1. Introduction
With the rapid development of social economy and the continuous improvement of people's demand for a better life, the negative impact of continuous work requirements on employees' physical and mental health and life satisfaction is gradually rising, and work and life balance has become an important issue in the current human resource management of enterprises. More and more enterprises gradually realize that the satisfaction degree of employees to the employer will inevitably affect their enthusiasm and creativity, so it will have an important impact on the output quantity and quality of enterprise technological innovation.[1] At present, the research on the work and life quality of domestic and foreign scholars shows a vigorous development trend, so it is necessary to deeply explore its connotation and extension, cause and effect and action mechanism. Under the theme of exploring the impact of work and life balance measures on employee satisfaction and loyalty in human resources, we analyze the impact of different work and life balance measures on employee satisfaction and loyalty in different situations and dig deep into the relationship between work and life. From the theoretical basis and literature review, phenomenon analysis and discussion, improvement scheme three aspects, focus on employees in the life of work to achieve effective balance between measures and strategies, summarized in today's fast pace and high-pressure work environment, how to implement effective work life balance policy to improve employee satisfaction and loyalty.
2. Literature Review
Through the process of this study, literature review part will provide enterprises with a more reasonable human resource management strategy, promote the work enthusiasm and quality of life of employees, and then improve employee satisfaction and loyalty, and achieve a win-win situation between the enterprise and employees.
2.1. Work-life Balance Theory
The Work-life balance mainly refers to how employees spend their work and lifetime properly, while taking good care of themselves and the lives of their family members[2]. This theory emphasizes that work and life promote and complement each other, rather than oppose each other. According to this theory, individuals can arrange their work and life in appropriate ways to better complete their work tasks and have the time and energy to pursue their own interests and maintain family relationships and physical and mental health.
Work-life balance theory points out that overwork can reduce the quality of life and even affect physical and mental health. Balancing work and life, enjoying work and rich social activities, can improve satisfaction and happiness. Theory suggests that enterprises provide flexible work arrangements and support, such as adjusting working hours and places, appropriate holidays, etc., to help employees achieve work and life balance.
The work-life balance theory provides an important theoretical framework that can effectively guide individuals and organizations in how to find a balance between work and life, improve employee satisfaction and loyalty, and promote the common development of organizations and individuals. Therefore, for modern society and organizations, it is of great significance to attach importance to the research and practice of work and life balance theory.
2.2. Employee Satisfaction
Employee job satisfaction refers to the satisfaction degree of employees with the work content, work environment, salary and benefits [3]. Research on employee satisfaction show a trend of diversity and comprehensiveness. On the basis of the existing research, scholars begin to pay attention to the relationship between employee satisfaction and other variables and explore various factors affecting employee satisfaction. Numerous studies have worked to analyze the relationship between employee satisfaction and internal factors such as organizational culture and leadership style. Through the investigation and analysis of the internal environment of the organization, the researchers found that the motivation and collaboration of the organizational culture, the motivation and communication style of the leaders will all have a significant impact on employee satisfaction. These studies provide us with a reference for improving organizational management and leadership style to enhance employee job satisfaction and loyalty.
The progress of employee satisfaction research not only focuses on the influence of internal and external factors on employee satisfaction and explores the relationship between employee satisfaction and other variables. Future research can further explore the influence mechanism of employee satisfaction on organizational performance and employee behavior and provide more precise suggestions and guidance for enterprise management and human resource management.
2.3. Employee Loyalty
Employee loyalty is critical to corporate knowledge retention. Loyal employees tend to work longer in the enterprise and accumulate a lot of knowledge and experience. Such knowledge and experience are valuable assets of enterprises and are essential to maintaining a competitive advantage and promoting innovation [4].
In recent years, employee loyalty research has become a hot topic in human resource management. By using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, it was found that loyalty is influenced by factors such as organizational support and leadership behavior. At the same time, the new research direction discusses the relationship between loyalty, performance and innovation ability, and enriches the research content of employee loyalty. Although the research progress is obvious, there are still challenges. In the future, the loyalty influencing factors should be deeply explored, and management suggestions should be put forward to support the sustainable development of enterprises.
3. Analysis
The implementation of the work-life balance measure is the real problem not how to achieve the balance of work and life, but in the transformation of economic production and social life, in which the traditional work and life model is changing into the new social problems and new social risks in the welfare of the family and some social groups, so that workers and families can maximize their own welfare [5].
