WLBWG Vol 5 - Final

Division of Occupational Psychology
Applying the science of psychology to work
Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter

Volume 5, Spring 2014
DOP WLB Working Group Members

Anna Allen Deirdre Anderson Alexandra Beauregard Rob Briner Uracha Chatrakul Jurate Cingiene Hannah Courtney Bennett Caroline Gatrell Roxane Gervais Christine Grant Marjolein Hoogebloom Fiona Jones Jurate Kairyte Gail Kinman Suzan Lewis Allison Lindsay Barbara Lond Clare Lyonette Gillian Marks Almuth McDowall Julianne Miles Mustafa Ozbilgin Nicky Payne Cristina Quiones Garca Laura Radcliffe Susie Phillips-Baker Julie Waumsley Stephen Wood Siobhan Wray Anna@sustainableworking.co.uk deirdre.anderson@cranfield.ac.uk A.Beauregard@lse.ac.uk rbb25@management.bath.ac.uk U.Chatrakul@mdx.ac.uk jc755@bath.ac.uk hannah.courtneybennett@btinternet.com c.gatrell@lancaster.ac.uk roxylg@alumni.fdu.edu christine.grant@dsl.pipex.com leintje1985@hotmail.com F.a.jones@leeds.ac.uk jkairyte@googlemail.com Gail.Kinman@beds.ac.uk S.Lewis@mdx.ac.uk allison.lindsay@gmail.com drbarbaralond@gmail.com C.Lyonette@warwick.ac.uk g.marks@mmu.ac.uk almuth@worklifeconsulting.co.uk julianne@careerpsychologists.co.uk Mustafa.Ozbilgin@brunel.ac.uk N.Payne@mdx.ac.uk Cristina.Quinones-Garcia@northampton.ac.uk lauraradcliffe@aol.com susie.phillipsbaker@yahoo.co.uk Julie.Waumsley@northampton.ac.uk S.J.Wood@leicester.ac.uk siobhanwray1@ntlworld.com
Message from the Co-Chairs

Almuth McDowall & Gail Kinman
Almuth McDowall Gail Kinman
ELCOME to the Spring 2014 edition of the Work-Life Balance Working Groups newsletter. This is the fifth edition of the newsletter: like its predecessors, it is packed with interesting and informative articles and news about work-life balance issues. This edition covers a wide range of topics, from the work-life balance expectations of Generation Y to work-life conflict and the Arab Spring. Other articles report the activities of members of the Working Group. Once again, we had a strong presence in Januarys DOP conference. We organised a well-attended and very well received workshop on work-life balance solutions and the need to develop creative interventions that address differences in employment context and individual employee needs. Several papers on the general theme of work-life balance were presented by Working Group members and others. An outline of the workshop and these presentations are included in this newsletter. Last month we were also delighted to be invited to speak at the prestigious Health and Well-being at Work event at the NEC in Birmingham. Although this event has been running for several years, work-life balance issues have not been prominently featured. As the event attracts thousands of occupational health and human resources professionals, our message on the implications of a poor work-life balance and ways in which it can be improved will have reached many organisations in the public and private sector. An interesting comment from the audience was How come at the planned extension to the right to request flexible working has not received more media
coverage?. This is a very good point! It is one of the core missions of our Working Group to ensure that work-life balance is a topic for absolutely everyone, regardless of family or caring responsibilities. Several other events are planned in the summer. Firstly, the DOP is sponsoring two symposia at the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychologys conference in London in April. The Health and Well-being Working Group has organised a symposium. The five papers included in the symposium presented by members of the Work-Life Balance Working Group consider key factors regarding diversity in employment contexts, employees life circumstances, and their boundary management preferences and strategies. This symposium also explores the strategies that are likely to lead to work/nonwork enhancement and enrichment as well as conflict. The Working Group will also be contributing a symposium to the WorkFamily Network conference in New York in June. This session will comprise four papers that explore the use of novel frameworks in the work-family context. Almuth spoke on work-life balance at the Psychology 4 Students event in 2013; a sellout event organised by the British Psychological Society, and was fascinated by how much the topic resonates with a young generation, who clearly have the issue at the forefront when making career and indeed education decisions. She was also invited to speak at the University of Surreys Business School for its Women in Business Series. This was attended by a wide audience of alumni and employees and leaders from nearby organisations. Feedback was enor1
Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014
Almuth McDowall & Gail Kinman
mously positive and indicated a real appetite for using psychology to assist individuals and organisations in managing balance better. Gail was invited to the University of Edinburghs Business School to speak on the topic; both chairs very much appreciate the opportunity to spread the word about our important topic. As we said in one of our first meetings, we will know that we have done a good job with the working group if work-life balance is integral to everything we do. Well, that is our news we would like to hear about yours. This is your newsletter and it is a great opportunity for you to keep your fellow researchers and practitioners informed about your activities in the field of
work-life balance. Please get in touch with Roxane or Barbara if you would like to make a contribution. We also encourage you to let us know about any forthcoming presentations, publications and press coverage in relation to the topic. Together we can highlight the strong contribution made by psychology in helping organisations and employees manage the work-home interface more effectively, with clear benefits for all. Dr. Almuth McDowall Email: a.mcdowall@surrey.ac.uk Professor Gail Kinman Email: gail.kinman@beds.ac.uk
THE DOP 2014 CONFERENCE LOCATION BRIGHTON
Message from the Newsletter Editors

Roxane L. Gervais & Barbara Lond
Roxane L. Gervais Barbara Lond
ORK-LIFE BALANCE has many facets and this newsletter provides the opportunity to illustrate these. In this respect, this volume explores worklife balance among different generations. Several papers illustrate how the generations approach work-life balance, from the Millennials in Finland to the differences in the understating of the concept between Gen X and Gen Y. We hope that these varied interpretations of the term will resonate with your generation and allow you to compare your version of work-life balance with perhaps colleagues or friends. Of course, work-life balance made another good impression at the DOPs 2014 conference, allowing us to present overviews of these papers and of a workshop on managing work-life balance. Our global
perspective in this edition is very topical and presents research from Lebanon, specifically looking at work-life conflict and the Arab Spring. We hope you find this of interest, for as we know, more research is needed from other countries to present the non-Western perspective of psychology and of course of work-life balance. Please remember, we would love to hear from you so get in touch with us at the email addresses listed. The Working Group has a twitter feed and you can follow us there: @DOPworklife Dr Roxane L. Gervais Email: roxylg@alumni.fdu.edu Dr Barbara Lond Email: drbarbaralond@gmail.com
Featured articles
Balancing work with life: Does generation matter?

HE FOLLOWING ARTICLES address the theme of this newsletter, which is exploring the differences (do any exist?) of work-life balance among the four generations that could be present within todays workforce: the traditionalists, those born within the period 1925 to 1945; Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 to 1960; Generation X, those born between 1961 to 1980, and Millennials, those born since 1981 (Patterson, 2005). Within the literature, Millennials are known also as Generation Y (Birkman International, no date). In addition, Generation Z, identified as those born from the early 2000s onwards (DowdHiggins, 2013), is another group that will enter the workforce soon. As the years for defining the various generations have not been synchronised to date, the articles will differ by one or two years, when discussing the groups. The interest in how the generations respond to various work characteristics and values have grown over the past few decades. One of the perceptions of the differences between the generations can be encapsulated in the following hypothesised approaches to work and life of these groups (ValueOptions, no date):
The changing structure of the population and the various economic crises are two of the factors that have shifted who, in terms of age, is in the current workforce. Individuals are required to work longer than they might have anticipated, and will be working with colleagues across various age groups. These different age groups are influenced very much by cultural and social events, for example, Baby Boomers and the many changes at the end of the World War II, as well as the Vietnam War; while the Millennials have benefitted from the advent of the internet and the constant improvements in technology. While work-life balance is valued by workers in general, these articles will allow you to compare the differences and similarities between the generations in respect of work-life balance.
References
Birkman International (no date). How do generational differences impact organisations and teams? Part 1. Birkman International. Retrieved 3 November 2011, from: http://www.birkman.com/news/ BMI_GenerationsPart1.pdf Dowd-Higgins, C. (2013). How to play together in the multi-generational sandbox at work. The Huffington Post.com. Retrieved 26 May 2013, from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ caroline-dowdhiggins/how-to-play-togetherin-t_b_2989568.html Patterson, C. (2005). Generational diversity: Implications for consultation and teamwork. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs on generational differences, January 2009, Deerfield Beach, Fla. ValueOptions (no date). Workplace influence. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://www.valueoptions.com/ spotlight_YIW/workplace.htm
Traditional Generation: These are the rules. Baby Boomer Generation: Lets talk about the rules. Generation X: Break all the rules. Generation Y: Redefine the rules.
Featured article
Work-Life Balance: Descriptions from Finnish Millennial

