Term Paper
On
Managerial Practices & Organizational
Behavior
Topic : Worklife Balance of Working Women
Submitted To : Submitted By :
Prof. Deepali Sharma Sarang Khanwalkar
MBA I – LIM
RT1903-A06
R.N.-10905721
Date : 01/12/2009
CONTENTS
Introduction Page 1
Conceptual Framework Page 4
Women Empowerment Page 6
Women : Work & Family Page 10
Some Tips for Worklife Balance Page 13
Restarting Woman’s Careers Page 16
Introduction
Times have changed. From the time the husband earned, and the wife stayed at home. To the
time now when the husband earns and the wife earns too. But the wife still cooks and washes and
runs the house. So, how does she balance her work with life at home?
Although, over the years women in India have struggled to establish an identity & create a mark
in the social as well as in the organizational platforms, but with educational institutions training
more and more women to enter professional careers, have drastically changed the scenario.
Infact, between 1991 and 2001 female employment in India on the whole, have increased by
3.6% per annum. Within the professional world, which reflects India's small but growing middle
class more than the country as a whole, the phenomenon of Indian women "breaking through the
glass ceiling" is perhaps more muted. Even, despite legal provisions made by acts like those of
the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 (which promulgates equal payment for equal work,
regardless of gender & prohibits gender discrimination in hiring practices), the so-called "glass
ceiling" is perhaps still very prevalent within organizations.
This article would highlight the various values, attitudes & beliefs of women regarding job
anxiety in their formal work organizations & particularly balancing their work & personal life.
Work Life Balance (WLB) is not a new concept.
Let's first define what work-life balance is not. Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal
balance. Trying to schedule an equal number of hours for each of your various work and
personal activities is usually unrewarding and unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than
that. Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on a daily basis. The right
balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow. The right balances for you
when you are single will be different when you marry, or if you have children; when you start a
new career versus when you are nearing retirement. There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance
you should be striving for. The best work- life balance is different for each of us because we all
have different priorities and different lives. However, at the core of an effective work-life
balance definition are two key everyday concepts that are relevant to each of us. They are daily
Achievement and Enjoyment, ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity. Engraining a fuller
meaning of these two concepts takes us most of the way to defining a positive Work-Life
Balance.
The change in the pattern of work and the concept of the workplace after the industrial revolution
in the second half of the 18th century gave a new dimension to the concept of WLB. As time
progressed, nuclear families increased. A later change was the fading away of the "ideal home"
in which the earning member's spouse took care of the home.
With improved education and employment opportunities today, most homes are ones in which
both parents work, because of necessity and the desire to augment incomes.
The need to create congenial conditions in which employees can balance work with their
personal needs and desires became a factor that companies had to take note of both to retain
them as well as to improve productivity. It was a compulsion that they couldn't afford to ignore.
Having realized that, companies started introducing schemes to attract and retain employees and
improve their productivity.
Why Work Life Balance is Important to Women? Today's career women are continually
challenged by the demands of full-time work and when the day is done at the office, they carry
more of the responsibilities and commitments to home. The majority of women are working 40-
45 hours per week and 53% are struggling to achieve work/life balance. Women reported that
their lives were a juggling act that included multiple responsibilities at work, heavy meeting
schedules, business trips, on top of managing the daily routine responsibilities of life and home.
"Successfully achieving work/life balance will ultimately create a more satisfied workforce that
contributes to productivity and success in the workplace." Employers can facilitate WLB with
many schemes that can attract women employees and satisfy their needs.
Some of these are
* Facilities for child care
* Financial planning services for employees who need them
* Flexi-timings
* Work sharing
* Part time employment
* Leave plans - both paid and unpaid - to suit employee's needs
* Subsidized food plans
* Insurance plans
* Counseling services for problems like managing work and the home
* Rest rooms, food preparation services
* Jobs with autonomy and flexibility
* Realistic work loads
* Review of work processes to see if the burden on employees can be lightened Maintaining
dialogue with the employees and considering their suggestions on a continuous basis
Work-life
Can women be both sharers and careers Often, working women drop out of the work force when
they are doing well, simply because they wanted to stay at home with their children, or care for
an ageing parent. Or for both reasons. And then there are women who have children later in life
because they want to work for reasons of personal satisfaction or for the money. So, can a
woman have it all? The working woman should refuse to take on too much. She should adopt a
sense of priorities.
