Chapter 86

Impact of Work-life Balance on Employees

Productivity and Job Satisfaction in Private
Sector Universities of Pakistan

Asif Kamran, Shuana Zafar and Syed Nayyer Ali

Abstract The objective of this research paper is to discuss the nature of work and
family policies in Pakistan’s environment particularly in Education Sector. There
are 133 universities in Pakistan, of which 73 are Public sector universities and Pri-
vate universities are 63 which are functioning under Higher Education Commission
of Pakistan. This study will further assess that how different Educational sectors
in Pakistan have approached the work life balance agenda and examines the ac-
tual outcomes for both the employees and the employers. Employees can achieve
a healthy balance between work and family life through flexible working arrange-
ments. Results of this study will be beneficial for organizations to better choose the
policies to formulate, therefore helping organization to increase the effectiveness
and productivity. There is a positive moderate relationship between job satisfaction
and work-life balance; which suggests that universities should focus their efforts on
formulating and implementing work-life balance policies. the questionnaire to tell
partakers the rationale of this study, which is to evaluate employees work related
approach on family friendly/work-life balance policies execution among different
universities of Pakistan Chi-square test and regression analysis was conducted to
examine the strength of relationship between work-life balance policies and em-
ployees job satisfaction.
Keywords Degree Awarded Institute (DAI) · Higher Education Commission (HEC)

A. Kamran (B)
School of Management & Economics, University of Electronic Science & Technology of China,
Chengdu 610054, P. R. China
Management Science Department, Bahria University, Karachi 75260, Pakistan
e-mail: khan sb@hotmail.com
S. Zafar
Management Science Department, Bahria University, Karachi 75260, Pakistan
S. Ali
General Studies Department, Yanbu Industrial College, Madinat 30426, Yanbu Al Sinaiyah King-
dom of Saudi Arabia

J. Xu et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference 1019

on Management Science and Engineering Management (Volume 2),
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 242, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-40081-0_86,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
1020 A. Kamran & S. Zafar & S. Ali

86.1 Introduction

Balancing work and family life has become a great challenge for almost every or-
ganization. Work-life concerns have tremendously become important for both em-
ployers and employees, and these issues are a universal worldwide phenomenon.
Research implies that the necessity for work and family policies is being driven by
demographical changes in societies. The work and family life issues are growing
intricate due to a range of factors including increased participation of women and
mothers into work places [15], and the escalation of couples in dual career [9].
In 2004 a survey of work-life balance was conducted by Community Business
which reported that out of 1,000 respondents around 75% were going through pres-
sure and complained about their unhealthy balance between work and personal lives
[5]. Growing level of stress can swiftly result in poor productivity, low employee
morale and decline in job satisfaction. Increasing number of employees is putting
across considerable emphasis over work time and the pressure resulting from work-
load [3, 8]. Former studies confirmed that the benefits of executing family friendly
policies in organizations can considerably address better productivity, increased em-
ployee morale and job satisfaction [14]. Also providing work-life balance policies
can influence employees attachment to their work and they may contribute with
better loyalty and improved morale [7].
Different researchers suggest different definitions for “work and family” or
“family-friendly workplaces” escorted by a number of different policies including
leave for maternity, sickness, emergencies, career breaks and extended leaves [12].
While according to Johns [13], family friendly policies includes flexible working
arrangements, career break schedules, job sharing, part-time work, family leaves,
and assistance with elder care and child care responsibilities.
During 21st century’s initial era, stronger outlook of economy and hastened
growth in various sectors have been resulted by reforms in Pakistan’s wide econ-
omy. Pakistan has been exposed by improved living standards due to economic in-
vestments. Pakistan being a communal country has always shared the values and
traditions of male breadwinner-female homemaker model but now these traditions
are changing due to many factors like women entering in workforce, more broken
homes, both parents working etc which results in a greater need to integrate both
work and family life.
In Pakistan the higher education system is comprised of two main sectors; one
is the sector of affiliated colleges and the other is the sector of university/Degree
Awarding Institutes (DAI). The Higher Education Commission is an apex indepen-
dent body responsible for giving out public funds to DAIs and universities from the
federal government and also accrediting their degree programs. In recent years, the
higher education commission in Pakistan has undergone a revival after almost about
two decades of serious ignorance. The condition started to overturn itself in the early
2000s, with the government presenting a clear dedication towards improving higher
education.
There are total of almost 133 universities in Pakistan, out of which 73 are Pub-
lic sector universities and Private universities are 63 which are functioning under