of relative values to work and home.” The underlying factors related to the causes of stress are adaptation, interpretation, and influence (Joppen, Brand, Schreurs 1992). First, stress appears when a person has to adapt to the demands of the environment, or the demands of the person oneself. Secondly, stress is also determined by our (false) interpretation from reality and the assessment of one‟s capabilities. Thirdly, stress often appears in situations in which a person could not exercise influence or the person at least thinks that he / she has no influence. In other words, someone‟s idea about a situation determines his or her emotional reaction. For instance, is the glass pictured in figure 1 half full or half empty? Figure 1: Half full or half empty? - 12 - Thirsty Tim is seeing the glass as half full. His reaction is pleasant: “Finally, something to drink,” he says. In contrast, gourmand Gordon is seeing the glass as half empty. Gordon‟s reaction is much more aggressive. “Is this all?” he reacts. Different ideas could lead to divergent behaviour. People react to occurrences and cope with problems differently. Some people avoid the problem, while others talk with friends or participate in activities that bring them pleasure. People who are fit adapt their coping style to the situation (De Valk). Namely, healthy people are better able to put situations into perspective. The opposite also applies. So, the way people are seeing the world can highly influence their wellbeing. Awareness of one‟s view is very important in preventing stress. People cannot ban unpleasant happenings in their lives, but they can influence the way they look at the situation (Joppen, Brand, Schreurs 1992). According to Covey (1989) there is a “space between stimulus and response.” In that space, someone has the power to chose the glasses through which they see the picture. The paradigm shift stirs us from one way of seeing the world to another. The paradigm, or view, determines one‟s attitude and reaction, and finally one‟s social connections. 3.3 Achieving work-life balance Much academic literature has been written about achieving work-life balance. In this research a distinction between two different perspectives is presented. The perspectives are named by the researcher as “rational-based view” and the “personal-based view”. In reality, the separation is not as strict as described below. However, by distinguishing two perspectives the differences become clearer. First, there is a rational-based point of view. In this respect, the challenge is to manage personal resources in such a way that negative spill over (which results in stress) will be reduced. This could be done by delegating tasks or through strategic sequencing of activities. The rational-based view is about organizing and protecting personal time. The second perspective goes much deeper. According to Lim (2005) it recognizes people as “complex and multi-faceted participants of society.” In this respect, the challenge is to listen to the voice of your heart. By listening to your conscious you can make choices that will improve the quality of your life. Rational-based view Some authors that subscribe to the rational-based perspective compare the individual with a battery, in that a person will burn out by only doing exhaustive activities (these activities could be work or non-work related). Therefore, a person has to balance depleting activities with activities that will result in restoration. For example, a person should take a coffee break or a small walk after several hours of studying. Greenblatt (2002) proposes that a person could increase energy through both strategic sequencing of activities and the prevention of overdose effects, as shown in figure 2. - 13 - Anne has a managerial function in a hotel. After a good night, Anne begins her day within her normal resource range (1). During the day service duties deplete her (3,6). Conversations with customers or colleagues starts to restore her (4,7) and a break (5,8) continuous the process of returning her to a normal range. Back at home a shower revives her (9). She has a phone call with her sister and diner with her family (10, 11). She feels like herself again. In the evening she has to go to a board meeting. An uninspiring meeting (12) and followed by late arrival at home begin to deplete her (13). Figure 2: Example Personal Resource Profile (Greenblatt, 2002) Other authors assume that individuals have different roles (Covey, 1994) to fulfil, such as CEO, parent, and tennis club-member. Lobel describes life as “struggling to balance competing roles in terms of differential cost:reward ratios.” To conclude, the individual has to allocate its finite resources (time and energy) to different tasks or roles in their lives (Lim, 2005). Major organisations like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lloyds TSB have working arrangements that allow their staff to work when and where they want (McIntosh, 2003). The employee has more flexibility to vary depleting activities with restoring activities, or to vary a managerial role with a parental role. Companies that are using this policy conducive to work-life balance have less difficulty in attracting and retaining talent. Much time management literature takes the rational-based view. By planning tasks more efficiently or by delegating unimportant tasks, more time is left for recovering activities or for other roles in life. Having a clear mission statement would make it easier to minimize the time spent on less important things in life (Miller, 2002). However, work and non-work activities are still seen as two separate entities. - 14 - Personal-based view There are also authors who propose that work and life activities should not be seen as two opposite entities. Bartolomé (1980) emphasized the importance of fit between a person and his job. A lack of fit would cause negative emotional spill over, resulting in dissatisfaction. A healthy professional life is a precondition for a healthy private life. Researchers De Valk & Meyer plead for Human Being Management. Organisations have to put the individual central at the workplace in order to achieve work-life balance. Attention for the personal-based point of view has been growing. Nowadays the age of selfreliance is running. Increased competition, downsizing, and mergers have increased the pressures at the workplace. Companies no longer have long-term contracts with their employees; as a result, employees have become less dependent on a job. According to Levinson (1996) employees need to develop fallback positions, by which the author means an alternative course of action if the current job fails. In developing a fallback position, people have to understand and tap into their characteristic behaviours. Doing things that one likes will lead to increased security and less stress than will other types of activities. The authors mentioned in this section also emphasize the importance of a mission statement. The primary difference with the rational-based view is that the mission statement is based on an inner life. Rather than focusing on efficiency, the authors mentioned above emphasize effectiveness. Therefore, a person must become conscious of his/her needs and capacities. People have mental, social, spiritual, and physical needs. According to Covey (1994) one could act with “integrity” between stimulus and response by listening to the inner life. With “integrity” the author means that one could act consistently with personality. In this way people are able to make choices that harmonize with their needs and capabilities. Self-awareness, conscious, motivation, and imagination are a part of this “inner life” (Covey, 1994). These have come to be known collectively as emotional intelligence. People with high emotional intelligence show greater awareness of their needs and capabilities than people with low emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998). With help of emotional intelligence one is able to see problems at a deeper level, allowing the root of the problem to be revealed. In this way one could examine the “paradigm” from which attitudes and behaviours flow. By changing what we are doing, we could change what we are getting. Box 5 makes this clear with an example. Box 5: Emotional intelligence “Imagine an executive who is thought to be low on empathy by her colleagues. She interrupts people and does not pay close attention to what they are saying. To fix the problem, the executive needs to be motivated to change, and then she needs practice and feedback from other in the company. A colleague or coach could be tapped to let the executive know when she has been observed failing to listen. She would then have to replay the incident and give a better response; that is, demonstrate her ability to absorb what others are saying. And the executive could be directed to observe certain executives who listen well and to mimic their behaviour.” (Goleman, 1998) - 15 - The woman in the example could overcome the low empathy by being friendlier. Indeed, the low empathy is not caused by a lack of friendliness, but by being a poor listener. So, one should be aware of problem‟s roots in order to seek the right solution. The first condition for change is the woman‟s willingness to tackle her behaviour. She has to find out her weaknesses; feedback from colleagues will support this process. The woman has to prepare new ways of communication and should demonstrate these. Again, feedback from colleagues will help her to develop her listening skills. By means of evaluation she is better prepared for a subsequent conversation. In this way she could listen with greater “integrity” than before. Covey‟s (1994) living and learning cycle, which is shown in figure 4, shows this process with a repeating cycle of learning and growth. Evaluate Organize Act Figure 3: Learning cycle (Covey, 1994) Trough motivation, practice, and evaluation, people train their brain‟s limbic system (Goleman, 1998), the area in which emotional intelligence is thought to be seated. For this reason, emotional intelligence is thought to be enlargeable through inspirational activities. Horan (2001) observed the effect of stress management intervention programs at the workplace. Participants of intervention meetings conveyed a better understanding of their workplace and improved empathy (and sympathy) for colleagues. They sensed less psychological pressure at work. They were better able to “leave work at the workplace” and employ newfound skills on the home front. Sjöberg (2001) also demonstrated that people with high emotional intelligence are better in balancing work and life. People with high emotional intelligence have skills like better handling of failure and more creativity that help them toward success in different phases of life, both at work and private life. 3.4 Work-life friendly policies Analysis presented by Ahn (2005) showed that dependent children, long hours of work, commuting time to work, and inflexible jobs have a negative effect on work-life balance. Moreover, professionals are facing high job demands. For example, they have to reach targets and they have to oversee subordinates. It requires concentration and creativity to do their job well. On the one hand, high job demands will challenge one‟s capabilities. On the other hand, high job demands could deplete one‟s resources. The resources of the professional will deplete when the job requires more energy than the energy it is generating (Greenblatt, 2002). - 16 - The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model shows two separate processes. First, high job demands could lead to exhaustion. Second, a shortage of job resources could lead to frustrations and disengagement (Oostrom, 2005). Organisations could overcome depletion of employees by choosing the right person for the right job. Namely, negative spill over will be reduced when there is a fit between a person and his job (Bartolomé, 1980). Finally, the employee must have the perception of receiving adequate resources for the work he or she is doing. Oostrom (2005) shows a comparable model, which was defined by Karasek & Theorell in 1990. This model investigates job demands versus job control. Job control is the way someone could arrange his or her work. Job control is divided into three dimensions, namely: decision authority, skill discretion, and social support. This model covers the literature about work-life friendly policies to a large extent. Figure 4: Job Demand Resources Model (Demerouit et al., 2001) Lewis and Dyer (2000) agree that employees‟ work-life balance depends on the extent to which organisations empower them with autonomy and control. Other authors, such as Nieto (2003), McIntosh (2003), and Ahn (2005), mention policies which offer flexibility. Flexible policies include arrangements like annualised hours, job-sharing, or working at home. All in all, organizations should offer employees more possibilities to work out their own work and non-work schedules and boundaries. - 17 - A change in organisational culture is crucial to support the integration of work-life balance in practice. Life and work should not be seen as separated entities. Employees should have space to share their emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs (Covey, 1994). Trust is needed for creating a place in which people can do their job well and share their common goods (Aurty, 1996). Management should show trust by paying attention to their employees. Also, they should show commitment to them and communicate regularly (De Valk). Box 6 shows how Profuse became a Great Place to Work2 by improving their communication with the employees. Lastly, pride and good-fellowship are needed to transform the organisation to a community in which people feel home (Great Place to Work® Institute). Box 6: Improvements at Profuse In 2004 Profuse did not reach the Great Place to Work requirements. In 2006 the company reached „silver‟. Margoth Karens is HR-manager at Profuse and below she describes which changes they had made. Which improvements did you made? Especially we made changes in communication. The employees indicated a sense of lacking communication within the company. In some cases misunderstandings about work arose, or work shot through. Now, we place more information at the bulletin board, internal reports, newsletters, and etcetera. In these items we communicate everything more clearly and in more detail. This approach works well. There is trust among the employees that they get the necessary information. During exitinterviews, „communication‟ was often mentioned as point for improvement. Last year, this became less. What else if Profuse doing for its employees? Besides communication, attention to personal growth is important. Twice a year employees have a performance interview. In these interviews people could indicate which targets they would like to reach and which actions are needed. We do not map their careers; the employees themselves are giving their wishes. Flexibility is also important. For example we have a trainer who wants to keep up his programming level. Now, he is working partly as trainer and partly as programmer. Within our organization such things are possible. (CNV, 2006) 2 The Great Place to Work® Institute is doing research and is giving advice to companies to make their workplace a better place. Each year the institute composes a list with the „greatest places to work.