DIMENSIONS OF WORK LIFE BALANCE – MEASUREMENT MODEL TESTING

Abstract

Though work life balance has been an area where serious discussions are happening, due to the multiple roles of women and increase in the number of dual earner families, it is confined to the implications on the society and individual outcomes. Moreover, most of the studies have been conducted in the western scenario where organisations have implemented programmes that promote work life balance way before such studies saw light in India.  The problems existing in the sector and the unexplored constructs in the sphere of WLB have prompted this research which is an attempt to identify the dimensions of work life balance of women employees and to develop a model using data from a subset of Kochi's IT companies in order to better understand the dimensions of work-life balance. The results of the study would help the women employed in the IT sector of the metropolitan city of Kochi as well as the industry practitioners the significance of the various dimensions of work life balance and the impact of work and family domain variables on work life imbalance. The study relies on the fundamental concepts drawn from literature relating to previous research works on the antecedents and outcomes work life balance, and understands the concept as a function of demands, Work Involvement(WI), Family Involvement (FI)Work-family conflict(WFC),Family-work conflict(FWC) Quality of work life (QWL) and Quality of family life (QFL) that could lead to Satisfaction with work life balance(SWLB) and Improved effectiveness at work (IEW)

Key words- work life balance, WorkInvolvement, Family Involvement, Work family conflict, Family work conflict,Quality of work life, Quality of Family life, Satisfaction with work life balance, Improved work effectiveness, IT sector.