Work – life balance in the post-pandemic world

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Oryginalny artykuł naukowy Original Article

Data wpływu/Received: 15.09.2020

Data recenzji/Accepted: 13.11.2020/30.11.2020 Data publikacji/Published: 31.12.2020

Źródła finansowania publikacji: środki własne DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0014.8068

Authors’ Contribution:

(A) Study Design (projekt badania) (B) Data Collection (zbieranie danych) (C) Statistical Analysis (analiza statystyczna) (D) Data Interpretation (interpretacja danych)

(E) Manuscript Preparation (redagowanie opracowania) (F) Literature Search (badania literaturowe)

dr Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska A B D E F

Innoresearch

ORCID 0000-0002-3993-528X dr hab. Agata Austen, prof. UE A B D E F

University of Economics in Katowice ORCID 0000-0002-1362-2736

WORK – LIFE BALANCE IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD

RÓWNOWAGA PRACA – ŻYCIE W RZECZYWISTOŚCI

POSTPANDEMICZNEJ

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Abstract: The new reality resulting from COVID-19 has introduced changes in the functio- ning of many organizations, which has an impact on their employees. Observation of management practice shows the growing importance of remote work, often employees are also more workload due to the absence of colleagues. The new situation may also be accompanied by a higher than usual level of employees’ uncertainty about their jobs, especially when the activities of their companies have been limited or suspended. All of this is likely to affect the work-life balance of the employees. Qualitative empirical research has been carried out to understand the possible consequences of a (post) pandemic on work-life balance. Presented research make presents the potential effects of the new situation for the area of work and life of employees and work-life balance and indicate possible future directions of research in this field.

Keywords: work-life balance, remote work, workload, job insecurity, COVID-19, qualitative research Streszczenie: Nowa rzeczywistość, będąca rezultatem COVID-19, wprowadziła zmiany w funkcjonowaniu wielu organizacji, co nie pozostaje bez wpływu na zatrudnionych w nich pracowników. Obserwacja praktyki zarządzania wskazuje na rosnące znaczenie pracy zdal- nej; często pracownicy są też bardziej obciążeni pracą z powodu nieobecności współpra- cowników. Nowej sytuacji może też towarzyszyć wyższy niż zwykle poziom niepewności pracowników o swoją pracę, szczególnie gdy działalność ich firm została ograniczona bądź wstrzymana. To wszystko najprawdopodobniej wpływa na równowagę między pracą a ży- ciem. Aby zrozumieć możliwe konsekwencje (post)pandemii dla owej równowagi, zosta- ły przeprowadzone jakościowe badania empiryczne. Pozwalają one przybliżyć potencjalne skutki nowej sytuacji dla obszaru pracy i życia pracowników, godzenia tych aspektów, a tak- że wskazują na możliwe przyszłe kierunki badań w tym zakresie.

Słowa kluczowe: równowaga praca – życie, praca zdalna, obciążenie pracą, niepewność zatrudnienia, COVID-19, badania jakościowe

Introduction

In the time of pandemic, organizational leaders and managers find themselves in the difficult position of helping workers navigate a work-life crisis. Many employees need to adjust to the new and uncertain reality of social distancing. Plethora of organizations allowed or even pushed their employees to set up home offices¹. Remote work, although it can help workers achieve work–life balance, is no guarantee of success if it is not surrounded by a context of support from the organization². Even if the employees still work in their offices, their situation could have changed due to the different work situation of their spouses or extended childcare hours. Thus, pandemic is expected to change work-life balance of employees.

1 M. Hicks, Manage Employees Through the COVID-19 Work-Life Balance Crisis, “HR News Maga- zine”, June 2020.

2 A. Galvez, F. Tirado, M.J. Martinez, Work–Life Balance, Organizations and Social Sustainability:

Analyzing Female Telework in Spain, “Sustainability” 12, 3567, 2020.

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Achieving a balance between different life domains became a priority for many people. The negative effects of work on private life, especially those aspects of work into which technology is able and has been permitted to creep has been discussed for many years. Even though work may be a source of satisfaction, it can also have unfavorable effect on a person’s private life which is a barrier in achieving WLB³. Although organizations noticed the importance of WLB and started introducing WLB initiatives, discrepancies on what the employees need and what policies were currently available are visible. For these reasons employees themselves exert effort to achieve WLB⁴. The issue of WLB may be even more problematic in the pandemic when many of organizations introduced changes into the way of organizing work.

For that reason, this article aims at examining issue of work life balance In (post) pandemic job setting. The article starts with discussing the notion, antecedents and outcomes of work life balance and discussing COVID reality. Then, the research assumptions are discussed and results of empirical research are presented.

