Volume : 4 | Issue : 6 | June 2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

Research Paper Education

Identifying the Factors Affecting Work-Life

Balance of Employees in Banking Sector

Research Scholar at Pacific Academy of Higher education and

Neera Kundnani
Research university ,Udaipur
Associate Professor at Faculty of Management ,Pacific University,
Dr. Pallavi Mehta
Udaipur
ABSTRACT
Work-life balance is the ability to manage balance between work and personal life and to stay productive and competitive
at work while maintaining a happy, healthy home life with sufficient leisure, despite having work pressure and endless
ABSTRACT

activities which require your time and attention.Still there are some factors which affects work-life balance of employees
in organizations. The present paper aims at identifying the factors influencing work-life balance of employees in banking
sector. The present study focuses on responses of twenty WLB statements from 300 respondents at all levels in various
banks in Jaipur ,Rajasthan. Factor Analysis using Varimax rotation has been used in order to identify most influencing factors
of WLB. The study identified six factors comprising seventeen items. The present study would be beneficial for organizations
in designing work-life policies and programmes for employees.

KEYWORDS Work-Life balance, Banking sector, Personal Life , Factor Analysis

Introduction their personal and work responsibilities. With changes in

Work-life balance is the ability to manage balance be- working patterns it is difficult to keep personal life separate
tween work and personal life and to stay productive and from work. Personal life includes individual’s health, home,
competitive at work while maintaining a happy, healthy personal relationships, hobbies, interests etc. This juggling
home life with sufficient leisure, despite having work pres- with personal and professional life creates an urge for work-
sure and endless activities which require your time and life balance.
attention.Work Life Balance can also be defined in a different
manner where an employee tries to justify his most important Significance of Research
priorities with employer according to his position, grade wrapped Work-Life Balance is the worldwide phenomenon and req-
in accountability & being a part of family spend a good quality uisite of each and every individual. Though each and every
time apart from professional life, it suggests that professional life organization may have a different work culture, working con-
is a part of social life & never influenced each other if someone is ditions , rules and regulations, facilities which varies from one
willing to make happen such occurrence with a wise approach. organization to other organization. The purpose of this study
is to identify the factors affecting Work-life balance of Bank
Work-life balance is about the interaction between paid employees in Jaipur region of rajasthan to determine the caus-
work and other activities, including unpaid work in fam- es of work-life imbalance in these banks and to provide an
ilies and the community, leisure, and personal develop- insight for employers so that they can take proper work-life
ment. Work-life balance is about creating a productive work balance initiatives.
culture where the possibilities ofstrains between work and
other aspects of people’s lives is reduced. This means having Scope of the study
appropriate employment provisions and organizational sys- The proposed research work is limited to analyzing the factors
tems in place and supportive management sustaining them. affecting work-life balance of Bank employees in Jaipur region
Work-life balance for any one person is having the ‘right’ of Rajasthan though they may differ from organization to or-
combination of paid work (defined by hours and working ganization , geographically and on individual level depending
conditions), and other aspects of their lives. This combination on individual’s perception , attitude, values , personality etc.
will not remain stable, but may vary over time.
Review of Literature
Banking Sector A review on the previous studies on factors affecting work-life
Rapid changes in the social, political and economic scenario balance of employees is necessary to know the areas already
haveinfluenced both the nature of employment and its relation- covered. This will help to find our new areas uncovered and
ship with personal life. Managing between official and domestic to study them in depth. The earlier studies made on Work-life
life is a challenge. Work-life balance is on priority for choosing balanceof employees are briefly reviewed here.
any profession by today’s generation with changing role of wom-
en in every sphere.The banking industry, vital to our commercial • Das and Kushwaha (2013):- Identifying critical factors of
and personal lives, has always been a preferred destination for work-life balance and its impact on insurance employees in
employment. Banks have diversified and getting into new prod- India- An exploratory factor analysis. This study was con-
ucts and with the expansion of the banking sector and its co-or- ducted in order to identify the factors influencing work-life
dination with the other financial sectors such as insurance,NBFCs balance practicesof insurance companies and assessing the
and Capital markets,retirement of the existing employees have impact of work-life balance practices on the employee’s
created more number of opportunities in the banking sector. workdomain.  The study identified four factors comprising
sixteen items having Eigen values of more than 1which ac-
Personal Life counted for about 52.9% of variation in data.
Personal life is that which is different from professional life. • Saravanan and Dharani (2014) :-A Study on Factors Influ-
Everyday working people are struggling to manage between encing Work Life Balance of School Teachers in Coimbatore.

