Work-life Balance and Employee Performance: A study of Female Academic Staff of the University of Jos.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Work-life Balance and Employee Performance: A study of Female Academic Staff of the University of Jos.

Gambo Nanven Jephthah¹, Echu Sunny Godwin², Tongshakap Gyang Dafeng³, Olubayo John Popoola⁴, Yusuf Yunana Pindar^5
1245Department of Business Administration, University of Jos. Nigeria.
³Department of management Studies, Plateau State University, Bokkos, Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The notion that paid work and personal life are competing priorities rather than complementary element has called for this research. A healthy work-life balance assumes great significance for working women particularly in the current context in which both, the family and the workplace have posed several challenges and problems for women. The objective of the study was to examine the effect of work-life balance on employees’ performance of female academic staff of university of Jos, thus, structured questionnaire was used to obtain data for about 210 participants. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 26. The findings of the study revealed that flexible working schedule, family leave program, and social life has no significant relationship with employee performance. The study found out that employee assistance program has positive significant effect on employee performance of female academic staff of the University of Jos. The study recommended that the University provides work-life balance arrangements to be enforced by government legislations that will statutorily empower employees to request for a typical work patterns, that the awareness of universities be raised to the advantages of protecting workers’ rights to various leave initiatives that will improve employee wellbeing and managerial training to ensure managerial support for the demands of these policies.
Key Words: Flexible working schedule, Family leave programme, Employee assistance programme, Social life and Performance.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Employee performance is a focal point in any organization because the ultimate performance of organisations depends on the performance of its employees and as such policies should be geared towards increasing the performance of employees (Rajesh & Nishant, 2014). In recent time, work-life balance is identified as one of the dominant triggers of employee’s performance in many organizations, the inability of workers to balance work and family could lead to increased rates of absenteeism, stress, employee turnover, job dissatisfaction and poor work performance (Akpa, Egbuta, Akinlabi, & Magaji, 2019). Thus it is indispensable for employers to focus on policies that balance life with work to achieve personal congruence especially in the university systems where the influx of female academics is on the rise.
Employees in this sector especially the female academic staff are faced with challenges of how to integrate work and family affairs in order to keep the work professional, responsibilities such as class room works, administrative responsibilities in the university, and most importantly, self-development programs such as acquisition of higher degrees, periodic research publications, seminars among others looks cumbersome for individual employee to manage with family affairs. In addition, Women in Nigerian education sector are expected to perform the same way as their male counterparts in ensuring knowledge production; dissemination and community service are effectively delivered without taking into cognizance their dual roles as family keepers and employees.

Today, work-life balance has become more and more a prevalent concern to both employers and employees of most organizations. Most recently, there has been an increase in the thought about the significance that work has on family as well as life of employees. Work Life Balance initiatives can be broadly divided into four dominant categories:
Firstly, Flexible working schedule is a work arrangement whereby employees are allowed to decide the time of the day they start and stop their job related work usually around a band of core hours where each employee must be present (Carlson ,Grzywacz, & Kacmar, 2010).The scheduling programme allows full-time employees to choose their starting and finishing times daily, provided the tasks that are supposed to be done are completed in those number of stipulated hours (Nabe-Nielsen, 2012).
Secondly, Employee assistance program is a work-based intervention program designed to identify and assist employees in resolving personal problems (e.g., marital, financial or emotional problems; family issues; substance/alcohol abuse) that may be adversely affecting the employee’s performance. Employee assistance program plans are usually 100% paid by the employer and its services can be made available to not only the employee but also to immediate family members or anyone living in their home. (SHRM, 2015). Employers are recognizing that a holistic approach to wellness results in a happier, more productive employee.

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