Work, life balance must be integrated into HR policy and strategy – Expert
Assisting employees to achieve a work-life balance must be integrated into the Human Resource (HR) policy and strategy of organisations, Mrs Dorothy Asare, a private HR Practitioner has said.
This, she emphasised was necessary to ensure that organisations got the best out of their workers without leaving them unsatisfied, burnt-out and unfulfilled.
Additionally, she said work-life balance had become imperative due to the growing diversity and multiple demands between work and family roles which made employees stressed or over-worked.
Mrs Asare made the call when she spoke on the topic “Work-life balance: the role of Human resource managers” at a day’s colloquium organised by the Department of Human Resource of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The colloquium, which was on the theme “The role of Human Resource Management in the new World of Work” brought together HR professionals from across the country, Heads of Department at the university as well as students and the general public.
Mrs Asare said understanding the concept of work-life balance and investing in it would bring about a win-win scenario for both employers, noting that work-life balance was well rooted in advanced countries and encouraged Ghanaian employers to consider it.
She added that having a good work-life balance on ground in an organisation would help to improve employee health and well-being, make them to be more productive, derive job satisfaction, increase employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover.
With over twenty years of HR experience, Mrs Asare believed that HR practitioners had a greater role to play in creating a supportive organisational culture for achieving healthy work-life for employees.
In this regard, she advised HR practitioners to see themselves as strategic partners, be proactive and take the initiative to properly manage the work-life balance of employees.
Citing numerous researches to underscore the importance of work-life balance, Mrs Asare urged all stakeholders to collaborate and work towards the ratification of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 156 that deals with workers with family responsibilities.
She said women for instance, struggled more to achieve work-life balance, with their multiple responsibilities at work and managing the daily routine responsibilities of life and home and this did not augur well for their health.
Dr Ebenezer Agbettor, Executive Director of the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners of Ghana (IHRMP) who spoke on “Career self-management in the fourth revolution”, encouraged individuals to take up the responsibility to develop themselves.
He noted that in this age, an individual’s ability to enter and succeed in the workforce required high skills, more knowledge and increasing rigorous academic excellence, which no one could provide except the individual himself.
Dr Rebecca Dei Mensah, Head of Department (HoD) described the theme as apt indicating that today’s organisations needed managers and employees with knowledge and skills of change management, innovation, communications and strategic thinking.
She said for today’s organisations to be able to thrive and achieve their purposes, they must appropriately leverage on the competencies of employees and be interested in their welfare to enjoy the benefits.
Dr Dei Mensah urged organisations to initiate interventions in order to increase organisational effectiveness and employee morale.
Source: GNA