1. The notion of work life balance, its antecedents and outcomes

The term “work-life balance” (WLB) has many definitions. Analysis of selected publications allow to conclude that WLB is a specific category due to the fact that there are more than a few meanings of it. The term “work-life balance” refers to the relationship between work and non-work aspects of individuals’ lives. Achieving a satisfactory work-life balance is usually understood as restricting one side (usually work), to have more time for the other (private life)⁵. The term “balance” means

“satisfaction and good functioning at work and at nonwork domains, with mini- mum role conflict”⁶. Balance does not imply equality of time but rather employee’s satisfaction from the achievement of balancing multiple roles. In other words, an employee might spend much less or much more than 50% of their time on their work role and still achieve a high level of satisfaction from WLB. This aligns with role balance theory, it is not the number of roles or the time spent on these roles, but the employee’s perception of their ability to manage these roles, that is captured by WLB⁷.

3 T.A.Adisa, G. Gbadamosi, T. Mordi, C. Mordi, In search of perfect boundaries? Entrepreneurs’ work- life balance, “Personnel Review” 2019, Vol. 48, No 6, pp. 1634-1651.

4 L.N. Gravador, M. Teng-Calleja, Work-life balance crafting behaviors: an empirical study, “Personnel Review” 2018, Vol. 47, No 4, pp. 786-804.

5 C. Kelliher, J. Richardson, G. Boiarintseva, All of work? All of life? Reconceptualising work-life balance for the 21st century, “Human Resource Management” 2019, 29, p. 97-112.

6 S.C. Clark, Work/family border theory: a new theory of work/family balance, “Human Relations”

2000, Vol. 53, No 6, p. 751, in: T.A. Adisa, G. Gbadamosi, T. Mordi, C. Mordi, In search…

7 J. Haar, D. Brougham, Work antecedents and consequences of work-life balance: A two sample study within New Zealand, “The International Journal of Human Resource Management” 2020, 8.

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Kesting and Harris claim that work-life balance means “allowing employees some degree of flexibility over when, where, and how they do their work⁸”. In such approach work life balance may refer to appropriate time management. Although research conducted among students⁹ and workers¹⁰ show that people treat WLB very individually, the most popular meaning of the term concerns the issue of time management. Such an approach is consistent with the definition of Haar (2013) defined WLB as “the extent to which an individual can adequately manage the multiple roles in their life, including work, family and other major responsibilities”¹¹.

Interest in work life balance is the results of its outcomes for the employee and the organization. First of all, it is worth to notice that some research examines outcomes of work life balance while some of them influence of application of WLB practices on individual and organizational performance. WLB practices are understood as ‘any employer-sponsored benefit or working condition that helps an employee to balance work and non-work demands’ in literature¹². Common WLB practices used by organizations are flexible work and time arrangements, work leaves, and employee assistance programs¹³. In the below sections results of WLB and WLB practices will be discussed.

As far as the individual results are taken into consideration, WLB positively influ- ences job satisfaction¹⁴. Parkes and Langford in their research on Australian sample of over 16,000 found that work–life balance is important for engaging and retaining employees in the context of other aspects of organisational climate¹⁵. Allen, Jimmie- son, Bordia, and Irmer (2007) argued that work-life balance has an effect on family and life satisfaction and performance and stress-related outcomes¹⁶. What is important, WLB was found to be beneficial to both parents and non-parents, and similarly

8 S. Kesting, C. Harris, Providing a theoretical foundation for work-life balance – Sen’s capability ap- proach, “New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations” 2009, Vol. 34, No. 1, p. 47, in: T.A. Adisa, G. Gbadamosi, T. Mordi, C. Mordi, In search…

9 K. Hoffmann-Burdzińska, M. Żak, Praca i rodzina w opinii studentów. Cz. II. Wyniki badań empi- rycznych [in:] B. Szluz, A. Szluz, M. Urbańska (ed.), Współczesna rodzina w ujęciu interdyscyplinarnym.

Przemiany – wsparcie – rozwój, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego, Rzeszów 2017, s. 209-221.

10 K. Hoffmann-Burdzińska, Równowaga praca – życie w opinii pracowników. Wyniki Barometru Rów- nowagi Życiowej 2015„Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach. Rodzina niejedno ma oblicze – refleksja o współczesnej rodzinie” 2017, nr 3706.

11 J.M. Haar, Testing a new measure of work-life balance: A study of parent and non-parent employ- ees from New Zealand, “The International Journal of Human Resource Management” 2013, 24(17), p. 3308, in: J. Haar, D. Brougham, Work antecedents…

12 W.F. Cascio, Managing a virtual workplace, “Academy of Management Perspectives” 2000, 14(3), p. 166, in: V. Koon, A multilevel analysis of work–life balance practices, “Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources” 2020.

