The conception of work-life balance (WLB) was developed in the 1970s when women began to enter the workforce, according to an article published by Positive Psychology. Back then, working women were expected implicitly to juggle professional responsibilities with family-life commitments, giving rise to the concept of “work-family balance.” More males are taking on domestic tasks and childcare as gender norms have blurred. Work-family balance has assumed the title of work-life balance. At the same time, the relatively new concept of work-life balance is directed more to women.
What is WLB?
It is a basic understanding that in life that there are presumably 2 major domains: work and personal. Women in leadership roles should be able to maintain an equilibrium between their personal and professional domains, handling WLB conflicts. Going in-depth, WLB implies the following:
- Crossover between work and life demands should be seamless.
- Equal time, energy, and effort should be applied to all roles.
- Performance and functions across various work-life aspects should be optimal.
- Next to nothing conflict between work and personal roles.
How does WLB benefit women?
- Women can fulfill their cross-domain tasks. There will be no necessity to use duty hours for non-work commitments or take sick leaves for personal errands.
- When women have more time for outside of work requirements, they are more motivated and productive. The likelihood to resign also drops.
- Women will enjoy improved job satisfaction and the risk for illnesses and stress-induced issues are mitigated.
What is work-life integration?
It implies that work and personal life are entirely disparate domains, unlike WLB which overlaps work and life.
How is it possible to achieve WLB?
While some theorists and professionals are still skeptical that WLB can be achieved, there is enough evidence to demonstrate that enhancing workplace and home environments can help WLB be achieved optimally. WLB is very customized because it is not susceptible to universality. No two persons attain WLB in the same way. In collaboration with eCornell, Genashtim is proud to introduce the Women in Product certificate. Women leaders and women aspiring to assume leadership roles will benefit greatly from this program.
eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRD Corp Malaysia under its SBL-Khas Scheme.