MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

MASTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2016/2017

GROUP 4
COURSE WORK
COURSE NAME: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
TOOL: ENABLING A POSITIVE WORKING LIFE

FACILITATOR: DR. FRANCIS KASEKENDE.

PROF. J.C. MUNENE.

GROUP MEMBERS
No. NAME REG. NO SIGNATURE
1 PIUS AKANKWASA 2016/HD10/2888U
2 REBECCA AINEMBABAZI 2016/HD10/2885U

3 HARRIET ORISHABA 2016/HD10/2936U

4 BEATRICE KENTARO 2016/HD10/2900U

5 AGNES NAMIRIMU 2016/HD10/2924U

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 2
1.1 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY ............................................................................................................... 4
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK. ................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO..................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.0 EXPLANATION OF THE VARIABLES............................................................................................................... 7
2.1 COACHING .................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 MINDFULNESS ............................................................................................................................................. 9
2.3 STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK PLACE ..................................................................................... 10
2.4 CHARACTER STRENGTH AND WORK ........................................................................................................... 11
2.5 WORK LIFE BALANCE. .................................................................................................................................. 12
2.6 A POSITIVE WORKING LIFE. ......................................................................................................................... 12
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................................... 13
3.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COACHING AND WORK LIFE BALANCE ............................................................ 13
3.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE. .............................................. 15
3.3 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK PLACE AND WORK- LIFE
BALANCE ................................................................................................................................................... 18
3.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTER STRENGTH AND WORK- LIFE BALANCE ..................................... 21
3.5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND A POSITVE WORKING LIFE. ........................... 24
CASE STUDY. ..................................................................................................................................................... 25
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 29

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This write up focuses on a tool titled “Enabling a Positive Working Life”. It consists of three chapters; chapter

one will encompass the introduction, background and purpose of the study, statement of opportunity and

conceptual framework. Chapter two will explain the variables, and lastly chapter three will look at the relationship

between the variables and then the conclusion.

1.1 BACKGROUND

Working towards and maintaining a balance between personal and professional undertakings enables an

organization to keep a productive workforce. Employees working in this kind of environment will be happy, and

maintain the health of the business ensuring that the company or organization registers more efficiency and

productivity.

This can been seen in one of the media houses in Uganda where Joan, an Advertising Manager was considered

the cream of the sales team since she was aggressive, creative, shrewd and tact with the ability to tell where a

sales opportunity was instantly, started losing focus at work which affected her performance with her sales

revenues dropping, presentations made were full of mistakes and errors on the sales figures and projections

which had never happened.

Joan’s supervisor following the unexpected poor performance quickly called in for a meeting because even at her

worst performance, Joan always at least met her target but never performed below the expected targets. From

the meeting, Joan was given compassionate leave to go rest and handle her father’s situation without the work

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pressures and just as she had returned from the approved leave, a number of money lenders came threatening

to have Joan arrested for failing to pay back big amounts of money that she had earlier borrowed.

A financial advisor from one of the company’s bank where Joan also banked was called in to support her in terms

of making wise decisions when it came to money and how she would invest long term, and later on an external

counselor was called in to support Joan following the death of her father.

The Company’s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) took it upon himself to have one-on-one sessions with Joan as

he believed she would do better once given the adequate support and guidance regardless of the current

challenges and setbacks she faced. After three weeks of meeting Joan, her self-esteem had improved greatly,

she believed more in herself and plans were then made to ensure that she start delivering on her targets.

Coaching sessions were then scheduled with clear objectives set and weekly assessments made and where

Joan was challenged, the CCO came in to support her and redirect her focus to what need to be done to achieve

the results.

Six months later, the sales revenues had increased with special and creative projects initiated by Joan who was

even recognized as the Sales Manager for the month, four times in a row, and even commended for her

performance by the Managing Director. Joan was eventually promoted to handle a bigger portfolio and a bigger

team which she confidently took on even after she had just given birth to twin boys. She was not afraid of the

challenge ahead because she was still getting support from the CCO who on certain occasions allowed her to

work from home when the need arose so that she did not feel conflicted.

It should be noted that for employees to be highly productive, engaged, committed and flourishing at the work

place, organizations need to make use of positive interventions that enable work life balance.

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1.2 STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

Organizations can balance their employees work life and family life to ensure consistent productivity and improved

performance through enabling a positive working life which can be achieved through the use of coaching,

mindfulness and strengths development at the workplace.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to examine the relationship between coaching, mindfulness, strengths development at the

workplace, character strengths, work life balance and a positive working life.

1.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.

Coaching

Mindfulness

Work- life balance A Positive

Strength working life
Development at
work

Character
Strengths

1.5 Explanation of the model

Coaching leads to work-life balance, which leads to a positive working life. Mindfulness leads to work life balance,

which then leads to a positive working life. Strength development at the work place leads to work-life balance,

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which then leads to positive working life. Character strength leads to work-life balance, which then leads to a

positive working life. Finally, Work-life balance leads to a positive working life.