Susanna Kultalahti
ORN BETWEEN 19781995 (Smola & Sutton, 2002), Millennials, or Generation Y, represent a quarter of the worlds population and will dominate the workforce in the next decade (Erickson, 2008). Thus, Millennials have gained interest for research and scholars are keen on examining their expectations and preferences concerning working life. There has been some debate on whether the Millennials differ from other generations, namely Baby Boomers (born between 19461964) and Generation X (19651977). The view is not totally unanimous (e.g. Ciancola, 2008), even though Solnet and Hood (2008) found considerable differences between Millennials and other generations. Nevertheless, there are certain features, which have been discussed to be characteristic of Millennials in the work context, for example: l Technology: they are familiar with technology and are able to communicate (online) in several different ways (Smith, 2010; Welsh & Brazina, 2010); l Meaningful work (Rawlins et al., 2008) and job content (De Hau & De Vos, 2010); l Work-life balance (WLB; Cennamo & Gardner, 2008; Smith, 2010); l Social relationships: they enjoy social connection, cooperation, and working in teams (Cennamo & Gardner 2008; Jamrog, 2002; Wong et al., 2008), and they value a work community that is nurturing and supporting (Solnet & Hood, 2008). In this article, I will briefly present the findings obtained in a study that examined
Millenials descriptions of motivation. The data were collected using the method of empathybased stories (MEBS) in 2012. MEBS utilises varying background stories, where usually one factor varies between the Susanna Kultalahti stories (Eskola, 1991.) Thus, as a result, the informants provide stories on the matter. In this particular study, the informants were given two stories: the first one described a situation where a person comes home from work feeling enthusiastic and motivated; in the second one he felt demotivated and bored with his job. After both of the stories they were presented a question: why does he feel like this? The idea of MEBS is that it does not limit individuals own thinking, and referring to a third person makes it easier to approach the question. Nevertheless, it is expected that they will reflect still on their own values, expectations, preferences and experiences (Eskola, 1991). Altogether 252 Millennials answered the questions. They were reached through Facebook using a snowball method. Even though Millennials have been examined to value WLB (e.g. Smith, 2010), the results were somewhat surprising. One of the main themes that arose from the data was WLB. The informants wrote a great deal about WLB and their private life, and their impact on motivation. WLB was mentioned equally both in positive and negative stories. Thus, it seems that WLB can both increase, as well as decrease, the level of motivation. 5
Susanna Kultalahti
When writing about WLB, the Millennials touched different aspects of it. In the positive stories, where the person in the story was described as motivated, they mentioned that the person has sufficient challenges at work, but he has also time to recover from the day at work: he has had time to exercise; the work does not drain him; he has had time for his family and friends and that he does not have to think about work in his free time. In addition, the informants wrote that everything has to be okay at home in order for him to feel motivated: If things are fine at home and he is happy, it will also be easier to go to work in the mornings. There were quite a few references to his family as well and his personal relationships. Even though the background story did not say anything about him having children, some of the informants had mentioned kids too, and that there is enough time to play with them. These issues were sometimes related to flexible work arrangements concerning time and place. The person in the story was described to be able to choose where and when he worked, and that the workplace encouraged and supported an investment in WLB. Thus, it seems that Millennials might expect that their employers promote WLB and make it possible for their employees to combine a satisfying life in and off work. When it comes to demotivation, the informants discussed the same themes as in positive stories. However, there were slightly more emphasis on health issues, such as being physically in a bad condition because of not having enough time or energy to exercise. Additionally, there were mentions of burnout, depression, and sick leave as well. When it came to his private life, there were several remarks on family. If the work was described as too stressing or consuming and the person did not have time to play with his kids or see them growing, or spend time with his wife/girlfriend, that resulted in demotivation at work. Interestingly, the participants surprisingly mentioned quite a lot that the conditions at home had a serious effect on motivation at work. This is both interesting 6
and challenging, as the employer or even the closest supervisor has no effect on the personal relationships. Nevertheless, most of these situations were due to inflexible or too a demanding job, or a supervisor who does not care about the subordinates and their needs. As a matter of fact, the informants themselves offered some solutions. They mentioned that the person should be taken as a whole; since ones private life has an inevitable effect on how the person feels as work. This might indicate that for Millennials, the work is not the only thing that defines them. This might be due to experiences in childhood and early adulthood, when generational characteristics are shaped, which then are represented in values, expectations and perceptions (e.g. Kupperschmidt, 2000; Parry & Urwin, 2011). Millennials have witnessed shattering life events, such as acts of terrorism, school shootings and natural disasters they have grown up in a world, where life can end unexpectedly. Thus, they want to have more to their lives than just work, and family, friends, and hobbies are important (Macky et al., 2008; Welsh & Brazina, 2010). This might have a direct impact on valuing WLB more than previous generations. Inevitably, the preference of combining work and other aspects of life in a way that satisfies Millennials can be challenging in the workplaces. The new normal might be flexible work arrangements and emphasis on supervisory work. The Millennials are not afraid of their supervisor having a close relationship with them (Jamrog, 2002). Instead, they want to be seen as a whole, and that they would be provided enough flexibility in order to balance their lives. Millennials seem to work to live. However, the working life is used to Baby Boomers who live to work instead (Smola & Sutton, 2002). Thus, it might not be overestimated that Generation Y is changing the working life as we know it. At least they do not want to be taken for granted, as they want to enjoy life outside of work as well and we have to deal with that.
Work-Life Balance: Descriptions from Finnish Millennial
The Author
Susanna Kultalahti, MSc. PhD Student, Researcher, Department of Management, University of Vaasa, P.O. Box 700, 65101 Vaasa, Finland Email: susanna.kultalahti@uva.fi
References
Cennamo, L. & Gardner, D. (2008). Generation differences in work values, outcomes and personorganisation values fit. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), 891906. Ciancola, F. (2008). Should generation profiles influence rewards strategy? Employee Relations Law Journal, 34(1), 5668. De Hau, S. & De Vos, A. (2010). Millenials career perspective and psychological contract expectations: Does the recession lead to lowered expectations? Journal of Business Psychology, 25, 293302. Erickson, T. (2008). Plugged in: The Generation Y guide to thriving at work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Eskola, J. (1991). Elytymismenetelmn kytt sosiaalitutkimuksessa. Working reports B:35. Finland: University of Tampere, Department of Sociology and Social Psychology. Jamrog, J.J. (2002). The coming decade of the employee. In William G. Stopper (Ed.), Human Resource Planning, 25(3), 511. Kupperschmidt, B.R. (2000). Multigeneration employees: Strategies for effective management, The Health Care Manager, 19(1), 6576. Macky, K., Gardner, D. & Forsyth, S. (2008). Generational differences at work: Introduction and overview. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), 857861. Parry, E. & Urwin, P. (2011). Generational differences in work values: A review of theory and evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13, 7996. Rawlins, C., Indvik, J. & Johnson, P.R. (2008). Understanding the new generation: What the Millenials cohort absolutely, positively must have at work. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict, 12(2), 18. Smith, K.T. (2010). Work-life balance perspectives of marketing professionals in Generation Y. Services Marketing Quarterly, 31, 434447. Smola, K.W. & Sutton, C.D. (2002). Generational differences: Revisiting generational work values for the new millennium. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 363382. Solnet, D. & Hood, A. (2008). Generation Y as hospitality employees: Framing a research agenda. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 5(4), 5968. Welsh, M.J. & Brazina, P.R. (2010). Gen Y anatomy lesson: Theyre not alien, just different. Pennsylvania CPA Journal, 81(3), 15. Wong, M., Gardiner, E., Lang, W. & Coulon, L. (2008). Generational differences in personality and motivation. Do they exist and what are the implications for the workplace? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), 878890.
Featured article
Gen Y research emphasises work-life balance

Carina Paine Schofield & Sue Honor
HE CHALLENGES across the developed world for the Generation Y (Gen Y) those aged 18 to 30 have led to a series of periodic research reports being undertaken into the expectations and behaviours of Gen Y at Ashridge Business School by Carina Paine Schofield, a Research Fellow, and Sue Honor, independent research consultant. The most recent of these was Great Expectations Managing Generation Y, published in 2012 where 3000 managers and graduates were interviewed. Subsequently, further reports and comments have been published in the UK and internationally. The research explores the background to Gen Y who has grown up in an environment unlike any before. They have been raised in a world of technology and have been more educated than any previous generation. As such they come to the workplace with different wants and needs than their predecessors: different things motivate and drive their lives and their careers. All of the research goes beyond media hype, existing assumptions and stereotypes and looks at any differences between generations in depth. It investigated: Is Gen Y actually different? What has made them the way they are? What do they want from work? Are Gen Y living up to workplace demands? What are the appropriate ways of working and learning with this Generation? So what do Gen Y really want from an employer? Money is important, but it is not the biggest motivator. Unlike the generations before them, Gen Y work to live rather than live to work. Money and work are not what it is all about. For Gen Y it is more
about the lifestyle a good work-life balance, flexible working, feeling valued, and adding value these elements create the strongest psychological contract with an organisation. It is the demand for Carina work-life balance that is Paine Schofield essential for this generation. Not only does it allow them to pursue the activities they enjoy outside of the workplace, it offers flexibility in defining who they are within their job. It is a factor in motivating this age group to get the most Sue Honor from them in helping to ensure their strengths become a benefit to the company. By providing that professional satisfaction and personal freedom it can help an organisation to retain the best people. This age group expects more from an employer, and is more demanding than previous generations. And if they dont get what they want, they will move on. Also the world of work is changing; long gone is the lifetime career. Whereas older generations worked first, then explored in retirement, Gen Y will be working longer and so want to explore the world of work first. They are more interested in spending their 20s experimenting and changing jobs often, building a portfolio career: 30 is the new 20.
Gen Y research emphasises work-life balance
Gen Y welcomes the opportunity to challenge outdated ways of working that are entrenched in the organisational culture. They love to be incentivised to work with employers, to reshape job roles so that they are more effective and bring that crucial work-life balance. Organisations need to ensure there are opportunities to voice ideas, plans and concerns. And, crucially, ensure the development of good listening skills and feedback sharing between all age groups. The strongest psychological contract can be developed through an open door culture, where Gen Y can feel empowered. Organisations can offer job swaps, away days in different departments, experiencesharing events, multi-generational project teams, and providing challenging work with scaffolding support. Managers may bemoan at times the young upstarts, but these are the leaders and managers of tomorrow (or in some cases of today). They are the ones who will provide the strength of our businesses and organisations to fund the large numbers of people aged 65+ that shift into retirement, particularly in the coming decade. One comment in HR Magazine suggested that Gen Y are more likely to stay in a job if they feel supported and appreciated, are part of a cohesive team, and have greater flexibility over where and how much they work. The writer maintained that business has now got to change to suit Gen Y, rather than Gen Y fit in with the needs of business and industry.
They want to have plenty of time outside work combined with rapid career progression Gen Y wants to progress, but dont want managers jobs (they see them as burnt out, with excessive stress). Members of Gen Y have different priorities. They do not live to work. Despite their high career expectations and ambitions, graduates do not buy in to a long-hours culture in the same way their managers do. What the research does not explore is the actual importance of work-life balance itself to the question of health and well-being. Working long, intensive hours is no good for anyone and can have a detrimental effect on the workforce with absence through stressrelated illness and other ailments or issues caused by a lack of a balanced life.
What do the managers think?