‟ - 18 - Box 7: Microsoft, a great place to work? Below is a fragment of an interview with Ineke Hoekman, HR-manager at Microsoft. In both 2005 and 2006, the Dutch division of Microsoft (471 employees) reached „gold‟ in the evaluation of Great Places to Work. What makes Microsoft a Great Place to Work? Within our organization humans are set first. The come before our products and software. Microsoft assumes that they are the clue to a well-functioning company. When people like their employer, you will find it back in results. Why is Microsoft participating the election of Great Place to Work? We research internally how employees are experiencing Microsoft. The results are starting point for our policies. We have done this for several years and it is working well. Nevertheless, we chose to conduct an external research as well, to test our results. We were pleased that the results are similar. It confirms that we are doing well and that people are doing their work with pleasure. What does Microsoft for that purpose? People show passion for their work. They are proud to be part of Microsoft. I think this is special for a multinational. Much is possible, and initiatives from employees are welcome. Our organization is growing; we are paying attention for the personal growth and learning opportunities of our employees. Employees can develop oneself both in length (career-opportunities) and in depth (growth in existent function). Above all, we are working with newest technologies and materials. For our people this is very important. These technologies increase an employee‟s flexibility. Scored Microsoft also negative? Flexibility gives many advantages, but also a disadvantage: one‟s work-life balance could be harmed. Due to the advanced technologies employees are always connected with their work. Because our company is settled in different time-zones, we have no 9-to-5 job. Most people have no difficulties in finding and maintaining a healthy balance. For people who have difficulties, we offer support in finding balance. This could be intern agreements: “Take care of impossible deadlines”. We also try to increase employees‟ carrying capacity and we are giving insights via workshops, personal coaching, and training. What is Microsoft doing to maintain the ‘golden’ position? For a multinational paying attention to all facets is more complex than for a small company. As such, we are proud of our results. We will face the risk of losing the golden position. That will not be a disaster, however, because structurally we are functioning well. But it will be an extra motivation to look after the steps necessary to reach the top again. (CNV, 2006) - 19 - The Dutch division of Microsoft reached “gold” twice in the Great Place to Work evaluation. Box 7 contains a fragment of an interview with Microsoft‟s HR-manager. Employees are proud to work at Microsoft. They can work with newest technologies and materials and have many opportunities to develop themselves. Employees who are facing disturbance of worklife balance get support from the company through available personal coaching and training programs. By giving the employee a better understanding of work-life balance problems, the employee can better learn how to deal with them. Box 8: Ernst & Young “Ernst & Young adopted a policy of having its employees rate their managers on how available they made work-life options, and using those ratings in yearend performance reviews and bonuses. Today about 27% of the E&Y workforce uses some forms of flexible work arrangement.” (Lewinson, 1996) Many organisations face difficulties in implementing work life-friendly policies. A lot of factors must be considered (Keune & Vercaeren, 2003). First, there is a diversity of employees. The employees involved have their own individual needs and capabilities. Beside their professional role they each also have family or private roles to fulfil. Secondly, policy makers like top management and trade unions must be considered. Lastly, there are several factors within the company itself, such as company culture, job quality, and decision making that have an influence over the workplace. The difficulties in arranging work life-friendly policies are caused by the interactions between the diversity of factors involved. 3.5 Conclusions Boundaries between work and life are blurred First, patterns at home are blurring. Both men and women want to combine a job with caring duties (OECD, 2002). Secondly, the boundary between home and work disappears. Due to technologies such as internet, people stay in touch with their workplaces. This brings forth flexibility to work at home, but it could also infringe on private life. Together with the boundaries, „safety‟ zones are falling. Namely, at home one is not free (not safe) from work anymore. Lastly, phases in career alternate with life-activities, like a world-travel or a sabbatical (Gaspersz, Verhoeff, 2001). As employers no longer offer jobs for a lifetime, people are losing grip at work and life. For some people this means new opportunities, for others an increase in stress. Stress, a new common disease? The mental load at the workplace has increased over the last number of years. Our society has transformed into a knowledge economy. New common diseases, like stress and RSI have - 20 - come up. Figures show that 10% of the Dutch labour force is facing burn-out symptoms (CBS, 2006). Stress appears when there is no equilibrium between burden and carrying capacity. The underlying factor related to the cause of stress is the way in which one sees the world (Joppen, Brand, Schreurs 1992). Just as one person might see the glass as half full and another person might see it as half empty, people react to occurrences and cope with problems differently. Two approaches towards work-life balance strategies This research distinguishes between two different perspectives regarding work-life balance strategies: the rational-based view and the personal-based view. Authors who take the rational view emphasize the use of time-management techniques. Doing things more efficiently increases control of one‟s life. One could think about strategies as dividing time over activities and prioritizing tasks (Lim, 2005) (Miller, Doucet, 2002). This increase in control will give someone peace and satisfaction. While people with a rational-based view try to control the choice of action, people with a personal-based view try to control the consequences of their choice. The person is wondering what is most important for him or her (Covey, 1994). Authors propose that doing things you like will result in less stress (Bartolomé, 1980), (Levinson, 1996). In this way, one could think of the following strategies: developing awareness of one‟s talents and weaknesses, using self-reflection, and looking for a fit between person and job. As it were, personal-based strategies are appealing to one‟s emotional intelligence. The role of emotional intelligence Research has indicated that people with high emotional intelligence show greater awareness of their needs and capabilities and have fewer problems in balancing work and life (Sjöberg, 2001). In the space between stimulus and response, someone has the power to choose the glasses through which they perceive their world; for example, as half full or half empty. One‟s view determines one‟s attitude and reaction (Joppen, Brand, Schreurs, 1992), (Covey, 1994). With help of emotional intelligence one is able to see problems at a deeper level. As it were, one could discover the glasses that are determining one‟s behaviour. In this way the roots of the problem will be revealed, which will lead to a lasting solution (Goleman, 1998). Through motivation, practice, and evaluation, people could train their emotional intelligence and create a repeating cycle of learning and growth. It is for this reason that intervention programs at the workplace are so useful (Horan, 2001). During these programmes employees give each other feedback to help each other “choose the right glasses.” The workplace Compare an employee with a battery (Greenblatt, 2002). It seems logical that too demanding a job could lead to exhaustion and a shortage of job resources could deplete as well. This will lead to frustrations and disengagement among employees (Oostrom, 2005). Organisations could overcome such problems by choosing the right person for the right job. One should have the capabilities to fulfil a function, and should have the feeling of receiving adequate resources. This implies more than just money; it also includes „soft‟ aspects like pleasure in work, trust in the organization, and feeling comfortable (Bartolomé, 1980). In this way, organizations could prevent much work-related stress by taking into account employees‟ burden and carrying capacities. - 21 - Employee‟s work-life balance could be influenced by their degree of freedom. Some authors propose that organizations should offer their employees more job control such that the employee is able to arrange their own work (Lewis, Dyer, 2000). Other authors, like Nieto (2003), McIntosh (2003), and Ahn (2005) suggest policies that offer more flexibility for the employee, such as working at home, or possibilities for job-interruptions. Integration of such work-life balance policies in practice will only succeed when a company‟s culture supports these (Aurty, 1996). For example, it is easy to arrange days off for someone who has caring duties for a sick parent. However, only when colleagues show willingness to take over work duties, does the person feel free to leave work at the workplace. In this case, a group culture is more supportive than a culture in which one reaches targets individually, making the role of management crucial. Management should understand the stigmas created within the culture of their organization; change starts at the top. Management also needs to be aware of the leadership roles they carry, and should strive to give the right example to their employees (Nieto, 2003). In this way an organization could become a better place for their employees. A good atmosphere will benefit the well-being of their employees and, in so doing, benefit the overall results of the company. - 22 - 4 Research design and data collection 4.1 Conceptual model After studying literature and conducting some interviews, a conceptual model has been prepared (figure 5). The model shows how one‟s work-life balance depends on events in private life and the working environment. Norms and values determine how people are dealing with work-life balance issues. For example, in the Netherlands it is the norm that mothers work part-time when having little children. Mothers often feel guilty when bringing her child more than three times a week to the daycare center (SMO, 2002). People gain experience through managing work-life demands. Some people adapt their choices after an experience, while others continue to make the same choices time and time again. For example, some people decide to work less after facing tiredness, while other people try to maintain their momentum. People have to evaluate their choices to draw learnings from it (Covey, 1994). Self-reflection and feedback are means to evaluate choices. One‟s level of emotional intelligence influences work-life balance (Sjöberg, 2001) (Horan, 2001). People with high emotional intelligence have skills that help them to balance work-life. Literature shows that work-life balancing strategies are divided into two views, or dimensions. People with a rational-based view approach time management techniques to manage their activities. Some rational-based strategies are shown in figure 5. It seems that a person takes the existence of several roles with different levels of importance into account when making their choices. By doing thing more efficiently, control of one‟s life will increase. For example, targets can help a person focus on important things and a “to-do”-list can help structure the day. This increase in control can often lead to peace and satisfaction. While people with a rational-based view try to control the choice of action, people with a personal-based view try to control the consequences of their choice. The person with this type of view bases their choices on what is most important for him or her. From the strategies listed in figure 5 it can be derived that the person is taking care of themselves. One could think of doing sports to increase fitness („increasing carrying capacity‟), or think of searching for a job that fits their personality. It can also be derived from figure 5 that these strategies take into account the repeating cycle of learning and growth. By means of selfreflection one can evaluate the choices made. By investigating which things have gone either well or badly in the past, one can prepare for choices in the future. So, one could increase quality of life by continuously repeating the cycle of learning and doing. Nowadays, attention for the personal-based view is growing. Authors propose that doing things that you like will diminish stress. However, previous literature does not show the view‟s effectiveness regarding managing work-life balance. It describes methods people should use rather than paying attention to methods people actually use. This research investigates which techniques, derived from both the rational-based and personal-based views, are most effective in running a balance without introducing stress-symptoms. - 23 - Figure 5: Conceptual model work-life balance strategy 4.2 Research design Qualitative data provides insights and understanding of the work-life balance phenomena. To seek effective work-life balance strategies for professionals, in depth interviews with them will be conducted. In depth interviews are more useful than focus groups, because they reveal greater dept of insights. First, the respondent feels free to answer, because the person is not experiencing social pressure from a group. Second, the researcher could concentrate on one particular person. In a focus group it is difficult to distinguish which person made a certain comment. (Malhotra, Birks, 1999) Before conducting interviews, existing questionnaires were studied and experts were approached to provide secondary information. A meeting with a company doctor then provided insight into stress-symptoms, and HR-managers of “great place to work” companies were contacted to deliver some insight into their companies‟ work-life balance policies. Through means of existing questionnaires, secondary sources, and previous literature, the question regarding both the rational-based and personal based work-life balance strategies was composed. Questions about the working environment were also asked. All questions together help frame an overview of the breadth of the subject of “work-life balance”. Questions rational-based strategies Questions that match the rational-based strategies are shown in box 9. People who take the rational view approach work and life as two separate, conflicting entities (question 2). They try to balance these conflicts by dividing attention over both worlds (question 1). In this way, the person has to cope with two finite resources: time and energy. One could overcome depletion of energy by varying exhaustive tasks with tasks that will result in restoration (question 3 and 4). One spends time planning and setting priorities. By doing the important things, one could spend scarce time in a useful way (question 7, 8, 9). A clear mission statement will help to maximize the time spent on most important things in life (question 5 and 6). Lastly, by delegating tasks, more time is left for recovering activities or for other roles in life. Frustrations could be avoided through clear communication about one‟s expectations (question 10). Box 9: Questions rational view 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Do you fragment yourself (in roles) or fragment your time (over tasks) to maintain work-life balance? (Lim, 2005) Do you see work and home as two conflicting worlds? (Lim, 2005) Are you restoring your energy level by doing, for example, a lunch break or something nice? (Greenblatt, 2002) Do you sequence tasks strategically to prevent overdose effects? (Greenblatt, 2002) Do you use mission statements, goal setting, and strategic plans, both at work and home? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) Do you have a mission which describes what is most important for you? Which is guiding you trough life? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) Do you maximize the amount of time spent on working toward goals and minimizing the time spent on less important things? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) Do you spend time planning and setting priorities? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) Do you use to-do lists and put the items in order of priority? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) 10. Do you delegate tasks whenever possible? Are you clarifying and verifying all communication? Do you not always expect perfection? (Miller & Doucet, 2002) Questions personal-based strategies Box 10 shows the questions regarding the personal-based strategies. People who take this view emphasize the need of fit between personality and activities (question 3). Indeed, doing things that you like will bring you a better sense of security and less stress than everything else you can do. By means of evaluation, practicing, and motivation, the awareness of one‟s characteristics will grow (question 4, 10 and 11). By putting the inner beliefs on paper, one can create a personal mission statement that will make it easier to act upon one‟s own principles (question 1, 2, and 8). In this way, one could make choices which will increase quality of life. In order to overcome depletion, people with the personal-based view do not allocate time and resources like the person with the rational-based view. Instead, those with the personalbased view are seeking solutions at a deeper level. First, one strengthens carrying capacity by increasing their level of fitness, mental health, or competencies (question 7). Second, one weakens burden capacity by striving for win-win situations. By working together more could be reached with less (question 9). Last, by approaching bosses, colleagues, or friends, one tries to seek work-life solutions (question 6). This view matches the „employability‟ phenomena. The personal-based people use their talents and capacities as starting point for a job. By developing a fallback position they become not overly dependent of their employer (question 5). - 26 - Box 10: Questions personal view 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Is an underlying vision supporting the vision on work-life balance? (Covey, 1992) Do you base choices in daily life (both work and home) on principles? (Covey, 1992) Is there a fit between your personality and your job? (Bartolomé, 1980) Are you aware of your talent and pitfalls? Are you aware of your needs; for example, freedom or nice colleagues? (Bartolomé, 1980) Do you have an alternative course of action if the current job fails? (Levinson, 1996) Do you take own initiative to improve your work-life balance; for example, a conversation with your manager or partner? (Covey, 1992) Do you look after your carrying capacities? Examples could include doing a course to increase your managerial skills or doing sports to increase fitness. (Covey, 1992) Do you have goals in the long run? Do you have a personal mission statement which is indicating what is most important for you? (Covey, 1992) Do you work synergetically? Are you striving to win-win situations? Are you trying to understand other people? (Covey, 1992) 10. Are you able to change your view? (Covey, 1992) 11. Do you spent time reflecting yourself and/or personal growth? (Covey, 1992) (Sjöberg, 2001) Questions about the working environment To understand how the working environment could influence one‟s work-life balance, questions about the working environment were composed. The company doctor pointed out the importance of using a scholarly questionnaire. In this way the research could safeguard completeness of aspects that are affecting work-life balance. According to the company doctor, the WEBA method was most useful for researching one‟s work-life balance. The WEBA3 questionnaire is used by company doctors to measure employees‟ wellbeing at work. The WEBA method intends to start consultation about quality of work. The questionnaire is a guide for a participative risk analysis in which individual and group interviews are investigating and evaluating risks at the workplace. The WEBA method addresses two risks in particular: - Mental load or stress due to job-content - Impossibility to learn and develop oneself during the course of the job WEBA means Welzijn Bij de Arbeid. The method is made in order of the Dutch directorate-general of the labour. Three institutes, the NIPG/TNO, NIA en IVA-Tilburg, were asked to make the aspects of well-being which are stating in the ARBO-law at work. 3 - 27 - Box 11: Questions working environment: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Is your working environment affecting or supporting work-life balance? Do you have difficulties with the tempo of work, or the workload? Are you facing arrears in tasks? (WEBA) Emotional load. Do you have difficulties in dealing with troublesome clients? Do you face moving occurrences? Are people appealing you personally? (WEBA) Do you have enough variety in work? Does your job require creativity? Could you use your talents and capactities? (WEBA) Do you have pleasure in work? Are you feeling home at the organization? (WEBA) How is your relationship with colleagues? Could you ask them for help? How are you dealing conflicts? How is atmosphere? (WEBA) How is your relationship with managers? Are they supportive, when facing difficulties? Are there happening unpleasant things? How is atmosphere? (WEBA) How is your involvement at the workplace? Could you take part in deciding about work related things? (WEBA) Could you consult with your managers? Are you able to talk about problems with them? Or do you solve problems yourself? (WEBA) 10. Do you have influence on tempo of work, planning, deadlines, or dividing of work? (WEBA) 11. Do you have influence on job content? (WEBA) 12. Do you have learning opportunities and possibilities for personal growth? (WEBA) 13. Is your work appreciated within the company? Could you climb the career ladder? (WEBA) 14. Do you need safety of keeping your job in the future? Do you want to know or keep your job next year? (WEBA) 15. Do you have flexible working arrangements, like working part-time, job-sharing, working at home, self-rostering annualised hours, breaks from work? Do you use these? (Mc Intosh, 2003) 16. Are breaks from career possible? Sabbatical? Short term of notice? (Mc Intosh, 2003) 17. Are there possibilities for maternity leave, parental leave, or childcare facilities? (Mc Intosh, 2003) 18. Does the company offer other services, like a restaurant or dry cleaner‟s? (Mc Intosh, 2003) 19. How is the level of people management within the organization? How are attention, commitment, and communication within all levels at the organization? (De Valk & Meyer) 20. Are safety-zones present at the company? Are there possibilities for coaching, self-management, or intervention? (De Valk & Meyer) 21. How is leadership? Do you trust your leaders? Are employees approached personally? (Autry, 1995) (Frame & Hartog, 2003) - 28 - The questions about the working environment are listed in box 11. The questions are derived from the WEBA questionnaire and studied literature. The WEBA questionnaire includes the following subjects: - Workload (question 2). On one hand, a workload that is too heavy will lead to exhaustion; on the other hand, a workload that is too light will lead to weariness and frustration. - Emotional load (question 3). Emotional involvement could enrich a function. However, when one could not release emotional load at home, as stress will occur. - Job variety (question 4). Variety in work will overcome overdoses effects. - Feeling nice at work (question 5). A culture that fits one‟s personality will positively influence well-being. - Relationship with colleagues (question 6). Sound relationships with colleagues are important for one‟s well-being at work. Often, trouble with colleagues will lead to stress-symptoms. - Relationship with management (question 7). One would reveal problems more early when feeling support from management to do so. - Work involvement (question 8). The degree in which one can arrange their work will determine the level of job control. - Problem solving (question 9). People with a pro-active attitude feel less stress than people who are anticipating on problems. - Influence in workload (question 10). Having more influence over workload increases job control. - Influence in job content (question 11). Similarly, having more influence over job content increases job control. - Learning opportunities (question 12). The presence of learning opportunities motivates and challenges employees. - Appreciation of work (question 13). A job should offer adequate resources. - Job safety in the future (question 14). Some people become stressed with a lack of job safety. Some questions were also asked regarding work-life friendly policies. Research indicates that an employee‟s work-life balance can be positively influenced by the degree of freedom one has. On one hand, this could be reached by offering employees more job control; on the other hand, companies could offer flexible working arrangements such as job-sharing and breaks from work. Research has also shown that dependent children, long work hours, and commuting time to work have a negative effect on work-life balance. Organizations could support employees by offering possibilities for tele-working or parental leave (question 15, 16, 17 and 18). Integration of such work-life balance policies will only succeed in practice when a company‟s culture is supportive. Trust (question 21) is needed for creating a place in which people can do their job well and share their common goods. Therefore, safety zones are useful. Employees will reveal problems more early during an unconstrained talk (question 20). Management should pay attention to their employees (question 19). Also, they should show commitment to them and communicate regularly and clearly. A good atmosphere will benefit the wellbeing of the employees and the company as a whole. - 29 - 4.3 Interviews Interview questions Questions asked during the interview should cover the question that is being researched. The research question is: “Which strategies do professionals use to manage work-life balance in which they can reach their targets and could stay healthy and productive?” The target of this research is to investigate best practices for managing work-life balance. The questions in box 9, 10 and 11 serve as a basis for the interview questions. During the interviews, questions are selected from these boxes. Because the interview questions are open-ended in nature, the interviews differ in structure. It could be the case that a respondent indicated to use time-management techniques as work-life balance strategy. Because the interviewer wants to investigate the techniques used more clearly, the interviewer continues asking questions by selecting questions from box 9. Namely, the questions in box 9 are corresponding with the rational view, which contains time-management as well. During the interviews it turned out that the following questions were leading: 1. What is work-life balance in your view? 2. Is an underlying vision supporting the vision on work-life balance? 3. Is there something which determines the choices in daily life? 4. How is the relationship between work and private life? 5. Did you face a disturbance of balance? 6. How did you get back a healthy balance? 7. What did you learn from it? 8. How do you prevent negative overflow from work or private life? 9. Which methods do you use to manage the demands from the environment? 10. Do you use time management techniques? 11. Are you aware of your characteristics, your talents and pitfalls? 12. Do you take into account your capacity? 13. Do you take time for self-reflection? 14. Is your working-environment supporting or harming your work-life balance? 15. Which initiatives do you make to improve your work-life balance? 16. Do you have tips for Nyenrode graduates who will start their career soon? Questions 1 and 5 were designed to investigate one‟s definition of a healthy work-life balance. Questions 3, 4, 8 and 9 investigate the use of either rational-based strategies or personal-based strategies, or both. As these questions are not based on any single perspective, - 30 - they could be used to explore one‟s view. Moreover, these questions are useful in discovering strategies that have not been mentioned in previous literature. Because questions 3, 4, 8, and 9 are double-barrelled questions, they can be ambiguous (Malhotra, Birks, 1996). As the questions cover more than one issue, they may be confusing for the respondents. Therefore, some specific questions about the two perspectives, rationalbased and personal-based, are also asked. Questions 2, 11, 12, and 13 are based on the personal view, while question 10 is based on the rational view. These questions are designed to asses one‟s use and view about the personalbased and the rational-based strategies. Answers to questions 6, 7, and 15 indicate someone‟s approach towards work-life balance. What did they do after facing symptoms? Is their attitude pro-active or re-active? While these questions are investigate one‟s behaviour, question 14 investigates the role of the workingenvironment. Question 16 is a „bonus‟ question that investigates what young professionals should keep in mind when starting a career. The interview takes approximately 45 minutes and is held one-on-one. The researcher has to take care of getting information that would be relevant for the research. Therefore, the most important research questions are sent to the respondent before conducting the interview. Arranging a face-to-face interview with professionals can be a challenge; their agendas are often fully booked for months. The busy professionals showed more willingness to participate in a telephone interview than a personal meeting. Sometimes, the professional called for an interview themselves during a moment in which they could spare the time and attention. For example, travelling long distances between meetings introduces time for a relaxed discussion about work-life balance. The conversations were held over Skype (a VoIP technique) and were recorded with a software-program called “Hot Recorder 4VoIP”. Almost all the interviews were conducted by telephone. Respondents Respondents were selected in different ways. The first approach was snowball sampling. Mr. Gaspersz provided useful contacts for the research, such as the address of a company doctor and some authors. Probability sampling was also used. A mailing was sent to (former) Nyenrode students that asked them to forward the mailing to potential respondents. People were invited to apply for an interview by replying the mail. Additionally, HR-managers from „great place to work‟ companies were approached to describe their work-life policies and were also asked to forward an e-mail to potential respondents. The company doctor (M. De Valk) leads a discussion group for colleagues with the aim of optimizing one‟s functioning. The participants of the discussion group, five in total, were approached personally during a meeting. Four of them were interviewed; these are respondents 1, 2, 3 and 6 in table 1. The authors Samhoud and Horsten (2006) wrote a book about “workaholic” fathers. They interviewed these fathers about their work-life balance. The authors were contacted for addresses of some fathers, six of whom were working in professional functions and were - 31 - subsequently approached by phone for an interview. Ultimately three of these fathers were interviewed; these are respondents 4, 12, and 16 as listed in table 1. Table 1: Respondents Person 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Function Self-employed doctor Surgeon in education Physician assistant Technical director Consultant Family doctor Director water company Consultant Organization advisor Manager Human Resources Director local bank Chief Technology & Implementation CAO-negotiator Policy advisor Free-lance author Chief Financial Officer company Why respondent? Participating in a discussion group (M. De Valk) to optimize one‟s functioning Participating in a discussion group (M. De Valk) to optimize one‟s functioning Participating in a discussion group (M. De Valk) to optimize one‟s functioning Participant of „Topvaders‟ Working at a Great Place to Work Participating in a discussion group (M. De Valk) to optimize one‟s functioning Father of a Nyenrode-student Working at a Great Place to Work Nyenrode alumnus Working at a Great Place to Work Father of a Nyenrode-student Participant of „Topvaders‟ Pleads for meditation at the workplace Working at a Great Place to Work Wrote a book about burn-our Participant of „Topvaders‟ Four “Great-place-to-work” companies were approached by phone and asked to forward a mailing to employees about the interviews. In total, four employees from three different companies responded the mailing. These are respondents 6, 8, 10, and 14 from table 1. Within Nyenrode University, a mailing was sent out as well. Two fathers of Nyenrode students were interviewed, and are included as respondents 7 and 11. A Nyenrode alumnus also signed up for an interview, and is included as respondent 9. - 32 - Respondents 13 and 15 were approached for clarification. Respondent 13 has negotiated for silent rooms in the workplace and is now asking for „meditation at the workplace‟. Respondent 15 experienced burn-out and wrote a book about it; the author was asked to tell about the causes and the recovery process. Limitations of the research The first limitation is the small scale of the research, which comprises sixteen interviews. As this research is focused on identifying work-life balance strategies rather than proving the best ones, however, scale is not so important. As Glaser and Strauss state: „„Since accurate evidence is not so crucial for generating theory, the kind of evidence, as well as the number of cases, is also not so crucial. A single case can indicate a general conceptual category or property; a few more cases can confirm the indication” (1967). The second limitation is respondents‟ different interpretations of the definition „disturbance of balance‟. One means with „disturbance of balance‟ the presence of symptoms, while others mean working relatively more. This research investigates which strategies professionals use to stay healthy and productive; the research investigated the presence of symptoms rather than disturbances. The symptoms vary from tiredness to depression. One further limitation is that the interviews were conducted by phone. Each respondent gave his or her own unique expression. As the interviewer could not observe the respondents‟ body language or look, however, it is more difficult to interpret and analyse the answers of the respondents. The interviewer could also not apply „rapport‟ or visual stimuli to reveal information from the respondents. However, respondents‟ willingness of answering the questions exceeded expectations. Ethical code The research depends on respondents‟ willingness to participate in the work-life balance interview. As the questions are open-ended, the interviewer relies on the engagement of the respondent. The respondent has to share his or her thoughts with the interviewer (Malhotra, Birks, 1996) and the interviewer has the responsibility not forcing the respondent to answer. Anonymity is difficult to promise in qualitative research (Malhotra, Birks, 1996). Also it is unclear where identity resides. Is it in a voice, or in a face? This might be construed differently for each respondent. In this study it was discovered that the respondents did not care about anonymity during the interviews. Rather, they were interested in sharing their work-life experiences. To safeguard as much anonymity as possible, numbers were ascribed to each respondent. 