RUNNING HEAD: Work Life Balance 1

Work Life Balance

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Work Life Balance 2

Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3

The Challenge of Work life Balance .............................................................................................. 4

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Reference ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Work Life Balance 3

Introduction
The paper looks at the issue of Work-life balance at Apple Company. The author has no working
relationship with Apple Company but has developed a keen interest in the company due to the
superior products that are manufactured by the company. The company was chosen for being one
of the leading players in the technology industry. All employees desire working at Apple and as
Edwards (2014) asserts all employees crave for the name Apple Inc to appear on their resume.
They consider the experience at Apple to be the best experience that can unlock doors for any
work opportunity. However what comes out clearly from the piece by Edwards (2014) is that
most people at Apple treasure their time. Most of the employees are assigned to work on the
most demanded gadgets in the world of technology worldwide. However, employees have given
accounts of having to work up to very late in the night and having no time for their families. One
employee recounts that he had to work up to very late in the night and his wife was not allowed
to know what he was working on.

One of the employees at Apple explains how she had to work away from the main campus which
meant that she had to be physically separated from other interns. The problem was further
compounded by the fact that there was no caf in the building in which she was working. Besides
that, the lady recounts that the building was not pleasant and consisted mainly of dark, narrow
hallways. Everyone had their own private offices. This, therefore, meant that she could go an
entire day without talking to anyone. She, therefore, felt quite lonely. One other employee
complained of having to work long hours and communication was one directional (Edwards,
2014).

The case at Apple is a classic example of the lack of work-life balance. According to Meadow
(2015), work life balance is a concept which includes proper balance between work which entails
career and ambition and lifestyle which entails health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual
development. According to Crompton and Lyonette (2006), work life balance is said to occur
when people with a finite amount of mental, physical and emotional resources allocate the
resources in a manner that corresponds to their personal and professional goals. The paper will
discuss the case of work life balance at Apple Company Inc.
Work Life Balance 4

The Challenge of Work Life Balance

Ford, Heinen, and Langkamer (2007) maintain that in todays world the burden of balancing paid
work with other life aspects has been treated as a trivial problem which has been left entirely to
employees. There is the feeling among some people that worrying about the lack of time or
energy for family relationships is a luxury or secondary issue in comparison to the benefits that
stem from economic growth or development. Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, and Lance (2010)
state that the importance of paid work and the benefits and the value attached to economic
competitiveness irrespective of the personal costs that come with it is an accepted phenomenon.
Profits to be made and the short time efficiency gains always supersede the social issues.
However as Bianchi and Milkie (2010) contend, little emphasis is put on the effect that such
kind of work arrangements would have on the long term sustainability of families, people,
society and the economy at large.

Bracco (2016) maintains that work life balance has been a problem for the last three decades. He
further asserts that the problem appears to be getting worse instead of getting better. The results
of the global research that was conducted by Ernst and Young on 10,000 full-time workers in
eight countries established that nearly a third of the workforce concur that the management of
work life balance has become more difficult than it was 5 years ago. The challenges were found
to be tougher for workers who were parents. 41% of the managers by Bracco (2016) confirmed
that they had seen an increase in hours in the past few hours. This was in contrast to the 37% of
the managers who were not parents who reported a lesser increase in hours compared to their
parenting counterparts (Bracco, 2016).

In the present world, it has become impossible to separate work and personal life. According to
Griffin and Moorhead (2011), it was hard enough to manage work life balance in the time when
people worked 40 hours per week since they had to integrate their work with meeting friends,
helping with homework, kids after-school games, and holiday celebrations. However, the
situation in the present work environment is different. The majority of the people as Bunting
(2011) asserts, are employed in places where jobs rarely start at nine am and sometimes end past
5 pm. The available free time is spent responding to emails, taking care of work related texts
which demand immediate replies, writing quarterly reports that can only be written once kids
have slept or working on an urgent presentation at night. The pattern of work results in a double
Work Life Balance 5

shift. Twenge (2010) argues that the responsibility of parenting does not get turned off when
people are at work. This results in a constant call for parenting and work which translates into a
lot of stress. This as Twenge (2010) argues, could result in poor health in the long run.