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Volume : 4 | Issue : 6 | June2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

This study was conducted to analyze the factors determining

the work and life balance with respect to school teachers. Research Gaps
Independent sample t-test is used to analyze the effect of Though there are many studies related to Factors affecting
independent variables on work life balance with respect to Work-life Balance of bank employees .This research is done to
private school teachers. In thisauthors analyzed that female find out prominent factors among factors affecting Work-life
private school teachers feel more balance between work balance and to find out correlation among them.
and life than the male private school teachers and conclud-
ed that the factors influencing work life balance of male Objectives
and female private school teachers is different. • To identify the major factors influencing Work Life Balance
of Bank professionals in the present day context.
• Shobitha and Sudarsan (2014) :- Work Life Balance: A • To analyze the prominent factors among identified factors.
Conceptual Review. In this paper authors made an attempt
to compile the previous researches on WLB studies under- Methodology and Data collection
taken to search for newer and deeper avenues of future Sample Size 300 bank employees selected on the basis of
research. Authors find out that the concept of work life convenient sampling
balance has attracted the attention of not only different
organizations but also researchers and HR practitioners. Data Collection Primary Data was collected using a self-con-
This mainly could be attributed to ever increasing demands structed as no already prepared questionnaire The respond-
of work along with increased family demands owing to the ents surveyed with a view to gain information regarding their
necessity of spouses to be employed and quest for person- banking profession from Work and personal life perspective.
al achievements in personal life. The questionnaire contained questions to know factors affect-
ing their work-life.
• Maiya and Bagali(2014) :- An Empirical investigation on
work-life balance among working mothers: Emerging Statistical tools
HRM interventions.This study was conducted with a view Factor Analysis to identify the factors affecting work-life bal-
to provide a deep insight of work-life balance of work- ance and factor rotation to find out most prominent factors
ing mothers in Public and Private sector. An experimental among them and to find out relation among them using cor-
survey of equal number of Public and Private sector em- relation analysis.
ployees were carried out. Both the sectors were evaluated
on 6 sub scales viz: personal factors, balancing factors, or- Factor Analysis
ganizational support, motivational factors, career advance- Factor analysis is a general name denoting a class of proce-
ment and psychological factors. The results revealed that dures primarily used for data reduction and summarization.
in the age group of 25 to 30, employees of both Private There may be a large number of variables, most of which are
and Public sectors enjoy their work and are happy working correlated and which must be reduced to a manageable level.
with/under their managers. This means they are influenced
by the motivational factors. At the age group of 31 to 35, Data Analysis& interpretation
employees of both Private and Public sectors are affected On the basis of questionnaire filled by respondents which con-
by the balancing factors, psychological factors and person- sists of 20 statements to judge their responses on 4point scale
al facto. In the age group of 36 to 40, employees of both (No affect, Sometimes, Many times and Always) and giving
sectors are not much affected by the psychological factors them scores(1,2,3,4) according to that and then applying fac-
and they enjoy their work. But they are affected by career tor analysis on them using SPSS software version 20to analyze
advancement factors. Women above 40 years of age in and interpret the factors affecting work-life balance
both sectors are not much affected by personal, balancing
and motivational factors but are greatly affected by career KMO and Bartlett’s Test
advancement and organizational support factors. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .685
• Ashwini and kumaraswamy (2014) :- Work Life Balance Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 2.154E3
with Special Reference to Public Sector Bank Employees in Df 190
Karnataka- The present research study, deals with Work-life Sig. .000
Balance of the banking employees in order to determine
the level of their Work Life Balance which is having very Table 1.1 KMO and Barlett’s test
high importance on their total well being and hence their Communalities
productivity and entire business growth. Results revealed
Initial Extraction
that 53% of employeessta were worried about work
Working environment 1.000 .735
when actually not at work. 2) More than 50 % of employ-
ees express that, they feel indifferent about time spent at Working hours 1.000 .750
working. 3) Nearly 57% of the employees expressed that Overtime 1.000 .716
they miss valuable time with family and friends . 4) 56% Deadlines/schedules/targets 1.000 .612
of the employees opined that they are tired because of Salary/compensation/benefits 1.000 .433
work pressure. 5) 61% were found suffering from stress Negative attitude of supervisors/colleagues 1.000 .317
related diseases like hyper tension, anxiety; frequent head- Availability of facilities
creche,canteen,medicaletc 1.000 .592
aches are quite common among the bank employees have
stated by 61% of respondents working in the public sec- Work from home after office hours 1.000 .797
tor banks. 6) 59% reported the most hindering factor for Work on holidays 1.000 .776
fulfilling work and family commitments is long working Some amount of independence at work 1.000 .703
hours. 7) About 47% of employees revealed that a sup- Traveeling away from home 1.000 .537
porting environment is most prominent factor that helps Hosehold work/responsibilities 1.000 .607
to fulfill work and family commitments. 8) The employees
Work increases your sense of self-worth 1.000 .543
as per the study feel flexible timings is an absolute factor
which helps in dealing with work life commitments. 9) Happy to work in bank 1.000 .629
50% of the employees in banking sector disagreed for be- Performance appraisal system 1.000 .638
ing able to manage Work – life balance. 10) Most of the Career growth and planning 1.000 .561
employees also felt that even the travelling time is a factor Conflicts at workplace 1.000 .681
that creates imbalance. 11) Nearly 37% of the employees Organizational change 1.000 .571
take refreshments/ drinks / snacks twice a day, where as Family/spouse support 1.000 .741
26% of them consume more than twice and 27% of them Management support 1.000 .801
consume at least once, rest 10% do not consume at all.