4.4 Conclusions The following variables influence one‟s work-life balance: Private life Working environment Norms and values Experiences Emotional intelligence - 33 - Work-life issues derive from both home and work. Norms and values influence the way people cope with work-life balance issues. People gain experience through managing worklife demands and have to evaluate their choices to draw learning from it (Covey, 1994). By repeating the process of doing and learning, one‟s emotional intelligence will increase. People with high emotional intelligence have fewer difficulties in balancing work and life (Sjöberg, 2001) (Horan, 2001). Work-life balance strategies can be divided into two dimensions, namely rational-based and personal-based strategies. People with a rational view take into account the existence of several roles with different levels of importance (Lim, 2005). By doing the most important things, one is allocating scarce resources such as energy and time more efficiently, which diminishes exhaustion (Greenblatt, 2002). Besides, one‟s awareness of doing first things first, can bring someone a feeling of peace. By contrast, people with the personal-based view try to align activities with their personality (Bartolomé, 1980). They take into account their feelings and characteristics. Indeed, doing things that you like will reduce your stress-level (Levinson, 1996). This research investigates which techniques, derived from both the rational-based and personal-based views, are most effective in running a balance free of stress-symptoms. Through means of existing questionnaires, secondary sources, and previous literature, questions regarding the rational-based and personal-based work life balance strategies, as well as the working environment, were drawn. The questions about the working environment were partly based on the WEBA questionnaire, which is a scholarly tool for investigating and evaluating risks at the workplace. All questions together provide an overview of the breadth of the subject “work-life balance” and act as a guideline for the qualitative research. Qualitative data provides insights and understanding into the work-life balance phenomena. To seek effective work-life balance strategies for professionals, in-depth interviews were conducted. The interview questions were selected from the questions already composed and cover the research question: “Which strategies do professionals use to manage work-life balance in which they can reach their targets and could stay healthy and productive?” Respondents were selected primarily through snowball sampling (Malhotra, Birks, 1996). Mr. Gaspersz provided useful contacts for the research, such as the address of a company doctor and some work-life balance experts. A mailing was sent around to (former) Nyenrode students and some companies. People were encouraged to apply for an interview through replying by mail. The respondents included men and women, full-timers and part-timers, directors and policy makers, physicians and consultants, thereby achieving a broad range of respondents. There were also some limitations to this research. The first limitation was the small scale of the research, comprising sixteen interviews. Since the research was used to generate theory, the number of cases was not so important, as generating conceptual work-life balance strategies could be done using only a few cases (Glaser, Strauss, 1967). The second limitation was that in-depth interviews are more difficult to interpret and analyse than questionnaires (Malhotra, Birks, 1996). The interviews were conducted by phone, making this even harder as the interviewer could not observe one‟s body language. Last, the research depends heavily on respondents‟ willingness to share thoughts about work-life balance issues. Fortunately, respondents‟ willingness to share their experiences exceeded expectations. - 34 - 5 Results of data collection and analysis The answered interview questions are showed in Appendix A. Goal of the research is to find into pictures strategies for professionals helping them to manage work-life balance. The research should invent which methods are most successful to achieve work-life balance, in which professionals stay healthy and productive. On basis of the interview results, three groups can be distinguished in terms of their work-life balance strategies. After describing the three groups in detail, the groups will be linked to the rational-based view and the personal-based view. The first group can be described as work-life balance “captains”. They always know how to manage to make it through an overfull agenda, which they regard as a challenge. Their secret? That will be revealed later on in this chapter. The second group could be mentioned the work-life balance “navigators”. The navigator does not have an agenda that set out the program for the day. The navigator rather likes to follow his or her gut feeling. When a situation becomes unbalanced, the navigator changes his or her course directly in order to avoid further problems. The third and last group are called the work-life balance is “rowers”. Rowers are driven by an enormous pile of work. Busy periods are followed by leisure, in order to steam ahead afterwards. Those profiles are however quite black-and-white, and most respondents do not entirely fit into one of them. Most respondents have characteristics of all profiles. This makes the differences between the profiles only clearly! In the following subsections is set out how the different profiles see the work-life balance, how they handle pressure and which methods are used for planning tasks. 5.1 The captains The captain regards it a challenge to float the “work-life” sea. Each time the captain knows how to take appropriate measures to make it through a storm (an overfull agenda). In Box 12, the profile of a captain is shown. Respondents 3, 4, 7 and 11 are true work life captains. - 35 - Box 12: The work-life captains An emergency talk within an hour, a report that must be finished tomorrow, an angry client on the phone. The captains remain calm, which is surprising to their colleagues. The captain leads oneself by agenda. How they fill in their agenda? The secret is as follows. Captains love their work, which brings challenge to their lives. Work should also enjoy them. “You should truly enjoy your work in order to hang in.” However, the captain is aware of a life beyond the office walls. To stay in touch with private life, the captain intentionally plans moments for sport or a family discussion. A real captain even sets rules in order to prevent work from taking over. Sometimes these rules are set in collaboration with the homefront. For example, consider “blocking work” on the birthdays of the kids. The captain‟s secretary knows these rules. Weekly, the captain reviews the busy agenda. Non-important items are immediately thrown in the paper basket and tasks that can be delegated are removed from the to-do list as well. “The crewmembers should solve problems themselves.” In this way only the most important tasks will remain on captain‟s plate. The most urgent tasks are put at top of the list. The talents of the captain are not born, as sometimes thought; captains are just very tactical. First, they undertake heavy tasks in the morning so that the related stress is not carried through the rest of the day or brought home. An example of a heavy task could include having to dismiss a colleague with whom the captain has a friendly connection. Second, the real captain has someone close to him or her that assists with the navigation. This person could address the captain when rules are breached. Last, the captain knows that it is not possible to sail all seas at the same time. “You have to make choices.” This thought helps the captain to put things into perspective. It will bring them the peace to perform the activities that really matter with full attention. It is for this peace that others admire the captain. All respondents try to do the most important tasks first, so that they do not have to stress about those tasks anymore. Respondent 3 states: “Because you do not have to take these things home inside your head.” Next to this, taking time off is a well-considered decision. Respondent 7 and 11 make up rules for this, to keep themselves in control. Respondent 11: “I tell my subordinates that I am available for appointments for a maximum of thee evenings a week”. Next to this respondent 3, 4, 7, and 11 say that once in a while they take some distance from their work. Everybody does this in his or her own way. Respondent 3 talks to a person close to her every week. “This helps to see things in the right perspective”.‟ Respondent 4 mediates daily: “This helps me to see things in the right perspective and to relax”. Respondent 7 takes distance form his daily routine on a moor session together with his colleagues and respondent 11 takes an occasional hour off for reflection. All respondents state that these moments of “taking distance” are used to reflect on the inner self. The work-life balance strategies that follow from these interviews are: 1. Rules/ deliberate “free” moments. The captain plans moments of quality time for him or herself and the family deliberately. Sometimes rules are set, that help the captain with taking time off. These rules are set in order to prevent work from taking over. - 36 - 2. Making choices/ prioritize. The captain is aware that not all tasks are carried out. Therefore they only undertake the most important tasks. The agenda is reprioritized periodically. 3. Doing important things first. The captain does not postpone difficult and important tasks. By doing them straightaway, stress is eliminated. By doing so, they can fully concentrate on the next task. 4. Taking distance. Once in a while the captain takes a step back from work. This is also done deliberate. This helps him to see things in perspective and brings peace and quiet. These moments are used to reflect on the functioning of the person him or herself. Enjoying work is the most important issue for captains. Enjoying the working life helps them to also function in their private lives. 5.2 The navigators Box 13 shows the profile of the navigator. The navigator does not follow an agenda, but his or her feelings. Respondents 2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15 fit into this category. Emotions also play a big role in the vision of the navigators. Respondents 8, 9, and 10 stated that they think it is important to have enough energy to fulfill tasks, both at work and at home. Respondent 8: “I want to have to feeling that I have enough energy to undertake activities in my leisure time.”‟ Respondent 2, 8, 9, 10, and 14 say that they enjoy working, but also enjoy being at home. Respondent 14: “To enjoy workdays when you have to work, and enjoy being at home when you have time off.” Or like respondents2 puts it: “I get unhappy when I do not see my patient for a week, but I also get unhappy when I do not see my children for a long time.” Respondent 13 says that she wants to enjoy going to work, and enjoy coming home. She also finds it important to stay close to her feelings and emotions. “I life the way I want to life”. This view is shared by respondent 14. Respondent 15 wants to have enough time to work and private life. - 37 - Box 13: The work-life navigators The navigator is a person of feeling. The navigator would like to perform both work and home activities with energy and pleasure. The navigator‟s day is not driven by an agenda. Sometimes, tasks will be written down on a to-do list. The navigator is constantly searching for his or her boundaries. Real navigators like to have the space to develop oneself on all kinds of fields. They get involved with what they like. For this reason, some navigators lose direction. Complaints like tiredness arise. “When I worked 36 hours a week, I was sleeping the whole Saturday to recover myself.” The navigator puts down the rudder immediately when feeling a loss of direction, and acknowledges the existence of a boundary: “You learn that you have boundaries as a human being.” First, the navigator starts to reduce the activities which require much energy, such as changing jobs or working fewer hours in order to diminish the workload. The navigator also takes measures to prevent stressful situations, such as the use of a “breathing” agenda. This implies that one is deliberately scheduling open time slots in their agenda. “I plan my first appointment not before 10 p.m. So there is time left when my child will not be dressed.” Last, the navigator pays more attention to carrying capacity. This could be reached by small measures such as no longer reading e-mails before going to bed, taking a walk with the dog, or doing meditation. As it were, the navigator is distances him or herself from negative stimuli. This brings the navigator a moment of rest so that they can again begin operating with full enthusiasm. The navigators like to have the space to do things that they like to do. Respondent 2: “It is easier to regret the things that you did not do than the things that you did do.” They take up all tasks upon them that they like and enjoy, and by doing this, they might away from the work-life balance course. This will cause complaints like not feeling well and tiredness, the body is simply not cooperating any longer. Respondent 8: “At that time I needed the entire Saturday to rest, to sleep.” Whenever the navigator feels that he or she is not following the initial course, the direction is change drastically. They feel that a physical complaint shows a boundary, and wants to make something clear to them. Respondent 10: “You learn that you have boundaries as a human being. These boundaries force you to make decisions. And you will take yourself into consideration more often.” The boundary is not set by rules. Structural changes need to be made to get back on course1 Respondents 8, 9, 10, and 15 cut down on their working hours in order to regain their energy. Respondent 15 changed jobs, and now has a job that she really likes. Respondent 14 also changed between jobs, in order to end the enormous workload. “A solution seemed to be out of sight, so I decided to find another job.” Nevertheless respondent 2 and 13 did not change jobs. Respondent 2 tries to get everything in the right perspective to avoid negative feelings. Respondent 13: “The job would not change, so I decided to change.” Respondent 13 took up a meditation course; meditation helps her to see things from a more positive perspective. Respondent 9 and 15 state that the try to avoid stressful situation by using a “breathing” agenda. They started organizing in a different way with more open time slots in their agendas. - 38 - “Yesterday I had to take the train to Nijmegen. I took an earlier train, because I am much more relaxed then.” The navigator needs to spend more attention to carrying capacity. Everybody does this in his or her own way. However most of the respondents, namely 8, 9, 10, and 15, say not to work late in the evenings anymore, in order to relax more. Respondent 15: “You need to take sufficient rest.” Respondent 13 does this by reading a book or watching a movie in the evenings. Respondents 8 and 10 started working out and eat more sensible. Respondent 10: “I work out a lot that gives me energy.” It attracts attention that respondents 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14 only set priorities once the to-do list gets too long. This is contradicting the captains who always let themselves be lead by an agenda and a periodical reprioritization. The navigator uses a list more as a backup plan, in case he or she forgets something. Respondent 2 and 15 do not use any list at all. Respondent 14 changed jobs because before she was suffering from complaints caused by stress. Apparently one navigator needs a stronger incentive to change course than another. Respondent 15 only became aware of the unbalanced situation after a burn out. When the navigator feels that he situation is unbalanced, measures are taken directly. Feelings are therefore most important to them. Strategies which the navigator uses, to manage work-life balance are: 1. Reducing workload. This is achieved by changing jobs to a job that the navigator really likes or by reducing the working hours per week. By doing so, energy is saved for undertaking activities in their private lives. 