This intriguing issue has been brought into public focus and whole gamut’s of views are now being expressed in the work-up to the Conference in the near future.
Being a practicing doctor in the specialty of Family Medicine for 42+ years now, I felt impelled to share my experience on the issue at hand and its relationship with Health and Wellbeing. Work and Family are often in conflict, being pulled in opposite ends.
Society is undergoing many social and demographic changes and upheavals especially with the dawn of the Technological Era in the 90’s. Women, the traditional Home-makers and centers of families are now going to work in greater and more varied roles and many times are much more successful and productive than men due to their inherent diligent and focused attention. Unfortunately because of cell-phones, Internet and wifi linked communication devices, the sanctity of the home space has now been invaded and family and personal lives negatively affected.
Global competition is increasing pressure on organizations and individual employees to be more responsive to these material changes. The increase in proportion of employees working longer hours, due to increased workloads, job insecurity and high levels of work-stress is beginning to manifest as strain within families, spousal relationships and illnesses, especially psychological breakdowns and burn-outs with increasing stress from occupational work.
Many families are being challenged to manage an acceptable safe boundary between home and work in this increasingly insistent competitive environment.There is an increasing need for employers and employees to find flexible and innovative solutions that maximize productivity without damaging employee’s wellbeing, their family relationships and other aspects of personal life. There has to be emphasis on safeguarding psychological perspectives. Best practices need to be adopted, organizational values in promoting work-life balance promoted.
Currently I note in my patients a blurring of boundaries between work and home lives and an increasing difficulty in maintaining a tangible balance between these two domains. I notice this is also due to many people being involved in multiple roles outside family life such as in leisure activities, community involvement and in religious activities (some of which are not very safe or wholesome).
Essentially traditional male and female roles are being reversed with more females being the new “bread-winners” and males being more laid back and less productive. There is now greater equality between the sexes but sometimes this is misunderstood and resented by males and also females who now have to shoulder even more responsibilities of being not only mothers and wives& lovers but now also the financial providers!
Many think that balance of attention, satisfaction, effort across roles means a 50:50 investment or allocation. However this is not true. It is always a basket of activities, each of varying intensities but collectively contributing to human happiness.
I wish to share this beautiful work-life integration concept by Kofodimos in 1993;
“A satisfying, healthy and productive life that includes work, play and love; that integrates a range of life activities with attention to self and to personal and spiritual development; and that expresses a person’s unique wishes, interests and values. It contrasts with the imbalance of a life dominated by work , focused on satisfying external requirements at the expense of inner development and in conflict with a person’s true desires “
If there is no understanding of the concept of a Human being a Noble creation of God, not a disposable cogwheel of a materialistic greedy self-serving machinery, then there will be potentially damaging effects of lack of self-worth, destructive activities and emotional roller-coaster feelings on the human psyche. Families will be in constant conflict manifesting as poor work performance, absenteeism, and high turnover of workers, reduced marital satisfaction; depression and poor physical health.
The above scenarios can snowball into conflicts at work , heightened mental stress, causing “cross-over “ effects , affecting partners and children , with negative repercussions on both individuals and organizations with increased levels of illnesses , absenteeism and attrition at all levels of functioning. Achieving happy, healthy and productive outcomes will need a lot of soul-searching, ensuring justice, fairness, understanding and love and a sincere need to find solutions that are consistent with individuals, families and organization’s wellbeing.
In conclusion I would like to look at work- life balance as being work- family life of spiritual and material integration and fulfillment of human needs and aspirations. As a Baha’i, I would like to share this guiding principle from my Holy Faith which is the basis of my understanding and inspiration;
Work Is Worship; Service is Prayer.
Where there is Love; nothing is too much trouble and there is always Time.
Dr. Inderjit Singh Ludher is a Consultant Family Medicine Physician and also works in Ludher Consultancy Medical, Health & Educational Services.
By: Dr. Inderjit Singh Ludher