Work-Life Balance Giving it the Nigeria Flavour Prof. Chantal Epie Lagos Business School and Institute for Work and Family Integration (IWFI)

The Context for our Work and Family Lives

Difficult environment “Family” needs Competitive pressure Productivity High commitment Delegation down Cost Containment Downsizing Work intensification Quality Continuous improvement Problem solving Pressure on Individual Time and energy Difficult environment Bad road, water and electricity shortages etc. “Family” needs Children, elders Community, private life Adapted from L. Bailyn, Breaking the Mold, 1993

Organizational Benefits of Work-Family Balance a) Overview of the literature b) Results from Nigeria

Did you know…? Long hours of work lead to: Lower productivity Increased workplace injuries and errors Increased levels of ill health Work-family conflict Ref. Burke (2006) Research Companion to Working Time and Work Addiction

Did you know…? Outcomes of work-family conflict: negative impact on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions stress (Poelmans & Sahibzada, 2004)

Did you know…? Outcome of work-life policies: reduce absenteeism, lateness, turnover, work-family conflict and stress increase job satisfaction, productivity, morale and organizational commitment (Poelmans & Sahibzada, 2004)

The more unfriendly the organizational work-family culture, the lower the organizational commitment tends to be. (Nigerian research)

Times Times New RomanNew Roman The more unfriendly the organizational work-family culture, the more the employees think of changing jobs. (Nigerian research)

The more unfriendly the organizational work-family culture, the lower the employees’ trust in Management. (Nigerian research)

Insights into the work life of Nigerians in Lagos

Hours worked per week In a typical week: 30 to 91 hours. Mean: 53.5 hours 14% never or seldom work more than official hours 69% work more than 48 hours per week Of these, 44% work in the banking/finance/ insurance sector And 10% in manufacturing The rest in a wide range of sectors: telecom, shipping, education, services, IT etc.

Reasons for working long hours 25% do it because they enjoy their work, but it is the main reason for only 4% 44% choose to do so for the same circumstances that make others feel obliged to work long hours

Circumstances requiring long hours Volume of work 65% Need to meet deadlines 69% Only time to think 25% Part of organizational culture 21% Pressure by management 13% Necessary to get ahead 10% Fear of job loss 4%

Commuting time and stress 47%: 3 to 6 hours on a typical day 7%: less than an hour For 35%, commuting adds greatly to the stress of the day For 42%, it adds slightly to it.

Excessive work hours and health 68% of those working more than 48 hours had suffered from stress-related illnesses in the past 12 months.

Stress-related ill-health Fatigue: 52% Migraine: 37% Series of persistent minor ailments: 31% Irritability: 25% Sleeplessness: 20% Anxiety attacks: 19% Lack of concentration: 17% Loss of appetite 12%; depression 12%

Work-to-Family Conflict among those working more than 48 hours 38%: high score in all four measures of time-based work-family conflict 9%: stress-based conflict 59% and 37% respectively score high in at least 3 of the measures

Time-based Work-to-family conflict 80% wish they had more time for their family 77% feel they do not have enough time for themselves 48% find their time off work does not match well other family members’ schedule

Stress-based Work-to-family conflict 74% habitually feel physically drained 43% emotionally drained by the time they get back home from work. Can they recover overnight??? Substantial agreement with spouses’ perceptions

Feeling in control of one’s life Of all respondents, only 29% felt habitually in control of their life. Others felt out of control sometimes (29%), often (38%) or even most of the time (4%).

Where does help come from? Of those who felt out of control at least sometimes: 51% seek help from outside the organization, mostly from doctors, and this help is generally considered effective 9%, from their line manager or some other senior manager rather than from HR, and a small majority find this help effective 40% try to draw only on their own internal resources

How to achieve work-life balance (1) Personal effort on the part of each employee, yes.

Strive for successful family life Strategic, financial, “HR” planning Goal setting: SMART goals Priority setting Time management Team work

How to achieve work-life balance (2) But also organizational support in the form of family supportive or family-responsible policies Cf. Evbuoma (2007) Fayankinu and Alo (2007)

Family-responsible HR practices (time flexibility) Individual timing of working hours or staggered hours Flexible hours Compressed working week Part-time jobs or reduced hours Job sharing Flexibility in leave and short vacations

Family-responsible HR practices (space flexibility) Occasional working from home Tele-office at home

Family-responsible HR practices Part-time careers Extended maternity leave without pay Paternity leave (a few days) Childcare leave Childcare assistance (financial or logistic)

Others Stress management training Time management training Training on combining work and family

Top Priorities for Lagos Managers 1st: Flexible hours 2nd: Individual timing of working hours 3rd: Possibility of a career break 4th: Flexibility in leave and short vacations 5th: Stress management training 6th: Time management training 7th: Compressed work week 8th: Possibility of extended maternity leave without pay

The Way Forward Organizational diagnosis Why are employees working excessively long hours? Take corrective measures Adoption of family-responsible policies What policies could help them manage their work-family interface? Ask them and see what can be implemented.

Be creative! Let us generate ideas! Extended full-time maternity leave may be bad for the organization. What about extended part-time maternity leave? For example: 4 weeks full time, then 16 weeks half-time An in-house creche may be too costly. What about joining forces with other organizations in the same area? Let us generate ideas!

Sources of the data Epie, C., and Ituma, A. (forthcoming, 2014). Working Hours and Work-Family Conflict in the Institutional Context of Nigeria. In Z. Mokomane’s (Ed.) Achieving family supportive workplaces and communities in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of social policy. Springer Epie, C. (2011). Facing the Challenge of Work-family Integration in Lagos – Employee Strategies and Preferences for Work-family Policies. Business & Management Journal, Vol.1 No. 1, 89-99 Epie, C. (2011). The Business Case for Family-Responsible Management. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing, (Doctoral thesis, 2008, Business School Lausanne).

Other cited sources Evbuoma, I.K. (2007). Influence of Women and Family-Friendly Support Services on Women’s Work Performance in Organizations. Gender and Behaviour, 5(1), 1109-1128. Fayankinnu, E.A. & Alo, O.A. (2007). Globalisation and Work: An Insight from the Ghanaian and Nigerian Women Experience. Gender and Behaviour, 5(1), 1129-1161.