Keeping Work-Life Balance for Sustainable Performance

Creativity and productivity is important for a successful career. Businesses that fill themselves with motivated producers are also more likely to succeed. Maintaining one’s career can be difficult unless a proper balance between the employee’s personal needs and career needs are properly balance. All work and no play can make anyone off balance and less productive that will eventually damage corporate competitiveness.

Productivity is sustained when employees have a level of satisfaction with their jobs. Work-life is a major contributor and catalyst to job satisfaction (Rama Devi & Nagini, 2014). Without that balance employees can burnout or become bored resulting in lower productivity and frequent job hopping.

Most jobs can be stressful but some are more stressful than most and therefore maintain higher incidents of burn out. Air traffic controllers and stock brokers are some examples of fast paced pressure cooker jobs. Developing work life balance can help them decompress, relax, and move forward in their careers. 

Sometimes it is the very nature of the job that doesn't allow for proper work life balance. In this case the employer should be designing programs to help in this respect if long hours, fuzzy work boarders, and job demands are excessive. It could save the company a lot of money from improved work productivity and lower illness rates. 

Not all companies agree that work life balance is necessary. To such employers the productivity gains don't justify the cost of implementing programs. Those companies that do have work life programs generally have a higher percentage of women (Konrad & Mangel, 2000). Perhaps they have experienced the necessity from family-work overload.

Work-life balance is beneficial for employees and the organizations in which they work. It is a longer-term strategy that seeks to help employees find a balance that can be sustained for a longer period of time. When an employee obtains an appropriate balance of their time and interest they will be more satisfied and likely to be retained longer in the company leading to higher intellectual capital and skill. 

Konrad, A. & Mangel, R. (2000). The impact of work-life programs on firm productivity. Strategic Management Journal, 21 (12). 

Rama Devi, V. & Nagani, A (2014). Work-life balance and burnout as predictors of job satisfaction in private banking sector. Skyline Business Journal, 9 (1).

Using “Life Satisfaction” to Retain Skilled Military Officers and Employees

Most of us want to feel fulfilled in our personal and work lives while contributing to society. Whether one is trying to retain people in the workplace or in the military keeping the best and brightest engaged is important for organizational success. Proyer, et. al. (2012) examined Swiss Career Officers work and life satisfaction along with their orientation to happiness, and its relation to career success. The results can be applied to both civilian and military organizations. 

Most of us want to feel as though we have a solid purpose for making our way into the office every day. It is difficult to stay motivated or feel satisfied if work is something more akin to money alone versus the greater benefits it can provide. Thinking beyond one’s tasks to something more important can make a significant difference in how we feel about our jobs. 

The same concept applies to both military officers and civilian workers. Most people don’t join the military for pay alone but may consider a military career for other concepts such as greater good, national security, or “making the world a better place”. Each may find their own motivations but it is the connection to something bigger that makes the difference in our minds. 

Those who experience more creative flow at work also report greater work satisfaction, positive moods, and innovation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).  People who feel good about their jobs, lose conception of time in their work functions, and contribute to a greater good seem to be more innovative and happy. This creative flow helps in retention of bright minds but also in the overall productive development of the organization.

The study helped bring forward the idea that those who identify with what they are doing, have high autonomy to be creative, and have high interest in their functions also seem to be happier and engaged in life. An engaged life seems to encourage life satisfaction while finding meaning with work tasks improves upon work satisfaction. 

Military retention is important for bright officers and capitalizing on their training, strength and skills. The same concept applies to civilian workplaces where knowledge, skills and abilities should be retained in order to avoid loss of future capabilities. Helping officers and employees find a connection to the greater meaning of their work and use a variety of skills with their work tasks not only helps the organization grow but also helps the officers and employees feel satisfied.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: HarperCollins.

Proyer, R. et. al. (2012). Assessing the “good life” in military context: how does life and work-satisfaction relate to orientations to happiness and career-success among Swiss professional officers? Social Indicators Research, 106 (3).

Life Satisfaction as a Predictor of Optimism in Hotel and Tourism Students

It is hard to be motivated if you are not optimistic about life. The greatest asset students have is their optimism and the desire to create the lives they seek. In college optimism keeps students focused and working on their long-term goals which are often broken down into little steps of studying and making choices over their lives. Research helps shed some light on how optimism and life satisfaction work together to create higher levels positive outlook in hotel and tourism education.

Employee’s perceptions are an integral part of developing their approaches to the work environment and their personal lives. Perception leads to behavioral rituals employees use to navigate their environment (Kagitcibasi, 1992). The rituals will run throughout their working lifetimes unless they are questioned or adjusted by important new self-understandings.  

When employee viewpoints are optimistic by nature they have the benefit of developing stronger rituals that help them achieve their goals. When a person has an optimistic outlook, they can develop better strategies for perception, problem-solving, interpretation, decision-making and even relationships with other employees (Oner-Koruklu, 2010).  It is these positive self-images and optimistic outlooks that help employees and organizations become more productive.

Life satisfaction comes when a person believes they can influence their environment and have positive beliefs about their likelihood to achieve goals. Life satisfaction can be defined as the ability of a person to develop a point of view about life quality under their own judgments (Rode, 2004). It can be seen as a process in which individuals try and reach their own goals and make concrete conclusions about their chances.

Optimism and satisfaction are similar by nature but slightly different by definition. If one is optimistic about their future opportunities as well as come to their own conclusion that their quality of life is high they will have two important components for career development. It is important to help students develop this optimism and satisfaction to sustain them in the development of their careers once they leave college. 

Research conducted by Unuvar, Avsaroglu & Selahattin (2012) of college students in the school of Tourism and Hotel Management  at Selcuk University in Turkey during the spring semesters of 2010 and 2011 assessed life satisfaction and optimism. The goal was to predict optimism by life satisfaction and determine how this impacts student’s outlook. 

Results: 

-Females had higher levels of life satisfaction and more optimistic than men. 

-There is an association with income level increases and life satisfaction and optimism.

-When income levels raise so does life satisfaction and optimism. 

-Students in the tourism industry have a medium level of life satisfaction.

-Positive levels of optimism from students.

-There is a positive relationship between optimism and satisfaction.

Analysis: 

College students in the Hotel and Tourism Management programs have high levels of optimism about their future work arrangements and a moderate level of life satisfaction. The research helps to highlight that optimism is a particularly strong and potent part of motivation to continue studies and work toward career options. Maintaining and growing optimism may help in maintaining levels of effort and motivation. Programs should understand how their language, teaching methods, and approaches influence this optimistic viewpoint. 

Kagitcibasi, C. (1992). Nsan ve nsanlar. Basm. Istanbul, Evrim Yaymcilik.

Oner-Koruklu, N. (2010). Ki ileraras leti im ve Etkili leti im. Ankara, Pegem Akademi.

Rode, J. (2004). Job satisfaction and life satisfaction revisited: a longitudinal test of an integrated model. Human Relations, 57 (9).

Unuvar, S., Avsaroglu, S. & Ulsu, M. (2012). An evaluation of optimism and life satisfaction of undergraduate students in the school of tourism and hotel management. Asian Social Science, 8 (12).