Work-Life Balance, Employee Job Performance and Satisfaction Among Doctors and Nurses in Malaysia

Abstract

In this era, the concepts of human resource management (HRM) practices have evolved to the implementation of work-life balance (WLB) practices, such as: flexible working hours and supportive supervision. WLB practices have shown a great influence on employee attraction, retention, motivation and development. This study examines the relationship between WLB practices on employee job performance as well as the mediating effect of job satisfaction in the relationship between work-life balance practices and employee job performance among doctors and nurses in East Malaysia. The study surveys 491 doctors and nurses in the East Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak in 2016-2017. Four hypotheses were tested with validated measures of WLB practices (flexible working hours and supportive supervision), job satisfaction and job performance. Findings revealed that flexible working hours and supportive supervision has a significant and positive impact to job performance. Job satisfaction positively mediates the relationship between flexible working hours and supportive supervision towards job performance. An effective WLB practices will improve employees’ job satisfaction which eventually increase their job performance and productivity. This study’s findings aim to assist the Malaysian healthcare industry in improving doctors’ and nurses’ attraction, retention and motivation.

Analyzing the Job Demands-Control-Support Model in Work-Life Balance: A Study among Nurses in the European Context

“…Therefore, this research empirically confirms that being able choose the order in which one will perform tasks, being able to work at one's own pace and using one's own methods, being consulted about objectives that affect one's work, being able to influence the decisions that are important, or having the opportunity to apply one's own ideas at work, among other discretionary acts, cushions the negative effect that the psychological pressure of nursing work exerts on WLB. These results are in line with the study by Pisarski et al (2006), who show that increased control in the workplace generates better WLB, especially when the individual is able to control his or her work hours and/or experiences an increase in schedule flexibility [112][113][114][115]. For many health professionals, their commitment to their work and professional career is a priority that takes them away from family and social relationships and causes them to dedicate less time than they would like to family responsibilities [116].…”

Conceptualizing the Impact of Work-Life Balance on Job Satisfaction - Can the Issues be resolved among Nurses?

“…Malaysia has described the shortage of nurses and doctors as a critical issue faced by public hospitals. This issue is worsening due to the shortages of medical professionals and the growing number of patients which leads to a high-intensity of daily clinical routine, such as long working hours and working under time pressure (Cooper et al, 1989;Sibbald et al, 2000;Dousin, Collins & Kler, 2019). A nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:200 is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), while the Malaysian nurse ratio at public hospitals is 1:302 (Aris, 2019).…”

Conceptualizing Work-Life Balance Practices: The Case Of The Healthcare Industry In Malaysia

“…Studies on WLB in the healthcare sector in western countries are extensive but rarely concentrated on the Asian context, specifically Malaysia. Several studies suggested that workplace practices, policies and support to WLB programs helps to improve employee well-being, organisational commitment, job performance and job satisfaction (Cegarra-Leiva et al, 2012;Dousin et al, 2019;Greenhaus et al, 2003;Haar, 2013;Morganson et al, 2010;Noor, 2011). Work-life conflict will occur due to employees' personal experiences of imbalance between work and personal life.…”

“…spouse and supervisor support) is seen as a coping mechanism to reduce employees' work-life conflict, improves well-being and their quality of life (Frone et al, 1992;Frone et al, 1997;Greenhaus et al, 1997;Higgins et al, 1992;Parasuraman et al, 1992). Furthermore, a recent study by Dousin et al (2019) revealed that WLB practices and policies could improve employees' job satisfaction which eventually enhances their performance at work. Therefore, WLB practices are an important predictor to employee well-being.…”