2. Reducing stress. One navigator tries to reduce stress by putting things in their right perspective. The other tries to avoid stressful situations, helped by, for example, the “breathing” agenda. This leaves space for activities that take up more time than planned. 3. Increasing carrying capacity. The navigator is spending more and more time at moments of relaxation. This way the energy levels are kept in balance and physical complaints are prevented. 5.3 The rowers Respondents 1, 5, 6, 12 en 16 are work-life rowers. When a big wave is approaching (of appointments) they do not change course, but put in extra effort. During a more quit period there is time to relax. In box 14 the profile of the work-life rower is characterized. The “rower” would like to accomplish things in life. Respondent 5 feels that it is important to keep developing himself, and respondent 12 want to be responsible at an executive level. Respondent 16 states it as following: “„I would like to deploy myself both on a personal and professional level.” The rower is hard on himself; he doesn‟t give in to upcoming stress or exhaustion. Respondent 5: “The targets have to be met eventually, so you cannot just take a day off.” Rowers, have the feeling that they could not influence their situation. - 39 - Box 14: The work-life rowers A full agenda? A big pile work that has to be finished? The rower is not giving up! The rower is a hard worker and is hard on him or herself. “At work I will reach my targets” and “things must just be done” are typical slogans of the rower. With full power, they are rowing against the wild waves. Later, in quiet water, there will be time for relaxation. “By working more hours, I can create space for a day off.” Changing direction? No way! But once the boat stands still, the power has gone. The rower‟s enthusiasm for continuing diminishes. “I do not like things anymore.” The rower takes a day-off or even a short holiday. Afterwards, the rower will start the fight with the wild waves again. It seems to be going well, but then an occurrence in private life asks attention as well. The waves become too big. The rower contemplates that he or she had been too demanding of him or herself in the past. “I paid too little attention to home and was running away from home.” “It is hard to admit faults.” “If I start worrying about problems at night, then the situation will get dangerous.” Time for action has come! The rower is not arranging a day-off, but has learned that some waves are too high. “You should pronounce your problems and start seeking a solution.” Also, the rower‟s awareness of his or her own capacities has increased. The rower disposes of tasks that he or she does not like. When workload cannot be reduced, the rower changes jobs. A new function is fun, it presents a new challenge. The rower is going out to face the waves again! For respondents 1, 5 en 6 lists are not in favour. Respondent1: “It is noticeable to me that I hold on to lists too much. For example when one of the children forgets his schoolwork, you need to go back to the school to deliver it. The whole morning schedule is out of balance then.” Respondent 5: “I do not hold on to any methods to manage my tasks, it is in my daily routine.” Respondents 12 and 16 however use the same methods as group 1. They delegate a lot and take their time to reschedule their agenda‟s. Overdoses effects will not be diminished by seeking solutions, but eliminated for a moment. Respondent 1 and 5 do this by pursuing enjoyable things. Respondent 12 does this with sports: “I get satisfied by exhausting myself, it takes my mind of the problems in my head.” Respondent 5 admits that he works longer hours, to have to ability to go and do something fun later. Doing nice things disables the problems temporarily but eventually does not solve them Due to the fact that problems (high work pressure, disturbed relations at home) are not solved, crisis situations develop themselves. The rower then suffers from signals like being tired and depression. Respondent 5, 6, 12, and 16, admit that it is hard for them to admit they have these problems and give in to it. Respondent 6: “The hardest thing is to admit it”. This can cause a repetition of the situation. Respondent, 1, 5, 6, 12, and 16, say they learn from a crisis. Respondent 16: “If you do not give in to your problems, and you start worrying about them at night, then the situation will get dangerous. At this level of work, you need your rest, and if you do not get it, you will end up in a vicious circle.” Respondent 5 - 40 - and 16 have learned to deal with their problems when they start worrying about them at night, they then come into action. De rowers learn when the waves become too big. They also become aware of their own qualities and behavior (respondent 1, 5, 6, 12, and 16). Respondent 6: “I know I have troubles with prioritizing. I just let tasks come to me.” Respondent 12 says: “In the past I used to analyze others, but not myself. You need to be able to look objective at yourselves. Only then you will become aware of your pitfalls and find the roots of your problems.” The rower develops himself after a crisis. It appears that respondent 1 has developed herself to a navigator. Respondent 1 noticed that a lot of stress was coming forward due to her outlook on life. In the past she did not perceive work as being “fun”. She tries to avoid overdose effects by alternating work with nice activities. Now she works at home, and she is doing what she loves. “Work cannot be perceives as not-fun anymore.” Strategies which the rower uses, to manage work-life balance are: 1. Denying problems. The rower perceives it as hard to admit to problems. Because problems are now being recognized relatively late, the rower can end up in a crisis situation. When becoming aware of the problems, only then is searched for a solution. 2. Doing nice activities. It is fine to alternate exhaustive activities with restorative activities. However, the rower is doing nice activities to forget problems. The activity will give some relaxation and positive energy, but it does not solve structural problems. 3. Continuing chosen route. The rower could be characterized by much will. They are so busy running the route to the finish that they do not consider alternate routes. When facing tiredness one seeks relaxation in having fun, in order to steam ahead afterwards. The rower takes no time for reviewing one‟s initial goals and “to-do” lists. Sometimes, rower‟s mission is impossible. However, the rower finds it difficult to admit this and to adapt the route. In this way, problem situations could repeat. 5.4 Overview of work-life balance strategies Out of the 16 interviews three profiles could be drawn up; the captain, navigator and rower. Each profile has its own way to manage work and life. Stated below are the strategies per profile. The work-life balance strategies of the captain are: 1. Rules/ deliberate “free” moments. The captain plans moments for life deliberately. If this is difficult, the captain sets rules in order to do take this time. 2. Making choices/ prioritizing. The captain will only perform tasks that are important. The captain reprioritizes tasks periodically. 3. Doing important things first. The captain does important tasks first. So, it is avoided that these cause stress later on. This enables the captain to fully concentrate on the next tasks. - 41 - 4. Taking distance. Once in a while the captain takes a step back from work. This enables the captain to put things in the right perspective. Besides, the captain uses these moments for reflection. The navigator uses the following strategies to manage the work-life balance: 1. Reducing workload. The navigator reduces workload. By doing so, more energy is retained to undertake things in the private life. 2. Reducing stress. The navigator tries to avoid stressful situations. This can be achieved by using the “breathing” agenda; this leaves time slots for when tasks are taking more time than planned. 3. Increasing carrying capacity. The navigator tries to find activities that energize, in order to reload. The work-life balance strategies of the rowers are: 1. Denying problems. The rower perceives it as hard to admit to problems. Therefore, the rower will not make a problem known to oneself and the environment. 2. Doing nice activities. The rower rules out problems by doing a nice activity. The activity will give some relaxation and positive energy, but it does not solve structural problems. 3. Continuing chosen route. The rower is only busy working on to finalize the targets or deadlines. The rower does not take time for reviewing the agreements one made at home and work. Because of this the rower is not considering alternate actions, which could make life easier. 5.5 Synthesis 5.5.1 Stress-symptoms among profiles One profile might suffer more from stress complaints than the other. In table 2 the origin and the frequency of the stress complaints are shown per profile. The complaints vary from not feeling well to a serious burn-out. The captains hardly suffer from any complaints of the work-life balance. The navigators have had a single complaint. The rowers, however, are having a hard time. They suffered from complaints on a multiple basis. Whether the weight of the complaints changes from profile to profile, can not be determined by the results. It can be said that the navigator knows how to implement a strategy after suffering form a complaint, in order to avoid future complaints. It also becomes clear that the rower has problems giving in to a complaint. The rower realized relatively late that the followed course is not the right one. - 42 - Table 2: Stress-symptomes Person Nature of symptoms Frequency Profile 1: Captains 3 4 7 11 Not really symptoms. Only feeling some pressure from work. “When there something happened on work” Not really symptoms. Recently, the person admitted the absence of a healthy work-life balance in the past. Not really symptoms. Sometimes the person faced busy periods at work. “Always I was able to swing the clapper back” Not really symptoms. Once in a while Once - Profile 2: Navigators 2 8 9 10 13 14 15 Not feeling well, both at work and in private life. To have the feeling of coming short. Lost of energy. Feeling tired. Losing energy. Feeling depressed (also caused by postnatal depression). The first time the person was not aware of the depression. Feeling drown in work. Reacting on tasks in stead of participating, which was resulting in a lost of energy. Not really symptoms. Workload was too high. Burn-out. Once in a while Once-only Once-only Twice Once-only Once-only Once-only Profile 3: Rowers 1 5 6 12 16 Feeling stress which is inconvenient. Worrying about work, sleeping problems, not liking work, not getting ideas. Feeling depressed. In the past the person was, due to symptoms, unable to work for a time. Feeling unhappy and ill. Not liking things anymore. The person faced a physical burn out and a mid-life crisis. Not liking things anymore. “Because I was aware of the symptoms early, I prevented serious problems, like a depression” Several times Several times Several times Several times Several times - 43 - 5.5.2 Rational or personal? The captain set clear boundaries between working hours and private time. When the ship stays in between the boundaries of the set course, it will not get stuck onto a sandbank that quickly. Activities are reprioritizing on a regular basis and sub tasks are eliminated. This gives the captain the peace he or she needs to steer his or her ship. The navigator tries to get more control over the outcome of a choice. When the navigator spots a wild sea, he or she will change the course of the ship to quieter waters. This can be achieved be reducing working hours; this leaves more energy for living. The navigator undertakes measures that will decrease burden and increase carrying capacity. The rower tries to steam ahead through the roughest sea, although the waves are getting to high. But the rower never gives in, he or she has to conquer the waves. This will put the rower into a crisis situation, where all strength and power is gone. Rowers learn that by giving in, problems can be avoided. Table 3: Rational- and personal based strategies Out of the results comes forward that captains mainly use strategies based on the rational view. They divide main business from sub business, and they guard their personal time. Examples of rational-based strategies can be found in table 3. Besides, it seems that captains are using the repeating cycle of learning and growth, which corresponds the personal-based strategies. From time till time they take distance from their work and life activities. During these moments they are reflect on work, life and especially the self. To bring work and life back in balance, personal-based strategies can be used. This is implied by the strategies used by the navigator. They admit to problems and enlarge carrying capacity, see table 3. Remark: Time management techniques are also used by some navigators and rowers. However these techniques are not used for work-life balance strategies! The navigator uses it in daily life as a memory supporter. They only prioritize when the list is full. The captain however does this on a periodically, no matter how long the list may be. The rowers differ in their approach. One may use the same methods as the captain, while other use no methods at all. - 44 - 5.6 Conclusion Goal of the research is to find into pictures strategies for professionals helping them to manage work-life balance. From the interviews, three different “work-life balance strategy”profiles could be drawn, namely the work-life balance captain, the work-life balance navigator and the work-life balance rower. The work-life balance captain The captain is a born time-manager. Both work and life demands are written down in the agenda. The captain is aware that not all tasks could be done. Therefore, one is prioritizing periodically. By doing the most important things, one is allocating scarce resources like energy and time more efficient. In this way the captain tries to control the consequences of their choice. The captains are planning time for reflection in their busy agenda. During these moments one is thinking about alternate course of actions. So, it seems that captains try to improve their choices by continuous learning and doing. The work-life balance navigator The navigator relies on feelings, instead of agenda‟s. The navigator is scheduling tasks upon mood; they take on what they like. Therefore, it could happen that one is carrying too much. When feeling symptoms like tiredness, the navigator is putting through structural changes in life or work. The navigator decreases load, for example by reducing working hours. Besides one increases carrying capacity, for example by taking breaks during the day. Last, the navigator tries to avoid stressful situations, for example by organizing the agenda roomy. The work-life balance rower The rower wants to finish all their tasks, irrespective of looking after carrying capacity. When facing troubles, the rower seeks for relaxation by doing a nice activity. The rower finds it difficult to admit problems, when facing stress-symptoms. Therefore, it will take a long time before one is making structural changes to improve work-life balance. After time, the rower learns to view problems instead of eliminating them. Research findings In this research the three profiles are facing different stress-symptoms. Stress-symptoms are nearly unknown for the work-life balance captain. The navigator faced symptoms once-only, while the rower had these several times. So, there might be a relationship between one‟s work-life balance strategy profile and stress-symptoms. In essence, the work-life balance navigator is using personal-based strategies after facing stress-symptoms. The work-life balance rower has difficulties in exercising these strategies. The navigator is overcoming work-life balance problems, while the rower comes in bad weather again. Therefore, it could be proposed personal-based strategies support the process of “finding balance” in larger extent than