Work–Life Balance

Abstract

The Problem. Today's global workforce is rife with dual-earner couples. For dual-earner couples, finding a suitable balance between work and living is often difficult, creating a need for organizations globally to be aware of the similarities and dissimilarities that exist for dual-earner couples around the world. This article identifies the work-life issues of dual-earner couples and organizational practices in both the United States and India in an effort to help organizations effectively manage work-life policies affecting the gender role dynamics of today's multicultural organizations. The Solution. This article identifies themes within the work-life literature for dual-earner couples in India and the United States in an effort to inform human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners about the current state and work-life needs of dual-earner couples in both countries. It would be beneficial for HRD professionals to understand and appreciate better workplace demographics in terms of social, cultural, and legal requirements in the two countries to encourage the creation and implementation of work-life friendly policies and environments. The Stakeholders. This research benefits HRD practitioners and scholars, employers, public policy officials, and dual-earner couples employed in the United States and India. It opens the door to a better understanding of the transferability of current research to practice.

Work–Life balance policies and organisational outcomes – a review of literature from the Indian context

“…While WLB policies are common in the west and in most industrialised countries (Munn and Chaudhuri, 2016;Poster and Prasad, 2005), there is a substantial lack of research in less industrialised countries including India (Munn and Lee, 2014). The availability of scholarly works conducted in this area is still limited and the literature is sparse and isolated when drawing a relationship between work-life policies implemented by organisations and various organisational outcomes including engagement, commitment, job performance, job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour to name a few.…”

“…Considering this evolving trend towards gig economy, it would be interesting to review the existing literature on WLB. Moreover, given the liberalisation of Indian economy in 1991, followed by global competitiveness, economic and technology boom in the early 2000s, and finally, the enactment of one of the world's largest employment programme in 2005 led to the entry of more female employees in the workforce (Das et al, 2015;Munn and Chaudhuri, 2016;Lewis et al, 2007). This subsequently resulted in a new prototype of more dual earning couples.…”

Borrow or Grow: An Overview of Talent Development/Management Practices in Indian IT Organizations

“…The extant literature suggests that the existing pool of highly skilled software professionals is shrinking globally and IT professionals are in high demand in the knowledge-based economy of today (Brandel, 2007; Chadee & Raman, 2012; Drucker, 2007). With more than 100,000 engineering graduates entering the Indian job market every year, the Indian IT organizations are uniquely positioned to take advantage of their incessant supply of IT talent pool and be the supplier for IT human capital to the Western world (Bhatnagar, 2007; Chadee & Raman, 2012; Munn & Chaudhuri, 2016). However, the opportunity itself comes with an inherent threat to the Indian IT industry as many organizations are struggling to retain their talented staff, as they face an astonishingly high turnover rate of 50% (Chadee & Raman, 2012; Vorhauser-Smith, 2012).…”

The Changing Landscape of Women’s Leadership in India and Korea From Cultural and Generational Perspectives

“…These services are frequently used to support women workers. Munn and Chaudhuri (2015) reiterated that women employees should adopt multiple coping strategies, including support from extended family members, domestic helpers, and friends to maintain work-life balance. However, women are still tasked with the responsibility of playing a dual role both at home and in the workplace as it is almost impossible for them to break through the patriarchal and familial social contexts (Srinivasan, Murty, & Nakra, 2013).…”