1.6 The best practice in relation to the model.

In order to enable a positive working life, positive interventions should be fully utilised and implemented by

organizations through supervisors and managers to support employees so that they can flourish when faced with

various challenges either at home or work.

Coaching. In our case study it can be seen that Joan was having problems coping with challenges in work and

life. She had decided to battle her financial challenges on her own in the way she saw fit. By using positive

intervention of coaching which was seen through counselling, she managed to deal with her family challenges,

which allowed her to better manage her work and life obligations and led to a positive working life. The Chief

Commercial Officer didn’t focus on the sudden poor performance, but focused on building her confidence and

refocusing her skills and competences to ensure that she improved her performance. His timely intervention

yielded results as seen the case.

Mindfulness. Joan was only concerned with what the future held, and began to think only of the future challenges

and what was going on around her. She for example was more worried about the in-laws blaming her of failing

to give birth. Her productivity and quality of work was affected and her performance kept going below the

company’s set expectations. Joan was given immediate attention and the company understood and appreciated

all the circumstance she was going through and she was given all the necessary support and guidance. This

made her feel valued at the company and highly motivated; she then was better equipped to have a work life

balance and positive working life.

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Strength development. Joan was a natural when it came to corporate sales. She was an achiever who always

exceeded the company’s targets and ensured that her performance never went below average. The Chief

Commercial Officer focused more on getting Joan back to where she was an outstanding performer by engaging

her and supporting her to handle her family issues as well as focus her to achieve her targets. She received

coaching and mentorship to build on her skills and talents. Joan’s improved performance meant she could opt for

a flexible work schedule when the need arose to handle her family obligations which gave her a positive work

life.

Character Strength. Joan faced a lot of challenges ranging from finances, to her father getting very ill and her

in-laws pressuring her to have children. With such a load to carry, her mental strength weakened. The

organisation noticed the stress and challenges she faced and stepped in with a helping hand. She was helped

and guided to handle her personal finances and also counselled, and once this was done, work life balance was

achieved and she went on to have a positive work life. In the end, we see her taking on an even bigger challenge

proving her strength in character

Work-life Balance. With the positive interventions used, Joan was given tools like compassionate leave,

coaching, counselling, mentorship and flexi time that enabled her to balance work and family. This allowed her

to become a good performer, whilst she still spared time to spend with her family.

A positive working life: Joan gained a positive working life which gave her a passion for her work and her family.

This could be seen by the positive changes in her life and her ambitiousness as she took on a bigger challenge

ahead and she knew she had the support of the organisation. She became a flourishing individual due to a

positive working life.

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 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 EXPLANATION OF THE VARIABLES

2.1 COACHING

Coaching ensures that managers break the walls between them and employees to look past the employees’ work

related activities and initiate an open and honest conversation that creates an environment that motivates

consistent and improved performance at professional and personal levels, ensures timely and regular feedback

on performance, attitude and behavior. It is also believed that participation in a coaching program would improve

positive psychological constructs such as goal attainment, self-concordance, insight, resilience, and self-efficacy

and over all well-being of the employee.

Coaching is defined as a collaborative relationship formed between the coach and the coachee, for the purpose

of attaining professional or personal development outcomes valued by the coachee (Spence &Grant, 2007). It is

important to clearly define the goals and expected results during the coaching conversation as it sends the

employee a clear message on the in regards to the need of the coaching session, how they will benefit

professionally and even personally, the gaps or issues to be addressed, commitment required, to perform better

and challenge themselves to do better.

Coaching will only be effective and have a great impact when; desired outcomes are identified, specific goals

attributed to the individual are defined, individual strengths are identified as the key driver to achieving set goals,

action plans and resources required are identified and planned for, regular assessment and feedback on set

goals is carried out and lastly actions plans are modified as there could be a number of factors (environmental,

political, social and economic) that could affect achieving the desired outcomes.

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Organizations, specifically managers or supervisors should work towards ensuring that their employees/

subordinates have autonomy, environmental mastery, have a clear purpose in life, are self-aware and accepting

of who they are; focusing and improving on their strengths, have excellent relationships with their colleagues and

family, and are fully engaged at work. These types of employees are considered to be flourishing and are of great

value to the organization as they are happier, motivated and self-driven.

Coaching in the organization and at the place of work can be internal and external. Internal coaching takes place

when coaching is carried out with the organization by the line manager, Human Resource personnel, supervisors

or even senior employees with the aim of addressing inadequate performance, ensuring job clarity, passing on a

desired skill and even correcting behavior, and is mainly for the non-executive employees within the organization.