3.1. Measurement
If the enterprise does not properly implement the work and life balance measures, the employees will maintain the high-pressure working state, resulting in the deterioration of physical and mental health and increased work pressure. If employees think that they cannot get good development in the enterprise, it will affect their job satisfaction and loyalty, leading to the phenomenon of employee resignation [6]. This will weaken the companies' ability to attract and retain talent and damage reputation and influence. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to and promote the balance between work and life, improve the quality of life and work efficiency of employees, and achieve a win-win situation.
3.2. Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is the key to the effective work of employees, which affects various factors, such as whether the relevant positions are satisfied, whether the values are coordinated, whether the incentive measures are in place, whether the salary system is fair, and whether the corporate culture is rich [7]. Poor work and life balance measures often lead to a decline in employee satisfaction, resulting in a series of negative effects. First, the inadequate work balance measures will directly affect the mental health of employees, making employees in a high-pressure state for a long time, thus reducing work efficiency and even leading to resignation. Second, decreased employee satisfaction will reduce team cohesion. In an environment with poor balance between work and life, the communication and cooperation between employees are blocked, and the team atmosphere is tense. In the long run, the team cohesion gradually weakens, which affects the stability and development of the whole organization. Finally, the decline of employee satisfaction will also affect their enthusiasm in work, and the decline of innovation ability will limit the development of enterprises, making the development of enterprises slow and reduce economic benefits.
3.3. Employee Loyalty
Employees who do not have adequate work and life balance measures often feel the neglect of their personal life and are easy to have dissatisfaction and resistance to the enterprise and reduce their loyalty. In this case, employees are prone to the idea of leaving, which leads to the brain drain of the enterprise. The high turnover rate not only affects the stable development of the enterprise, but also may increase the cost of recruiting and training new employees. At the same time, the increase of employee turnover rate caused by the decline of employee loyalty will also affect the overall image of the enterprise. An enterprise with a high employee turnover rate cannot attract excellent talents to join, and it will also reduce the loyalty of existing employees to the enterprise. This negative impact may spread across the industry, having a long-term impact on corporate reputation and affecting corporate customer relationships and market position.
4. Discussions
Flexible working system (Flexible work) refers to the working system in which the working time, place, content, manpower structure, number of employees are flexibly adjusted to meet the needs of different levels, levels and types of human resources [8]. The flexible working system adapts to the work task mode in the form of projects in modern society, because this kind of work mode is often designed to complete the work objectives and tasks, and the flexible work arrangement becomes the best choice [9]. It significantly increases employee satisfaction, who can adjust hours and places to their individual needs and preferences. This helps to reduce the work-life conflict and improve the work enthusiasm and loyalty of employees. At the same time, this system can also attract and retain excellent talents, and inject fresh blood into the enterprise. Secondly, the flexible work system helps to improve the production efficiency of the enterprise. Employees can better manage their personal time and resources when they arrange their own working time and tasks, to improve their work efficiency. In addition, the flexible work system helps to promote teamwork and innovation, and it is easier for employees to communicate and collaborate with team members without time and space constraints, thus stimulating innovative thinking. This system can also enhance the trust between employees and improve the execution ability of the team.
Flexible welfare provides a good solution to the problem of welfare rigidity and universal benefit for enterprises. We can understand the needs of employees for their own welfare, and truly meet the needs of employees for welfare benefits through the flexibility of welfare projects, so as to enhance the employees' satisfaction with welfare benefits [10].
The mixed office mode refers to the combination of telecommuting and on-site office, which will greatly improve employees' satisfaction with the work and life balance measures of the enterprise. The birth of these collaborative working platforms and tools not only marks the technological progress of human beings to expand the virtual space, but also will become the promoter to change the real mode of human work and life, bringing about the change of the way of working [11].
First, the mixed office mode allows employees to work in a familiar environment, reducing commuting time, effectively reducing the pressure of life, and helping employees to better balance work and life. Secondly, the mixed office model helps to improve the talent attraction of enterprises. Since the launch of mixed office mode, flexible working system and other working methods, more and more employees pursue flexible working mode. The mixed office mode just meets this demand, which will improve the satisfaction of employees with the enterprise. Finally, the mixed office mode helps to enhance the anti-risk ability of enterprises. In case of emergencies such as epidemic, enterprises can quickly switch to the remote office mode, so that employees can feel the humanistic care for employees, which can not only ensure the normal business operation of the enterprise, but also improve the loyalty of employees to the enterprise. The mutual loyalty between employees and the enterprise can maintain the personal goals of employees and the highly consistent with the mission of the enterprise, so that the group has a huge cohesion, to realize the long-term development of the enterprise [12].