If she has children, she should teach them to share responsibilities. But what about the husband?
Has he changed at all anywhere in the world?
Surprisingly, a survey in the UK revealed that a majority of men want a 50/50 partnership with
their wives both at work and home. They no longer see themselves as macho men. They want to
spend more time with their children. Has the Indian man kept pace with the times? Can women
achieve a work-life balance? The changing Equations of New Era The Changing Equations The
Machine Age The Industrial Age The Networked Age Stress High Higher Highest Work- Life
balance You went to work-life started only when you go home Not only are people working at
work, but also at home 24-hour workdays split into compartments dedicated for 'life' Women and
Work The men worked and women tended the house Both men and women worked, and women
still tended the house Both men and women work and tend to the house.
Framework for successful Work-Life Balance in organizations
* Identify the key need or reason for introducing Work-Life Balance policies
* Build the commitment to Work-Life Balance Policies into the organization ' s vision or value
statement
* Set up a Work-Life Balance Task Force Examine current practices in the organization
* Hold joint discussions with employees to evolve policies, while also identifying possible
barriers
* Communicate policies through handbooks, newsletters, Intranet and other forms of
communication
* Hold workshops to help Managers implement and manage policies
* Begin with a few "quick win" policies
Monitor implementation and put feedback systems into place In India, there is a starting point in
that organizations have recognized the need for and value of Work-Life Balance policies. An
integral part of our lives is our profession. Just as there is responsibility and opportunity in life,
our careers are also guided by opportunities and responsibilities. We must ensure that these two
factors don't work at cross purposes. Quality of life is something we all covet, every profession
affects life in general and every profession has a duty towards life.
Top 5 Strategies to Strike a Balance
* Budget your time both in and out of the office - Schedule your time efficiently at work. Put
yourself on your calendar and take some time for you and your family / friends. Leave work on
time at least three days per week - There are times when working late just can't be helped, but
schedule your time to leave on time three days per week.
* Control interruptions and distractions - Stay focused while in the office, and budget your time
effectively. Try to schedule a block of time during the day without meetings when you can focus
on your tasks with minimal interruptions.
* Explore the availability of flex-time - Research flex-time options within your organization. If
available, it may be a helpful solution.
* Seize the weekend - Plan your time off as you plan your work week.
* Schedule activities with family and friends, a weekend trip, or just something fun. Make your
time away from work count!
Conclusion for working women, getting caught in the work/life balance trap will continue to be
an ongoing challenge. Careful planning and personal effort is the advice from those who have
found balance in both career and home life. As one respondent summarized, "Plan, prioritize and
schedule as efficiently as possible... and don't be afraid of hard work!" Work-life balance is a
person's control over the conditions in their workplace. It is accomplished when an individual
feels dually satisfied about their personal life and their paid occupation. It mutually benefits the
individual, business and society when a person ' s personal life is balanced with his or her own
job. The work-life balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress levels and increase
job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits for the employer. In our
increasingly hectic world, the work-life strategy seeks to find a balance between work and play.
A sentence that brings the idea of work life balance to the point is: "Work to live. Don't live to
work."
Women Empowerment : A Boon to Working Women
Milestones & Challenges
Empowerment is now increasingly seen as a process by which the one's without power gain
greater control over their lives. This means control over material assets, intellectual
resources and ideology. It involves power to, power with and power within. Some define
empowerment as a process of awareness and conscientization, of capacity building leading
to greater participation, effective decision-making power and control leading to
transformative action. This involves ability to get what one wants and to influence others on
our concerns. With reference to women the power relation that has to be involved includes
their lives at multiple levels, family, community, market and the state. Importantly it involves
at the psychological level women's ability to assert themselves and this is constructed by
the'gender roles' assigned to her specially in a cultural which resists change like India.