Omar (2014) holds that a balanced life is one in which energy and effort are spread to cover
emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical and imaginative aspects between key areas of
importance. In survey results by Beauregard and Henry (2009) that involved over 50,000
employees from different manufacturing and service organisations, it was established that 2 out
of every 5 employees were dissatisfied with the balance that existed between their work and
personal lives. The lack of balance was linked to long working hours, changing demographics,
more time spent in cars and the deterioration of boundaries between work and home. The study
established that lack of work life balance could lead to reduced work performance, poor morale,
increased absenteeism and lower commitment.

A 2013 survey by Pew Researchers revealed that 56% of the mothers said that it was difficult to
balance work and family responsibilities. 50% of fathers interviewed also echoed the same
sentiments (Omar, 2010). The results were linked to spill over effects in which excess work at
the office is taken home. On the other hand, when things are rough at home, the tough things at
home are carried into the working hours. Studies have revealed that in the present world where
people are tethered to their emails 24 hours 7 days a week, people end up working from home,
taking work home, or sleeping with their phones which lead to failure to maintain a healthy work
life balance (Omar, 2010).

Proponents of Congruence theory assume that employees will be more satisfied with their work
life balance if they are working in work status or work schedule, shift and hours that they prefer.
This as Omar, (2010) states, translates into more work commitment and job satisfaction (Omar,
2010).

Recommendations

The solutions to the problems at Apple can come from looking at some of the models and
theories in work life balance. The segmentation model holds the hypothesis that work and non-
work are two distinct life domains and are lived very separately with no influence on each other.
Its however only offered as a theoretical possibility with no any form of empirical support. It
Work Life Balance 6

differs sharply with the spillover model which holds the hypothesis that one world can either
positively or negatively affect the other. The spillover model is backed by a lot of research
(Jones, Burke & Westman, 2013). The compensation model, on the other hand, holds the
hypothesis that what may lack in one sphere in the form of demands or even satisfactions can be
made up in the other. For example, it holds that work may be routine and undemanding but may
be compensated for by a major role in activities in the community outside of work. In the
instrumental model, activities in one sphere affect the activities in another sphere. A good
example is a worker who may work so hard to maximize their earnings so long as they meet their
family demands (Jones, Burke & Westman, 2013).

A survey conducted by Henry (2009) that involved over 50,000 employees gave a clear
indication that there was great dissatisfaction with the balance that existed between the work and
personal lives of employees. The results were further backed up by a 2013 survey which was
done by Pew researchers which revealed that 56% of the mothers interviewed and 50% of the
fathers interviewed complained of poor work life balance (Omar, 2010). The statements from
employees at Apple as outlined by Edwards (2014) further serve to prove that poor work life
balance is a reality in present day organisations. Apple needs to take appropriate measures to
deal with the problem of poor work life balance at the organisation.

One way through which Apple can achieve work life balance is by allowing their employees to
work from home. Sirota, Klein, and Russo (2013) argue that technology has made work much
easier. They further assert that several organisations are now making use of teleconferencing
tools and online tools of collaboration to allow their employees to work from home. Working
from home can be beneficial to employees and the organisation alike resulting in a win-win
situation. As Sirota, Klein, and Russo (2013) maintain, the employees can make use of the time
spent in traffic to enjoy some time with their families and can, in turn, dedicate more time to the
organisation due to the satisfaction derived from having a work life balance. According to
Grzywacz and Carlson (2007), allowing employees to work from home as stated in the
congruence theory will result in a satisfied work life balance since the work arrangement will
favor the employees. Even if Apple does not allow the employees to work from home full time,
they can be allowed to work from home on part time basis or on one day in a week as Sirota,
Klein, and Russo (2013) argue. Besides that, the organisation could also consider the option of
Work Life Balance 7

having remote meetings that are facilitated by technology as opposed to having in person
meetings (Grzywacz and Carlson, 2007).