13 V. Koon, A multilevel analysis…

14 A.K.M. Talukder, M. Vickers, A. Khan, Supervisor support and work-life balance: Impacts on job performance in the Australian financial sector, “Personnel Review” 2018, 47(3), pp. 727-744.

15 L.P. Parkes, & P.H. Langford, Work–life balance or work–life alignment? A test of the importance of work-life balance for employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations, “Journal of Manage- ment & Organization” 2008, 14(03), pp. 267-284.

16 J. Allen, N.L. Jimmieson, P. Bordia, B.E. Irmer, Uncertainty during organizational change: Managing perceptions through communication, “Journal of Change Management” 2007, 7, pp. 187-210.

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married and single employees at equal levels¹⁷. Yet outcomes of WLB are visible also at the organizational level. Employees with higher WLB were more likely to report positive intention to stay in the organization¹⁸. Application of WLB leads to a higher level of organizational productivity¹⁹ and organizational commitment²⁰. Research has shown that 37% of variance in organizational commitment and job satisfaction is due to work-life balance²¹. Work-life balance also increases financial performance²².

Plethora of factors influence WLB. At the individual level such factors as sex, the presence of children in the household, age, and social class variables²³, work–family conflict and family support may be mentioned²⁴. More specifically, the perception of sufficient time to meet work and family demands is the pertinent issue. Family demands are result of the volume of responsibilities such as caring for children, elderly parents, serious ill spouses and other family members²⁵. Additionally, needs theory explains how satisfaction of the basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness impact on perceived work-life balance²⁶. Moreover, Hirschi et al. point at four action strategies (i.e., allocating resources, changing resources and barriers, sequencing goals, and revising goals) that make them attain work and family goals²⁷. Also factors at the organizational level influence WLB. An increase in working hours decreases their quality of family life²⁸. Also a pressure to work remotely after work hours has negative influence on WLB²⁹. Further, long commuting leaves less time to balance work and family life³⁰. Also a career salience, and managerial

17 J. Haar, D. Brougham, Work antecedents…

18 H. Jiang, H. Shen, Supportive organizational environment, work-life enrichment, trust and turnover intention: A national survey of PRSA membership, “Public Relations Review” 2018, 44(5), pp. 681-689.

19 N.C. Liu, C.Y. Wang, Searching for a balance: work–family practices, work–team design, and orga- nizational performance, “The International Journal of Human Resource Management” 2011, 22(10), pp. 2071-2085.

20 J.S. Kim, S. Ryu, Employee Satisfaction With Work-life Balance Policies And Organizational Com- mitment: A Philippine Study, “Public Administration and Development” 2017, 37(4), pp. 260–276.

21 S.M. Azeem, N. Akhtar, The influence of work life balance and job satisfaction on organizational commit- ment of healthcare employees, “International Journal of Human Resource Studies” 2014, 4, pp. 18-24.

22 J.E. Perry-Smith, T.C. Blum, Work-family human resource bundles and perceived organizational per- formance, “Academy of Management Journal” 2017, 43, pp. 1107-1117.

23 H. Noda, Work–Life Balance and Life Satisfaction in OECD Countries: A Cross-Sectional Analysis,

“Journal of Happiness Studies” 2019.

24 V. Koon, A multilevel…

25 P. Brough, C. Timms, M.P. O’Driscoll, T. Kalliath, O. Siu, C. Sit, D. Lo, Work–life balance: a lon- gitudinal evaluation of a new measure across Australia and New Zealand workers, “The International Journal of Human Resource Management” 2014, 25(19), pp. 2724-2744.

26 C. Kelliher, J. Richardson, G. Boiarintseva, All of work…

27 A. Hirschi, K.M. Shockley, H. Zacher, Achieving Work-Family Balance: An Action Regulation Model,

“Academy of Management Review” 2018, 44(1), pp. 150-171.

28 K. Jenkins, S.B. Harvey, Australian Experiences, In: M. Riba, S. Parikh, J. Greden (ed.), Mental Health in the Workplace. Integrating Psychiatry and Primary Care. Springer, Cham. 2019.

29 L.K. Barber, A.L. Conlin, A.M. Santuzzi, Workplace Telepressure and work life balance outcomes: The role of work recovery experiences, “Stress and Health” 2019, 35(3), pp. 350-362.

30 J.M. Denstadli, T.E. Julsrud, P. Christiansen, Urban commuting – a threat to the work-family bal- ance?, “Journal of Transport Geography” 2017, 61, 2017, pp. 87-94.

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support influence work-life balance³¹. Research results of Bloom and Van Reenen (2006) who used survey data from 732 medium-sized manufacturing firms in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom showed that better management practices led to better work–life balance outcomes³². Bloom et al. (2011), who investigated 450 manufacturing firms from Europe (Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) and the United States found similar results³³.