The questions surrounding women's empowerment the condition and position of women
have now become critical to the human rights based approaches to development. The Cairo
conference in 1994 organized by UN on Population and Development called attention to
women's empowerment as a central focus and UNDP developed the Gender Empowerment
measure (GEM) which focuses on the three variables that reflect women's participation in
society – political power or decision-making, education and health. 1995 UNDP report was
devoted to women's empowerment and it declared that if human development is not
engendered it is endangered a declaration which almost become a lei motif for further
development measuring and policy planning. Equality, sustainability and empowerment were
emphasized and the stress was, that women's emancipation does not depend on national
income but is an engaged political process.
Education
Women's education is extremely important intrinsically as it is their human right and required
for the flourishing of many of their capacities.
It is, however, noticed that most programmes for education of girls and women in India have
reinforced Gender roles specially motherhood in curriculum as well as impact evaluation.
The huge study of nearly 94% of India's population done by Drez and others looks at female
literacy and its negative and statistically significant impact on child mortality.
The questions of power are interlinked and we understand that what is necessary is both
objective power in terms of economic resources, laws, institutional roles and norms held by
others as well as subjective power in terms of self efficacy and entitlements. Empowerment
of women is closely related to formal and informal sources of education. Late 19th century &
20th century reformers advocated women's education as a principal strategy to answer the
'women's question'. Many innovative efforts are accelerated after the NPE. In UP a renewal
process of correcting gender stereotyping was initiated in 1998 looking at textbooks and
training besides infrastructure and community mobilization. There is marked improvement in
girls enrollment and steady decline in drop out rates.
Despite statistically positive trends closer studies show that privileged spaces in classrooms
are occupied by boys. Girls are rarely addressed by their names. Girls sit in last rows in
classes of mathematics and rarely muster courage enough to come close to the board where
the teacher sits (usually a male in most remote areas? Private school initiative for gender
concerns is rare Madarsas have large number of girls but like convents and Arya Kanya
Pathshala's gender transformation is not their agenda. Moral science text books still have
preponderance of men. Women as agents of social reform are not mentioned. CSO efforts
have very often shown greater enhancement of girls self-esteem but in many cases there is
poor cognitive development generally attributed to low paid, low qualified but highly
motivated instructor. Kanya Vidya Dhan, free uniforms, mid-day meal, school attached
crèche, mothers meetings have all had positive results.
In various surveys conducted by ISST it has been apparent that parental apathy or
opposition to girl child education is fast reading even in traditional male dominated states of
north Indian. Given the right infrastructure-schools located in neighbourhoods, preferably
with female teachers parents would allow girls to study "as long as they would like to". It may
however be noticed as evidenced by researchers, the same families who are willing to see
girls in college react violently if the girl decides to choose her partner in marriage or
challenge other norms of feminine behavior.
Political Participation
Women's political participation has been considered a major measure of women's
empowerment. Globally, through histories of the world we have records of very few regents,
sovereigns, and active agents in nobility who were women. Champions of liberalism like
John Stuart Mill had advocated women's participation in governance by the struggle for
women suffrage in the self avowed liberal west very well illustrates the entrenched nature of
Patriarchical resistance to women's empowerment. In the last century more women heads of
state could be counted in Asia as compared to Europe and the struggle for women suffrage
in India was physically less violent but this is not reflective of greater acceptance of women
in decision-making in public spaces.
To measure women's empowerment now GEM takes 3 indicators, women's participation in
economic, political and professional activities. Within political power what is measured is
mainly women in parliament, judiciary or in local bodies. Women's empowerment or
disempowerment has to be seen in all areas physical, socio cultural religious, political legal
and economic.
It is also now often pointed out that women's empowerment must be seen as a process
where in we must consider women's awareness consciousness, choices with live
alternatives, resources at their disposal, voice, agency and participation. These are all
related to enhancement of women's capabilities and decisions they take individually or
collectively for themselves.
Several programmes in India like Mahila Samakhya have accepted the process nature of
women's empowerment. The understandings of empowerment in PACS has also been
similar but planning of activity, time and budgets to ensure the empowering processes
needgreater scrutiny. Women's education, livelihood and personal exercise of agency have to be
systematically promoted .