Work-life balance isnt a factor confined however to Gen Y. Senior managers could be at a stage in their lives where they feel that work is becoming too dominant. Although highly committed to their jobs, they too want more of a balance. Certainly these comments arose in our interviews. Gen Y particularly noticed that their managers were always on the phone, day and night and HR Directors commented on the high level of over-50s suffering from stress. Work-life balance scores highly in what managers want for themselves at work, which it may not have happened 15 to 20 years ago and which demonstrates a potential shift of values in todays hectic 24x7 work environment. While Gen Y wants work-life balance, do managers really know how much Gen Y values this facet? We found Gen Y and their (typically Gen X) managers both value their work-life balance, but managers underestimate its importance to Gen Y. Managers rated it as 10th most important in the lives of their Gen Y employees, while Gen Y themselves put it in fifth place.
Importance of work-life balance to Gen Y

The Ashridge research highlighted that work-life balance is among the top five things Gen Y want. Their needs were in sequence: 1. Challenging/Interesting work; 2. High salary; 3. Career advancement; 4. Job security; 5. Good work-life balance.
Carina Paine Schofield & Sue Honor
To support these points, here are some key statistics: l 63 per cent of older managers take work home at least once or twice a week, compared to 38 per cent of Gen Y. l A quarter of Gen Y never take work home, compared to just six per cent of their managers. l 19 per cent of Gen Y never switch on to work outside of the workplace, compared to four per cent of their managers. l 39 per cent of Gen Y do personal activities at work at least once or twice a week, compared to 25 per cent of their managers.
What are organisations doing? Many now accommodate telecommuting, some provide remote offices with hotel chains and WiFi locations and teleconference facilities from simple tools such as Skype to complex internal networks for international business. When it comes down to it, ALL generations value work-life balance and in todays world it is MORE important than ever before for workers of all ages.
The Authors
Carina Paine Schofield Research Fellow, Ashridge Business School, Ashridge, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 1NS Sue Honor Ashridge Associate and Independent Research Consultant, Ashridge Business School, Ashridge, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 1NS
Its not just Gen Y everyone wants work-life balance

Research found that the preference for strong work-life balance applies around the world, with it scoring highly across all generations. Work-life balance has become MORE important for workers of all ages. Gen Y does not want to end up as the burnt-out senior managers they see today, and organisation leaders and HR executives are noticing that there needs to be a different work model. Office location does not necessarily retain the workforce. Technology is transforming every generation at work so offering the scope to work remotely or from home, possibly allowing the ability to care for family or friends or multi-task in other ways. Physical location becomes another important work-life balance factor.
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Featured article
Focusing on transitions in multi-generational work-life balance research

Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya
ROM 30 JUNE 2014, the statutory right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees in Britain. The Coalition Government argues that this will enable a cultural change in the way men and women are viewed in the workplace. It places a statutory duty for employers to consider all applications regardless of whether or not they currently have caring responsibilities. Although the right to request is a light-touch approach, the extension is a shift in public policy that goes some way to challenge the outdated but persisting assumption that work-life balance issues only apply to a certain group of people, that is, working parents (usually working mothers) and carers. For the past 10 years, I have been advocating that research and policies need to go beyond confining our understanding of work-life balance experiences to working parents, who represent one of many demographic cohorts of the workforce. This is why policy changes such as the extension of the right to request is positive and exciting to me and why I am delighted to contribute a piece to this issue on the theme of multi-generational perceptions of work-life balance. I conducted a qualitative study on young adults in Britain, born between 1975 and 1982. I explored how the young adults conceptualised the notion of work-life balance at a point of transition in their lives, that is, just as they were about to leave university and enter full-time paid employment. I conducted interviews and focus groups with two groups of young women and
men: those who were born and brought up in Britain and those who were born and brought up in an Asian country and were studying for their degree in Britain. Given the strong AngloAmerican origins of the Uracha Chatrakul concept and mainstream Na Ayudhya theories of work-life balance, I wanted to understand how cultural norms shaped the way young adults talked about work-life balance and the kind of work-life balance support (policy and practice) they expected to receive once they were in work. By focusing on a specific age group (the participants were aged between 21 and 28 at the time of the study), it can be argued that I adopted a generational approach to the study. In the early stages of the research, I was buying into the Baby Boomer vs. Gen X/Gen Y rhetoric of generational differences at work. The assumption underpinning this popular, but largely uncritical approach is that Baby Boomers tend to be more work-centric, whereas Gen X and Gen Y are more dual-centric or familycentric (Families and Work Institute, 2004). As I progressed in the research and embarked on the analysis of the young adults accounts, I realised that despite its popularity, this explanation was insufficient and simplistic. In a critical review of generational differences in work values (of which work-life 11
Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya
balance tends to crop up as a key work value among Gen X and Gen Y), Parry and Urwin (2011, p.79) argued that while this is a popular practitioner idea the academic empirical evidence for generational differences in work values, is, at best, mixed. Two key problems were identified. Firstly, the notion of generations has a strong basis in sociological theory, much of which has largely been ignored by adopters of the generational difference approach. As a construct, it tends to be used interchangeably with age and birth cohort, which are related but distinct to generation. The effects of age and birth cohort are subject to change over time and experience, whereas generational effects are more stable. In other words, it is more than being about when a person was born. It represents a unique type of social location based on the dynamic interplay between being born in a particular year and the socio-political events that occur throughout the life course of the birth cohort, particularly while the cohort comes of age (McMullin et al., 2007, pp.299300). Secondly, generational difference studies tend to be cross-sectional in design. This (implicitly) assumes that there is homogeneity within generational groupings and effectively ignores important social demographic differences, such as gender, ethnicity, and also cultural and national contexts. Therefore, instead of drawing on a generational approach to make sense of my data on young adults, I turned to a life course approach. Life course research studies peoples individual lives (their trajectories and experiences) within a framework of reference to structural contexts and social change, paying explicit attention to the powerful connection between individual lives and the historical and socio-economic context in which lives unfold (Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Smithson & Lewis, 2014). The approach acknowledges the distinction between generations and birth cohorts and the young adults in my study belonged to a particular birth cohort at the time of the 12
study. The concept of transitions is key in a life course approach and in particular, it was the transition from being university students to full-time workers in Britain that helped to contextualise the participants talk of worklife balance at that point in time. A key finding from the research revealed that the notion of individual choice strongly underpins young adults conceptualisation of work-life balance and expectations of work-life balance support. While young British and Asian adults largely considered it to be as a matter of individual choice, there were variations in their preferences for how to prioritise their impending employment and personal lives. Four emerging patterns of work-life balance orientation preferences were found: balancer, careerist, career-sacrificer, and integrator (Chatrakul Na Ayudhya & Lewis, 2011). This provides support for the argument that the work-life balance perceptions of young adults, who would belong to the socalled Gen Y generation, cannot be generalised and simplified as being either work-centric or life-centric. Indeed, the picture is a lot more complex given the diversity within this group of young adults. Another key finding was that the notion of individual choice impacted on the young adults expectations of employer and government work-life balance support, where the majority had a low sense of entitlement to such support. Although most participants demonstrated an awareness of the business case for employers to adopt work-life balance initiatives, the majority questioned their effectiveness. Interestingly, there appeared to be a stronger sense of entitlement to individual choice, as indicated by their discussions of not wanting external work-life balance support to be imposed on them, for fear that employers would end up dictating how they should manage their work-life balance. In terms of government work-life balance support, the participants felt disconnected to what the government could do for them as young adults. The majority were unaware of specific public
Focusing on transitions in multi-generational work-life balance research
policies related to work-life balance and this was the case for both the British and Asian young adults. Given that most of the existing organisational and public policies on worklife balance were focused on working parents at the time of the research, it becomes clear why this low sense of entitlement to external support existed among the young adults. My study acknowledges the transient nature of the young adults conceptualisation of work-life balance. By using a life course approach instead of a generational approach, I have been able to take into account how past transitions have shaped the way work-life balance was discussed by the young adults and how anticipated future transitions were expected by the young adults to change their needs and, therefore, expectations of employer and government support. Studies that have looked for generational differences in work values are useful in highlighting the issue of diversity in work-life balance needs of workers of different age groups. In part, they have enabled researchers like me to conduct work-life balance studies with people who are not (yet) working parents. It is important, however, to recognise that in existing generational difference studies, the diversity within a generation group becomes lost in the search for differences between age groups. Instead of looking for generational differences (or age-related differences), which can be divisive, I believe it is more useful to look at the issue of multi-generations in a broader way. As I have shown in my study, transitions, rather than age or birth year, shape conceptualisations, perceptions, and expectations of work-life balance. A processual approach such as a life course approach is better for studying variations in work-life balance perceptions and for understanding why existing policies work or fail in eliciting the intended change in social norms and in behaviours at the individual-, familial-, organisational- and societal-levels.
The Author
Dr Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University Business School, London. Email: u.chatrakul@mdx.ac.uk
References
Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, U. & Lewis, S. (2011). From Balancers to Integrators? Young professionals talk about work and life in the UK. In S. Kaiser, M. Ringlstetter, M. Pina e Cunha & D.R. Eikhof (Eds.), Creating balance? International perspectives on the work-life integration of professionals (pp.4764). Berlin: Springer Science. Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, U., Smithson, J. & Lewis, S. (2014, in press). Focus group methodology in a life course approach individual accounts within a peer cohort group. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Families and Work Institute (2004). Generation and gender in the workplace. New York: Families and Work Institute. McMullin, J., Comeau, T. & Jovic, W. (2007). Generational affinities and discourses of difference: A case study of highly skilled information technology workers. British Journal of Sociology, 58(2), 297316. Parry, E. & Urwin, P. (2011). Generational differences in work values: A review of theory and evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13, 7996.
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Featured article
Baby Boomers, Generation X and their work-life balance: A review

