Impact of Work-Life Balance Practices on Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Abstract

Work-life balance (WLB) is now viewed as an important strategy for managing Human Resources, which will help employees to successfully manage their work obligations with their personal responsibilities. Companies have recently been facing many difficulties in keeping talented employees due to changes in how workers view work, advances in technology and the way companies operate. If employees perceive they are overworked and/or stressed out and/or do not get enough personal time; then they typically exhibit low levels of job satisfaction and high levels of intent to leave. As such, organizations are developing flexible work arrangements, wellness programs, family friendly policies, and employee assistance programs to help increase job satisfaction and retention. This study investigated the effect of Work Life Balance (WLB) practices on employee satisfaction and retention among employees employed by three organizations. In today's business world, organizations are beginning to realize the importance of balancing the needs of both a worker's professional life with the requirements of their personal life in order to maintain positive employee well-being and minimize employee turnover. The study was conducted using a quantitative methodological design utilizing a survey instrument to collect data from 199 randomly sampled employees from three different organizations. The statistical techniques used include descriptive statistics, reliability estimates, correlations and multiple regressions, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Independent Sample T-Test, Factor Analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results indicate that flexible working schedules, leave policies, wellness programs for employees, and the opportunity to telecommute were all significant predictors of employee satisfaction (ES)  & employee retention (ER). The results of this study conclude that organizations that implement effective WLB strategies will be able to achieve greater employee commitment and lower turnover rates.