The Relationship Between Work Stress And Work Life Balance Of It Professionals

The present study was taken with the objective to explore the relationship between factors causing work stress and work life balance of IT professionals. On the basis of results, it can be concluded that all the selected work related variables viz. work autonomy, work ambiguity, task variety, work schedule flexibility, work support and work role overload have a strong relationship with work life balance of IT professionals. Kahn et al. , (1992) revealed that role ambiguity, conflict and overload are closely correlated with high level of individual stress, low work satisfaction, low trust and low self-confidence. Billing et al. (2012) noted that employees are better able to deal with work-family conflict when they have sufficient decision latitude or job autonomy in performing the duties and responsibilities associated with their work roles. Gaertner (1984) also noted that employees are caught between the demand of work and family when they lack job autonomy. Macky & Boxall (2008) concluded that the power to make decisions and act autonomously correlate negatively to work life imbalance. Thus, it can be concluded that the employees who have freedom to plan and execute their work tend to have high work life balance as compared to those who enjoy less autonomy. A significant correlation between work life balance and work ambiguity imply that more the employee is clear about duties and responsibilities associated with their work, higher is the work life balance. Role ambiguity occurs when individuals lack a clear definition of their role expectations and the requirements/methods to complete their job tasks. In order to reduce ambiguity, work should be structured to a certain extent to ensure that it is performed effectively and helping to contribute to a satisfying and rewarding experience for the worker. Greater role clarity can help to lower the negative work behaviours. The study further found a positive and significant correlation between task variety and work life balance implying that higher skill level at work was associated with increase in daily levels of work family facilitation. From this result, it can be concluded that IT professionals like job challenges that require a variety of skills that enrich and enlarge the job and reduce the stress level caused by monotonous job. As reported by Greenhaus et al. (1989) employees who work on extremely repetitive tasks, that is, tasks low on variety are likely to experience high level of stress which may intrude into family domain and produce conflict with family role demands.

Hunnur et al. , (2014) found work role overload as key variable for causing stress among employees. IT professionals entails heavy workload in the form of working long hours, constantly working under time pressures, having to work unsociable hours, having to update their knowledge constantly. The results of regression analysis also shows work role overload as the stronger predictor of work life balance after work supprt. Bell, Rajendran, & Theiler (2012) reported that when employees felt demanded, pressured, hectic, agitated, tense, and pushed by work pressures, they experienced less work-life balance and more work-life conflict. Bakker et al. , (2005) suggests that job variety buffer the impact of job demands (work role overload) on job stress. Thus, IT organizations can manage the work role overload and job stress their employees by providing autonomy and variety in the job. The results of the study, further, showed work support as the most influential work related variable among the selected variables affecting the work life balance of IT professionals. Support from work sources viz. supervisor support and co-worker act as buffer, helpful in coping stress and balancing life. The positive relationship between work support and work life balance could be explained in terms of better understanding of supervisors and co-workers about the job tasks, problems and challenges unique to the work environment that outside the workplace do not have. This places them in a better position to provide appropriate support.

Existing literature on work life balance indicates that organizations can help individuals and families to achieve a balance between their work, family and life commitments by introducing work life programmes and policies which benefits both employees and organizations. Thomas & Ganster (1995) in their study reported that family-supportive work policies and practices might give significant benefits in terms of employee attitude and well being. Sergerstrom et al. (2012) has reported that it is the quality of relationship (e. g. warm, friendly, caring and supportive) and support from supervisors and colleagues that buffer the negative impacts of work-related stressors. Legislation has also need to interfere on the requirements of working employees. Its provisions have to establish a clear set of rules for both employees and employers in negotiating new work arrangements which is mutually helpful.