The 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution have impacted nearly 600 million Indian
people in 500,000 villages. Interestingly the percentage of women at various levels of
political activity have risen from 4-5% to 25-40%. Both nationally as well as at the state and
local levels women in elected bodies have been very few and even those who have been
elected when observed from closer quarters present a complex picture. The money and
muscle associated with the electoral process inhibits a large number of women from joining
politics. Restriction on mobility, lack of control over resources and low literacy rates are well
known obstacles but recent panchayat elections have evidenced a phenomenally large
number of elected leaders much beyond reserved 33% seats. Areas where PACS, Mahila
Samakhya or other CSO initiatives are working women are more articulate and vigilant and
have used opportunity to improve ICPS centres, primary schools sanitation and have also
publicly dealt with issues of misbehavour with girls, violence and alcoholism as well as
sensitive issues of widowed women dressing in coloured clothes. Women are increasingly
demanding not only basis but also land literacy and fuller longer trainings instead of being
short changed through orientations.
It is obvious that a more active Gram Sabha which is sensitive to women's specific issues is
a much desired goal as a woman sarpanch or BDC member in a gender hostile panchayat
may not be able to accomplish and sustain much for the benefit of women or the village
community at large. More women in grass root organizations; better law and order will
ensure better engagement of women in decision-making.
More than one million women have now entered political life in India and 43% of the seats
are occupied by them district, province and national level. Women's participation is
understood in terms of voter turn out, number of women contestants apart from the number
of those who succeeded in winning.
In an interesting study sponsored by State Planning Commission in U.P. 2006 about 45%
women both rural and urban reported being influenced by men of the family (father/husband)
in decision-making in the exercise of their ballot. 9 per cent reported external influence while
46 per cent exercise independent choice.
However, the battle to make the PRI's affective instruments of local rural governance is a
battle, a struggle of the grass roots, population (women and men) against administrative
apathy and listlessness, against ignorance and low awareness. For women these odds are
accompanied and intermeshed with deep rooted patriarchal practices that determine and
sanction norms of speech and behaviour both within and outside the home.
Thus while Pre election trainings of voluntary organisations and CSVOs serve to build
awareness about the duties, responsibilities of PR's and about voting practices, the
presence and working of women's voluntary organisations at the grass roots have served to
sharpen women's understanding about the operation of patriarchy in personal lives and work
places and the methods and practices to overcome and combat them individually and
collectively.
Organisations such as Mahila Samakhya working to conscientise and organise women in
groups and sanghas are able to address the issue of women and their participation in a two
fold manner. On the one hand they organise intensive training programmes for women PRI
representatives to make them effective functionaries and on the other hand tghere own
programmes with their members within there collectives serve to build a culture of
questioning, critical thinking, collective decision-making and mobilisation on public issues.
Work and the Family
The interaction of adults and children is one to be treasured. When a person becomes a parent
they change. He/she instantly becomes more mature and are forced to take on numerous
responsibilities. However, every parent will agree it is the best feeling one can have. It is truly a
privilege to bring a child into this world, and there is nothing more special than to begin a family.
During this course I choose to help facilitate two chapters: Work and Family and To Parent or
not to Parent. This is what I have learned... This course had three required texts including The
New Peoplemaking by Virginia Satir, Marriages and Families by Mary Ann Lamana and Agnes
Reidmann, and Annual Editions by a variety of authors. These three articles really helped me to
shed light on some of the hidden topics in family life. What exactly is a family? As defined in the
Lamana text it is any sexually expressive or parent-child or other kin relationship in which
people live together with a commitment in an intimate interpersonal relationship. Family
members see their identity as importantly attatched to the group, which has an identity of its
own. Families today take on several forms: single-parent, remarried, dual career, communal,
homosexual, traditional, and so forth. More and more families are struggling to make the
connection of work and family fit together. There are many issues that working families face
such as when if ever will the parents go back to work, child care issues, finances, stress, marital
strain, division of labor, and and many more topics. As tradition has it men are the breadwinners
of the family but during recent years that role seems to be changing. More and more women have
white collar jobs, and are bringing home more money. Tradition leads us to believe that men
bring home all the money and women stay home with the kids. However, now in the 2000's dual
career marriages are more popular , and women are coming home to the "second shift",...