Roxane l. Gervais
ORK-LIFE BALANCE is a term that allows workers to define those aspects of work and of life to which they give more importance. The term is consistent, but with the changes in the demographics of the working population, due to low to stagnant fertility rates, and an aging population, different age groups within organisations may approach it differently. The organisational landscape could include workers in their teenage years to those close to retiring who are in their 60s. However, intense and continuous advances in technology and their subsequent impact on the organisation have shown that social differences remain among different groups of workers according to their age groups. This present article explores the literature in respect of work-life balance between two groups of workers that have defined the working landscape for the last 40 years, Baby Boomers (Boomers) and Generation X (Gen X), and in addition presents initial findings of work conditions between the groups. Boomers have been described as starting the workaholism trend as they saw this way of working as necessary to advance to the next level in their jobs (The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association Office of Diversity, 2006). The generation to follow the Boomers, those classified as Gen X, have been influenced on the other hand, by financial, familial and societal insecurity, due to the corporate downsizing, stagnant job market, limited wage mobility of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as seeing their parents losing jobs due to those workplace conditions (Tolbize, 2008). Some of these factors may have contributed to this generation being more
likely than Boomers to disconnect from the psychological contract. Rousseau (1995) noted that the psychological contact constitutes the underlying relationship within organisations that supports the existence of Roxane L. Gervais commitment, loyalty and trust. This relationship in turn allows for the development of smooth working arrangements in organisations. It could be hypothesised that the listed approaches to work by both these groups could impact adversely on their work-life balance. It has been suggested that Boomers have sacrificed personal life for work, while Gen X values work/life balance (Tolbize, 2008). However, the research is not consistent as it has been mentioned as well that both Boomers and Gen X would struggle to balance work with life (ValueOptions, nd). Another study has shown that Boomers are more likely to experience work-life conflict than Gen Xers (in respect of work interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW)); the groups did not differ significantly on work-family synergy (the multiple role participation from work and family that benefits the individual, the family and quality of life; Beutell & WittigBerman, 2008). The study found also that FIW increased for both groups across the two waves of the study, the five-year period from 1997 to 2002; while both groups increased their work-family synergy scores from 1997 when these were compared to those in 2002.
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Baby Boomers, Generation X and their work-life balance: A review

l
Boomers have been found also to have less work-life balance than Gen Xers, which might be linked to the many conflicts in their lives driven by their workaholic practices and having to take care of ageing parents (Regus, 2013). One study conducted by the researcher of this present article did not find significant differences in respect of work-life balance work-related factors for these two groups (N=632). These included assessing their scores on the following variables: l Work-family culture (Thompson et al., 1999), which includes items, such as, in this organisation, employees can easily balance their work and family lives (t[453]=.36, p=.72). l Satisfaction with life (Diener et al., 1985), with items such as, in most ways, my life is close to ideal (t[422]=.88, p=.38). l Health One item Compared to other women of your age, how would you rate your usual state of health? (t[411]=.14, p=.89). l Self-efficacy (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), with items including, I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my coping abilities (t[458]=.42, p=.67). Despite these inconsistencies, one of the more accepted factors that affects the worklife balance of both the Boomers and Gen X is that they tend to constitute the sandwich generation, that is, those individuals who are responsible for both child care and elder care, and are, therefore, sandwiched between two generations. One Canadian study of employees (Duxbury & Higgins, 2012) showed that of the 25,021 respondents: l Most of the respondents (60 per cent) had some aspect of multigenerational caring responsibilities. l Slightly more employed women (20 per cent) than men (17 per cent) made up the sandwich generation. l Women tended to take on more highenergy roles than men.
More than one-third of the respondents (40 per cent) reported high levels of both work and home overload. Similar numbers reported high levels of work role overload (32 per cent) and being overloaded at home (26 per cent). Employees overloaded by work, were less likely to agree to a promotion, to attend training that is relevant to their career, and more likely to cut corners at work. l Those in the sandwich group were more likely than those who were only taking care of elders to turn down a promotion and to be absent more often from work, regardless of gender due to their challenges with caregiving. l Most of the respondents (60 per cent) spent more than 45 hours per week in paid employment. l Over 50 per cent of the employees took work home to complete in the evening and on weekends. l Close to two-thirds (63 per cent) of caregivers highlighted the emotional consequences of their dual roles, such as stress, anxiety and frustration. This rate was higher for those in the sandwich generation (70 per cent) and lower for those involved in elder care only (46 per cent). The caring role that has emerged for many individuals over the past few decades emphasises the need to continue to include the non-work aspect of work-life balance/ conflict when conducting studies (Sturges & Guest, 2004). In the context of gaining a more robust understanding of the concerns of Boomers and Gen X, this element is essential due to the increasing demands of their time as part of the sandwich generation. Unfortunately, the literature is sparse in respect of accessing the work-life balance/ conflict of these two generations. There is a greater focus in respect of this issue for Generation Y. However, as employees are required to work for longer periods than before due to weak economies and the 15
Roxane l. Gervais
increase in retirement age, it is important to encourage research for these two groups to understand those aspects of work that could encourage and support workers within the work environment.
The Author
Dr. Roxane L. Gervais Occupational Psychologist Email: roxylg@alumni.fdu.edu
References
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) (2001). In the middle: A report on multi-cultural boomers coping with family and aging issues. Washington, DC: AARP. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/ in_the_middle.pdf Beutell, N.J. & Wittig-Berman U. (2008). Work-family conflict and work-family synergy for Generation X, baby boomers, and matures. Generational differences, predictors, and satisfaction outcomes. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(5), 507523. Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larsen, J. & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 7175. Duxbury, L. & Higgins, C. (2012). Balancing work, child care and elder care: A view from the trenches. Desjardins Insurance. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://www.desjardinslifeinsurance.com/en/ about-us/Documents/RapportDuxburyENG-Full-Web.pdf Regus (2013). Boomers struggle to find their balance. Worklife balance improvement slows, but Generations X and Y know how to get it right. Regus Plc. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://w110.bcn.cat/UsosDelTemps/ Continguts/Documents/Lab-Temps/LabTempsEstudis/Documents/Work_life_balance_final.pdf Rousseau, D.M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Schwarzer, R. & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized self-efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright & M. Johnston, Measures in health psychology: A users portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp.3537). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON. Sturges, J. & Guest, D. (2004). Working to live or living to work? Work/life balance early in the career. The Management Centre, Kings College London. Human Resource Management Journal, 14(4), 520. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association Office of Diversity (2006). Tips to improve the interaction among the generations: Traditionalists, boomers, Xers and nexters. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://www.biz.colostate.edu/mti/tips/pages/ InteractionAmongTheGenerations.aspx Thompson, C.A., Beauvais, L.L. & Lyness, K.S. (1999). When work-family benefits are not enough: The influence of work-family culture on benefits utilization, organizational attachment, and workfamily conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392415. Tolbize, A. (2008). Generational differences in the workplace. Research and Training, Center on Community Living, University of Minnesota. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://rtc.umn.edu/docs/ 2_18_Gen_diff_workplace.pdf ValueOptions (no date). Workplace influence. Retrieved 18 March 2014, from: http://www.valueoptions.com/spotlight_YIW/ workplace.htm
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Work-Life Balance: A global perspective

Findings from Lebanon Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view
Karin L. Soweid
LMOST TWO YEARS AGO, I began the rigorous academic process of proposing the study of Arab working mothers experiences of gender equity in their workplace in fulfilment of a PhD in Industrial/Organizational psychology. Suffice it to say my committee was initially overwhelmed by my ambition to collect their experiences and underwhelmed by my evidence to safeguard against the possible risks while maximising their benefits. After several proposal drafts, an international move to the Middle East, numerous telephone calls and volumes worth of email exchanges over a six-month period, the research proposal was finally granted. I was elated. And pregnant. Expecting my second child and now based in Beirut, Lebanon, I urgently needed to consider how to fuel my own research revolution. As a white Western non-Arabic speaking female researcher, I needed to transcend the issues related to my identity in order to select appropriate participants as well as to carefully and ethically collect the sensitive data, the narratives that would answer my research question, What is the gender equity experience of the Arab female professional in the Arab workplace? As a qualitative researcher, Im trained to exercise epoche (Cairns Embree, Kersten & Zaner, 2010; Maracek, 2003) the act of bracketing the influence of my own experiences or worldview in order to convey the authentic experience of the individual(s) under study. My research revolution
required the momentum of a snowball sampling process to support the credibility of my role as a qualified researcher. Flash forward to present day: I feel fortunate to have emerged from that snowball sample and Karin L. Soweid data collection process, entrusted with six information-rich narratives from Arab working mothers in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. My research study was based on the theoretical framework coined by workforce psychologist, John Stacey Adams, known as equity theory. Equity theory is used to explain how individuals compare the ratios of their own inputs and outcomes as opposed to their peers, and when determined unequal, how an individual may be compelled to correct the imbalance (Aidla, 2013; Lambert, 2011; Lively, Steelman & Powell, 2010). My research study infused a gender-based analysis of equity theory and an extensive literature review supported this gendered examination of applied contexts (Bailyn, 2011; Ely & Meyerson, 2000). My studys design was a collective case study analysis and was heavily dependent on developing and maintaining an in-person element to develop confidence and rapport with each of my participants during our onsite in-person interviews. As a white Western non-Arabic speaking female (and now pregnant) researcher, it would have been much 17
Karin L. Soweid
easier to defend how well the data could be captured by telephone or Skype in our technologically-saturated era. However, I remained committed to collecting the initial narratives in person, thereby enriching my ability to directly observe the participant and to build a sense of trust for the sensitive subject matter involved in the study. Another unique component to the collective case study design is the timebound aspect. With the conflict and uprising causing ripple effects throughout the Middle East region, it only seemed appropriate to define the time-bound nature of the study in accordance with what has been termed the Arab Spring movement. While meticulous attention to research design is crucial to an appropriate, effective and ethical research study, what the data say is a vital measure of the phenomenon under investigation and its ability to solve the research question. In answer to the research question, What is the gender equity experience of Arab working mothers in the Arab
workforce? my data revealed a thematic analysis of four main themes and 10 patterns as follows in Table 1 below. While the intention of my study was to understand the gender equity experiences of working mothers in her workplace, my data ended up revealing much more information about her experience to resolve inequity in her household, allowing her to participate in the workforce. I suggest that a limitation in my research design was that I did not shadow observe my participants in their work environments which may have enriched the findings about her workplace gender equity experience. My studys results supported the existing literature indicating work-family conflict largely exists due to the young preschool ages of working mothers children (Craig & Sawrikar, 2009). Those working mothers with preschool and primary school aged children faced significant work-family conflict and barriers to remaining in the workplace even despite their efforts to hire live-in help and to cast a wide net of family
Table 1: Thematic synthesis of themes and patterns.