External coaching is provided by professionals in the business of coaching who are not part of the organization

and offer a combination of training consultancy and coaching services (Binstead& Grant, 2008; Clegg, Rhodes,

Kornberger &Stilin, 2005), for management and executive members of the organization. External coaching

focuses mainly on workplace safety behaviors, (Geller, Perdue& French, 2004), life coaching for work-life balance

(Sparrow, 2007) and leadership development (Kilburg, 1996)

Most coaches have increasingly gone ahead to adopt to new strategies of coaching that call for solution-focused

to strength –based techniques which can be used by the coachee to identify their strength and resources in order

to reach to the positive outcome. (Berg &Szabo,2005) as in the case of Joan who went through coaching both

internal and external, thus enabling her gain work life balance which led to a positive working life. External

coaching aims at enabling a workplace safety behavior to life coaching for work-life balance and leadership

development.

Coaching interventions are categorized in three ways in an organization which are developing a specific skill set

essential to the job and work that needs to be done well, improving performance for a given time frame to achieve
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set goals and objectives and lastly to ensure professional and personal development and growth among

employees.

2.2 MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is the purposeful, nonjudgmental focus on the present that fosters a more inclusive and authentic

vision of reality which when practiced and adopted in an organization, promotes the effective use of individual

and organization resources.

Job satisfaction, improved memory, motivation, creativity, self-compassion, emotional awareness, interpersonal

sensitivity and learning are some of aspects in an organization that can be improved through mindfulness which

will in turn contribute to improving health and wellbeing at work, fostering more effective skills in managing

conflict, stress, personnel communication and leadership.

Mindfulness provides the opportunity for an organization or an individual to slow down and observe the full range

of experiences as they truly are which would seem counter-intuitive in a world where everyone is aiming at

working faster towards achieving their goals instantly. It is however argued that only by slowing down can one be

at once more effective and satisfied because by engaging in moments of inner stillness or mediation, opportunities

to step out of the overwhelming flow, regain composure, strength and clarity of thought enable one to rejoin the

flow and follow it harmoniously. Reflecting on the example of the ‘cabinet maker’ in our tool. “A cabinet-maker is

intent on putting the finishing touches on a commissioned piece of furniture. They are feeling under great strain

and pressure, the deadline is looming and they are late. The 8 hours’ work remaining must be completed in the

4 hours available. They are so overwhelmed and so hurried that they fail to realize their chisel has become blunt”.

Most managers and employees are so engrossed in their work and are pressed for time. They end up making

mistakes and producing poor quality work especially when trying to beat or meet deadlines. The ideal thing to do

is stop, gather energy and thoughts return to work and as a result, produce faster, cleaner and quality work.
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2.3 STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK PLACE

Strengths are the abilities to consistently produce to near perfect performance on a specific task and they are

composed of;

 Skills which are the basic abilities to perform fundamental tasks such as operating a particular machine.

 Knowledge which involves acquaintance with and understanding of facts and principles accumulated

through education and experience.

 Talents which are natural ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving for example an inner drive to compete,

being sensitive to the needs of others, or the tendency to be outgoing at social gatherings.

The strength philosophy asserts that individuals are able to gain far more when they expend effort to build on

their greatest talents than when they spend comparable amount of effort to remediate or work on their

weaknesses. Organizations have now dedicated time to focus on what is right with people. They have therefore

used the strength based approach in the management of organizations. For instance an IT Systems Manager

who is good at programming, coding and creating software that makes business more efficient and competitive

but is being tasked to handle the IT administration and supervise personnel issues which he consistently fails to

do and shuns because all he wants is to be left to deliver ideas and software that would be vital to the business

operations. It would be best to focus on the IT Manager’s strengths to the advantage of the company.

The process of strength development begins with identification, moves into integration and ultimately to changed

behavior and outcomes (Clifton et al, 2003). Strength based development process encourages individuals to build

strengths by acquiring skills and knowledge that complement their greatest talents in application. When a person

uses their unique and natural gifts, he is able to create increasing opportunities for excellence. (Clifton et al,

1952).

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2.4 CHARACTER STRENGTH AND WORK

This is identifying one’s signature strengths of character and using them as much as possible on a regular basis

(Linley et al, 2010). When one uses a character strength for instance at work, this will have a spill over happiness

into other spheres of one’s life. A randomized-controlled study showed the relationship between strengths use

(the previous day) and positive mood the following day (viacharacter.org). Character strength also looks to

determine the characteristic that generally predict joy or satisfaction at work. Some of these character strengths

identified include zest, hope, curiosity, gratitude and love.

Character strength looks to find the universally accepted character strengths (kindness, fairness, honesty,

gratitude which we all possess to a varying degree. Character strengths at work would state that people with

these character strengths more evident in the work life will be happier and enjoy a more positive career. As

stated above, each person possess an element of a character strength at stronger levels. It has been found that

in certain jobs people will exhibit certain characters more. For example, managers will possess wisdom,

knowledge and perseverance more than operational workers. A person who exhibits these characters and is

placed in a managerial or administrative role will get to utilise their character strength more often and will lead to

positivity in their career while a person whose strength is aggressive and pushing for closure on a given task

would be suited to work as a stock broker, where these attributes which may not necessarily be seen as positive

in a service industry were courtesy is paramount.