So how does a woman balance work with family? There’s no easy answer to this question that
impacts countless women, but here are some suggestions
Lose the guilt. It’s not like you’re going to a resort every day. You’re at work. As a career
woman, you’re serving as a breadwinner for your family, and that’s an essential role.
Divide the workload fairly. Unless you are a single mom, take the time to negotiate
responsibilities with your partner. Avoid conflict as much as possible by communicating with
your partner about how to distribute the work fairly. Sit down when you’re not angry and
negotiate a fair work distribution. Who’s going to do the grocery shopping and the laundry?.
Who’s going to pick up your child at daycare?
Be in the moment at work or with family. This can be a difficult goal, especially if you work
at home or are expected to bring work home from the office. But when you’re at home, do the
best you can at just being a mom. At work, do the best you can at being committed to your job.
Communicate with your boss and your coworkers. Open a good line of communication with
your boss to make sure you are fully aware of your job expectations and of any concerns about
your work. At the same time, don’t be afraid to insist on reasonable accommodations. You may
need to take sick days off for your child, and if your employers do not accept this without
penalizing you, they are asking for a lawsuit. Communicate with them about things they may not
know you need, like a private place to pump.
Look for smart ways to readjust your schedule. Can you telecommute a few days per week?
Is a flex schedule or part time work possible?
Document anything “fishy” at work. Unfortunately, some workplaces treat women unfairly
after they have children. This is sex discrimination. If anything like this happens to you, keep
good records.
Put housework lower on your list of priorities. Your child could care less if your kitchen floor
doesn’t sparkle. Besides, trying to keep your home spotless with a toddler running around will
make you insane.
Find a good child care situation. This can be a challenge. However, you’ll feel much better at
work if you know your child is in good hands.
Schedule in down time with your partner. You need to be more than parents once in a while.
Treat yourself to a night out, or have a “date night” with take out food and a DVD.
Schedule in time for yourself. Busy working women need to recharge, so don’t feel the least bit
guilty about taking time for yourself. Get out of the house with your girlfriends once in awhile.
Indulge in a manicure, a hot fudge sundae, a margarita, or whatever makes you feel just a little
bit naughty.
Remember, don't feel guilty, take care of yourself, and try to have a sense of humor!
5 Steps to Prepare a Working Woman's Calendar
It’s not easy being a working woman. On top off all her work deadlines she is, if being married,
still expected to carry out her wifely duties and her child care duties. Life might not seem fair for
a working woman, but that’s the life she chose. The best thing about modern technology is all the
tools are at a working woman’s beck and call. The secret to a bit of organization and time for
herself is all in a calendar. Below are some tips to help any working woman build her own
working woman calendar.
Keep Just One Calendar
It doesn’t help to have separate calendars for the different aspects of a woman's life. A working
woman might have two calendars: one for work and one for home. Everyone only has one life to
live, so a working woman is no exception. It will greatly help her if she gets to see her schedule
in one integrated calendar.
She needs to see her life beyond her nine-to-five job and really appreciate how much of her time
goes to any activity. This will also help her figure out her priorities and how they play out in her
calendar. For example, if she promised herself that she would spend more time with her kids,
seeing the activities she has set aside on her calendar for her kids will help her evaluate if she is
really physically putting in the hours to this commitment.
Subscribe to a Scheduled Message Sending Site
One of the benefits of modern technology is the access to a chuck load of tools to help a woman
schedule her time and help her do her tasks. Having an automated scheduler like Sendible will
allow her to send out birthday greetings to friends and family without physically checking a
diary every day.
Sendible also allows the user to post messages on Facebook walls and send emails on certain
scheduled dates. This will remove a lot of worries and “Did I greet so and so?” moments in a
woman’s life. When she can’t afford to forget things, at least she can now schedule things for
herself.
