Comments on: Work-life balance… http://jdesignlab.com/hrm-2/work-life-balance.html My thoughts on experiences this far... Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:59:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: jyoti http://jdesignlab.com/hrm-2/work-life-balance.html/comment-page-1#comment-721 jyoti Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:27:03 +0000 http://jdesignlab.com/?p=846#comment-721 I agree with you on a person's prerogative to a choice. My main grouse was when someone stubbornly chose to get up and go at a fixed time day after day without a thought to its relation to other team members productivity--especially when the work culture of this small team (that called itself a company) was very clearly oriented towards delivering a quality product on time. Those 'choosing' to tie loose ends would just gape and look like fools when this person (a very young management graduate on that) would just get up at 6 pm by his watch to live by his recently read course chapter on work life balance! The configuration of HR varies in companies. So does their mandate. Some see their role as transactional and some as proactive. I believe that HR has to do well on both scores. Its members (could be business owners or contracted professionals) must stop every now and then to take stock and align practices with business objectives. When they see over a period that team members are ruining the work culture with their attitude, they must insist on erring members tweaking their perspective or shipping out. Unless we're looking at a gross violation of human rights... Thanks for leaving a thoughtful view on the issue. I agree with you on a person’s prerogative to a choice. My main grouse was when someone stubbornly chose to get up and go at a fixed time day after day without a thought to its relation to other team members productivity–especially when the work culture of this small team (that called itself a company) was very clearly oriented towards delivering a quality product on time. Those ‘choosing’ to tie loose ends would just gape and look like fools when this person (a very young management graduate on that) would just get up at 6 pm by his watch to live by his recently read course chapter on work life balance!

The configuration of HR varies in companies. So does their mandate. Some see their role as transactional and some as proactive. I believe that HR has to do well on both scores. Its members (could be business owners or contracted professionals) must stop every now and then to take stock and align practices with business objectives. When they see over a period that team members are ruining the work culture with their attitude, they must insist on erring members tweaking their perspective or shipping out. Unless we’re looking at a gross violation of human rights…

Thanks for leaving a thoughtful view on the issue.

]]> By: sankarshan http://jdesignlab.com/hrm-2/work-life-balance.html/comment-page-1#comment-614 sankarshan Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:25:57 +0000 http://jdesignlab.com/?p=846#comment-614 I read your blog and, then Jessica's post. For the entire period of time that I have been a professional (previously self-employed and, now an employee) an aspect that I have come to hold true is that the quantum of time invested in the work is a reflection of the amount of interest one has in it. That isn't necessarily an axiom though. Throughout the day I see folks who clock in and out exactly as mandated and, some of them don't perform at full throttle and others manage to get a lot of work done within that time frame. Over the years I've come to the conclusion that lumping the work-life balance responsibility to HR is an escapist approach from an organization/institution perspective. HR is an enabling function and it is empowered to evolve processes and guidelines that augment the organization's culture and way it treats the associates. There are hard-riding organizations or, even organization units who revel in the "always on the wire, always online" mode of working. And, then there are units which are comfortable with regular hours while putting more emphasis on the quality of work and the perfection with which it is churned out. I have never had the luxury of actually having a "balance". And, even though I don't consider the casual browing/reading/chatting as "work", the implicit faith that a phrase like "work-life balance" brings is something that I could look forward to. One day that is. I think at the end of the day, as it is pointed out, it boils down to choice. What do we choose to live and work like. Some choose the workaholic lifestyle and some the by-the-clock. But neither are wrong. They make choices according to how they interpret their roles, responsibilities within the organization. I read your blog and, then Jessica’s post. For the entire period of time that I have been a professional (previously self-employed and, now an employee) an aspect that I have come to hold true is that the quantum of time invested in the work is a reflection of the amount of interest one has in it. That isn’t necessarily an axiom though. Throughout the day I see folks who clock in and out exactly as mandated and, some of them don’t perform at full throttle and others manage to get a lot of work done within that time frame.

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that lumping the work-life balance responsibility to HR is an escapist approach from an organization/institution perspective. HR is an enabling function and it is empowered to evolve processes and guidelines that augment the organization’s culture and way it treats the associates. There are hard-riding organizations or, even organization units who revel in the “always on the wire, always online” mode of working. And, then there are units which are comfortable with regular hours while putting more emphasis on the quality of work and the perfection with which it is churned out.

I have never had the luxury of actually having a “balance”. And, even though I don’t consider the casual browing/reading/chatting as “work”, the implicit faith that a phrase like “work-life balance” brings is something that I could look forward to. One day that is.

I think at the end of the day, as it is pointed out, it boils down to choice. What do we choose to live and work like. Some choose the workaholic lifestyle and some the by-the-clock. But neither are wrong. They make choices according to how they interpret their roles, responsibilities within the organization.

]]> By: Balancing life « People Wheels http://jdesignlab.com/hrm-2/work-life-balance.html/comment-page-1#comment-613 Balancing life « People Wheels Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:29:33 +0000 http://jdesignlab.com/?p=846#comment-613 [...] Balancing life March 22, 2010 Priya Banati Leave a comment Go to comments In response to Jyoti’s post: [...] [...] Balancing life March 22, 2010 Priya Banati Leave a comment Go to comments In response to Jyoti’s post: [...]

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