2. COVID reality and WLB: rationale for empirical research

COVID reality brought changes to the operation of organizations. These changes have influenced employees. Change is often associated with transitional tensions, for example, resistance to non-traditional ways of working³⁴.

During COVID in many organizations there was a need to rearrange schedules of the employees. Results of research conducted by Kemmy Business School (2015) has shown that employees with variable working schedules are also more likely to work non-standard hours which complicates the relationship between work and life³⁵. Yet probably more employees were working in a remote way. Remote work is an undertaken outside of an organization’s place of operation which depends upon the use of information and communication technologies. It has been perceived as a win-win strategy that solved the work–life balance problem. It has been proved to increase productivity and a reduce absenteeism. Moreover, it increases job satisfaction and employees’ engagement with their organizations’ goals³⁶. Research conducted by Sard- eshmukh et al.³⁷ have revealed that the intensity of remote working is positively related to benefits such as reducing the strain of working under time pressure and enhancing the ability to alter work arrangements to suit personal circumstances. For some, not having to travel to work frees up time, which is then available for non-work activities. However remote working may also result in work intensification, because time saved commuting is used to extend working hours. Remote workers may also spend more effort creating their visibility to compensate for their lack of physical presence³⁸. Where work takes place home, the boundaries between home and work are blurred.

32 N. Bloom, J. Van Reenen, Management practices, work-life balance, and productivity: A review of some recent evidence, “Oxford Review of Economic Policy” 2006, 22(4), pp. 457-482, in: H. Noda, Work–Life Balance…

33 Ibidem.

34 E.E. Kossek, S. Lewis, L.B. Hammer, Work–life initiatives and organizational change: Overcoming mixed messages to move from the margin to the mainstream, “Human Relations” 2010, 63(1), pp. 3-19.

36 A. Galvez, F. Tirado, M.J. Martinez, Work–Life Balance, Organizations and Social Sustainability:

Analyzing Female Telework in Spain, “Sustainability” 2020, 12, 3567.

37 S.R. Sardeshmukh, D. Sharma, T.D. Golden, Impact of Telework on Exhaustion and Job Engagement: A Job Demands and Job Resources Model, “New Technology, Work and Employment” 2012, 27, 3, pp. 193-207.

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In result work pressures spill-over into non-work life. Employees find it difficult to

‘switch off’ and the finish work³⁹. Lack of face time is also associated with coworker dissatisfaction. Telework can hinder collaboration between team members and increase costs associated with time and effort to coordinate work⁴⁰.

Another problem may be connected with longer working hours if e.g. employees needed to replace their absent coworkers or learn to work in new realities, which in turn leads to work overload. Work overload is understood as the perception of an employee that he/she has to deal with too many duties and tasks at work while not being provided with the required resources.

Too many work roles may lead to the employee’s fatigue which affects negatively one’s enthusiasm in satisfying the demands of individual and family domains. By reducing job satisfaction and increasing work-related strain, work overload increases the turnover intention of the employees⁴¹. Long working hours are likely to increase work-life conflict. The assessment of the undesirable length is subjective and this involuntary overtime, rather than length of work hours, is the predictor of WLB.

Dissatisfaction with working hours, regardless of the number of hours worked is taken into consideration by employees while assessing their WLB⁴².

Such organizational changes influence employees’ psychological contracts and have effects on job security and level of stress, and in turn on their work-life balance (Guest, 2002)⁴³. Many employees today have greater fears about the prospect and likely consequences of job loss than was the case in the past. Job insecurity refers to a situation in which individual who is gainfully employed feels threatened by un- employment⁴⁴. It may be measured both objectively by an individual’s casual employment status, as well as subjectively through their perception of the risk of job-loss⁴⁵. It predicts the trust and dedication of employees to the organization where they work⁴⁶. Feelings of insecurity can make people reluctant to leave their job. Workers who feel

39 A. Felstead, G. Henseke, Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, well- being and work-life balance, “New Technology, Work and Employment” 2017, Vol. 32(3).

40 M.B. Perrigino, B.B. Dunford, K.S. Wilson, Work–family backlash: The “dark side” of work–life bal- ance (WLB) policies, “The Academy of Management Annals” 2018, 12(2), pp. 600-630.

41 S. Poulose, M. Dhal, Role of perceived work–life balance between work overload and career commit- ment, “Journal of Managerial Psychology” 2020, 35(3), pp. 169-183.

42 N. Skinner, B. Pocock, Work-life conflict: Is work time or work overload more important? “Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources” 2020, 46(3), pp. 303-315.

43 D.E. Guest, Perspectives on the study of work-life balance, “Social Science Information” 2002, 41, pp. 255-279.

44 H. De Witte, Job insecurity: Review of the international literature on definitions, prevalence, anteced- ents and consequences, “South African Journal of Industrial Psychology” 2005, 31, pp. 1-6.