Schedule Appointments for Important Tasks at Home
Meetings aren’t the only important appointments a working mother should block off on her
calendar. She should block off vacations (whether planned or actually scheduled already as an
actual vacation leave), parent-teacher meetings, and actual chores that take up her time like
buying gifts or going to the bank. Scheduling some tasks as if they are really meetings or
appointments will help a working mother prioritize them and give them value as something that’s
equally worthy of her time as a work-related task.
Have Emergency Contacts and Procedures Near the Calendar
No one can plan an emergency. However, the best thing that a working mother can do is to
prepare for one. She can put all emergency contact details, numbers, and procedures in a handy
place that’s accessible by the entire family (like the family refrigerator). She should also have
these details in her calendar file at work, for her own easy access.
The list of important information should include the names and contact numbers of doctors,
specialists and family members as well as other vital information like life insurance and medical
care providers together with the policy numbers.
Synchronize Calendars
Aside from keeping just one schedule and set of appointments, it wouldn’t hurt to have this
calendar accessible on different devices. A lot of cell phones nowadays have a calendar function.
While some executive moms will rely on their assistants, they won’t always have their assistants
on call when they're at home with the kids or on vacation. So it would help if a working mom has
a virtual assistant with her, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a cell phone.
A cell phone is particularly handy because of its size. A working mom can stow it in her purse or
have it always near her for instant updates on her calendar. She just needs to make sure that the
information on her cell phone is synchronized with her calendar at work.
A working mom has the double task of being effective at work and at home. While this might
seem insurmountable, some organization and a single calendar can help her face her challenges.
She just needs to make sure she maintains only one calendar that’s synchronized across different
devices, subscribe to one of the many different scheduling tools available online, set physical
appointments for important tasks and have all her emergency contacts and procedures handy.
What does a working woman want ?
• A day of luxury at a day spa
• A ‘pamper’ mum day from the family
• A funky PDA
• A jet spa kit for the bath
• A romantic night in a swish hotel
• A Gold Glass evening at the cinema
• The rest of the family cook Christmas dinner
• A bottle of her favourite perfume
• A gift that reflects her favourite hobby
• A gym membership
• A long distance phone card
• A night of cocktails and dinner with the girls
And if you aren’t given your perfect gift, then give one to yourself! You deserve it.
Restarting Woman’s Professional Careers
Restarting a career that has been put on hold to focus on parenting is a challenging prospect for
many women. The Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario, is offering ReConnect,
a seven day course for women with management experience who want to re-enter the workforce
after spending time focused on other areas of life.
Refresh Business Skills, Practice Goal Setting and Build Confidence
Mary Heisz, Faculty Director, ReConnect describes the program's two main goals as helping
women get their confidence back up and refreshing their skills, goals and business knowledge.
ReConnect does this by updating skills in finance, marketing and business practices as well as
focusing on personal goals and the skills needed to achieve those goals, such as networking,
resume writing, interviewing and negotiating. ReConnect is generously sponsored by CIBC, and
interview skills are put into practice with mock interviews with CIBC recruiters, who provide
valuable feedback that helps women refine their interview technique.
Mothers Overcome Challenges When Returning to a Career
Refreshing business knowledge and interviewing skills are not the only challenges mothers face
when returning to work. Knowing how to address the hole in your resume in a positive way,
dealing with negative attitudes from people who haven't been away from work and juggling the
logistics of work/life balance are all big challenges that women face when they refocus on their
careers. Carla Sandrin, a 2008 graduate of the ReConnect program, recently started her own
business after 15 years at home. In "ReConnect helped me define what I wanted to do and gave
me the tools to create my calling card, to say, 'this is what I can do for you,'" Carla said in a
telephone interview on September 22, 2009.
Who Will Benefit Most From ReConnect?
ReConnect focuses on refreshing existing skills in management and finance, so it is best suited to
women who have had some previous experience leading people and working with financial
records. While the tuition fee has been heavily subsidized by CIBC to bring it down to $3,500,
ReConnect recognizes that if a woman has been away from work for some time this fee may still
be prohibitive. Additional financial assistance has been made available by CIBC.