If the humanistic care of an enterprise is well implemented, it can help employees to give full play to their subjective initiative, enthusiasm and creativity, and ultimately promote the common development of employees and the enterprise [13]. Enterprises can enhance the loyalty of employees by strengthening information communication with employees, providing employees with consulting services for family problems and pressure relief, implementing job sharing system, and organizing supporting services, to enhance the company's competitiveness and sustainable development ability [14]. Through various ways to the employee's psychological needs and practical difficulties to provide necessary support and help, make employees to fuller of enthusiasm and energy into work, to improve work efficiency, high efficiency performance helps employees in the limited time, leave more space for personal life, it is easier to achieve work life balance. Secondly, the humanistic care of the enterprise can enhance the cohesion of the team and form a good team atmosphere. In a more united atmosphere, it is easier for employees to achieve a work-life balance with the support and help of their colleagues. Finally, enterprises can pay attention to the career development of employees and provide them with training and learning opportunities, so that employees can constantly improve their ability and better cope with the challenges in work and life and achieve the balance between work and life. Good organizational commitment is a crucial part of the corporate culture, which is conducive to the stable operation and sustainable development of the enterprise, will bring a full sense of security for employees, and further enhance their loyalty [15].
5. Conclusions
This study deeply explores the implementation effects of work-life balance strategies for employees and their positive roles in enhancing employee satisfaction and loyalty. Empirical research reveals that the promotion of work-life balance measures can significantly improve employee satisfaction and loyalty. After the implementation of work-life balance strategies, there is a significant increase in employee job satisfaction. This is specifically reflected in the overall improvement in satisfaction with the work environment, job content, and team collaboration. In terms of the environment, employees report a significant increase in satisfaction with flexible working hours, family support policies, and employee welfare systems. In job content, employees feel that their work has become more enriching and meaningful, thus enhancing their job satisfaction. Moreover, team collaboration has become stronger, with team cohesion significantly increasing, further elevating overall employee job satisfaction. Moreover, work-life balance strategies also have a positive effect on employee loyalty. Studies show that after experiencing these measures, employees' loyalty to the company is enhanced. This loyalty is evident in the increased identification with the company culture and a stronger sense of belonging, leading to a willingness to contribute more to the company. The enhancement of employee loyalty helps to reduce turnover rates and enhance team stability, which is crucial for the long-term development of the company. The conclusion of this study points out that the implementation of work-life balance strategies by enterprises can effectively improve employee job satisfaction and loyalty, which is essential for enhancing corporate competitiveness and achieving sustainable development. Future research can further explore the specific differences in the impact of various work-life balance measures on employees, as well as how to effectively implement these measures, providing more precise guidance and advice for corporate management.
References
[1]. Chen, Y. S., Liu, C., & Song, L. (2023). The mediator role of job satisfaction (JS) among the relationship between electronic human resource management (E-HRM), employee performance (EP), and organizational commitment (OC) in Family-Owned small Middle enterprises (SMEs) in China. Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management, 9(1), 229-237.
[2]. Rao, I. (2017). Work-life balance for sustainable human development: Cultural intelligence as enabler. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 27(7), 706-713.
[3]. Shi, X., Fan, Q. Z., Zheng, X., Qiu, D. F., Sindakis, S., & Showkat, S. (2024). Optimal Leadership Styles for Teacher Satisfaction: a Meta-analysis of the Correlation Between Leadership Styles and Teacher Job Satisfaction. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-32.
[4]. Abd-El-Salam, E. M. (2023). Exploring factors affecting Employee Loyalty through the relationship between Service Quality and Management Commitment a case study analysis in the iron and steel industry Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Company in Egypt. Cogent Business & Management, 10(2), 2212492.
[5]. Chan, R. K., Zinn, J., & Wang, L. R. (Eds.). (2015). New Life-courses, Social Risks and Social Policy in East Asia. Routledge.
[6]. Elagili, T. A. M., Azam, S. F., Tham, J., & Khatibi, A. (2023). DECODING TRENDS IN JOB SATISFACTION AND EMPLOYEE LOYALTY: A 24-YEAR BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY. Journal of Research Administration, 5(2), 13098-13138.
[7]. Tao, L. (2023). Study on the influence of grassroots staff satisfaction on service quality. International Assistance, 33, 28-30.