45 S. Yu, Work–life balance – work intensification and job insecurity as job stressors, “Labour & Indus- try: a Journal of the Social and Economic Relations of Work” 2014, 24(3), pp. 203-216.

46 S.J. Ashford, C. Lee, P. Bobko, Content, causes, and consequences of job insecurity: A theory-based measure and substantive test, “Academy of Management Journal” 1989, 32, pp. 803-829, www.jstor.org/

stable/256569?origin=JSTOR-pdf.

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insecure may feel that their quality of life in and out of work is suffering⁴⁷. It is sug- gested that job insecurity affects WLB outcomes because employees fearful about job security may feel pressure to perform in excess of explicit work demands. Further, job insecurity may create anxiety about uncertain income and working hours⁴⁸

It should be also mentioned that WLB of employees is not the same as the WLB of entrepreneurs. This is because entrepreneurs enjoy higher level of freedom and independence. This is especially the case where boundaries between workplace and home are blurred and extended by mobile information technology. On the other side, entrepreneur’s jobs can be very stressful, balancing work and nonwork obligations is often difficult for them⁴⁹. Our knowledge in WLB of the self-employed is limited, although they represent a significant proportion of the workforce in some countries and a growing proportion in others. One of the challenges of addressing WLB of the entrepreneurs, however, is their diverse nature, including those who are voluntarily self-employed and those who work as independent contractor for the company. The limited work that has been done on work-life balance among the self-employed presents mixed findings.

Some researchers report that self-employed workers have a better work-life balance resulting from higher level of autonomy, while others indicate that their level of work-life balance is low as a result of high levels of stress and burnout⁵⁰. Moreover, achieving WLB will differ between men and women. It remains difficult for women to continue working after giving birth to a child and in the early years of childcare. Their comfort will depend also on the men’s participation in childcare and family caregiving⁵¹.

Taking above into consideration, we believe that it would be valuable to recognize both understanding and level of WLB by different groups of respondents, such as the influence of pandemic on their situation. We formulated three research questions:

1. How the WLB idea is perceived by respondents?

2. What factors influence WLB among respondents?

3. How has WLB changed during pandemic of COVID-19?

3. Research assumptions

Literature review for this paper shows the issue of WLB as a very wide area. The study on WLB using The Work-Life Barometer™ present the assumptions of con- ducting studies in this area, i.e.⁵²:

47 K. Roberts, Work-life balance – the sources of the contemporary problem and the probable outcomes,

“Employee Relations” 2007, 29(4), pp. 334-351.

48 S. Yu, Work–life balance…

49 T.A. Adisa, G. Gbadamosi, T. Mordi, C. Mordi, In search…

51 S. Ikeda, Review of sociological research on work-life balance “The Japanese Journal of Labour Studies” 2010, 52(6), pp. 22–31, in: H. Noda, Work–Life…

52 K. Hoffmann-Burdzińska, Równowaga praca – życie w opinii pracowników. Wyniki Barometru Rów-

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− theoretical models describing work/life balance are not valid in the long term,

− comparing people to each other in terms of the subjective assessment of the balance of life they achieve, we can only conclude that they are relatively better or worse off than others,

− it is unlikely that people who are most satisfied with their situation in different dimensions (work, family, leisure time, etc.) will be role models in the sphere of work-life balance.

The aim of the research is identifying and assessment of behavior and opinions on the work-life balance during the COVID-19 among selected respondents. The research method was a structured interview conducted among 8 persons. There was a targeted sampling used. Criteria of selecting respondents were: sex and employment situation (whether interviewee was employed or self-employed and what kind of contract was valid for him/her). Therefore, authors invited 4 women and 4 men.

In each of these two groups there were: an entrepreneur running own business, entrepreneur working for another company (B2B contract), employee (full or part- time contract), contractor (civil law contract).

Two criteria of sampling mentioned above were chosen for following reasons:

a) Sex of respondent – many papers on WLB issue are focused on the problem of differences between women and men who strives for reconciliation of professional and private responsibilities⁵³.

b) Professional situation – understanding of work needs to incorporate the new forms of working arrangements and relationships⁵⁴. We assume that especially during pandemic these aspects are important to consider.

Observation of the current situation (a few months after lock-down ended) brought presumption that the assessment of WLB among workers has changed.

Taking into consideration selected factors determining work-life balance (sex, professional situation) we ask following research questions (Table 1):

nowagi Życiowej 2015, Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Śląskiego w Katowicach. Rodzina niejedno ma oblicze – refleksja o współczesnej rodzinie; nr 3706, 2017.

53 C.J. Gatrell, S.B. Burnett, C.L. Cooper, P. Sparrow, Work-life balance and parenthood: a comparative review of definitions, equity and enrichment “International Journal of Management Reviews” 2013, Vol.

15, pp. 300-316.

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Table 1. Research and interview questions Tabela 1. Pytania dotyczące badań i wywiadów

Research questions Interview questions

How the WLB idea is perceived by respondents?

What does work-life balance mean to you?

How do you assess the level of your work-life balance? (Please, assess on a scale from 0 to 6, where

0 means total imbalance and 6 means very high level of balance). Please describe your mood/fe-

elings associated with this level of balance.

What factors influence WLB among

respondents? What helps you to achieve a work-life balance?

What factors disturb the balance in your life?

How has WLB changed during pandemic of Covid-19?

Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your employment situation? How has it affected you?

(what decisions/plans have been changed, do you still work in the current place, what decisions were made in the organization you are

working for, how do you evaluate them) How has the pandemic affected your life? (what

has changed - what is new, what ended, had to be definitely resigned)

Have your plans for the future (both professional and private) changed and how? (how do

you feel about it?)

Has the level of work/life balance changed since the outbreak of the pandemic? Has it decre-

ased or increased? Why?

Source: own study.

Additional questions asked were: age of respondent, place of living and employment status. Family situation was described during the interview while respondent answered questions on WLB and factors influencing it. Interviews were conducted and analyzed in July and August 2020. Researchers talked to respondents via tel- ephone and tools like ZOOM or Skype.

4. Results of empirical research

This part of the paper presents research results. Answers received from 8 respondents were coded with the abbreviation compounded of three elements:

− sex of respondent (W – woman, M – man),

− age (number of years),

− form of employment (CC – civil contract, EC – employment contract, E – entrepreneur, B2B – entrepreneur on the B2B contract).

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The first question concerned the professional situation of the respondents.

They were asked to describe the issue indicating their professional situation. The respondents, employed on the basis of civil law contracts, worked in various indus- tries and in various positions. The examined woman (W, 24, CC) works in a hospital as a medical worker describing the results of imaging diagnostics. A man (M, 23, CC), in turn, deals with marketing, including social media in a courier company.

Among the full-time employees, one works at a university as an academic teacher (W, 46, EC), and the other (M, 46, EC) is employed as a commercial director. The respondents who are independent entrepreneurs are (1) owner of a beauty salon (W, 30, E) and a company operating in a construction industry (M, 44, E). Self- employed on the basis of B2B contracts were associated with the financial industry, where they worked as financial advisors (W, 32, B2B), (M, 45, B2B).

“Situationist” approach to WLB suggests that balance depends on the individual’s circumstances and is interpreted individually⁵⁵. That is why we asked respondents about their understanding of work-life balance.

The respondents’ statements more often mentioned the time devoted to work and private life but also time management. Respondents presented various approaches to this issue, indicating, for example, separating work from life, reconciling these spheres or using one of them to maximize their satisfaction with the other (work as a factor enhancing the quality of private life). Taking into account the characteristics of the respondents, no differences in terms of the form of employment or the gender of the respondents were noticed.

The next question related to the assessment of the work-life balance among the respondents. A scale from 0 to 6 points was used, with 0 being a complete imbalance and 6 the highest balance. When analyzing the answers of the respondents, it was noticed that the relatively lowest assessment of the work-life balance appeared among entrepreneurs (2 points). This area was rated slightly higher by persons under civil law contracts and full-time employees (approx. 3 points). Work-life balance was rated the highest by people employed on B2B contracts (5 points). From the statements of the respondents, it can be concluded that the B2B contract is a kind of compromise between being completely dependent on the employer (which takes place in a full-time job) and full independence (which accompanies entrepreneurs running their busi- nesses), in which you have to take care of all the details of the business. Lower WLB ratings among the respondents are accompanied by the feeling of lack of time in the private sphere. The higher number of points, in turn, is related to the satisfaction that the respondents have time for hobbies, passions, etc. outside of work. The interviewed

55 T.A. Adisa, G. Gbadamosi, T. Mordi, C. Mordi, In search…

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women more often referred to the aspect of relationships, e.g. job. In turn, men more often talked about tasks, plans for the future and workload.

The next questions were devoted to the issue of factors that positively and negatively affect the perceived level of work-life balance. When it comes to the factors supporting balance, respondents paid attention to their individual characteristics such as motivation, good self-organization, common sense, assertiveness, mental balance, values, hobbies, health, family, partner. In the organizational area the most attention was paid to the flexibility of the employer, the possibility of using a standstill benefit, the nature of work, form of employment and doing what is a passion in life. The respondents also paid attention to the conditions of the environment related to clients and their behavior, which were motivation to act. Factors that lower the feeling of work-life balance were also divided into three areas. In the individual sphere, the respondents indicated their own lack of assertiveness, high emotional commitment to work, fear of losing their job, workaholism, and the belief that there is no possibility of replacing them at work. The factors related to the organizational sphere most often related to decisions made by employers’ companies and they in- cluded reducing the number of hours, conflicts at work, the form of employment such as a mandate contract, overtime work and the level of remuneration. Accord- ing to the respondents, in the environment unfavorable are the bad situation in the industry, the employer’s market and, consequently, competition in the labor market.

