IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM)
e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 19, Issue 5. Ver. V. (May. 2017), PP 35-38
www.iosrjournals.org
 Work Life Balance of Female Employees in Private Institutions,
                  Gwalior: An Investigation
                                                  Mansi Tiwari
       Assistant professor, Amity Business School, Amity University Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior, 474005
Abstract: Employees are key asset of the organization & it becomes more obligatory for the employers when it
comes to female employees. Female employees are playing dual role, one at the workplace and another at their
home. It is difficult for them to manage both the side. Researcher investigated about how the lives of female
employees are getting affected due to improper balances in their professional & personal life. This paper also
reveals about what is more obstructing, family obstructs work or work obstructs family and how these
imbalances are creating problems like stress, intention to leave, burnout on the part of female employees. This
study also recommends what else could be done to improve the work life balances in the life of female
employees especially.
Key Words: Work Life Balances, Female employees, stress
                                             I.     Introduction
          Work & life both are the important aspect for any of the organization to manage. This is kind of a
situation where as an employee one needs to balance the status between personal & professional lives. They
need to understand how much & how long they require to work hard so that at the end it is going to be win- win
situation for a employee in context of satisfaction from work & professional life both.
          Females are the most delicate employee for any of the organization as they were always being
discriminated in our society but some they are trying to mange to deal with such discriminations successfully.
As our tradition is concern female is always to be more responsive towards their family responsibilities but now
as they are also more active professional world so they are equally responsive towards their work also.
          Sometimes, it becomes when it comes to married female employees to face the hardships of
professional world where they have to be 100 % effective at work place as competition is very high. But, does
this race of becoming expertise in their profession is making female employees more compromising for their
employer over their families or creating dilemma what to choose or priority either work or family.
          We can see there is a growth in participation of female employees in professional fields making us to
realize about their potential to handle simultaneously family & work life. But, the present scenario employees
are working so hard as compared to earlier times & it results in difficulty to achieve desired work life balances.
Effective balance for working women becomes difficult as they marry some additional responsibility takes place
& they become bigger as female become mother which makes them in under pressure to continue with their
career. Working females are balancing with all the problems at home as well as at work. They are managing
effectively the following components –
1. Self Management
2. Time Management
3. Stress Management
4. Technological management &
5. Change Management
                                            II.     Methodology
         Both primary & secondary data is used by researcher. The data is collected by semi-structured
questionnaire by surveying 150 females working in private organization. For this study different type private
firms have been taken because females work under pressure there. The following table 1 shows the description
about the demographic of sample.
            Demographic (Age)                        No. of Respondents
            20 or Below                              15
            21 – 30                                  45
            31 – 45                                  30
            46 & above                               60
            Total                                    150
            Organization Type                        No of Respondents
            Academic                                 45
DOI: 10.9790/487X-1905053538                               www.iosrjournals.org                         35 | Page
              Work Life Balance of Female Employees in Private Institutions, Gwalior: An Investigation
             Health Care                                     38
             Marketing                                       32
             Insurance                                       35
             Total                                           150
             No. of Children                                 No. of Respondents
             One                                             46
             Two                                             47
             Three or More                                   21
             None                                            36
             Total                                           150
                                            Table 2:- Statements & opinions
    State me nts                       Strongly       Disagree        So me       Agree          Strongly   Total
                                       Disagree                       what                       Agree      Percentage
                                                                      Agree                                 &
                                                                                                            Frequency
    My work & my home obstruct         6              4               21          91             28         150
    each other                         (4.11%)        (2.66%)         (14%)       (60.66%)       (18.66%)   (100%)
    I am able to handle the needs of   42             53              30          15             10         150
    my family & my work both           (28.10%)       (35.33%)        (20%)       (10%)          (6.66%)    (100%)
    I less enjoy my work due to        10             16              21          73             30         150
    imbalances in my work – life       (6.66%)        (10.66%)        (14.10%)    (48.66%)       (20%)      (100%)
    I can quit my job if another       5              18              28          50             49         150
    balanced job I’ll get              (3.33%)        (12.10%)        (18.66)     (33.33%)       (32.66%)   (100%)
                                        III.       Result And Discussions
To find out the exact status of work life balance of female employees of private organization the interpretation
of opinion has been appended below-
 In table 2, we can the response towards the statement “My work & my home obstruct each other” only 4.11
    %( strongly disagreement) + 2.66% (disagree) of respondents showed their total disagreement about 6.77%
    which means that there work & their family do not obstruct each other. Whereas 14% (Somewhat Agree) +
    60.66% (Agree) + 18.66% (Agree Strongly) which means total 93.32% of females believes that their work
    & family obstructs each other. This indicates that this work life & simultaneously family life is creating
    many problems in the life of female employees.