Character strength also looks at setting up groups or teams and how it would best work. There are two streams

of thought here, one stream argues that a supplementary fit would work where members of a team each possess

the same ability which allows for easier team creation, acceptance and bonding. The other stream of thought

argues that a complementary fit works better when people of different character come together, and one’s

strength will offset the weakness of the group and thus make the group stronger.

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There are basically two character strength tests. Character Strengths which studies ones character, and

Strengths Finder looks at workplace themes.

2.5 WORK LIFE BALANCE.

Increased working hours are having an effect on the lifestyle and wellbeing of a number of people. Work Life

balance is the process of establishing an equilibrium between work and every other aspect of life.If there is a

state of inequity between work life and personal life, this may create stress / work family conflict, which will impact

on an employee’s performance.

Work life balance is the need to balance between an individual’s work and family life. Having a sense of balance

between work and professional life will improve job satisfaction amongst employees because employees will feel

they are not ignoring their family lives.

Organizational initiatives like flexi time, compressed workweek, telecommuting, part time schedules, job sharing,

on-site child care and a family-friendly climate can be implemented to help employees cope with the demands of

balancing family and work. Aryee et al (1999) believe that these initiatives have led to outcomes such as reduced

work-family conflict and increased family satisfaction.

2.6 A POSITIVE WORKING LIFE.

A positive working life will result in happier employees but also a more productive organisation. A positive working

life will result in people flourishing at their work and also in their personal lives since there is support and guidance

at work and in their personal lives. Most times it is often difficult to separate work and life since a positive working

life leads to a positive personal life. A positive work life will enable individuals to gain meaning in their work and

maintain a good family relationship. A positive work environment makes employees feel good about coming to

work which provides motivation to sustain them and this also influences how they handle their personal life,

managing it well.
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 CHAPTER THREE

3.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COACHING AND WORK LIFE BALANCE

Coaching aims at improving the work-life balance of an individual through establishing a flourishing environment

both psychologically and socially

In relation to our case, we see that Joan was going through rough times both at work and her life outside work,

but after the coaching intervention (internal coaching) by the immediate supervisor and counselling process

(external coaching) as the organizational policy, she was able to improve from languishing to flourishing both at

work and family life. This means that when coaching intervention was administered to Joan through her

supervisor, the concept of character strength was realized which enabled Joan to be promoted to the job that

matcher her interests and abilities thus enabling her to perform better.

When explaining the relation between Coaching dimensions and work-life balance dimensions, other areas of

focus will be mental health, Goal Striving, Self-Concordance, flourishing and how they relate with / to boundary

management strategies, organizational initiatives and individual coping strategies of work-life balance.

Mental health and boundary management strategies.

The Mental health element is explained as the degree of psychological well-being, including how much autonomy,

self- acceptance, positive relations with others, purpose in life and personal growth that is reflected by a person

(Keyes 2003), whereas boundary management strategies are simply practices or principles that people use to

separate and organize role demands and expectations into specific realm of home and work. (Nippert-Eng, 1996).

Coaching intervention allows individuals to learn coping mechanisms that will allow them to be able to perform

highly as well as being able to practice boundary management by separating work and family roles

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(segmentation) or one being able to manage both work and family at the same time in terms of resources

(boundary integration) thus achieving work-life balance.

Goal Striving and Self-Concordance.

Goal striving is where an individual intentionally and purposefully pursues goals and are fully engaged in

achieving them though it should be also be noted, according to ( Ryan, Sheldon, Kasser and Deci, 1996) that

some goals are better at mobilizing energy and effort than other types of goals. Learning/ mastery goals are

believed to better facilitate task performance (Seijts& Latham, 2001) compared to the others.

Self-concordance is used to support goal striving in achieving individual wellbeing, as it refers to the propensity

of individuals to set and strive for goals that are consistent with one’s developing interests and core values

(Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). When individuals set goals that are self-concordant they experience a sense of

ownership over the goals which activates greater levels of energy and effort and allows these individuals to gain

greater wellbeing benefits for the attainment of the set goals as seen in our local case where Joan is driven to

achieve and surpass set targets.

An individual who sets and strives for goals that are in line with his/her interests is able to cope with the

Organizational initiatives put in place to help him/her to perform better and flourish both at work and family

demands thus being able to have work-life balance.

Flourishing and Individual Coping Strategies.

Flourishing is the state where individuals experience high levels of mental health and low levels of mental illness.

The individual feels positive emotions towards life and they are functioning well psychologically and socially.

(Keyes, 2003)

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Individual coping strategies are individual initiatives or practices that an employee uses in order to be able to

balance work and family. These are explained in a model named SOC (selection, optimization and

compensation). Selection looks at setting goals and categorizing them into short term goals or long term goals

as it was in the case of Joan with her supervisor. Optimization is the change in the allocation or redesigning of

resources in order to achieve your desired goals and compensation is the use of alternative means to maintain

the desired level of performance.