The culture of work at the organisation as Beauregard and Henry (2009) contend can also be
changed to ensure that employees do not work past the normal working hours. Despite the fact
that Apple faces stiff competition from other technology companies, the success of employees
can only result from a good work life balance. A part from restricting the normal hours of work
allowed in a day, the company can also set a limit to the maximum number of hours that a given
employee is allowed to work in a day. Since Apple is a giant technology company, they should
consider setting up their servers to stop sending emails after the official working hours. This as
Ernst Kossek, Lewis and Hammer (2010) maintain will ensure that employees have enough time
to spend with their families after the lapse of the official working hours and will not have to
spend time replying to work email and text-messages at home.

Apart from encouraging the culture of work life balance, the management must also look deeper
at the culture of the work place. Currently, based on the statements from the employees at Apple,
the culture of the organisation promotes overworking (Edwards, 2014). The management should
ensure that workloads granted to employees are manageable to give them some time to enjoy
their personal time and interact with other people. Expectations put on employees must as
Beauregard and Henry (2009) argue be reasonable to ensure that they can deliver within the set
time frames. This will ensure that employees do not carry excess work home.

As Schein, (2010) states, work life balance must start with the top most management. Employees
will only be convinced that its possible to have a work life balance if they see the same in their
superiors. The top management must, therefore, lead in ensuring that work hours are observed
and should discourage any form of work that is assigned after the official hours of work. Besides
that, as McMillan, Morris and Atchley (2011) contend, the managers must shift their focus from
the number of hours worked to the actual deliverables from employees. Its possible for
employees to spend a lot of time at work with no positive results. On the contrary, an employee
could spend fairly less amount of time and work and deliver the desired output. High
productivity does not, therefore, mean that employees must work 8 hours in a day. Employees
may achieve the needed output in less than 8 hours in a day (McMillan, Morris and Atchley,
2011).
Work Life Balance 8

The management must as Ernst Kossek, Kalliath and Kalliath (2012) argue promote breaks
within a day of work. Employees must be encouraged to take lunch and rest breaks to keep their
stress levels in check. Research has shown that the productivity levels of employees go up when
they take breaks (Tariq, Aslam, Siddique and Tanveer, 2012). When employees are productive, it
reduces the need to have them work up to late hours to achieve the desired output. Apart from
encouraging breaks, the management can also ensure that employees are given information about
work life balance. According to Tariq, Aslam, Siddique, and Tanveer (2012), giving the
employees information on how to achieve work life balance may create a good culture of work
life balance at the organisation. This can result in an increase in the number of employees
managing their time better to achieve a work life balance. The company can further offer
employees flexible work weeks in which the employees can work for longer days and get
compensation to get extra days off. Apple can also follow the guidelines given in the
compensation model as advanced by Jones, Burke, and Westman, (2013) and ensure that
employees are provided with childcare benefits, wellness plans and room for unlimited vacation
policies.

Conclusion
It is therefore without a doubt that work life balance is important for all employees. Employees
without a work life balance may be stressed and dissatisfied which may result in reduced
productivity. The management of Apple must, therefore, strive to ensure that the culture of work
life balance becomes the norm at the organisation. The organisation can learn from other
organisations on work life balance strategies that work well for employees. Apple can also learn
from the several studies conducted to learn the benefits of work life balance for the organisation
and staff. The management of the organisation must ensure that the prevailing culture does not
promote overworking and that the employees are given reasonable workloads and expectations to
avoid overworking which may force them to eat into their personal time.
Work Life Balance 9

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Beauregard, T. A., & Henry, L. C. (2009). Making the link between work-life balance practices
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Bracco, N. (2016). The Challenges of Work-Life Balance and 7 Steps to Turn Things Around.
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Work Life Balance 10

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