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Volume : 4 | Issue : 6 | June 2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

Table 1.2 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. A well-defined Performance

Rotated Component Matrixa appraisal system motivates .694
Component employees to perform even
more better.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Timely promotions and
Working environ- .838 .084 -.058 .030 .073 -.124 appreciation are necessary for .728
ment career growth and planning.
Working hours .829 .208 -.087 .023 -.098 -.042 Perfor- Conflicts at work place can
mance 11.02
Overtime .823 .162 .022 -.072 -.053 -.058 be a barrier to perform up to .622
Deadlines/sched- .685 .309 .112 .037 the mark which can ultimate-
ules/targets .169 .068 ly block the success ladder.
Salary/compensa- .389 .082 .338 .396 Organizational changes
tion/benefits .016 -.058 effects performances due to
Negative attitude changes in working patterns .680
of supervisors/ .321 .381 .206 .151 .010 -.055 in short period. In Long peri-
colleagues od these can be improved.
Availability of fa- Family/Spouse support helps
cilities creche,can- .118 .635 .084 .080 -.286 -.280 in handling and managing .842
teen,medicaletc Support life problems. 9.629
Work from home .107 .857 -.030 -.125 .163 -.088 Management support helps .865
after office hours in managing work and life.
Work on holidays .141 .836 -.065 -.133 .186 -.038 Independ- Some amount of independ-
ence at work brings flexibility .819 6.217
Some amount of ence in managing work and life.
independence at .066 -.009 .015 .160 .819 .046 Satisfaction I feel satisfied and happy to
work work in bank. .772 6.122
Traveeling away .193 .608 -.235 -.031 -.230 .147
from home Table 1.4 Grouping the Factors
Hosehold work/ .253 .691 .200 .023 -.115 .109
responsibilities Factor Description
Work increases Working Conditions - The first factor focused on working
your sense of self- -.165 .134 -.186 .385 -.310 .468
worth conditions with a total factor loading 3.175 and 15.401 per-
Happy to work in -.105 -.112 .036 -.017 .090 .772 centage of variance. Total four indicators were loaded in the
bank first factor to represent the working culture of Banks. Fac-
Performance tor 1, working conditions included items such as positivity
appraisal system -.116 -.003 .694 .076 .196 -.315
in working environment makes working easier with flexible
Career growth -.053 -.024 .728 .122 -.048 -.106 working hours, achievable targets and deadlines, less overtime
and planning ensuring proper balance between work and life.
Conflicts at work- .282 .040 .622 -.015 -.358 .291
place
Organizational Facilities-The second factor named as Facilities job consisting
change .049 .048 .680 -.210 .072 .234 of Five indicators. It explained 15.307percent of variance with
Family/spouse total factor loading 3.627. The factors included acts as facili-
support -.003 -.136 -.093 .842 .004 .067
tators in work-life balance like availability of facilities crèche,
Management .036 -.019 .106 .865 .197 -.038 canteen , medical etc. , ensuring to provide proper relaxation
support with no work on holidays , ensuring to provide proper time to
Table 1.3 Rotation Method: Varimax fulfil household work/responsibilities for better performance at
with Kaiser Normalization. work , giving time to personal life after office hours and less
travelling for those who care for dependents.