This means that when an individual is in the state of wellbeing, their mental health is high and is able to function

in line with the individual coping strategies that ensures one is able to select the short and long term goals,

optimize the resources available and lastly compensate with what is available.

3.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE.

In explaining the relationship between mindfulness and work-life balance, we shall focus on how flow, learned

optimism, time perspective and stress reduction, relate with boundary management strategies, organizational

initiatives and individual coping strategies of work-life balance.

3.2.1 Flow and Work-life balance.

Many people are their happiest when in flow (Cskszentmihalyl & LeFevre, 1989; DelleFave & Massimini, 2003 &

2004) and they may experience flow within their working activities yet without knowing how to label such

experiences. Flow occurs when a combination of specific features are present which include: clear goals,

concentration on a specific limited filed, direct feedback, loss of conscious awareness of the self and time, a

balance between the level of ability and the challenge, a sense of control and a sense of absorption with the

activity. (Cskszentmihalyl 1990).

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Because individuals are their happiest when in flow, the individual coping strategies that they choose amidst

work-family conflict will depend on what makes them happy or what fits in the current situation. Individuals can

choose to use life management strategies (selection, optimization and compensation) or time management

strategies (to-do-lists among others) in order to manage their limited resources of time and energy if they are to

experience work-life balance.

3.2.2 Learned optimism and work-life balance.

Positive psychology is influenced by mindfulness because it does not give room to negative feelings. Pessimists

react negatively to the numerous challenges they face and thus are likely to have problems in achieving a balance

between conflicting roles of work and family. As such, they have to learn to be optimistic in every situation so as

to appreciate the benefits of mindfulness.

Learned optimism is also important when designing organizational initiatives designed to achieve work-life

balance. Optimists will openly welcome strategies (flextime, compressed work weeks, on-site child care centers)

put in place by organizations to help employees achieve work life balance

It can also be a driving force when it comes to individual coping strategies in the face of work-family conflict. An

optimistic mind will easily think outside the box, be open to the different life management strategies (selection,

optimization and compensation) and time management models for purposes of creating balance.

3.2.3 Time perspective and work-life balance.

Mindfulness focuses on the present; however, most people would naturally have a preference to focus either on

the past, present or future with a specific attitude, positive or negative. In trying to manage the boundaries

between work and family, the aspect of time is important. In selecting boundary management strategies,

organizations will need visionaries (who see things that do not exist as yet), realists (who recognize the present
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and exercise caution where necessary) and use of the past in order to inform the present. A balance between

the three will be crucial in creating a balanced life.

Time perspective is also important when choosing individual coping strategies in trying to achieve work-life

balance. The aspect of time will be important in implementing life management strategies in the face of limited

resources of time and energy. This is especially true when individuals have to set clear goals (selection), optimize

(when there is a change in allocation of resources) and compensation (which occurs when alternate means are

used to maintain the desired level of functioning in the face of the actual) which is the present (mindfulness in our

tool). This is also true when applied in a 3-dimensional sense of the time management model (goal setting and

prioritization, mechanics of time management (to-do-lists) and preferences).

3.2.4 Stress reduction and work-life balance.

Mindfulness reduces stress at the work place. Take an example in our case study of Joan who was so

preoccupied with the future such that she lost sense of what was present around her, she became too stressed,

started borrowing, affecting her performance at work. The organization had to intervene with its strategies like

coaching and financial counselling in order to help her get back on her feet. This boosted Joan’s confidence who

was finally able to see things the way they were (present), her stress was reduced and was able to achieve

balance between her work and life.

Stress reduction as an outcome of mindfulness is also related to the organizational strategies and individual

coping strategies. Strategies such as flexi time, compressed work weeks, telecommuting and family friendly

climate are all meant to facilitate individuals achieve balance in their lives. The individual coping strategies like

selection, optimization and compensation are also meant to reduce stress in employees.

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3.3 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK PLACE AND WORK-

LIFE BALANCE

The relationship between strength development in a work place and work-life balance shall focus on; how strength

assessment, application of strength-based development, application of strengths in a work place, relate to

boundary management strategies, organizational initiatives and individual coping strategies of work-life balance.

Strength assessment and work-life balance.

Strength assessment involves identifying areas where an individual’s greatest potential for building strengths

exist. By identifying one’s top themes of talent, Clifton finder helps in the identification of specific personal talent.

An individual’s talents should be identified, and built upon to develop into strengths within their roles.

In relation to boundary management strategies, when an individual identifies their strengths, they are able to

draw clear boundaries between work roles and family roles. For example if an individual is a leader and has

overload at work which may spill into time for family to cause work family conflict, they may use their strength of

speed to be able to complete work in time so as create time for the family.

In relation to individual coping strategies like selection, optimization and compensation, when individual/personal

strengths or talents are identified, one is able to use the most strength to overcome work family conflict. The

individual uses their strengths like skills, knowledge and talent to select either to optimize work roles or family

roles or compensate both, hence fostering work-life balance.

In relation to our case, Joan’s strength of getting the best deal from a client was identified and she was placed in

the sales department with stretching targets. This motivated Joan who was happy and fully engaged at work,

improving her relationships at home enabling balance between work and family roles.

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Application of strength based development and work-life balance

Strength based development is where individual potentials are identified and integrated into self-view to cause

behavior change. Studies of self-perceived psychological growth and change have found that positive events can

trigger many enduring turning points in individual lives. (Avolio and Luthans, 2006).

Identifying and understanding talents can become positive turning points, triggering changes in how people view

themselves in the context of the world around them. In other words the person’s most powerful talents represent

the best of his or her natural self. Accordingly, these talents are the foundations on which a person finds the best

opportunities to perform at high levels of excellence.

Strength based development emphasizes the development of talent into strengths. This is through trainings to

acquire knowledge and skills. Managers that have adopted strength based development have achieved work-life

balance among their employees.

In relation to boundary management strategies, when individual positive attributes are concentrated on and

developed, the individual is able to integrate work roles into family roles hence facilitating work-life balance.

In relation to organization initiatives of flextime, compressed work week and on-site child care, when strength

based developments are applied in a work place, organization initiatives are employed to boost the individual’s

potential. This has increased employee engagement, productivity and profitability of the organizations and more

time has been created for the family, thus work-life balance.

In relation to individual coping strategies, when individual strengths are developed, the individual is able to cope

with changes in a work place like downsizing, restructuring by using the most of unique talents developed into

strengths. This is possible when individuals use coping strategies like selection of the most of their unique talent

to optimize and compensate to attain work-life balance.

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In our case, the Chief Commercial Officer used a strength based approach and identified Joan’s strength in

corporate sales. She was also given a financial work plan and a promotion that came with a bigger portfolio. Joan

was also allowed to work from home every once in a while which led to a work life balance.

Strengths in a work place and work- life balance.

Managers who have created environments in which employees are able to use the most of their talents have

productive work units with less employee turnover (Clifton and Harter, 2003). When various strengths of

individuals or employees are tapped, individuals can use the management coping strategies like selection,

optimization and compensation to know when and where to apply their strengths like knowledge, skills and talent.

The strengths approach also helps to overcome challenges both at work and home/ family hence work-life

balance. At the work place, organizations utilize the uniqueness of each employee to maximize team’s output.

Teams that align team functions like measurement, vision casting and celebration with the strengths of each

member are effective. Organization initiatives facilitate work life balance, and individual coping strategies of work

life balance together with individual strengths, increased employee engagement is attained, reduced turnover;

increased productivity and profitability of organizations are achieved. When all this happens then a positive

working life is enabled.

In relation to boundary management strategies, when each individual on the team uses his or her uniqueness,

they are able to draw a boundary between the work roles and family roles or may use their strengths to integrate

work roles and family roles to achieve work-life balance.

In relation to individual coping strategies, the individual uses the unique strengths to cope with challenges of

family and changes at work like downsizing, restructuring. They use their unique strengths to build new

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 relationships by selecting the appropriate strength, optimizing and compensating work roles and family roles

leading to a work-life balance.

3.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTER STRENGTH AND WORK- LIFE BALANCE

Character Strength involves the identifying one’s signature strengths of character and using them as much as

possible on a regular basis (Linley et al, 2010). By identifying a person’s strengths and allowing the person to

use these more often, it will allow the individual to flourish. Character strength proposes that when an individual

utilizes their strengths on a regular basis, they will have the ability to perform their duties in an efficient and

happier way. In order to look at character strength, one needs to focus on core character, what characters will

usually lead to satisfaction at work, and character fit as they apply to work life balance.

3.4.1 Good Character and Work life Balance

It has been proven that there are a number of universally accepted traits or characteristics that are visible in

everyone. These include and are not limited to; kindness, fairness, honesty, gratitude and open mindedness.

However, there are certain characteristics which manifest more in certain careers. For example, managers and

administrators exhibit wisdom, knowledge and perseverance, while blue collar workers will have core characters

of modesty. Home makers will have kindness and love.

Strength of character at work, or character strength will be demonstrated in work life by the way it affects boundary

management. In boundary management there are two theories, boundary theory and border theory. Boundary

theory states that a person will either segment or integrate the two dominant roles in their lives, work and personal

life. If one is a proponent of integration as achieving work life balance, a person can state that by a person using

a core strength, for example a manager using perseverance at work, and also using it at home, it will be integration

of work life balance. By using the core strength combined with work and life, it leads to less energy needed to

transition from work to home. Hence by one utilizing their core strength (strength of character and work) in both
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arenas will achieve a work life balance. This boundary integration part of work life balance will have the advantage

of less expenditure of energy for the transition from one role to another, lower tension and greater flexibility which

will allow for a greater level of work life balance.

For organizations, it is important that they use strength of character at work to enable a positive work life balance.

Organization can utilize flexi time, compressed work week, telecommuting among others to allow employees to

better juggle the demands of home and still be productive at work. However, to utilize these initiatives, an

organization must base on good character. When an organization and management utilize good character like

open mindedness (core universal strengths) they will be able to see the benefits of these initiatives like more

productivity, higher job satisfaction and increased commitment.

Good character will lead to positive work life balance because the universally accepted traits of honesty and

fairness will translate into better working time. By being honest with employees, an employer will endeavor to

use them for the time for which they are required. An individual will also be honest and fair to their employer by

giving diligent performance during the required time so as to achieve necessary production and thus lead to a

better time management enabling them manage their personal life efficiently well.

3.4.2 Character Satisfaction and Work life Balance.

Strength of character and work will help facilitate work life balance by promoting positive attitude which will be

integrated into the life and work roles an individual has to deal with. The idea here is that when an individual

applies the characters most associated with job satisfaction, which include; zest, hope, curiosity, gratitude and

love, these can be easily integrated in both the role of life and work.

In our case study, Joan also had lost hope at conceiving and zest in the work she was doing, which also ended

up affecting her life and led to negative behaviors of borrowing and unnecessary mistakes errors at work.

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However, by the organization using positive interventions, Joan’s zest, love and hope returned and allowed for

her to be more positive at life as well. This supports the theory that positive psychology and positive interventions

(strength of character and work) are key in an organization achieving increased productivity.

Individuals using zest and love will work hard during their office hours meaning that they will better manage and

utilize their time at work. The amount of time lost on people misusing company property on Facebook or late

arrival at work will mean lower production. This will lead to the need for extra hours or over time to be put in place

to achieve results. However when individuals apply zest they will work harder and diligently and manage their

time efficiently and productively, improving work life balance and reduce overtime hours.

3.4.3 Character Fit and Work life Balance.

Character strength at work looks at determining what characteristics are better suited to certain jobs. This is

known as character fit. It is argued that either a supplementary fit, where ones characteristics fit in with the

expected will lead to a happy individual or complementary fit where one with a characteristic not common is able

to add value to the group. When a character fit occurs, there is work family fit, because one is productive and

this carries through to their home life.

Organizations will use strength of character in their organizations to facilitate work life balance. By using

character fit in placing people, those with either supplementary or complementary will help work life balance

because supplementary means that people will be more productive and have high job satisfaction. Greater

productivity will mean better usage of their time, and limit the amount of overtime required to catch up on

production.

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By working with people where an individual is able to complement their work matters, one will be able to have

their weakness concealed and at the same time support the group in its weak areas. This will mean a more

productive team, which will mean better time management.

3.5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND A POSITVE WORKING LIFE.

Work life balance is about attaining a balance between the demands of work and those of a personal nature.

Work life balance looks at using boundary management theories, organization facilitated work life balance and

individual strategies to enable a positive working life.

Boundary management theories look at the way individuals will attempt to control the line that divides ones’

personal life and work life. Whether one believes that integration, where the line between the two is blurred or

almost nonexistent or if one believes in segmentation where the lines will be clearly defined is a matter of the role

one plays and one’s personal decision. Certain roles will allow more segmentation while others will call for more

integration. Depending on the boundary theories one uses, if one uses one appropriately in attaining work life, it

will lead to a positive working life. In integration one spends less energy transitioning from one role to the other

as at home and work one plays the same role. For example manager who comes home and is still able to take

control and lead and delegate. It leads to lower tension, as the conflict between the two roles can often times

increase the tension when in one role the person is used to giving orders and in another role one is subservient

to another.

When an individual ensures work life balance, either by segmentation or integration, the individual will manage

the dividing line to their abilities and are able to enjoy a positive working life. Many individuals often time

compromise one to save the other, people have resigned from their jobs to get more time to spend with loved

ones, or vice versa where one sacrifices time with loved ones to build a career. However this often leads to

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conflict and the argument is that when one experience happiness in one arena, the other will be well taken of,

hence work life balance will lead to a more positive work life.

Work life balance looks at the initiatives that an organization will put in place to facilitate this positive intervention.

Some of these include flexi time, compressed work weeks, telecommuting or on-site child care. The argument

is that in today’s world, segmentation is becoming more and more difficult to attain. So the best way to avoid

family work conflict is to avail more time for family but also allowing individuals to work. Flexi time allows

individuals to come into office later than usual or leave earlier to fetch kids, or spend more time in the morning

with loved ones. By using these initiatives, an individual gains more happiness in life which will spill into their

work, leading to a happier individual balancing the demands of work and family.

Individual strategies to manage work life balance will lead to a positive working life, as by being able to devote

enough time to work but still being in position to manage family demands, an individual will have a positive work

life. With the balance, the individual will be able to segment, optimize and compensate. Selection, in being able

set goals and maintain functioning even in the face of challenges. By using Segmentation, Optimization and

Compensation where there is work life balance, an individual will be better placed to mitigate the loss in resources

whether tangible like money or intangible like love of family. They will be able to optimize and use the resources

(energy and time) better to meet the demands from both domains.

CASE STUDY.
Based in one of the media houses in Uganda, Joan was an Advertising Manager who was considered the cream

of the sales team as she handled a portfolio that brought in a monthly revenue of shs.900,000,000/- (Nine hundred

million shillings only). She was aggressive, knew how to get more money from the advertisers with her creativity,

strong negotiation and bargaining skills, her shrewdness, tact and the ability to tell where a sales opportunity was

instantly. Joan had worked with the organization for six years and was always punctual to work, consistently

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achieved her targets over and above, willingly worked longer and extra hours when it required her to ensure that

the team achieved its sales targets. Like her peers always said, “Joan was an aggressive sales person that never

left money out there”.

Before she could mark her sixth year at work, Joan started losing focus, coming in late, her sales revenues

dropped drastically and she always had a good excuse on how the market was not doing well, her dress sense

changed to one of someone that was just dragged to come to work, no effort was made in her presentations; they

were always full of mistakes and errors on the sales figures and projections which had never happened. Joan’s

direct reports started gossiping about her in the corridors, how she shouted at them, threatened to fire them and

how she no longer gave any support in terms of the daily sales activities.

Joan’s supervisor quickly called in for a meeting because sales revenue had dropped for the entire quarter which

was appalling because even at her worst performance, Joan always at least met target but never performed

below the expected targets.

From the meeting that was held with the presence of a Human Resource representative, it was discovered that

Joan had so far had four miscarriages in total, faced a lot of pressures from her in-laws and her husband who

had been supportive all through this ordeal, but he was also getting affected by the pressures and became

impatient. It did not also help that Joan’s father was also ill in hospital and the medical bills kept shooting up each

day with little or no hope of him making it through. Joan was then given compassionate leave to go rest and

handle her father’s situation away from the work pressures since her performance and delivery was being

affected.

Just when she returned from the approved leave, a number of money lenders came in threatening to have Joan

arrested for failing to pay back big amounts of money that she had borrowed. Two weeks after the first encounter

with the money lenders, a number of individuals also walked in requesting that Joan’s supervisors ensure that
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she paid back their money. The HR Manager then requested to have Joan explain why she was borrowing huge

sums of money and from random people yet there was a system in place at the company which advanced staff

money when emergencies came up. Joan responded that she was using the money to go for fertility treatments

which were not cheap and also to pay for her father’s medical expenses which were getting costly by the day.

A financial plan was drawn for Joan with the support of management that advanced her money to clear the money

lenders and the random individuals that were demanding payment. A meeting was also held with the money

lenders requesting that they deduct the interest so far earned to reduce the pressures on, to which they agreed

to. A financial advisor from one of the company’s bank where Joan also banked was called in to support her in

terms of making wise decisions when it came to money and how she would invest long term. Following her

father’s death, there was an external counselor that was called in to support Joan during that trying moment as it

affected her badly.

Joan with the support of the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) who believed in her key strengths as a strong sales

force decided to focus and build on what she could do at the moment. He arranged for a one-on-one session,

which started out as informal on a weekly basis. After three weeks of meeting Joan, her self-esteem had improved

greatly, she believed more in herself and plans were then made to ensure that she start delivering on her targets.

Coaching sessions were then scheduled with clear objectives set and weekly assessments made and where

Joan was challenged, the CCO came in to support her and redirect her focus to what need to be done to achieve

the results. The CCO encouraged her to do better and also allowed her the flexibility to take time off to handle

her personal issues when they arose.

Six months later, Joan’s team gave positive reviews about how much of a difference their work was now, the

sales revenues had increased with special and creative projects initiated by Joan who was even recognized as

the Sales Manager for the month, four times in a row, she was given a commendation letter from the Managing

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Director for a special project she had single handedly done which had immensely increased the company’s profit

for that particular month.

Joan was promoted to handle a bigger portfolio and a bigger team which she gladly and confidently took on even

after she had just given birth to twin boys. She was not afraid of the challenge ahead because she was still getting

the coaching support from the CCO who on certain occasions allowed her to work from home when the need

arose so that she did not feel conflicted.

CONCLUSION

When organizations use positive interventions to assist employees to achieve work life balance, individuals are

able to get a positive working life which leads to improved productivity.

Organizations need to aim at coaching employees, using strength based approaches, mindfulness and also

helping employees to have a work life balance so as to achieve a positive work life balance.

Organizations need to ensure that supervisors are supportive of the company policies and interventions offered

to make certain that their employees feel comfortable utilizing them otherwise they will just remain on paper and

keep a disengaged workforce.

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