Group Mariam Layla Nour Noelle Maha Dima Themes Theme 1: Gender equity as it pertains to the household Pattern 1. Perceived equal division of household labour Pattern 2: Perceived unequal division of household labour Theme 2: Gender equity as it pertains to the workplace Pattern 1. Perceived equity Pattern 2. Perceived inequity Theme 3: Work-family interface: balance/conflict/tension Pattern 1. Child care Pattern 2. Availability of spouse Pattern 3. Age of children Theme 4: Social and societal norms Pattern 1. Perceptions about religion Pattern 2. Perceptions about culture Pattern 3. Perceptions about gender 18 Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014
Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view
support around them. In some cases, the imbalance and inequity remained significant even despite scaling back to part-time work or working a teachers schedule. One extreme case involved hiring a live-in nanny, a housekeeper, a driver as well as relying on the support of a sister, a mother-in-law and her own mother to embolden her workhome interface (ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012). Despite all measures of support in place, analysis of this case still indicated high levels of distress, a response characteristic of experiencing inequity in relationships (Sprecher, 1992). The lengths the participants had to go to organise their household needs indicated a high degree of complexity and imbalance. The findings started causing me distress, as many of the same issues faced by working
mothers seemed relatively resolvable in a Western context, while appearing wildly insurmountable for working mothers in a Middle Eastern context. I ultimately discovered through the rich case study analysis offered by these six narratives that gender equity in the applied contexts of the household and the workplace is influenced by an overwhelmingly diverse and dynamic set of social factors in the Middle East region (as illustrated in Figure 1 below), producing a powerful conflict for working mothers. The absence of a supportive infrastructure for preschool and school aged care options left a vacuum that could only be filled by hiring domestic help, relying on available family members, reducing her work to part-time hours or resigning her job altogether.
Figure 1: Relationship between gender equity and the datas themes.
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Karin L. Soweid
If the Arab Spring can offer any benefit to Arab working mothers throughout the Middle East region, it would be spare the children and their families from further conflict from the senseless retaliatory violence alienating individuals from one another, to the conflict that prevents working mothers from participating to their full potential in the regions labour force. This research study reveals the heavy reliance on live-in domestic workers to help families resolve the dilemma concerning household division of labour and childcare, particularly in view of the predominant male breadwinning model that keeps the spouse working long hours and often traveling abroad. The reliance on domestic workers is a paradoxical reality at odds with the value placed on the family unit and their beloved children as a pillar of Middle Eastern society. It undermines a potentially mutually beneficial outcome to employ their own population as qualified caregivers of preschool and school aged children for working families. Individual jobseekers benefit, the economy benefits and the families benefit with the peace of mind knowing their children are cared for by locals qualified to respond to emergencies, crisis and everyday life. My research study indicates that the institution of a care infrastructure for working mothers in the Middle East region would be transformational if not revolutionary in supporting the needs of dual income earning families. Overcoming significant pay
gaps between men and women would also resolve the perception that women are not capable of contributing financially to their families, reversing the stigma and economic abuse of the working mother (Usta, Makarem & Habib, 2013). Revising maternity labour laws to meet a minimum standard would allow a woman to rest and bond with her child before returning to work. Flexible leave policies would allow men time off to support the needs of the household from a personal rather than financial perspective, ensuring the integrity and quality of marital relationships that are also in conflict (Lavee & Katz, 2002). Providing part-time working hours would allow breastfeeding mothers the ability to continue that important relationship with their child as well as the flexibility to address other priorities in parallel with their employment. These recommendations are prescriptive in a complex environment of shifting priorities heavily influenced by the political plat du jour. If revolution is successful in reversing historical inequities in civil society, then the Arab Spring offers working mothers a much needed platform for resolving the conflict they face.
The Author
Karin Soweid Doctoral Researcher, Harold Abel School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Capella University.
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Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view
References
Aidla, A. (2013). Perceptions of negative inequity at work and the behavior of individuals. GSTF Business Review (GBR), 2(3), 234239. Bailyn, L. (2011). Redesigning work for gender equity and work-personal life integration. Community, Work & Family, 14(1), 97112. Cairns, D., Embree, L., Kersten, F. & Zaner, R.M. (2010). Nine fragments on psychological phenomenology. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 41(1), 127. Craig, L. & Sawrikar, P. (2009). Work and family: How does the (gender) balance change as children grow? Gender, Work, and Organization, 16(6), 684709. Ely, R.J. & Meyerson, D.E. (2000). Advancing gender equity in organizations: The challenge and importance in maintaining a gender narrative. Organization, 7(4), 589608. Lambert, L.S. (2011). Promised and delivered inducements and contributions: An integrated view of psychological contract appraisal. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 695712. Lavee, Y. & Katz, R. (2002). Division of labor, perceived fairness, and marital quality: The effect of gender ideology. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(1), 2739. Lively, K.J., Steelman, L.C. & Powell, B. (2010). Equity, emotion, and household division of labor response. Social Psychology Quarterly, 73(4), 358379. Marecek, J. (2003). Dancing through minefields: Toward a qualitative stance in psychology. In P.M. Camic, J.E. Rhodes & L. Yardley (Eds.), Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspectives in methodology and design (pp.4969). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Sprecher, S. (1992). How men and women expect to feel and behave in response to inequity in close relationships. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55(1), 5769. ten Brummelhuis, L.L. & Bakker, A.B. (2012). A resource perspective on the work-home interface: The work-home resources model. American Psychologist, 67(7), 545556. Usta, J., Makarem, N.N. & Habib, R.R. (2013). Economic abuse in Lebanon: Experiences and perceptions. Violence Against Women, 19(3), 356375.
DOWNTOWN BEIRUT, LEBANON
21
New and Emerging Research

Work-Life Balance in the recession and beyond: An ESRC seminar series
Suzan Lewis
HE WLB WORKING GROUP is partnering with eight universities and the charity Working Families in running a series of seven seminars on WLB in the recession and beyond, funded by the ESRC (see www.esrc-work-life-seminars.org). The first seminar on What is WLB in a time of financial crisis and austerity? took place at Middlesex University on 17 January, hosted by Sue Lewis and Nicky Payne. A number of the DOP group members were among the 50 delegates who included researchers, employers and a range of other stakeholders. Presentations included: l WLB policies, practices and discourse and public sector cuts. Sue Lewis (co-authored with Deirdre Anderson, Clare Lyonette, Nicky Payne and Stephen Woods) l Is WLB really family-friendly? Dalia Ben-Galim (IPPR) l The place of gender equality in current WLB debates. Olga Salido, University of Madrid l Working-time capabilities during economic austerity across Europe. Collette Fagan, University of Manchester Discussants were Stephen Williams from ACAS and Laura Addati from the International Labour Organization (ILO). Stephen Williams discussed a new set of challenges for employers and employees in the current context. These are particularly associated with changes in workplace WLB polices and new government policies, especially extensions to the Right to Request flexibility which will be available to all eligible
employees. Laura Addati discussed work life balance as a vital part of the ILOs decent work agenda. A number of themes and debates emerged in general discussions following the presentations and in breakout groups. These included: l The relationship between government policy and workplace practices: what are the implications for equality and social justice? l Individual versus collective or team approaches to WLB: how can more collective approaches be encouraged in workplaces? l Issues relating to unpaid care: parental, grandparental and elder care and impacts on paid work l What can we learn from the variety of policies and practices across countries/ workplaces/different types of workers and work? Implications of the presentations and discussions for practice included: l Changes to the Right to Request Flexibility (RTR) need to be communicated better by government and employers. It is important to manage the scaremongering about RTR and flexibility generally among employers and to work on showing how flexibility can be managed to meet the needs of employees and employers. l There need not be a limit to flexible working if WLB is regarded as an issue of collective responsibility rather than an individual issue. This requires organisational change and increased team
22
Work-Life Balance in the recession and beyond: An ESRC seminar series
working. Training is important for managing flexibility at the team level. l More support is needed for unpaid care, including that provided by grandparents, for example, parental leave that can be transferred to employed grandparents. Overall it was felt that it is difficult to extrapolate research and turn it into practical output and that more effort is needed to make these links and to learn from experiences of diverse workers in a range of workplace and national contexts. This will be one of the aims of future seminars in the series.
The Author
Suzan Lewis Professor of Organizational Psychology, Middlesex University Business School. Email: S.Lewis@mdx.ac.uk
Future seminars:
Seminar 2: 11 April 2014 WLB, fairness and social justice in the recession: University of Manchester Seminar 3: 10 July 2014 Employment relations and workplace initiatives in the UK and elsewhere: University of Warwick Seminar 4: 16 October 2014 Innovation in workplaces: Venue tbc Seminar 5: 9 January 2015 Caring and WLB in recession: Reading University Seminar 6: 23 April 2015 WLB, health and well-being in the recession: The British Psychological Society London offices Seminar 7: 17 July 2015 The future of WLB in recession and beyond: University of Surrey. See the website for more details. If you are interested in attending any of the seminars please email worklifeseminars@mdx.ac.uk
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Sharing knowledge and networking