[8]. Liu, X. (2009). Flexible working system and knowledge-based employee management. Leadership Science, 1, 51-52.
[9]. Tu, Y. Q., & Wang, Y. F. (2021). Research on the practice path of law based on flexible working system based on work-life balance. Journal of Nanning Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 42(3), 78-90.
[10]. Liang, Q. Q. (2019). Research on flexible welfare optimization and employee satisfaction improvement. Technical Economics and Management Research, (2), 116-121.
[11]. Liu, L. (2020). Management and challenges of telecommuting. People's Forum, (11), 68-70.
[12]. Hu, M. (2019). On the loyalty management of enterprise employees – Take Ronghua Family Real Estate Company as an example. Quality Management in Fujian Province, 11(11), 99-100.
[13]. Xu, J. (2021). Explanation of the implementation plan of enterprise humanistic care work. Successful Marketing, 10(10), 145-147.
[14]. Liu, S. (2019). Research on work and family balance of X Bank employees [Doctoral dissertation]. Retrieved from https://ss.zhizhen.com/detail
[15]. Chen, W., Guo, M., & Liu, Y. (2024). Corporate humble leadership, organization commitment, and employee loyalty. Modern Enterprise, 2, 111-113.
Cite this article
Wang,J. (2024). Exploring the Impact of Work-Life Balance Initiatives on Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Case Study Approach in Human Resource Management. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,113,161-166.
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Volume title: Proceedings of ICFTBA 2024 Workshop: Human Capital Management in a Post-Covid World: Emerging Trends and Workplace Strategies
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References
[1]. Chen, Y. S., Liu, C., & Song, L. (2023). The mediator role of job satisfaction (JS) among the relationship between electronic human resource management (E-HRM), employee performance (EP), and organizational commitment (OC) in Family-Owned small Middle enterprises (SMEs) in China. Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management, 9(1), 229-237.
[2]. Rao, I. (2017). Work-life balance for sustainable human development: Cultural intelligence as enabler. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 27(7), 706-713.
[3]. Shi, X., Fan, Q. Z., Zheng, X., Qiu, D. F., Sindakis, S., & Showkat, S. (2024). Optimal Leadership Styles for Teacher Satisfaction: a Meta-analysis of the Correlation Between Leadership Styles and Teacher Job Satisfaction. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1-32.
[4]. Abd-El-Salam, E. M. (2023). Exploring factors affecting Employee Loyalty through the relationship between Service Quality and Management Commitment a case study analysis in the iron and steel industry Al Ezz Dekheila Steel Company in Egypt. Cogent Business & Management, 10(2), 2212492.
[5]. Chan, R. K., Zinn, J., & Wang, L. R. (Eds.). (2015). New Life-courses, Social Risks and Social Policy in East Asia. Routledge.
[6]. Elagili, T. A. M., Azam, S. F., Tham, J., & Khatibi, A. (2023). DECODING TRENDS IN JOB SATISFACTION AND EMPLOYEE LOYALTY: A 24-YEAR BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY. Journal of Research Administration, 5(2), 13098-13138.
[7]. Tao, L. (2023). Study on the influence of grassroots staff satisfaction on service quality. International Assistance, 33, 28-30.
[8]. Liu, X. (2009). Flexible working system and knowledge-based employee management. Leadership Science, 1, 51-52.
[9]. Tu, Y. Q., & Wang, Y. F. (2021). Research on the practice path of law based on flexible working system based on work-life balance. Journal of Nanning Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 42(3), 78-90.
[10]. Liang, Q. Q. (2019). Research on flexible welfare optimization and employee satisfaction improvement. Technical Economics and Management Research, (2), 116-121.
[11]. Liu, L. (2020). Management and challenges of telecommuting. People's Forum, (11), 68-70.
[12]. Hu, M. (2019). On the loyalty management of enterprise employees – Take Ronghua Family Real Estate Company as an example. Quality Management in Fujian Province, 11(11), 99-100.
[13]. Xu, J. (2021). Explanation of the implementation plan of enterprise humanistic care work. Successful Marketing, 10(10), 145-147.
[14]. Liu, S. (2019). Research on work and family balance of X Bank employees [Doctoral dissertation]. Retrieved from https://ss.zhizhen.com/detail
[15]. Chen, W., Guo, M., & Liu, Y. (2024). Corporate humble leadership, organization commitment, and employee loyalty. Modern Enterprise, 2, 111-113.