 As regard to the statement, “I am able to handle the needs of my family & my work both” 28.10% (Strongly
    Disagree) + 35.33 (Disagree) showed around total 63.43 %. Whereas 20% (somewhat agree) + 10 %
    (Agree) + 6.66% (strongly agree) shows total agreement 36.66% to it. It shows that many females are
    facing in handling their work & family needs where as those are able to do so might be because of their
    profession in which they are working.
 The statement “I less enjoy my work due to imbalances in my work – life” shows that 6.66% (strongly
    disagree) + 10.66% (disagree) which indicate around 17.32% of female employees are enjoying their job
    against rest of those who 14.10% (somewhat agree) + 48.66% (Agree) + 20% (strongly agree) total 82.76 %
    working females are not enjoying their work. It reveals that the major section of working females in private
    jobs is not happy whereas very few females are enjoying their work that again may be because of their easy
    nature of job.
 One more statement is there, “I can quit my job if another balanced job I’ll get”, is revealing the fact that
    major percentage of female employees in private firms would like to change their job if they will get
    another balanced opportunity. The study shows 18.66% (somewhat agree) + 33.33% (Agree) + 32.66%
    (strongly agree) in total 84.65 % of female will change their jobs. Only few would like to be with the same
    employer as again it depends on the nature of work or other factors to it. The total disagreed female’s
    percentage is 15.43 %.
                                                    Table – 3
 Effects of family Obstructions on Work
 Statements                          Strongly     Disagree    Some what     Agree         Strongly Agree    Total percentage &
                                     Disagree                 agree                                         frequency
 In doing my job my family life got 11            10          19            60            50                150
 more interrupted                    (7.33%)      (6.66%)     (12.66%)      (40.02%)      (33.33%)          (100%)
 My family (partner/ parents) are 14              11          25            53            47                150
 very supportive in balancing my (9.33%)          (7.33%)     (16.66%)      (35.33%)      (31.33%)          (100%)
 work life
 Effects of Work Obstructions on Family
 Due to my job, I regularly face 15               27          38            47            23                150
 problems in my family               (10%)        (18%)       (25.33%)      (31.33%)      (15.33%)          (100%)
 My company is very supportive in
 balancing      my     personal  & 27             58          30            23            12                150
 professional life too               (18%)        (38.66%)    (20%)         (15.33%)      (8%)              (100%)
DOI: 10.9790/487X-1905053538                                      www.iosrjournals.org                               36 | Page
             Work Life Balance of Female Employees in Private Institutions, Gwalior: An Investigation
         From the above table number- 3 it can be seen how work & family creates problems & how they are
considered as a a difficult task to balance the both personal & professional life. The below mentioned statements
regarding the effects of family obstructions on work explaining about-
 “In doing my job my family life got more interrupted”, where 12.66% (some what agree) + 40.02% (Agree)
    + 33.33%(strongly agree) which is in total -86.01% of women employee’s family got disturbed due to their
    professional work where as only 7.33%(Strongly disagree)+ 6.66% (Disagree) which is total -13.98% of
    women employees are not having this issue of getting disturbed by their work.