HIS FEATURE highlights the expertise of the members of the Work-Life Balance Working Group as they are called upon to provide expert advice to media queries, to present their research at seminars, and thereby allow the essential dissemination of information on the topic of work-life balance. Laura Radcliffe with coauthor C. Cassell used qualitative diaries to capture the daily experiences of dual-earner couples managing their work and family responsibilities and the decisions they made to resolve daily conflicts. Two distinct types of work-family decision-making were revealed. The first of these is termed Anchoring Decisions, referring to those big life-changing decisions that have an enduring impact on our lives, such as whether to return to work after having a child or whether to move to a new job. The second type, referred to as Daily Decisions, include those conflicts that occur on a daily basis, such as the clash between attending a work meeting deemed highly important by your boss and attending your childs school play. The resolution of these two different types of work-family decisions were found to be differentially impacted by several cues: enabling and constraining cues, considerations of fairness and equity, and beliefs, values and preferences. Enabling and constraining cues, such as access to finances and support, were found to play an important part in the decision-making process involved in resolving both Anchoring and Daily work-family conflict decisions. However, considerations of fairness and equity were found to be relevant only when making Daily Decisions and beliefs, values and preferences were found to play a major role only when making Anchoring Decisions. This suggests that when deciding how to resolve daily work-life conflicts we pay little
attention to our own preferences and desires and much more attention to the wants and needs of others, whether it be our partner, our work colleagues or the grandparents who are offering help with childcare. However, when it comes to making life changing decisions we then begin to pay much greater attention to what we want, our own values and what really matters to us. A decision-making framework encapsulating these findings is reported, highlighting the cues considered when making both types of work-family conflict decisions, and the relationships between them. Lauras article entitled Resolving couples workfamily conflicts: The complexity of decision making and the introduction of a new framework, is published in Human Relations and is currently available in electronic format at: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/ 2013/12/09/0018726713506022.abstract Alexandra Beauregard has had a paper accepted for publication in the British Journal of Management, entitled Fairness Perceptions of Work-Life Balance Initiatives: Effects on Counterproductive Work Behaviour. She was also interviewed for radio station Voice of Russia on her telework research: http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2014_ 02_05/Home-working-increases-productivity-despite-fears-of-pyjama-culture-7384/. Gail Kinman was interviewed by The Guardian on the rise of mental illness among academics. Gail cited poor work-life balance as a major reasons for this outcome, as academics work long hours to be able to respond to the various demands that they encounter, including high levels of internal and external scrutiny, a fast pace of change and the change in how students are viewed, that is, as customers, with these customers entitled to having their queries responded to within 24 hours.
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Promoting Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance Working Groups Fact Sheets
The WLB Working Groups Fact Sheets were developed for use in individual or organisational practice/teaching activities. They are not static documents, and if you think they need to be amended get in touch and get involved. They are intended to be live documents, and will be updated as the evidence base grows. If you have any ideas for additional fact sheets that could be targeted to other groups (e.g. journalists, HR professionals) please let us know and discuss. Obtain these at: http://dop.bps.org.uk/dop/psychologists/working-groups/work-life-balanceworking-group/factsheets/factsheets_home. cfm
Conference Reviews
Managing work-life balance: A workshop for practitioners
Gail Kinman, Almuth McDowall, Christine Grant, Nicky Payne & Siobhan Wray Division of Occupational Psychologys Work-life Balance Working Group This well-attended and well received workshop had several aims: (a) to consider how work-life balance (WLB) theory can be translated into evidence-based practice; (b) to highlight the benefits of utilising a solutionfocused rather than a problem-focused approach to managing WLB; (c) to share best practice and frameworks for interventions across different types of job; and (d) to explore how interventions might not necessarily work out as planned. The team initially provided an update of the current status quo in the research literature. While there is emerging evidence that work can facilitate and enrich non-working life, most research continues to focus on work-life conflict (WLC). Insight into the factors that predict WLC and the wide ranging outcomes for organisations, employees and their families is clearly vital. The audience agreed, however, that a more solution-focused perspective had greater potential to inform interventions to enhance WLB rather than merely reduce WLC. The outcomes of a review of the literature on WLB interventions conducted by Brough and ODriscoll (2010) were discussed. The impact of different types of interventions were considered: (a) those that address working hours (such as flexible working initiatives); (b) action research (where employees consider ways to enhance their own WLB); and (c) initiatives that aim to change WLB culture. While the latter types of initiatives are undoubtedly the most effective, they are the most challenging to implement changing organisational culture is a longterm solution that needs to be underpinned by creative and equitable WLB policies and practices. For pragmatic reasons, therefore, most interventions tend to implement less ambitious initiatives that may have more tangible shorter-term benefits. The audience was introduced to several case studies that focused on a wide range of practical initiatives that have the potential to enhance WLB in the short term. Volkswagens initiative to limit access to emails outside working hours for non-managerial staff (Brown, 2011) was used as a springboard for discussion. Although the initiative 25
Conference Reviews
was generally considered to have potential to change WLB practices in the organisation, members of the audience commented that employees could easily circumvent it by writing emails outside core working hours and schedule them for delivery the following day. It was further argued that the initiative is likely to lead to a back-log of emails at the start of the day that require attention before other work was tackled. Nonetheless, it was suggested that this practice may reduce when the new email policy becomes the norm. Strong feelings were expressed that employees should be able to complete their work in their contracted time as long working hours compromise well-being and performance, but the need for some flexibility in order to respond to genuine emergencies was emphasised. Volkswagens initiative was generally thought to be innovative, but was likely to reduce rather than facilitate flexible approaches to work, therefore, the initiative may actually discourage work models, which try and break the mould. A second case study also focused on the introduction of an initiative to manage email use, but in a higher education context. Whilst there was strong high level management support for this initiative, senior staff were resistant and simply chose to opt out. These dynamics illustrated the fact that an intervention that works in one context may be unsuccessful or even damaging in another owing to employees expectations of autonomy and flexibility. Nonetheless, it was generally felt that employees need to be aware of how their personal email management preferences might impact on the WLB of their colleagues, who may have a different style. For example, sending out an email at 7.00 a.m. on a Sunday morning might unburden the author, but could impinge on the WLB of the recipient who might ruminate about the issue and impair their weekend respite. Although the initiative in higher education was resisted by some employees, it was beneficial in that people
started talking openly about WLB issues. This could possibly trigger change via alternative strategies that may be more congruent with the organisational culture. Reflecting on the findings of the first two case studies, the audience agreed that one size fits all WLB solutions were likely to be ineffective. A third case study focused on work-life balance competencies and behaviours, which are effective for selfmanagement in particular organisational contexts. An example was provided of how this approach could be used to provide insight into effective WLB behaviours in a UK police force. This innovative, solutionfocused approach is likely to be fruitful for both research and practice to inform the development a framework for what works in particular contexts and WLB solutions can be tailored accordingly. Other case studies related to the introduction of remote working in a large corporate bank and the introduction of a pilot mindfulness-based stress reduction programme for social workers. It is important to note that the interventions discussed in some of the case studies did not apply to employees at all levels and/or were not championed by senior leaders. The audience debated whether this approach can lead to positive outcomes. Solutions need support from senior managers, who should also participate in the intervention in order to demonstrate buy in and de-stigmatise the need to protect non-working life, otherwise they are likely to derail, or not be as successful as one might envisage. The need to decide on what would constitute success was also highlighted several outcomes might be useful that could demonstrate improvement to WLB and wellbeing over the short-term and the longer term, as well as an impact on performance indicators such as absenteeism and productivity. Finally, we asked delegates for their own tips for managing work-life balance! Here is a summary of their suggestions:
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Conference Reviews Emotion/self-focused Get to know yourself and your needs Practice mindfulness exercises Be clear about boundaries Set clear and achievable goals Deal with e-technology Turn your phone off or put it in a drawer Have set times for dealing with email Ban ICT devices from the bedroom Time focused Review diary continuously by priority Books slots for essential me time Stop work at a set time Eat lunch properly outside if possible Stay active Exercise Be creative
WLB is now the number one health concern in the UK (GRiD, 2013). The need for effective interventions is clear. The strong interest from OP academics and practitioners in WLB issues was demonstrated by the fact that the workshop was full to
capacity. The WLB working group will be considering options for future workshops and other events to meet this demand. Please get in touch to let us know the type of training or networking events that would be most useful for your practice.
References and further reading

Brown, E. (2011). Volkswagen turns email off for BlackBerry workers. Retrieved from: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/volkswagenturns-off-email-for-blackberry-workers/ 4467 January 2014. Brough, P. & ODriscoll, M. P. (2010). Organizational interventions for balancing work and home demands: An overview. Work and Stress, 24(3), 280297. Grant, C.A., Wallace, L.M. & Spurgeon, P.C. (2013). An exploration of the psychological factors affecting remote e-workers job effectiveness, wellbeing and work-life balance. Employee Relations, 35(5), 527546. Hammer, L. , Kossek, E., Yragui, N. Bodner, T. & Hansen, G. (2009). Development and validation of a multi-dimensional scale of Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB). Journal of Management, 35, 837856. Kinman, G. & Jones, F. (2009). A life beyond work? Job demands, work-life balance and well-being in UK academics. In D. Buckholdt & G. Miller (Eds.), Faculty stress. USA: Routledge. Kinman, G., McDowall, A. & Uys, M. (2014, in press). The work/non-work interface: Building effective boundaries. In Enhancing resilience in social workers: An evidence-based practice approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kossek, E.E. & Lautsch, B. (2008). CEO of Me: Creating a life that works in the flexible job age. USA: Wharton School Publishing. Kossek, E.E., Lewis, S. & Hammer, L. (2010). Worklife initiatives and organizational change: Overcoming mixed messages to move from the margin to the mainstream. Human Relations, 63, 117. Kossek, E.E., Ruderman, M., Braddy, P. & Hannum, K. (2012). Work/non-work boundary management profiles: A person-centered approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81, 112128. McDowall, A. & Lindsay, A. (2013). Work-Life Balance in the Police: The development of a selfmanagement competency framework. Journal of Business and Psychology. doi: 10.1007/s10869-013-9321-x
This article originally appeared in OP Matters, No. 21, March 2014, pp.1012.
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Conference Reviews
Work-life balance research at the DOP Conference 2014