Extracted Factors Performance- A total of four indicators were loaded in the

Factor third factor to represent Performance. It accounted for 2.724
Name of Indicators Load- Variance total factor loading and 11.02 percent of variance. Factor 3,
Factor ings Explained
consists of factors which directly or indirectly effects perfor-
Positive Working Environment .838 mance like a well-defined standard of performance appraisal
makes working easy. can motivate employee to perform better, timely promotions
Flexible working hours help and appreciation on the basis of performance for career
me to manage my work and .829
life. growth and planning, conflicts at workplace effects perfor-
Working 15.401 mance indirectly and organizational change effects perfor-
Conditions Deadlines/Schedules/Targets
must be so set that they can .685 mance in short period .
be achieved in prescribed
time frame.
Support- Total two indicators were loaded in the fourth fac-
Working Overtime hinders in .823
Personal Life . tor which provides backing to work-life balance. They are
Availability of facilities crèche, family/spouse support in handling and managing life problems
canteen, medical etc. helps .635 and management support in work-life. It accounted for 1.707
in maintaining a balance total factor loading and 9.629 percent of variance.
between work and life.
Work from home after office
hours can create a chaos in .857 Independence- Only one factor was loaded in fifth factor is
work and personal life. independence with a total factor loading .819 and 6.217 per-
Working on holidays can centage of variance to represent flexibility at workplace with
skip the relaxation time and .836 some amount of independence at work.
Facilities employees can feel bored of 15.307
monotonous routine.
Excessive household respon- Satisfaction- Only one factor loaded in sixth factor to repre-
sibilities and work pressure sent employee satisfaction in bank with one item included is
can be a great barrier in .691
employees feel happy to work in bank. It accounted for .772
work performance. factor loading and 6.122 percent of variance.
Travelling away from home
for work is quiet uneasy for .608
dependents - old age parents Findings and Conclusion
and children. Factor analysis reduced 20 factors affecting work-life balance
to 6 factors :-

Working Conditions – The first factor ensures good working

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Volume : 4 | Issue : 6 | June2015 ISSN - 2250-1991

conditions in Banks. It suggests that comfortable working con- From the above research it is concluded that to maintain a
ditions are necessary for healthy balance between work and balance between work and life is a challenge and to meet this
life. Like positive work environment , achievable targets , less challenge organization’s should take active step in facilitating
overtime. their employees with prerequisites to help them manage, to
perform and to grow in their work-life cycle considering them
Facilities – For better work-life as much as facilities are re- as an assets of organization rather than liabilities . Providing
ceived nearby or in organizations ensure easy balance be- them a healthy and balanced life which in turn will prove as
tween work and life. benchmark of organization success.

Performance – It ensures that properly specified path towards

success is necessary for growth and planning which motivates
an individual to perform better and ensuring less conflicts at
workplace which affects performance and measures to cope
up with organizational change.

Support- It suggests that Family/spouse and management sup-

port are essential to run the cycle of work-life smoothly and
hassle free.

Independence – It suggests that independent working is nec-

essary to manage work and life situations as per demands of
work and life according to priority.

Satisfaction – This suggests that if individuals are able to bal-

ance work and life easily they are happy to work in present
organizations or Banks.

Findings from correlation analysis reveals that

• There is positive correlation between work from home af-
ter office hours and household work responsibilities i.e in-
crease in work from home after office hours will increase
household work/responsibilities which an individual cannot
complete due to additional work load.
• There is negative correlation between Deadlines/schedules/
targets and Happy to work in Bank i.e as targets/schedules
will increase satisfaction with working in bank will de-
crease.
• There is positive correlation between working hours and
household work/responsibilities i.e as working hours will
increase will result in increase in household responsibilities
because time to complete then will reduce,
• There is positive correlation between working environment
and negative attitude of supervisors/colleagues i.enegativity
in working environment will increase with the increase in
negative attitude of supervisors and colleagues.
• There is negative correlation between overtime and happy
to work in bank i.e as overtime will increase satisfaction
with bank will reduce.

REFERENCES

• Ashwini and kumaraswamy (2014) :- Work Life Balance with Special Reference to Public Sector Bank Employees in KarnatakaGlobal Journal For Research Analysisvol 3 issue 2 , Feb 2014 | • Das and
Kushwaha (2013)Identifying critical factors of work-life balance and its impact on insurance employees in IndiaTimes JourneyVol 2 No 1 Dec2013. | • Maiya and Bagali(2014) :- An Empirical investiga-
tion on work-life balance among working mothers: Emerging HRM interventions. International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, Vol.1, Issue.5, April-June, 2014 pg 165 176 | •
Saravanan and Dharani (2014)A Study on Factors Influencing Work Life Balance of School Teachers in Coimbatore.Indian Journal of Research Paripexvol 3, issue 4 April 2014 | • Shobitha and Sudarsan
(2014) :- Work Life Balance: A Conceptual Review.Management journal ,Vol.3 , March-April 2014

331 | PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH