Ph.D. / Most people‘s future aspiration and dreams are closely linked to the work activities that they engage in on a daily basis. Work is a central theme in human evolution and plays a key role in the social and economic spheres of human existence (Blustein, 2006; Donkin, 2001; Fouad & Bynner, 2008). However, the vocational landscape has undergone prolific changes in recent times and the way in which work is organised and performed has changed dramatically from preceding eras (Chipunza & Berry, 2010). These changes have contributed to the production of highly stressful and pressured working conditions that adversely impact employees‘ overall wellness (Blouin, Chopra, & Van der Hoeven, 2009; Marmot, Siegrist, & Theorell, 2006). Organisational responses to employee stress have historically been embedded in the pathogenic paradigm, which aims to minimise the direct financial cost of distressed and vulnerable employees through providing some form of prevention-based employee therapy (Wright, 2003). However, as organisations become increasingly dependent on employees who are willing to conduct multiple in-role and extra-role work activities they are shifting their focus towards the total wellbeing of their workers. Clearly, key organisational goals will not be achieved with a workforce that is simply healthy in the traditional sense of the word, implying that employees are symptom-free and do not suffer from physical illness (Ulrich, 1997). Instead, organisational goals will most likely only be achieved through the promotion of workforce wellness, which refers to not only counteracting the adverse impact of highly demanding work environments on employee health but also promoting engagement and flourishing at work. Research on occupational wellness has a rich tradition of describing and measuring the ways in which job characteristics external to the person (e.g. job design, technology, and organisational structure) impact on employees‘ well-being (Briner, Harris, & Daniels, 2004; Mark & Smith, 2010). Although occupational wellness has largely been associated with organisational and environmental factors recent research suggests that perceptions of work wellness are equally influenced by employees‘ individual cognitive-affective tendencies (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Bakker & Derks, 2009). Work wellness can therefore be viewed as a function of the dynamic interaction between job characteristics and personal attributes, with personality potentially moderating the relationship between stressor and strain outcomes (Swider & Zimmerman, 2010; Van den Heuvel, Demerouti, Bakker, & Schaufeli, 2010).

- Working hours, their duration and work schedule This thesis introduces an overview of the current regulation of working hours and related institutes. It is focused on the particular options how to regulate working hours duration and working hours schedule, as well as on legal limits and restrictions. Working hours are crucial not merely for employers, but also for employees. For employees working hours also determine their leisure time. Therefore, this thesis is focused also on work-life balance with suitable work hours schedule. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part outlines the most important historical development of working hours regulation from medieval rules to the current regulation and its position in the current legal order, which is essential to correct grasp of subsequent parts. In the second, principal part of the thesis, are analysed particular concepts of working hours regulation, there is also an overview of related judicature which defines working hours, working hours duration and possibilities of scheduling. This part also includes a description of minimal rest periods, rest breaks, night work and on-call duty. The third part aims to introduce the special rules for two specific groups of employees. The first are teachers, trainers, and other teaching stuff, and...

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M.Com. (Human Resource Management) / The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to work after regular working hours has become prevalent in the academic profession. Although ICTs are known to enhance work flexibility, they also seem to encourage academics to use ICT devices after hours for work-related purposes. This consequently questions the work flexibility, which is enabled by ICTs, and the potential impact that this has on the work–life conflict (WLC) experienced by academics. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the phenomenon of technology assisted supplemental work (TASW) and the implications that this has on the WLC experienced by academics at a higher education institution in South Africa. In addition, the moderating roles of gender, marital status and whether or not the respondents had children were factors, in these academics‟ personal lives, which were taken into consideration in investigating the relationship between TASW and WLC. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, and made use of an online survey, composed of three sections, to collect data. Section A included demographic-related questions, while Section B contained questions from a pre-existing WLC scale, and Section C comprised of a pre-existing scale used to assess TASW. The sample consisted of academics from a higher education in South Africa (n = 216). The results of the research engaged in revealed a significant relationship between TASW and WLC. Regarding the relationship between TASW and the three forms of WLC, the results revealed that TASW is significantly and positively related to time-based and strainbased WLC. There is no significant relationship between TASW and behavioural-based WLC. TASW is a significant predictor of WLC. Furthermore, the results revealed that gender, children and marital status all significantly moderated the relationship between TASW and WLC. This study contributes further knowledge to the emerging field of research relating to TASW in a South African context. In addition, this study also emphasises the implications of using ICTs and their potential to encourage academics to extend their working hours. This study therefore questions the benefits of this work flexibility that many academics are privileged to have from using ICTs.

There is extensive literature on employee engagement; its antecedents; linkages to positive business outcomes; and its positive impact on retention. Top performing organisations have even found that aligning the engagement strategies to the business goals drive performance outcomes. There is no universal definition of employee engagement and drivers, therefore, a general approach without due cognisance of worker demographics may result in the application of inappropriate engagement strategies. In this study, the focus is on knowledge workers within the banking sector of Botswana. Knowledge workers make up almost two thirds of organisations and are said to be unique and complex in their nature. Work to a knowledge worker is more mental than physical, hence, the need to use interventions aimed at the behaviour to increase their performance. The needs of a knowledge worker and that of the business ought to be integrated. An organisation that is able to identify those factors that would influence their engagement is promised high levels of productivity that would translate into profits and high retention. The main research problem for this study was to determine the strategies that should be used to engage knowledge workers within the banking sector in Botswana. A literature study was conducted to identify characteristics of knowledge workers, meaning of employee engagement and approaches to measuring employee engagement. Eleven organisational factors that have an influence on employee engagement and some of the engagement strategies were identified from literature. The eleven factors identified were: growth and development; rewards and recognition; trust in leadership; work/life balance; two way communication; mission, vision and values; quality of manager; relationship with colleagues; fairness of HR policies; job design; and accountability. An empirical study was also conducted to investigate which of the eleven organisational factors had an influence in the engagement of knowledge workers. The current engagement level of knowledge workers within the banking sector was measured using the Gallup Q12 measuring tool. The main findings from this research are that a significant number of knowledge workers are engaged. The findings of this study also coincide with the theoretical overview that there are organisational factors that have an influence on the engagement of employees. A significant finding was that, although knowledge workers differ in their perception of the organisational factors, they generally indicate that work/life balance initiatives are lacking in their workplace.

China's SOE restructuring has always been an important challenge in the country's economic reform. However, despite a growing literature dealing with the macro perspective of China's SOE reform and the large national champions in the country, there have been few attempts to focus on the smaller local SOEs and their employees who also endured all these massive economic and social changes. This study, based on interviewing employees of a once successful small SOE in Suzhou China about their dramatic work-life changes, provides another angle to examine China's SOE reform. It also presents the impacts of the reform measures on a company and, more importantly, on its employees, by allowing the employees to make their own interpretation on the SOE reform and the changes. By doing so, it brings recognition to the employees of China's local SOEs who seemed to be ignored in past studies and connects the macroeconomic policies and reform measures in China's transitional period to a more concrete discussion of the actual individuals involved.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilken betydelse som flexibla arbetstider kan ha för möjligheten att kombinera arbetsliv och privatliv och i förlängningen arbetstagares upplevda hälsotillstånd. Studiens frågeställningar är: På vilket sätt underlättar eller hindrar flexibla arbetstider möjligheten för intervjupersonerna att kombinera arbetsliv och privatliv? Hur upplever intervjupersonerna att denna kombination påverkar deras hälsotillstånd? För att undersöka detta genomfördes åtta intervjuer med personer som arbetar på samma företag, där de har ett flexibelt arbetstidssystem.   I ett samhälle som präglas av allt högre krav på individen är balansen mellan arbetsliv-privatliv ett både viktigt och aktuellt ämne att undersöka. Tidigare studier visar å ena sidan att flexibla arbetstider är positivt för balansen mellan arbetsliv och privatliv och i förlängningen arbetstagares hälsotillstånd. Å andra sidan visar studier att flexibla arbetstider kan upplevas som stressande och därmed påverka hälsotillståndet negativt. Studien grundas i teorin om Work Life Balance som redogör för hur man kan få ihop arbetsliv och privatliv.   Analysen i vår studie bygger på teorins tre källor till konflikt: den tidsbaserade konflikten, belastningskonflikten samt den beteendebaserade konflikten. Resultaten visar att den tidsbaserade konflikten och belastningskonflikten går in i varandra och att det är individuellt huruvida dessa konflikter uppstår. Resultatet visar även att intervjupersonernas upplevda grad av kontroll är viktig för hur dessa två konflikter tar sig i uttryck. I studien kunde vi inte identifiera en beteendebaserad konflikt. Studien visar även att intervjupersonerna upplever att de med flexibla arbetstider lättare kan kombinera arbetsliv och privatliv och därmed styra hur de ska undvika en konflikt. Utan ett flexibelt arbetstidssystem menar intervjupersonerna att det skulle vara svårare för dem att kombinera de två sfärerna vilket de tror skulle påverka deras psykiska hälsotillstånd negativt. Studien visar däremot att intervjupersonerna upplever att flexibla arbetstider inte har någon direkt inverkan på det fysiska hälsotillståndet.

In recent years, the interest in work-life balance within organizations has increased to a great extent due to the high technology development such as smartphones, laptops, tablets etc. The existing high technology work equipment has generated a possibility for employees to be more available and work more if needed and expected by the employer. The extended availability has caused a lot of employees to increase their working time, which in turn has induced increased stress and pressure (Yarnall, 2008, 121). The consequences have led to that the dichotomy work-life and private life adopts more blurred borders and often develops into a situation like the ”role-overload” (Allvin et al., 2013, 107) and a conflict between these two life spheres becomes a fact. Nowadays, several Swedish organizations have work-life balance practices for their employees. Some of these practices are regulated under Swedish legislation, for instance parental leave and the possibility for parents with small children to work part-time. This study investigates the employees’ actual experiences of work-life balance practices and how these practices affect the employees and indirectly the employer. There is a general assumption that organizations that offer different work-life balance practices do so to attract and keep employees, which is the reason why such practices are being viewed as a positive measure (Doherty, 2004, 447). This study investigates if and in what way there are positive and/or negative experiences or consequences of work-life balance practices for the employees, which in turn also could be affecting the employers. The study is qualitative and empirical. Eight Swedish officials employed in different Swedish organizations (one informant works for an American organization) have been interviewed. The theoretical models that have been used to specify and define the research method are “The Career Active System Triad, CAST” (Baruch, 2004, 100) and “The pros and cons of alternative work arrangements” (B.H. Gottlieb, E.K. Kelloway and E. Barham 1998) and to explain the result “The role expansion theory” (Nordenmark, 2004, 47). This study reveals the informants’ reality and experiences, which shows how society through companies and organizations (mezzo level) forms and guides the individuals (micro level) to act in certain ways. This phenomenon illustrates how society generates a “collective conscience” (Durkheim in Andersen & Kaspersen, 2007, 64). This study shows that organizations and societies implicitly through legislation, rules, practices and policies generate “value rational social action” (Weber in Andersen & Kaspersen, 2007, 74-75) among the individuals, which make them act in a certain way in accordance with the value rational social action, whether or not it fits in their individual life at the moment. Nevertheless, the result also demonstrates the positive attitudes towards the work-life balance practices offered by organizations and society through legislation. These practices allow employees regardless of gender to make choices that enables them to have several roles in life, which has been verified in previous research to be beneficial for well-being and health in general.

As there are now more dual income earners in the workforce, people are facing greater pressure from both their families and their place of work to commit more of their time and energy. Unfortunately, time and energy are limited resources so either their family or careers may have to endure some form of compromise. Clearly family situations can have an impact on one’s career yet little has been done to measure how much people do in fact consider their families with respect to their careers. The purpose of this report then is to bridge this gap in the literature and provide meaningful recommendations for businesses. This research report explores the difference in attitudes that male and female managers have towards compromising their career goals for their family. It then examines if aging and having children have any influence on these attitudes. In order to measure these attitudes a quantitative analysis using primary data from a questionnaire was conducted. The findings indicate that compromising one’s career for family is not only a feminine problem and that when people do compromise their career goals they are more willing to compromise on extrinsic career goals rather than intrinsic career goals / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Studien undersökte upplevelsen av work-life balance för personer med chefsbefattning inom en organisation. Denna studie genomfördes baserat på en kvalitativ induktiv design genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex stycken chefer. Dessa intervjuer genererade tre huvudteman samt underteman. Intervjumaterialet analyserades enligt en induktiv tematisk metod. Urvalet har begränsats till personer med chefsbefattning med syftet att undersöka hur ledarskap kan påverka den upplevda balansen mellan arbete och fritid. Resultatet visade att respondenterna upplevde god work-life balance som varierar periodvis med hänsyn till individuella förutsättningar. Den mest förekommande anledning till negativ utveckling i work-life balance var intressekonflikt mellan arbetsliv samt privatliv. Detta kan öka risken för hälsoproblem som kan orsaka begränsningar för tillfredställelse i både arbetsliv samt privatliv. Samtliga respondenter upplevde att struktur har stor betydelse för god work-life balance även om struktur kunde se olika ut för de olika chefsrollerna. Tillgänglighet samt flexibla arbetsarrangemang i chefsrollen ansågs vara givet för yrkesrollen med risk för negativ påverkan på work-life balance.