 In the statement “My family (partner/ parents) are very supportive in balancing my work life” , the findings
    reveals that 16.66% ( somewhat agree) + 35.33% (Agree) + 31.33% (strongly agree) which shows that
    83.32% of female employees are getting full support from their family members, whereas only
    9.33%(strongly disagree) + 7.33% ( disagree) which means total 16.66% of total females are facing
    problems in terms of support from their family members.
    When researcher tried to analyze the effect of work obstruction on family the findings were like this-
 “Due to my job, I regularly face problems in my family”, in answer to this question 10% (strongly disagree)
    + 18% (disagree) in total disagreement is 28% of female are denying about the problems in family due to
    their jobs but parallel major section of female employee’s is agreeing to this which is like 25.33%
    (somewhat agree) + 31.33% (agree) + 15.33% (strongly agree) in total agreement -71.99% of female facing
    problems in their family because of their work.
 The statement like “My company is very supportive in balancing my personal & professional life too”, the
    respondents were 18% (strongly disagree) + 38.66% (disagree) which shows total disagreement – 56.66%
    whereas 20% (somewhat agree) + 15.33% (agree) + 8 % (strongly agree) which shows total agreement –
    43.33%. it may be because of changes in policies of employers.
                                          IV.        Major Findings
1.   As per the opinion around 93.32 % of female employees believes that their work & their family obstruct
     each other & which may be because of the challenging demands of the today’s environment.
2.   Around 36.66 % of females saying that they are able to meet the demands & needs of their work & family
     both which could be because they might be in a profession where they will be getting their space & time to
     manage it but, major percentage of females are denying this.
3.   82.76% of female employees enjoy less at their work place due to the undue pressures of their work place.
     These pressures are making them more depressive in coping with the advancements in every field.
4.    84.65% of female employees wish to change their current job if they will get the new job through which
     they can more balance their work & family life.
5.   As per the evaluation of effects of family on work, 86.01 % of female believes that their family is affected
     more due to their job but, surprisingly 83.32 % of female employees are getting full support from their
     parents & partners to be in job. This finding is enough motivating to understand about the women
     empowerment from the family side.
6.   Similarly, when effects of work obstruction seen on family the findings were like around 71.99 % of female
     employees are compromising with their family obligations due to their job & 56.66 % of female employees
     are saying that their employers are not supportive in managing their work & their family life.
                                                V.     Suggestion
1.   Females should be given more opportunities or plate forms where they can explore their strength to better
     utilize at their workplace which further may result in effective balance with the changing environment.
2.   They should be allowed to work in official hours only. Employer should not impose double time work or
     extra work load on them.
3.   Facilities like crèches, transportation should be maintained by employer on large scale if the female number
     of employees is there.
4.   Females should also be given more option for working from home facilities so that on urgent basis they are
     at home & at their job also.
5.   If females are working then employer should also provide residential facilities to them as per their status of
     marriage & family or if they do not belongs to the local area. It would be helping them in doing their jobs
     tension free.
                                            VI.        Conclusion
        As per the findings of the study females are really doing tough work to manage their family & their
work responsibilities. There is lot of support from family is given to them to work effectively but at the same
time most of the organization are found not to be cooperative & supportive to them. This is difficult for them to
manage at both the side. Female are coming out of their family limitations but we are not supporting them, there
DOI: 10.9790/487X-1905053538                               www.iosrjournals.org                          37 | Page
              Work Life Balance of Female Employees in Private Institutions, Gwalior: An Investigation
is lack of understanding. Female can be more fruitful & effective as the employees if policy implementation
should be done on regular basis which will help them to manage more family & work life in a better way. In
Gwalior there is a scenario due to which female prefer more jobs in teaching area as it is considered as the safest
job for them. But, teaching or academic institutions do not have full fledge policies in regards to crèches,
transportation etc. The employer should consider it as it is important to give support & as well as it is important
for the growth of state & country also.
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DOI: 10.9790/487X-1905053538                                           www.iosrjournals.org                                    38 | Page