A Study on the preferred work-life balance practices of generation X and generation Y from infinit-Outsourcing, Inc., and Pettigrew Philippine Services, Inc.

• Main Authors: Masamayor, Paulo Miguel L., Pascua, Christian Paul Q., Perez, Daniel Joseph T., Velasco, Pancho Lorenzo C.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2013
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11004
• Institution: De La Salle University

Work Life Balance is striking balance between work and non-work schedules. The term balance can be signified by establishing levelness between the demands for achievement and pleasure in the life of workers, and achievement at work and pleasure through life (Kumar, 2013). Work Life Balance is affected by numerous aspects of one's life in regards to age, interest, value, personal circumstance, and personality (Torrington et al., 2009). Work Life Balance Practices have also been proven to be important in achieving better quality of life among employees. Furthermore, effective implementations of these practices encourage employees to work harder and discourage them from quitting their jobs. America has divided its workforce into four distinct groups known as generations. Each generation is known to have developed a set of values and attitudes towards work due to their different experiences. It is important that managers are able to consider these generational differences in order to be effective (Crampton et. al., 2007). Although experts do not agree on the specific age parameters to include for each category, there is a general agreement that each generation has distinct values, attitudes, behaviours, expectations, habits, motivational factors, view of authority, and expectation of leadership (FGI, 2004). The researchers then opted to research on how age plays a role in the preference of Work- Life Balance practices in terms of the four aspects: namely 1) Flexible Working Arrangements, 2) Paid-Time Off, 3) Communication Expectations, and 4) Company- Sponsored Activities and Events. The Healthcare Information Management BPO sector is among the fastest growing sectors in the Philippines according to a report by Everest Group (2013), a global management consulting firm. Everest Group (2013) reported that the Philippine Healthcare Information Management (HIM) sector achieved the highest growth among the sectors with US$430 million in revenues for 2012. Health Information Management (HIM) is a sector in the BPO industry that has long working hours and a diversified workforce. The kind of work it demands could be very stressful which is why HIM companies have to look after their employees to keep them efficient and productive. The researchers have addressed this issue by studying the preferred work-life balance practices, in terms of the four (4) aspects, of HIM employees across Generations X and Y. They have used several instruments and methods to determine if there was a significant difference in their preference of work-life balance practices. Guest's Nature, Causes and Consequences of Work-Life Balance was used as a theoretical basis by the researchers in conducting this study. The age groups served as the independent variable of the study while the preferred work-life balance practices was the dependent variable. The researchers made use of survey in the form of a questionnaire, and interview guide, and a focus group discussion guide in order to gather their primary data. Each of viii these research instruments were then used for confirmatory analysis among each other. For the survey, t-test Independent Samples were used in order to determine a significant difference between Generations X and Y, while mean differences was used for those practices that showed a significant difference between the age groups. The mean differences would only suggest which age group preferred that work-life balance practice more as compared to the other. Content analysis was done to compare the results of the two (2) interviews with the HIM managers. And finally, frequency tables were used for the insights gathered from the HR practitioners who participated in the focus group discussions. The survey was used in gathering data from the employees with regards to their preference of work-life balance practices. The chosen respondents for the interview guide were the managers of the two (2) HIM companies that allowed the researchers to conduct their survey. This was used in order to find out what kind of work-life balance practices or policies, in terms of the four aspects, were being made available to their employees. This was also done to analyze how this could affect the preference of the employees. Finally, the focus group discussions were done in order to get a Human Resource practitioner's perspective of the said topic. The insights of the HR practitioners were then compared with the results of the survey and that of the interview with the HIM managers. The conclusion of the study showed that in terms of the four work-life balance aspects, Flexible Working Arrangements and Paid-Time Off showed to have significant differences across Generations X and Y. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between Generations and Y in terms of Communication Expectations and Company-Sponsored Activities and Events. An interesting finding was that although Communication Expectations overall showed to have no significant difference, there was a significant difference between the two generations in terms of Mentorship.