rational-based strategies. - 45 - 6 The work-life balance diagram In the previous chapter work-life balance was considered from different angles. First, from literature two views on work-life balance strategies were distinguished, namely the rational and personal view. Second, from the interview results three profiles were distinguished in terms of their work-life balance strategies. Last, it seems that having a balance in which one could stay healthy and productive, is related to management and leadership as well. One could compare management and leadership of work-life balance with those from an organization. The two terms are not interchangeable; each has its own functions. Both management and leadership are needed for organization‟s success in the business world. According to Kotter (2001) “management is about coping with complexity, and leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change.” In box 15 the differences between two functions are illustrated in more detail. Box 15: Management versus leadership Kottler (2001) propose that management and leadership are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Management is about coping with complexity, and leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change. He makes the differences clear: Companies manage complexity first by planning and budgeting. They are setting targets and goals for the next month or year. By contrast, leading an organization to constructive change begins by setting a direction. Leaders are developing a vision of the future along with strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision. Management develops the capacity to achieve its plan by organizing and staffing. They create an organizational structure, delegating responsibility for carrying out the plan, and devising systems to monitor. The equivalent leadership activity, however, is aligning people with the new direction. Finally, management ensures plan accomplishment by controlling and problem solving. They are monitoring results by means of reports and meetings. They are identifying deviations. And, then they are planning and organizing to solve the problems. But for leadership, achieving a vision requires motivating and inspiring. Leaders are keeping people moving in the right direction, by appealing to human needs, values and emotions. (Kotter, 2001) Work-life balance managers are trying to control the status quo of their balance. Their practice and procedures brings order and consistency in life. As it were, work-life balance management entails keeping the balance. By contrast, work-life balance leaders are trying to - 46 - control the outcomes of their direction. Alignment of activities and personality brings forth quality in life. As it were, work-life balance leadership entails searching the balance. 6.1 The diagram Identifying whether one is a work-life balance leader or a work-life balance manager will help provide the insight that comes from learning more about oneself. The goal, of course, is becoming more effective in managing a work-life balance in which one could reach targets and stay healthy and productive. Because of this, the research attempts to score the three profiles on work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management. This resulted in a work-life diagram. The positions of the respondents and the matching profiles are shown in figure 6. Work-life balance leadership corresponds with the horizontal axis, while work-life balance management corresponds with the vertical axis. Work-life balance leadership Using a sailing analogy, the captain leads the ship by using route maps and logbooks as support. During the sail captains (respondent 3, 4, 7, 11) take a step back from steering the ship deliberately. During these moments the captain is studying the route maps and considering alternate routes, which might be easier to sail. Namely, the captains try to improve the direction by a repeating cycle of evaluating, organizing and acting. Sometimes, the captain (respondents 3, 7, 11) asks a crewmember to assist. Respondent 3 talks to a person close to her every week for intervention. Therefore, the captain has a high degree of work-life balance leadership skills. The navigator leans more heavily on feeling than route maps. Only when one is having the feeling of sailing wrong, the navigator will review the route. By contrast, the captain is doing this continuous. Therefore, the navigator scored lower on leadership than the captain. When being aware of sailing a wrong direction, the navigator changes direction immediately. Navigators are aligning their activities with the new direction. However, respondent‟s degree of recognizing a wrong direction differs. While respondent 14 was taking action before facing stress complaints, respondent 15 only became aware of the unbalanced situation after a burn out. So, there is a small difference between person 15 and 14 on leadership dimension. Last, the rower is a goal-oriented worker that rows very busy to their destination. Because of this the rower is not considering alternate actions, which could make it easier to reach the goal. When facing troubles, the rower seeks for relaxation by doing a nice activity. The rower finds it difficult to change direction. So, the rowers are positioned left in the diagram. Managemement By means of a list, the captain knows which tasks have to be done to keep on track. Captains are separating main things and side issues. They delegate when possible. Only those aspects of the job they deem most important are done. Respondents 4, 7 and 11 even reprioritize tasks during the week, so they stay focussed on first things. Therefore, they scored slightly higher on work-life management than respondent 3. The navigator relies on feelings, instead of agenda‟s. The navigator is scheduling tasks rather on mood than priority. This is contradicting the captain, who does first things first. Therefore, navigators are positioned below the captain in the diagram. The navigator uses a list more as a backup plan, in case he or she forgets something. It attracts attention that respondents 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14 only set priorities once the to-do list gets too long. - 47 - Respondent 2 and 15 do not use any methods at all; therefore they are stated slightly lower than the other navigators. Among the rowers there is a great difference in level of work-life management. On one hand, respondents 12 and 16 use the same methods as the captain. They delegate a lot and take their time to reschedule their agenda‟s. Therefore, they are positioned at same height as captains. On the other hand, respondent 1, 5 and 6 do not hold on to any methods to manage tasks, but they anticipate on it. They scored low on work-life balance management. Figure 6: Work-life balance diagram It could be stated that a professional should know which balance (or waves) he or she is able to deal with. One must know his or her boundaries. Besides, one must be able to recognize “overweight” that is disturbing a healthy and productive balance. Only with these skills can a professional could lead oneself towards a suitable balance. The work-life balance leader shows greater awareness of one‟s capacity than the work-life balance manager. Work-life balance leaders are able to admit, consider, release, review, and, finally, make choices. Veen and Van Stolk call this process “recontracting” (SMO, 2002). They propose that people with these skills, which they call life skills, are able to reflect their agreements at work and in life. The navigator is a strong “recontracter”. Structurally high workload was not diminished by working overtime, but by changing employment contracts. By investigating the harmony between one‟s agreement and one‟s purposes, one is able find long term work-life balance solutions (SMO, 2002). - 48 - Literature indicates that those skills are related to one‟s level of emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998) (Sjöberg, 2001). Fortunately, research also shows that emotional intelligence can be learned. Motivation, extended practice, and feedback are needed to increase emotional intelligence; this cannot be done simply through reading a book. Developing emotional intelligence is a continuous process that requires effort and sincere desire (Covey, 1994). All in all, work-life balance leaders have skills that help them to find a suitable balance. Personal-based strategies support the process of finding a work-life balance in which one can stay healthy and productive. When moving on a sound balance, managerial skills are helpful for life to run more efficiently. This is shown in an example from Sophie Vandenbroek, see box 16. Abruptly widowed, her home-responsibilities doubled as she now had to take care for the children and household alone. Therefore, she had to find a new balance. She knew that she was not able to do both her job and the work at home, and also knew that having the job was important for her. So, she decided to outsource home-responsibilities. Sophie shows work-life balance leadership by consciously identifying the double workload and her carrying capacity. By making choices, she led herself into new work-life balance. Sophie was disciplined in maintaining her work-life balance. Strict rules help her to protect family time and, by prioritizing demands, she is able to allocate scarce resources like energy and time more efficiently. By identifying the activities that are less important to her and controlling her choice of action, Sophie is able to manage her work-life balance. - 49 - Box 16: How she does it Sophie Vandebroek is a mother of three children and an engineer. Abruptly widowed, she was forced to make changes immediately. That time the children were 7, 5, and 2 years old. „We had a balanced life when my husband and I were together, then the balance broke,‟ she says. „So I had to find a way to get it back.‟ Her boss suggested she trade her line job for a less-demanding staff role. „I said, that is the worst thing you could do, because I love my job.‟ So, she decided to outsource home-responsibilities. Sophie immediately delegated cooking to the sitter, telling her, „I don‟t care what‟s on the table as long as there‟s something to eat.‟ Over time, with promotions and pay raises at work, she began to outsource more home responsibilities, like shopping. Sophie learned to make trade-offs when her husband died. She compares the trade-offs she made with a bunch of bananas in her kitchen. Some weeks the bananas are too green; others, they are too brown. If she did the shopping herself, they might be perfect. But time wise, it is not worth it. „So many things we worry about are not important‟. Sophie had always embraced an efficient, rational approach to things. Now all the more so: Sophie keeps her hair relatively short to make the morning routine quicker. To save time, she doesn‟t believe in niceties like sending Christmas cards. „Do not maintain 50 friends – a handful of close ones will give you perhaps even more satisfaction.‟ The children might join one sports or activity during the week, to prevent the family from running. On Friday night the family watches one movie together. Also at the workplace Vandebroek‟s routine is disciplined. She and her administrative worker strictly limit her schedule to prevent the workday from spilling into family time. They will not plan meetings before 9 a.m. or after 5.30 p.m., allowing Vandebroek time to make the 12-minute commute and relieve the sitter by 6.30. (McGinn, 2006) - 50 - 6.2 Conclusion Maintaining a work-life balance seems to depend on two dimensions: work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management. By means of these dimensions, an illustrative diagram has been prepared. Each profile, the captain, navigator, and rower, has another position in the diagram. The profiles differ in level of both work-life balance-leadership and work-life balance management. Work-life balance leaders are able to reflect their agreements in work and life. Literature shows that those skills are related to one‟s level of emotional intelligence. By repeating motivation, practice, and feedback, one can increase one‟s emotional intelligence and worklife balance leadership skills. Personal-based strategies support this process. Work-life balance leadership is needed to find a balance in which one can stay healthy and productive. By contrast, work-life balance management is needed to maintain work-life balance. By setting boundaries and rules, one tries to control life. Time and energy are allocated to the most important things in order to prevent exhaustion or overdose effects. Rational-based strategies support work-life balance management. - 51 - 7 Consequences for young professionals In this chapter research‟s consequences for the work-life balance strategies for young professionals are described. With their diplomas, talent and drive, they focus almost on the career side of life. Besides, they are not settled yet. They have to discover their needs and interests both at work and private life. Especially for them it is challenging to find a work-life balance. Young professionals do not have the same degree of life experience that older professionals have. Therefore, young professionals should be aware of their work-life balance style to prevent stress. A test is composed in which young professionals could discover their work-life could balance style. In section 7.2 the test for the young professional is described. Because the thirtysomething and fortysomething generations were once facing the same situation as the young professionals are today, they could be a source of information. The respondents in this research were asked to give tips for young professionals as they had already experienced consequences of their choices. The tips from the professionals are included in section 7.3. 7.1 Challenges young professional During my education at Nyenrode Business Universiteit, I learned to manage other people; however, I did not learn how to manage my own life. In my environment I saw students with difficulties coping with the balance between study and life. Sometimes they dealt with stress in unhealthy ways such as drinking and overworking, that did not serve them well. Some examples of work-life balance problems among graduates: „I am feeling stressed because I do not know which job to choose. There are so many possibilities. At company X I have great job opportunities, but at company Y the people seem nicer. I will disappoint my parents when choosing company Y.‟ „My relationship with my boyfriend is suffering because of the long hours of studying. He is always complaining because there is not much time to see me. On one hand, I think life will be easier without him. But is it worth it to give up a partner for a career?‟ From these examples it can be derived that young people find it difficult to lead their lives. Working life will not be easier than university life. Rather, in working life stimuli from the environment will increase. One could climb the career ladder, purchase a house, or undertake a world travel. Especially young professionals are facing risks to losing work-life balance. With their diplomas, talent, and drive, they focus almost exclusively on the career side of life, risking losing sight of other things in life such as socializing with friends, playing sports, or reading a spiritual book. While to many these things seem unimportant, they are very important. They introduce moderation into a busy life and will lead beyond the office walls. Activities such as these are needed to maintain productivity, creativity, and, even more importantly, (mental) health. Covey (1994) proposes that you cannot reach a truly balanced life without paying attention to spiritual, mental, physical, and social needs. Young professionals are ambitious. Following graduation, a world will open before them. They explore the working life and will prove that they are able to deal with demanding tasks. - 52 - However, they do not have the same degree of life experience that older professionals have. They have yet to discover their boundaries. Research has shown that older managers are better in guarding their time- and work schedules to control stress (NPV, 2003). Therefore, young professionals should be aware of their work-life balance style to prevent stress. A test is available to discover your work-life balance style, which is included in section 7.2. Prevention of stress is better than cure! The young professional should also be aware of the repeating cycle of learning and growth. One should learn to reflect their contracts in work and life. By repeating the cycle of learning and doing, one will grow on work-life balance leadership. Work-life balance leaders have the skills to find a balance that allows them to reach their targets and stay healthy and productive. Remember: As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined. 7.2 Discover your work-life balance style By means of a written article, which includes a test, the implications of this research could be made clear to young professionals. Figure 7 is a self-test that will help young professionals to find their work-life balance style. With the test one could find the “work-life balance strategy” profile. Is one a captain, navigator or rower? Each profile makes use of different work-life balance strategies and has its own position in the work-life balance diagram. Namely, the profiles differ in level of both work-life balance-leadership and work-life balance management. The test will make the young professionals aware of their recent use of strategies in view of the profiles already found in this research. 