Gail Kinman This years conference included several high quality papers and posters on the general theme of work-life balance. The topics included the impact of organisational change on sleep and well-being (Laura Neale), the predictors of work-life conflict in academic employees (Siobhan Wray & Gail Kinman), a conservation of resources approach to Blackberry use (Sophie Ward & Gail Steptoe-Warren), work-life balance and recovery strategies utilised by fire service personnel (Nicky Payne & Gail Kinman), the implications of emotional labour and empathy for the work/non-work interface (Gail Kinman & Sandra Leggetter), and developing work-life balance competencies in the police force (Almuth McDowall). The authors have kindly provided summaries of their papers which are provided below.
Tracking the impact of organisational change upon sleep quality, psychological health and wellbeing at work inferences for future work-life balance research Laura Neale (Northumbria University) Prior research into organisational change has demonstrated that it can have consequences upon occupational health, wellbeing and sleep quality. Organisational change usually occurs in order to improve an organisations efficiency, therefore it is important to determine the impact of anticipating organisational change upon occupational well-being in order to ensure employee productivity and well-being are maintained both before and after the change has occurred. A research project was carried out in order to track the impact of a large restructure within one organisation from the anticipation stage; before the change had been fully implemented (part 1) to after it had been first put into place
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Conference Reviews
(part 2) to one month post change (part 3). Participants were all volunteers from one organisation, undergoing a large re-structure, and were sent an e-survey to their email account at three time points and were also invited to complete a 14-day sleep diary in order to further assess the effects of the organisational change upon sleep quality. The findings suggest that the level of change anticipated by employees during the anticipation stage is important as it appears that high levels of change anticipation are associated with lower job satisfaction, higher disengagement and higher negative levels of anticipation of the next working day throughout the change implementation process. Furthermore, it appears that the level of change anticipated by employees at the anticipation of change stage is associated with reduced sleep quality and higher anxiety/depression scores at the anticipation of change stage and early after implementation of change. These findings highlight the importance of psychological anticipation of organisational change and the early stages of change implementation in order to avoid negative impacts upon employees. Consequently it can be inferred that strategies that improve work-life balance by reducing the negative psychological anticipation of occupational events outside of work and improve employee sleep quality are potentially useful in reducing the overall negative impact of occupational change upon employee well-being. Thus the importance of work-life balance as an issue for occupational health is pertinent and this research identifies the potential importance of work-life balance intervention strategies which require further investigation and consideration with regard to organisational change. Contact details: Laura Neale: l.neale@northumbria.ac.uk
Monitoring the well-being of UK academic employees using the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) management standards framework Siobhan Wray (Sheffield Hallam University) & Gail Kinman (University of Bedfordshire) A body of research, both national and international, suggests that levels of perceived stress and work-life conflict in the higher education (HE) sector are high. Studies undertaken over the last decade highlight a significant shift in the nature of academic work, brought about by increased student numbers, reductions in the level and source of funding, increased pressure to undertake and publish research, more rigorous teaching and learning policies, increased focus on commercialisation and commercial activity, and increased working hours (Kinman & Court, 2010). High levels of work-life conflict have also been found previously in the sector (Kinman & Jones, 2008; Kinman & Wray, 2012). This study compares data from two national surveys in 2008 and 2012 to examine changes in the extent of HSE hazards in academic staff, and the relationships between these and levels of perceived stress and work life conflict. The specified hazards are: demands, control, support from managers and colleagues, role, relationships and change. Significant relationship were found between all HSE domains and perceived stress (all p<.001) with particularly strong associations observed with job demands, control and relationships. Hierarchical regression analysis controlling for gender found that the HSE dimensions accounted for 54 per cent of the variance in perceived stress. The strongest predictor was job demands which explained 47 per cent of the variance, followed by peer support (4.4 per cent) and control (1.7 per cent). Similar relationships were found between the HSE dimensions and work-life conflict (all p<.001). The HSE dimensions accounted for 55 per cent of the variance in the model after controlling for gender. Again, the strongest contribution was made by job demands (50 per cent), followed by control 29
Conference Reviews
(1.8 per cent) but manager support also made a significant contribution (1.4 per cent) Both national surveys of academic employees working in UK HEIs found that the majority of HSE benchmarks for the management of work-related stress were not met. Additionally, comparison of the results across the 2008 and 2012 samples indicates that levels of well-being in relation to job demands, control, change and relationships have worsened over time, whilst peer and manager support have remained static. The role played by peer support in predicting perceived stress and manager support in predicting work-life conflict suggests that interventions to enhance support structures in general may lead to improved well-being across the sector. The findings indicate a trend towards poorer well-being outcomes for academic staff across the sector and identify the need for intervention. It might be fruitful to target interventions at institutional level with specific local aspects of work and well-being identified, targeted and reviewed. Where such interventions have been piloted across the HE sector, results have been promising. However, sustained improvement requires strategic level commitment at both institutional and sector level. Contact details: Siobhan Wray: A conservation of resources approach to Blackberry use, work-family conflict and well-being: Job control and psychological detachment from work as potential mediators Sophie Ward & Dr Gail Steptoe-Warren (Coventry University) Organisations should aim to reduce the negative impact that using the Blackberry (BB) device for work purposes during nonwork hours has on an employees work-life balance and well-being, by either reducing the usage of this device or by ensuring employees are capable of handling this device and the demands of the job. These 30
are the recommendations generated from this recent study focusing on the relationships between using the BB device for work purposes during non-work hours and: (a) work-family conflict; and (b) well-being, and the potential mediators of these relationships from a Conservation of Resources (COR) approach. The study used four multiple mediation regression models using bootstrapping procedures, and analysed data collected via an online questionnaire from 90 adults working for a world leading communications service company based in the UK. The purpose of the research was to conduct a comparison study of the research conducted in the US by Richardson and Thompson (2012). The findings indicated that employees who engage with their BB devices for work purposes during non-work hours experience higher levels of work-family conflict. In particular those who use the device frequently are not psychologically detached from work, which in turn is related to workfamily conflict and lower levels of well-being. Furthermore those who use the device for long periods of time are also not psychologically detached from work, which in turn is related to lower levels of well-being. No support was found for perception of job control as a mediator; however interesting findings suggested job control may be a potential benefit to employees. The COR theory principle that resource loss is more salient than resource gain was supported, as the mediating effect of detachment from work (resource loss) on the relationship between BB use and work-family conflict was greater than the mediating effect of job control (resource gain). The majority of findings were consistent with those of Richardson and Thompsons (2012) showing similarities between both the US and the UK. However, in addition to these findings it was found that 94.2 per cent of participants reported that at some point during their vacations within the UK they had used their BB to engage in work-related
Conference Reviews
duties and 58.1 per cent had done so abroad. These statistics were significantly greater than those found by Richardson and Thompson (2012) and are worrying given that time away from work provides a restorative benefit. Further research therefore needs to be conducted into new communication technologies to assess whether the overall consequences of usage are positive or negative for an employees work-life balance. The full paper for this research was published online in 2013 by the Canadian Centre of Science and Education, and can be found from the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/emr.v3n1p8 Contact details: Sophie Ward: ab6179@coventry.ac.uk Work-life balance, recovery strategies, and well-being in fire service personnel Dr Nicky Payne (Middlesex University) & Gail Kinman (University of Bedfordshire) Due to characteristics of the work of Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) staff (such as long work hours, rotating shifts, and traumatic incidents) it is argued that they may experience problems detaching and recovering from work together with sleeping difficulties. These facts may engender work-life conflict, but this may not be inevitable and work and non-work roles may also be enriching with positive implications for well-being. As yet, however, little research has examined both work-life conflict and enhancement, especially in FRS staff. Using an online survey, this study examined the impact of bi-directional work-life conflict and enhancement, rumination and detachment on sleep and work well-being in 197 FRS staff. Findings indicated that that conflict and rumination were related to poorer work wellbeing and sleep, and enhancement and detachment were associated with better work well-being and sleep. Multiple regression analyses showed that worknon-work
enhancement and reduced rumination predicted better work well-being. Also, less rumination about work was found to protect staff from the negative outcomes of low levels of worknon-work enhancement. Furthermore, reduced non-workwork conflict, increased non-workwork enhancement and increased detachment all predicted better sleep quality. Less rumination about work was also found to protect staff from the negative implications of non-workwork enhancement for sleep quality. These findings suggest that recovery strategies utilised by employees have an impact on well-being. Evidence was found that rumination threatens work-related wellbeing, whereas detachment from work concerns seems to improve sleep quality. Thus, FRS staff should be assisted to find positive ways to unwind outside of work to avoid unhealthy rumination. Learning to detach themselves from work concerns should also aid sleep. The direction of conflict and enhancement also seemed to play a role, whereas work influencing personal life affected workrelated well-being, and personal life influencing work affected sleep. Increasing opportunities for enhancement therefore seems important in order to support the well-being of FRS staff. For example, to aid sleep, individuals could focus on how their personal life enhances work (e.g. how it gives them energy and puts them in a good mood). In conclusion, the focus on work having the potential to enhance personal life and vice versa is novel, as much previous research in the work-life balance field adopts a conflict perspective. This study highlights the importance of not neglecting enhancement in either research or when considering interventions to support work-life balance. Contact details: Nicky Payne: n.payne@mdx.ac.uk
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Conference Reviews
The cost of kindness? The implications of emotional labour and empathy for work-life balance well-being in nursing Gail Kinman & Sandra Leggetter (University of Bedfordshire) The term emotional labour refers to the effort involved in managing feelings when the work role specifies that particular emotions should be displayed, whereas others should be hidden. Although most employees perform some degree of emotional labour, it is intrinsic to the role of helping professionals such as nurses. The requirement to be empathic could also be considered a form of emotional labour, as some effort is likely to be required. It is argued that sustained emotional labour and empathy while being beneficial for patients, may threaten the well-being of nurses themselves. This study utilised the job demandsresources model to examine relationships between emotional labour and empathy and strain-based work-life conflict and emotional exhaustion. This model maintains that job demands (in this case, the need to perform emotional labour and engage empathically with patients) can deplete employees wellbeing. In contrast, job resources, can offset the negative impact of job demands. The triple-match principle, arising from this model, indicates that the likelihood of finding an interaction between job demands and resources in predicting strain is increased when the variables are closely matched within either the physical, cognitive or emotional domains. This study tests this principle by focusing on the emotional domain: that is, the role played by emotional support in the relationship between emotional labour, empathy and both emotional exhaustion and strain-based worklife conflict. An online questionnaire was completed by 351 nurses. Significant positive relationships were found between emotional labour and both emotional exhaustion and worklife conflict. Emotional support was negatively associated with emotional labour, 32
emotional exhaustion and work-life conflict. Empathy was positively associated with emotional exhaustion and emotional support, but no significant association with work-life conflict was found. Some evidence was found that emotional support moderated the relationship between both emotional labour and both emotional exhaustion and work-life conflict. The findings of this study highlight the negative impact of emotional labour experienced by nurses on well-being that extends to the home domain. This key aspect of nursing has clear potential to impair recovery processes and the quality of nonworking relationships. Evidence was found that emotional support is an important resource to help nurses cope with the emotional demands they experience. Interventions are clearly required to help nurses deliver compassionate, patient-centred care, whilst maintaining emotional boundaries to protect their personal well-being and worklife balance. Contact details: Gail Kinman: Gail.kinman@beds.ac.uk Work-life balance self-management competence Almuth McDowall (University of Surrey) In many organisations, work-life balance activities at the organisational level (such as specific training, flexible benefit options) have been put on the back burner as budgets and workforces are decreasing. Thus, the onus has shifted onto individuals to deal with increasing, more intensive work demands and manage their work-home interface. Psychological research has demonstrated that an absence of balance, usually measured by levels of work-family conflict, has negative consequences for individuals and employers alike. However, we know a lot less about effective process and interventions for getting balance right. This example drew on current research (McDowall & Lindsay, 2013) focused on individual self-management strategies for managing work-life balance. This a competency focused
Conference Reviews
approach, to elicit the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to self-manage the workhome interface, including cognitive strategies, such as how individuals frame the work-home interface. Almuth outlined the value of using a mixed methods approach to collect data from police officers and staff showing that work-life balance can be understood in terms of specific skills, including negotiation and communication, rethinking work-life balance as a challenge (not a problem) and also managing work effec-
tively. Such a competency-based approach has valuable practical implications in terms of follow up development activities for highlighting and encouraging effective behaviours, but also needs to be communicated carefully so that organisations are not tempted to entirely abdicate responsibility to individuals. Contact details: Almuth McDowall: a.mcdowall@surrey.ac.uk
References
Kinman, G. & Court, S. (2010). Psychosocial hazards in UK universities: Adopting a risk assessment approach. Higher Education Quarterly, 64(4), 413428. Kinman, G. & Jones, F. (2008). A life beyond work? Job demands, work-life balance, and well-being in UK academics. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 17(12), 4160. Kinman, G. & Wray, S. (2013). Higher stress: A survey of stress and well-being among staff in higher education. London: UCU Publications. McDowall, A. & Lindsay, A. (2013). Work-Life Balance in the Police: The development of a selfmanagement competency framework. Journal of Business and Psychology, 115. Richardson, K.M. & Thompson, C.A. (2012). High tech tethers and work-family conflict: A conservation of resources approach. Engineering Management Research, 1(1).
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Conference Reviews
The Work-life Balance Working Group at the NEC