An interesting observation that can be made in this area is that women more often paid attention to individual factors, and men to organizational ones. In addition, respondents - entrepreneurs more often referred to individual factors, and persons employed by specific employers under civil law and employment contracts more often indicated factors of an organizational nature.

We were most interested in the influence of COVID-19 on work-life balance of employees. That is why we asked the questions about the influence of COVID-19 on employment and personal situation, plans for the future and changes in the WLB due to pandemia.

First, we asked respondents about their professional situation. The respondents’

statements show that three of them worked mainly remotely ((W, 32, B2B), (M, 44, E), (W, 46, EC)) , one person, in the absence of such a possibility received a standstill benefit (W, 24, CC), and one had to close her business due to the type of business (W, 30, E). The remaining people worked in stationary mode, without any major changes during the lockdown. People employed on the basis of civil law contracts said that they were thinking about changing their situation at work to a more secure

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one. The way to achieve this goal was, inter alia, looking for another full-time job, as well as developing your own business or changing the industry type. Entrepreneurs presented a more cautious approach to their own business during the lockdown, which boiled down to rethinking their operating strategy in the area of new services or hiring employees. Overall, respondents either said they were overworked ((M, 44, E), (W, 32, B2B), (M, 44, E)) or that they had more time during the development of the pandemic due to reduced working hours and no need to travel to work (M, 44, E). Overworked people paid attention to their well-being and fatigue. In the statements of the respondents more often one could sense a pessimistic approach.

In case of people who claimed that they had gained some time thanks to the pandemic, they most often spent it on their professional development. Summing up, it can be said that the time of pandemic in Poland and in particular the “lockdown”, was perceived by the respondents as a threat to their professional future, but for some of them (M, 23, CC) also as an opportunity to do something for which they had not time before. It should be added, however, that the length of the period in which people’s professional activities were limited due to the applicable restrictions is not without significance in our opinion.

In the area of personal life, the respondents emphasized that the time of the pandemic was an opportunity for them to think about “what to do next”. The main trend in respondents’ statements was a more cautious approach to the cost of living. Examples of initiatives undertaken by the respondents were changing the place of residence, calculations of expenses, etc. Many people pointed out that they devoted more time to relationships with relatives. The respondents also admitted that the level of stress in their lives had increased. Regarding the plans for the future, the respondents were rather positive about them, despite the fact that there were differences among them in this respect. Some of the respondents said that their plans have not changed in the private or professional sphere. People affected by the changes had to deal with the effects of the pandemic more often (W, 30, E), (W, 24, CC), (M, 23, CC). The time for additional thoughts resulted in some new ideas for the future, and also changed the attitude of the respondents to planning a bit, which must be more flexible, because “you don’t know what will happen”.

The last summing up question was the issue of changes in the level of work-life balance since the outbreak of the pandemic. Three respondents declared no changes ((M, 45, B2B), (W, 46, EC), (W, 24, CC)) and five of the respondents admitted that the level of their balance changed during this time. Two of them ((W, 30, E), (W, 32, B2B)) noticed worse WLB. The reason is the disruption of the line between work and life.

But WLB may also be higher, which was declared by three people thanks to gaining additional time (remote work, general slowdown). In the case of women, it was either worse or unchanged. Only the men experienced an improvement in WLB.

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Conclusions

Interviews conducted with selected respondents in Poland about their work life balance during the pandemic allowed for the formulation of several important conclusions.

First, the form of employment of the respondents in several cases differentiated their responses. This particularly concerned the assessment of their level of security, which was definitely lacking in the case of civil law contracts and acting as an independent entrepreneur. Second, the form of employment of the respondents is related to their assessment of the work-life balance, where a high level of responsibility, for example, for their company and the people employed in it, translated into a lower assessment of the WLB.

In turn, the highest assessment of the WLB was experienced by self-employed persons.

According to the statements of the respondents, it was the best combination of a high level of autonomy with support received from a specific organization. Third, the gender of the respondents differentiated their statements in terms of paying attention to specific factors determining their level of WLB. Among women, individual factors related to their features in the form of specific skills or the presented attitude were more often im- mediately noted. Men more often referred to the organizational area, i.e. factors related to their workplace (own company or employers). Thus, they focused on issues related to what was to be done at work, while women saw their professional situation as one of several areas that they must deal with apart from taking care about home, family or studies.

It is interesting that the respondents, when talking about what supports or disturbs their life balance, referred to individual and organizational factors, and noticed the conditions of the environment next. Among the environmental conditions that changed the level of life balance among the respondents, the pandemic situation definitely prevailed, which became the source of new legal and economic conditions in Poland. The deterioration of the general economic situation in the country became a reason for more cautious planning and taking into account more variants. Next, our study confirmed the conclusions of the previous research in the area of work-life balance. Namely, that WLB is more often seen in terms of managing oneself in time, and also as an area where each person has his own subjective image and expectations⁵⁶. The definitions of WLB identified in the study can be classified into approaches functioning in the literature, but there is no objective approach to this phenomenon to which the respondents’ feelings can be compared.

Understanding WLB is likely to become more important as it becomes more difficult to create a healthy balance in (post) pandemic world. Enhancing WLB is sup- posed to bring positive benefits on mental and physical health, and improved job outcomes including performance to the benefit of both employees and employers⁵⁷.

56 K. Hoffmann-Burdzińska, Determinanty postrzegania równowagi praca-życie w opinii pracowników Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Katowicach, [in:] A. Andrzejczak, J. Furmańczyk (ed.), Kształtowanie zaangażowania i postaw pracowników w sektorze publicznym i non-profit, Wyd. UE Poznań, Poznań 2016.

57 J. Haar, D. Brougham, Work antecedents…

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We find research on WLB during a pandemic and the emerging “new reality” interesting and valuable for both academics and practitioners. On the basis of conducted research, we formulate directions for future research. We propose to examine:

− Changes in the level of WLB during pandemic;

− The impact of remote work, job insecurity and work overload which we believe to be characteristics of pandemic on WLB;

− The impact of organizational interventions aimed at enhancing employees to achieve work life balance during pandemic on the level of WLB;

− Changes in work-life balance programs in the post-pandemic new reality;

− Performance of employees during COVID and influence of their performance on organizational outcomes.

We are aware of the fact that conducted interviews allow only for extension and analytical generalization of theory, not statistical generalization. Despite this fact we hope that our research may serve as a basis for further understanding of WLB in post-pandemic world.

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Authors’ resume:

Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska, PhD – Doctor of humanities in sociology and entrepreneur run- ning a company entitled Innoresearch providing research services for business. She also works for the Technical Secondary School no. 2 in Tychy. The area of her scientific interests includes: work- life balance, human resources development and measuring HR effectiveness.

Agata Austen, PhD, Associate Professor – Professor at the Department of Human Resource Man- agement in Katowice. He specializes in the issues of measuring and increasing the efficiency of the organization and motivating employees. Author of numerous publications in the field of manage- ment, devoted to practical problems. Speaker at numerous national and international conferences, incl. British Academy of Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Small Business, Interna- tional Research Society for Public Management. He also implements projects for practice. So far she has cooperated with with clients such as Totalizator Sportowy, Alstom, Sygnity, JSW KWK, Tauron, PGNiG, Powen, Ferro S.A., Walraven, Murapol, Dehn Polska, Wrocław City Hall.

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Nota o Autorach:

Dr Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska – doktor nauk humanistycznych w zakresie socjologii oraz przedsiębiorca prowadzący działalność gospodarczą pod nazwą Innoresearch, świadczącą usługi badawcze dla biznesu. Pracuje także jako nauczyciel przedmiotów zawodowych ekonomicznych w Technikum nr 2 w Tychach. W obszarze jej zainteresowań badawczych znajdują się zagadnie- nia work-life balance, rozwoju zasobów ludzkich oraz mierzenia efektywności ZZL.

Dr hab. Agata Austen, prof. UE – profesor w Katedrze Zarządzania Zasobami Ludzkimi w Ka- towicach. Specjalizuje się w problematyce pomiaru i zwiększania efektywności organizacji oraz motywowania pracowników. Autorka licznych publikacji z zakresu zarządzania, poświęconych problemom praktycznym. Prelegentka na licznych krajowych i międzynarodowych konferencjach, m.in. British Academy of Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Small Business, Interna- tional Research Society for Public Management. Realizuje także projekty dla praktyki. Dotychczas współpracowała m.in. z takimi klientami jak Totalizator Sportowy, Alstom, Sygnity, JSW KWK, Tauron, PGNiG, Powen, Ferro S.A., Walraven, Murapol, Dehn Polska, Urząd Miasta Wrocław.

Contact/Kontakt:

Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska e-mail: kinga.hoffmann@gmail.com tel. 508171968

Agata Austen

e-mail: agata.austen@ue.katowice.pl

Wkład poszczególnych autorów w przygotowanie publikacji:

The contribution of particular co-authors to preparation of the paper:

Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska – 50%, Agata Austen – 50%