7.2.1 Work-life balance statements From the interview results work-life balance statements are derived. For each profile the 5 most typical statements are selected. These statements correspond with the profile‟s workbalance strategies. In total 15 statements are included in the test. To test oneself, one should chose the 5 statements which fits best. Below the chosen statements are explained. Statements from the captain The captain plans moments for life deliberately (statement 1). If this is difficult, the captain sets rules in order to do take this time. The captain will only perform tasks that one deems most important. So, the captain delegates when possible (statement 2). The captain does important and demanding tasks first. This enables the captain to fully concentrate on the next tasks (statement 3).The captain reprioritizes tasks periodically (statement 4). Once in a while the captain takes a step back from work. The captain uses these moments for reflection. Some captains are talking with other persons to reflect on the inner self (statement 5). 1. “I allocate time in my agenda for private life consciously. Otherwise work will come in place.” 2. “I delegate when possible. With the smaller details of my plate I can focus on those aspects of my job I deem most important.” 3. “I sequence tasks strategically. Doing important things first reduces my stress level.” - 53 - 4. “I plan time for prioritizing my tasks and duties.” 5. “Conversations with a fellow human are helping me to balance work and life.” Statements from the navigator The navigator is a person of feeling. They find it important to stay close to their feelings and emotions (statement 1). The navigator would like to perform both work and home activities with energy and pleasure. Real navigators like to have the space to develop oneself on all kinds of fields. They get involved with what they like (statement 2). The navigator is scheduling tasks upon mood and energy-level (statement 3). When feeling symptoms like tiredness, the navigator is putting through structural changes in life or work. The navigator decreases load, for example by reducing working hours (statement 4). Besides one increases carrying capacity, for example by taking breaks during the day (statement 5). 1. 2. “Both work and life must be in harmony with my feelings.” “I like to have space in my agenda; it gives me a feeling of freedom. I like doing things, which are on my mind.” 3. “I schedule tasks accordingly biorhythm. I try to harness my physical and creative energy when it is as its peak.” 4. “When the job demands too much energy, I switch from job.” 5. “Because I need relaxation, I do not take work home most evenings.” Statements from the rower The rower is a hard worker and is hard on him or herself. The rower would like to accomplish things in life (statement 1). The rower does not give into tiredness (statement 2). By working more hours, the rower creates space for a day off. During the day of there is time for nice activities. For a moment the demands from the environment are eliminated (statement 3). The activity will give some relaxation and positive energy, but it does not solve structural problems. The rower has difficulties to pronounce problems to the environment. The rower is a real worrier (statement 4). Also they have the feeling that they could not influence their situation (statement 5). 1. “At the workplace I do my utmost to reach my targets.” 2. “I could continue working at a task for a long time.” 3. “Doing nice activities, like sports, help me to eliminate problems.” 4. “Relaxing and forgetting about work issues is hard to do.” 5. “I would like to reduce my working hours and stress levels, but feel I have no control over the current situation.” - 54 - Figure 7: Work-life balance test 7.2.2 Implications of the test After conducting the test, the young professional could investigate one‟s profile by matching the chosen statements with the score. Scores are found in a small box underneath the statements, see figure 7. The research will provide the young professional with the following implications: Implications of the test Regardless of the results of the test, be aware of the repeating cycle of learning and growth. By repeating evaluation, organization, and action, you could discover your personality. In this - 55 - way you are enlarging your emotional intelligence. With the help of emotional intelligence you are able to see work-life problems at a deeper level. In this way the roots of the problem will be revealed, which will make it easier to find a sustainable solution. Personal-based strategies support this process. The questions, which are listed in box 10, have been developed to help frame your thoughts about the personal-based strategies. Are you a captain? Congratulations! You are both a work-life balance leader and a work-life balance manager. Please continue your course! Are you a navigator? You are a born work-life balance leader. Please stay in touch with your feelings, as they will guide you to a healthy balance. To control this balance you should increase your work-life management skills. By setting boundaries and rules, your grip on balance will increase. Allocate your energy to those things that are most important to you. You should also take time for planning and prioritizing to increase efficiency. Rational-based strategies support work-life balance management. The questions in box 9 might provide you with an overview of some strategies you could use to become a work-life balance manager. Are you a rower? You have difficulties in finding a sound balance. You find it hard to act upon signals that indicate a disturbance in balance. So, seek help as it will benefit your life! First, a stress management course might help to increase your sense for stress. In this way you could recognize stress symptoms more early. Secondly, seek a person who could assist you in balancing your life. Choose a person who is trustworthy and who is able to evaluate you. Such a person could free you from your worries about work-life issues. By mirroring and talking about your behaviour, the roots of your problems will be revealed. The main point for you is to lead yourself to a healthy balance. Start by considering the personal-based strategies stated in box 10, as these strategies will help you to develop your work-life balance leadership. Finally, you should try to develop yourself into a navigator or even a work-life balance captain. Remember: Work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management can be learned! 7.3 Tips from professionals During the interviews the respondents were asked to give tips to their younger colleagues, as they are already experienced in managing work and life. The tips have been divided into four areas: pleasure in work, attention for life, taking care of balance, and continuous process. Pleasure in work Look after having pleasure in the things you do, as these activities will give you energy and will make it easier to maintain the job. Activities you are good at will bring you less stress and will cost less energy; as such, you should search for a job in which you can use your talents. So, be aware of your unique capacities and be proud of them. Show them during a job interview, show the computer program you made, and show your passion for marketing! Do not be shy; remember, your boss cannot see from outside that you are a born people manager! Discuss your capacities with your employer. Only by taking the initiative can your - 56 - dream job could be created. Last but not least, work may never be an overriding obligation. You may exercise your job. You were asked for the job because of your capabilities and, when these are not appreciated anymore, it will be time to negotiate or leave. Another organization will clamour for a person like you! Attention for life First, both work and life should get the attention they deserve. This implies showing interest and appreciation. Attention means quality, not quantity. Second, be honest to yourself. Working life is not university life anymore. “Do you want just a girlfriend, or a woman for life?” When it is the latter, you should create space in your working life for a relationship. Be clear about your expectations and communicate them well. It saves trouble in the long run. This also applies for the workplace. Last, do not work too much. We all know that great opportunities often arise from working excessive hours… but it is for your own safety! You should vary activities in your scarce free time. Going out with friends will refresh your mind. Taking care of balance It is a real challenge to balance all the demands of today‟s environment, in which the credo seems to be: more, more, and more. Take care of what you are giving and what you are getting from a relationship. When you are getting less than you are giving, you will deplete. When you identify this feeling, you should investigate what is wrong. For example, ask your colleague why she is not willing to talk to you while you are trying to become friends. Admit the problem and talk about it with the other party. Not until one is aware of a problem can a solution be found. To overcome depletion, you should communicate clearly. Put your own boundaries and ask what others are expecting from you. Do not sign a contract when in doubt about your capacity to fulfil the function. Determine which demands you can and cannot fulfil. Discuss these issues with your boss and agree upon the resources you will get for your effort. Last, you could overcome depletion by looking after your fitness, go sporting! When you have difficulty in taking care of your balance, you could undertake a stress management course. By doing such a course, you will be able to identify a disturbance of balance earlier. You should also ask somebody for help. Choose a person who is trustworthy and able to evaluate you, such as a good friend or a coach. Such a person could stop you when carrying too much and can help identify your characteristics. This could be of great help when facing choices in life. Continuous process You should be aware of everything that you do. Listen to your body and your emotions, as your needs and interests will change throughout your life. Seeking work-life balance is a continuous process. For example, a young professional makes a conscious choice to climb the career ladder, and work-life is intentionally skewed towards work. When in part of your lifecycle, such as becoming a parent, your needs and interests will change. A disturbance of balance could occur when one tries to maintain the former work-life balance frenetic. Reflection will help you to stay in touch with your feelings. Therefore, you should periodically take time to think about what you are doing, and about which elements are going well and which are not. A conversation with your partner, meditation, or a walk in the forest could be good moments for consideration. Above all, you should take initiatives yourself! - 57 - 7.4 Conclusions With their diplomas, talent, and drive, young professionals plunge into the working side of life. They will prove that they are able to deal with demanding tasks and could lose sight of other things in life. To maintain health and productivity, one should have a life beyond the office walls. Young professionals should be aware of their work-life balance style to prevent stress. By means of the test „which work-life balance style do you have?‟, they could investigate their work-life balance profile. The three profiles, the captains, navigators, and rowers, each have different approaches towards balancing work and life. Also, profiles differ in level of both work-life balance-leadership and work-life balance management. The test will help make young professionals aware of their level of work-life balance leadership and management. Older professionals already have experience in balancing work and life. They have the following tips for young professionals: Pleasure in work Take pleasure in the things you do, as this will give you energy. Doing things you are good at will bring you less stress and will cost less energy. Discuss your capacities with your employer. Only by taking your own initiative can your dream job be created. Attention for life You should pay attention to both work and life. This implies showing interest and appreciation. Be clear about your expectations in a relationship and communicate them well. It saves trouble in the long run. Life activities will help you to refresh your mind. Taking care of balance Take care of your energy-account. Admit problems and talk about it with the parties involved. Take care of yourself. Create boundaries and increase your fitness. Seek a coach when facing difficulties in managing your work-life balance. Chose a person who is trustworthy and who is able to evaluate you. Continuous process You should be aware of everything that you do. Listen to your body and your emotions, as your needs and interests will change throughout the various stages in life. Seeking work-life balance is a continuous process. Reflection will help you to stay in touch with your feelings and you should take time for it periodically. - 58 - 8 Conclusions and recommendations 8.1 Overview of the results This is an explorative research study about coping with the ever-increasing demands from home and the workplace. The research investigated which strategies professionals are using to manage a work-life balance that allows them to reach their targets while staying healthy and productive. The original problem statement is: “Which strategies do professionals use to manage work-life balance in which they can reach their targets and could stay healthy and productive?” After studying literature and conducting depth-interviews with professionals, three hypotheses were generated. Hypothesis 1: “Professionals could be grouped into profiles, each profile is using own set of work-life balance strategies.” From the results, three different profiles were drawn: work-life balance captain, work-life balance navigator, and work-life balance rower. The configuration of work-life balance strategies differs between the profiles. The work-life balance strategy consists of two dimensions that were derived from the research: work-life balance leaders and work-life balance managers. Work-life balance leaders have skills that help them find a balance in which they can reach targets and stay healthy and productive. Personal-based strategies support the process of finding a work-life balance. When moving on a sound balance, managerial skills help to run life more efficiently. In the work-life diagram one can find the positions of the work-life captain, the work-life navigator, and the work-life rower. By means of a test professionals can discover their profile and position in the work-life diagram. The captain has both a high level of managerial skills and leadership skills. The navigator has a high level of work-life balance leadership. To make some improvements regarding managerial skills, the navigator should consider some rationalbased strategies to improve efficiency in both work and life. The work-life balance rower has a lower level of work-life balance leadership. The rower should focus on finding a healthy balance through the use of personal-based strategies. These strategies will help in developing work-life balance leadership. Both work-life balance leadership and work-life balance management can be learned, so one could develop from rower to navigator, or even become a captain. The work-life diagram provides a starting point for future research on how life and managerial skills affect work-life balance. Further research is needed to identify the existence of other work-life balance strategy profiles among professionals. Maybe the profiles, this research derived already, could be identified more precisely in the diagram. Hypothesis 2: “One‟s stress-level is related to work-life balance style.” One profile may suffer more from stress complaints than the other. The complaints vary from not feeling well to a serious burn-out. In this research the captains hardly suffer from any complaints of the work-life balance. The navigators had a single complaint. The rowers, however, are having a hard time in that they suffered from multiple complaints on a regular basis. Whether the weight of the complaints changes from profile to profile cannot be derived from this research. Conclusive research will be required in order to identify causal relationships between stress-level and work-life balance strategy. - 59 - Hypothesis 3: “Reflection, learning and doing will help to find balance.‟” Work-life balance leaders are able to reflect their agreements in work and life. Work-life balance leadership is needed to find a balance in which one can stay healthy and productive. Literature shows that those skills are related to one‟s level of emotional intelligence. By repeating motivation, practice, and feedback, one can increase one‟s emotional intelligence and work-life balance leadership skills. Personal-based strategies support the development of work-life balance leadership skills. In essence, the work-life balance navigator uses personal-based strategies after facing stresssymptoms. The work-life balance rower has difficulties in exercising these strategies. The navigator has succeeded in finding a balance in which one could stay healthy, while the rowers did not. Therefore, it could be proposed that personal-based strategies support the professional the process of „finding balance‟ in larger extent than rational-based strategies. Personal-based strategies appeal to one‟s emotional intelligence. People with high emotional intelligence have skills that help them to balance work and life. So, it seems that captain has a higher degree of these skills than both the navigator and the rower. The captain approaches personal-based strategies to a lesser extent, in that they make use of the repeating cycle of learning and growth. From time to time they take distance from their work and life activities. During these moments they reflect on work, life, and especially the self. Further research will be required to investigate which personal-based strategies are most effective in finding work-life balance and should measure the learning cycle‟s influence on work-life balance. Nowadays, organizations put their employees under much pressure. Employees have to reach targets and have to finish work before a deadline. The mental load at the workplace has increased over the last decades. Employees are so busy running the business, that they do not have time to pace themselves. Whereas it might be so fruitful to offer employees moments for evaluation! It will enhance employee‟s motivation and productivity. It would be a challenge for organizations to implement moments for reflection and restfulness. L. Smits, CAO-negotiator at the CNV 4 , plead already for stillness rooms and meditation at the workplace (Smits, year of publication unknown). 8.2 Implications of the research 8.2.1 Implications for the individual One should be aware of the repeating cycle of learning and growth. By repeating evaluation, organization, and action, one could discover personality. This will enlarge one‟s emotional intelligence. With the help of emotional intelligence people are able to see work-life problems 4 Dutch union - 60 - at a deeper level. In this way the roots of the problem will be revealed, which will make it easier to find a sustainable solution. Personal-based strategies support this process, especially self-monitoring. The questions, which are listed in box 10, have been developed to help frame one‟s thoughts about the personal-based strategies. 8.2.2 Implications for managerial practice Organizations are increasingly dependent on human capital, which has become a source of value creation. Organizations benefit from healthy and productive people. A culture that demands employees sacrifice family for work will lose employees. An example of this is included in box 17. Moreover, the new generation employees are not motivated by big paychecks (Gunneweg, 2006). Work-life policies are used more and more to recruit highly educated people, especially women, and to retain employees (Lewinson, 2006). Work-life friendly policies can improve employees‟ productivity and the quality of work. Box 17: Culture of long working hours at Ernst & Young Ernst & Young was losing employees because of their hostile work-life culture. Krueger (2000) shows some figures: „About 60% of the women and 57% of the men in senior management at Ernst & Young told Catalyst that they were dissatisfied with working long hours. Each year, about 23% of the women and 18% of the men were leaving. Ernst & Young was losing not only talent but also continuity with its clients. And it was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fill each vacant position.‟ Looking for fit to decrease work-related stress Literature states that job demands that are too high could lead to exhaustion and result in a shortage of job resources. These types of demands will lead to frustrations and disengagement among employees. Organisations could overcome such problems by choosing the right person for the right job. A candidate should have the capabilities to fulfil a function and should have the feeling of getting adequate resources. This implies more than just money, it also include „soft‟ aspects like pleasure in work, trust in the organization, and feeling at home. Organizations could prevent much work-related stress by taking employees‟ burden and carrying capacities into account. Organizations should focus more on one‟s capacities instead of limitations. Nowadays, employees have to meet several requirements to exercise a job. Much attention is paid to improve employees‟ weaknesses. However, this withdraws much energy from the employee, especially when one does not succeed. Much frustration can be saved by using capacities as starting point for filling functions. While organizations should consider employees‟ capacities, the right fit between a person and the organization is even more important. A person who feels home within the organization takes more pleasure in their work. A lack of fit would cause negative emotional spill over, resulting in dissatisfaction and stress. - 61 - Looking after employees‟ work-life balance skills Work-life leaders are better able to balance work and life. One could become a work-life balance leader by increasing one‟s emotional intelligence through training, such as intervention programs, aimed at „the brain‟s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and drives. Coaches at the workplace could help employees in balancing work-life by providing evaluation of one‟s behaviour. They should identify employees‟ place in the work-life balance diagram. In this way, they could offer appropriate solutions for each individual. Some employees, such as the work-life balance rower, need someone to help stop them from continuing in their currently un-balanced work-life structure. It is useful for organizations to identify one‟s work-life balance leadership skills when recruiting people for demanding functions. As a work-life balance captain will have less difficulty in maintaining work-life balance than the rower, through early identification, the organization could prevent work-life balance problems and corresponding stress in advance. Work-life friendly policies Employees‟ work-life balance could be influenced by their degree of freedom. Some authors propose that organizations should offer their employees more job control such that the employees are able to arrange their own work. Other authors suggest policies that offer more flexibility for the employee, such as working at home, or possibilities for job-interruptions. Integration of such work-life balance policies will only succeed in practice when a company‟s culture is supportive. Management should understand the stigmas created within the culture of their organization; change starts at the top. Management also needs to be aware of the leadership roles they carry, and should strive to give the right example to their employees. In this way an organization could become a better place for their employees. A good atmosphere will benefit the well-being of their employees and, in so doing, benefit the overall results of the company. In box 18 you can read how Ernst & Young changed their culture of long working hours. They launched an Office for Retention to discuss personal needs with partners as well as with clients. They made structural changes. First, the CEO made the importance of work-life balance clear. By putting the „Retention Office‟ near his office, the CEO showed his personal support of the initiative. Second, Deborah Holmes, who was hired to run the Retention Office, motivates the local offices to invent their own work-life balance solutions. Says Holmes: “People who live with a problem can solve it better than anyone who rides in from headquarters on a white horse”. Box 19 contains some examples of these solutions. Finally, the managing partners changed their own working behaviour as well. They understand that many employees will not leave work at the workplace unless the boss does so. - 62 - Box 18: Culture of long working hours at Ernst & Young Ernst & Young was losing employees, especially women, because of their work-life hostile culture. In 1996 they launched an Office for Retention to discuss personal needs with partners as well as with clients. How did they change the organization that's mired in tradition? Ernst & Young put these five principles to work. Start at the top. Chairman and CEO Phil Laskawy made it clear that the Office for Retention is not just window dressing. In a company where office size and location still mean a lot, the office space is just down the hall from Laskawy's. He also personally introduced Deborah Holmes who was hired to run the Retention Office to the firm's top people and has promoted her programs in company-wide voice mails. Lead by example. When executives work like maniacs, their staff members are likely to do the same. At E&Y, partners try to become models of balance. When the 3-4-5 travel schedule (see box 18) for consultants was implemented, many partners adopted it as well. They also began talking openly about how they meet their own needs so that others would feel comfortable doing the same. One size doesn't fit all. This is especially true in massive organizations like E&Y. The firm encourages each office and consulting project to set up its own solution teams. An added benefit: Because large numbers of leaders and staff are involved in the process, the measures had widespread support when they were put into place. "Most people are much more enthusiastic about new ideas that are homegrown," says Holmes, "and the ideas tend to be a lot better." Keep it simple. In 1997, consultants on E&Y's Detroit project had an idea: Why not offer extra compensation to staffers who log extra hours on the road? But they dropped the idea when it began raising too many questions. "If you want change to be sustainable, you have to keep it simple," says Bob Forbes, the partner in charge of that project. Don't forget the big picture. No matter what initiatives E&Y's solution teams consider, team members must always consider the corporate mission: to provide top-quality service to the firm's clients. Some teams resist measures that they feel might impede client service, even as other teams embrace those innovations. "Every change that's made has to be in the context of serving the client," says Forbes, "because that's what we're all about." (Krueger, 2000) - 63 - Box 19: Some work-life balance initiatives When Ernst & Young launched its life-balance initiatives, the firm didn't just roll out one or two measures. It offered a wide variety of items -- some quick fixes, some long-term solutions. Here is a sampling. The 3-4-5 travel schedule. Consultants can spend months at a time on the road. To ease the grind, the 3-4-5 schedule requires that consultants spend just three nights away from home, four days at a client's site, and day five working either at home or in their home office. Many consultants spend that fifth day at home, catching up on errands. Mail-duty reprieve. E&Y's tax-and-audit offices in San Jose and Palo Alto came up with a simple innovation: Employees aren't obliged to check email or voice mail either on weekends or while they're on vacation. No one is prevented from doing so, but the message is clear: Checking in when you're off work is unnecessary. Best-practices database. Called the Life Balance Matrix, this online database contains descriptions of the best life-balance measures that are used across the firm as well as a list of contacts. The database lets offices share information and resources, so that they can build on one another's success. (Krueger, 2000) 8.2.3 Implications for society Boundaries between work and life are blurred Both, men and women want to combine a job with caring duties. Due to technologies like internet, people stay in touch with the workplace. This brings forth flexibility to work at home, but it could also infringe upon private life. Phases in career alternate with life-activities, like world-travel or a sabbatical. As employers do not offer jobs for a lifetime anymore, people are losing grip on work and life, blurring the boundaries between work and life. For some people this means new opportunities, for others an increase of stress. Increase of mental load at the workplace The mental load at the workplace has increased over the last years. Our society is transforming into a knowledge economy. Job demands will increase. Pressure on human capital will grow. Knowledge becomes the most important source of value creation. Many employees have difficulties in coping with the ever-increasing demands of the workplace. Stress appears when someone does not maintain equilibrium between burden and carrying capacity. The underlying factor related to the cause of stress is the way in which one sees the world. Figures show that 10% of the Dutch labour force is facing burn-out symptoms (CBS, 2006). Most vulnerable are professionals, especially high educated women and employees in managerial functions. - 64 - Because our society is relying increasingly on professional employees, it important that professionals are able to cope with stress. Society as a whole will benefit, as healthy employees will save the society lot of money. In the Netherlands, the total yearly costs of burn-out are estimated to be 4 billion euros. Half of these costs are related to disability pensions. Healthy employees also enhance society‟s productivity. Learning how to learn This research shows that work-life balance leaders have the skills that help them to balance work and life. They are able to reflect their agreements in work and life. Literature shows that those skills are related to one‟s level of emotional intelligence. As one could learn work-life balance leadership skills by increasing one‟s emotional intelligence, educational programs should offer courses that stimulate emotional intelligence. One could think about students who are giving each other feedback, or a child who writes a reflection about his or her behaviour. Repeating the cycle of learning and growth is important. Through motivation, practice, and evaluation, people are learning how to learn. Learners are able to lead themselves to a balance in which they can stay healthy and productive. Since “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”, people should learn how to learn as young as possible such that they are able to apply these skills throughout their lifetimes. In this way much stress could be spared. After all, the benefits for the society will be tremendous. Recent findings from TNO show shows that between 150.000 and 300.000 employees stay at home because of stress complaints. Besides, 15% of the employees are limited in functioning due to stress-related RSI-complaints. Annual, stress cost the Dutch society €6 milliards5. Like the traffic-jam problems stress seems to be a millstone for society and ineradicably. But is it that way??? 5 http://www.aandachttraining.info/stress.html - 65 - Appendix A Research data The data will not be published in public. -i- Bibliography Books and reports Algemene Directie Humanisering van de Arbeid. Methoden en instrumenten voor een psychosociale analyse. Brussel: Federale Overheidsdienst Werkgelegenheid,Arbeid en Sociaal Overleg, 2005 Covey, S.R. The seven habits of highly effective people. London: Simon & Schuster, 1989. Covey, S.R., Merrill, A.R., and R.R. Merrill. First things first. London: Simon & Schuster, 1994. Gaspersz, J.B.R., and A.A. Verhoeff. Nieuwe keuzes in werken. Deventer: Kluwer, 2001. Glaser, B.G., and A.L. Strauss. The discovery of grounded theory. New York: Aldine, 1967. Hamaker, G. 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