Gail Kinman & Almuth McDowall Health and Well-being at Work is an annual event held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. It attracts several thousand key decision makers, occupational health providers and HR professionals from the private and public sectors. Over two days (45 March 2014), the event comprised several parallel conference streams and hundreds of stands offering new ideas and resources and examples of best practice to keep employees fit and healthy. The DOP Work-life Balance and the Health and Well-being Working Groups contributed a stream that aimed to profile state of the art research emerging from occupational psychology. Almuth McDowall and Gail Kinman represented the WLB group. Gail started the day by focusing on the ways in which work can impact on non-working life and the potential impact on employees, their family life and leisure and their job performance. Research conducted by Gail and colleagues with diverse occupational groups such as nurses, social workers, police and academics, was used to explore the ways in different types of work can threaten and enhance work-life balance and wellbeing. Almuth then contributed a session that aimed to provide employers and employees
with a range of practical skills to enhance their employees (and their own) work-life balance. Drawing on border theory and other relevant research, Almuth used her recent work with the police to illustrate the many benefits of gaining insight into the knowledge, skills and abilities that are associated with effective management of the work/non-work interface. Both talks were very warmly and enthusiastically received by the several hundred people who attended the stream. Contributions were also made by Sharon De Mascia (on using positive psychology to facilitate mental health in organisations), Nadine Mellor (the use of mindfulness at work), Ivan Robertson (the impact of psychological wellbeing on physical health), Emma DonaldsonFeilder (positive manager behaviours), Amanda Brown (the impact of false allegations) and Nancy Doyle (Dyslexia and stress). The DOP also had a stand in the exhibition area, which attracted a large number of delegates. Thanks are due to David Palferman, Nancy Doyle and Karen Royle and others who managed the stand over the two days. We all agreed that this is an excellent, relatively low-cost way of selling psychology to a huge number of key organisational decision makers and we anticipate making a similar contribution to the event in 2015. Comments from the audience were inspiring and showed a real appetite for first-
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Conference Reviews
hand evidence, for example: I did not know all this research exists! and Where can I download these papers you have talked about. We left inspired to keep going with our message of moving psychological approaches work-life balance from the margins into the main stream! For more information on the event see http://www.healthatwork2014.co.uk/
The Authors
Dr Gail Kinman Department of Psychology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU. Email: gail.kinman@beds.ac.uk Dr Almuth McDowall University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH. Email: a.mcdowall@surrey.ac.uk
Conference Announcements
ADAPT, AEDTSS and USC
Work-Life Balance and the Economic Crisis: An Insight from the Perspective of Comparative Law (Italy, UK, Germany, Argentina and Spain) 2526 April 2014 Santiago de Compostela, Spain http://moodle.adaptland.it/pluginfile.php/14468/mod_resource/content/14/ programa_def_en.pdf http://moodle.adaptland.it/course/view.php?id=22
Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE)

Families in the crisis: Finding work-life balance in difficult economic context 2829 April 2014 The Impact HUB, Athens, Greece http://www.coface-eu.org/en/Events/Families-in-the-crisis/
Work and Family Researchers Network

The WFRN Conference Changing Work and Family Relationships in a Global Economy 1921 June, 2014 Millennium Broadway Hotel, New York City, USA https://workfamily.sas.upenn.edu/sites/workfamily.sas.upenn.edu/files/ Conference%20Program%202014.pdf https://workfamily.sas.upenn.edu/content/conference
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Postgraduate Corner
The Work-Life Balance Working Group Postgraduate Network Qualitative Research Diary: Training Workshop 11 February 2014
Jurate Cingiene A few years back the DOPs Work-Life Balance Working Group Postgraduate Network organised a workshop dedicated to researching the work-life interface. The workshop raised a few important points and identified gaps in work-life balance research. One of these consisted of a poor methodological fit as presented by Professor Rob Briner. For example, we know that the nature of how people think about work-life balance is very episodic; however, when it comes to research, it is not studied that way. During the Q&A session, we came to the conclusion that diary studies could show us more insight into the work-life interface. Since only a handful of us had experience doing diary research and since its something not widely available through MSc and PhD programmes, we decided to organise training to benefit the research community. On behalf of the Work-Life Balance Working Group postgraduate network, I contacted Dr Penny Plowman, who is a strong advocate of the diary method, and she agreed to do the training with Jurate Cingiene great enthusiasm. Dr Plowman is an experienced gender and development practitioner who specialises in organisational analyses and works as an external research associate at the University of East Anglia. She is also a teacher, mentor and organisational development practitioner. Her interest in the Qualitative Research Diary began in her doctoral research in which she conducted an ethnographic organisational case study in South Africa. Her adaptation of the diary method has since been used in a number of different research contexts.
The Author
Jurate Cingiene WLB Working Group Postgraduate Network Email: jkairyte@googlemail.com
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Posstgraduate Corner
One participants thoughts on the workshop

Caroline Fortunski Although I had looked at a few diary studies beforehand, Pennys workshop made me think of this particular research method and its implementation in new ways. Penny presented her own approach to diary studies step by step, highlighting advantages and difficulties associated with this research method. We discussed the benefits of engaging participants in the reflective process of diary writing and possible effects this might have on them and their workplace. We also considered how to best set up a diary study and how important it is to stay in touch with your participants throughout.
The workshop was particularly helpful for my own research, a diary study on effects of adopting self-management competencies on junior teachers work-life balance. Pennys approach prompted Caroline Fortunski many ideas on how to improve my diary study, that is, by inviting the diarists to a group discussion, and her advice as well as examples from her own research were a great help in setting a diary study up on my own.
The Author
Caroline Fortunski Email: caroline.fortunski@googlemail.com
Book Reviews
To contribute to the Book Reviews section, please contact Gail Kinman (gail.kinman@beds.ac.uk) with suggestions for books to review and she will ask the publishers for a copy. To be suitable for review, books should generally have been published no more than 12 months ago. We are also looking for reviewers, so please get in touch with Gail with a list of your interests and she will try to match up books with suitable reviewers. Finally, if you have written a book yourself, or contributed a chapter to an edited book, please contact Gail and arrange for a review copy to be sent out.
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WLB Working Group Members Corner

Meet the Member Susie Phillips-Baker
I moved to England in 2006 to complete an MSc in Organisational Psychology with Manchester Business School, following a number of years working in Human Resources and Organisation DevelopSusie Phillips-Baker ment in a large public sector organisation in Dublin. Since then I have worked as a psychologist in the College of Policing (formerly National Policing Improvement Agency) based in North Yorkshire. Within this role I have been involved in the design and delivery of numerous assessment processes for various roles within the Police service of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These have included work-based exercises, interviews, situational judgement tests and multiple-choice examinations, all underpinned by best practice to produce valid, fair and reliable products. I have also been increasingly involved in coaching activities with experience supporting managers and senior executives in the police with their development using feedback from assessment performance, as well as tools including 360 degree feedback and psychometric profiles. I am particularly passionate about this area of my work and in helping people to develop an understanding of their strengths and methods of overcoming challenges, using a person-centred approach. I am mother to two young children and have become increasingly aware of the challenges of finding a balance between the demands of work and family life. I have been very fortunate to be supported by my organisation in this regard and have taken opportunities to develop my skills and experience during this time. I am nearing completion of my qualification in Occupational Psychology with the British Psychological Society and over the past few years have completed a Certificate in Transactional Analysis with the Leeds Psychotherapy Training Institute and a certificate in higher education in breastfeeding counselling through the National Childbirth Trust, of which I have been an active volunteer. I am looking forward to getting involved with the Work-Life Balance Working Group, to learning more about activity and research in the area and hopefully contributing to discussions! Susie Phillips-Baker Email: susie.phillipsbaker@yahoo.co.uk
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Information for Contributors

Author Guidelines
The newsletter editors are keen to encourage concise and focussed articles for the newsletter. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format, and could be submitted under the following broad categories:
Theory, Method and Research: Peer-reviewed articles and Brief reports

Articles dealing with theoretical, methodological and/or empirical matters are particularly welcomed, as are literature reviews. Longer articles dealing with substantive issues should be between 2000 and 4000 words in length. Brief articles or comments (up to 2000 words) are also encouraged.
Graphics
The preferred file format for figures and graphics is EPS, TIFF, or PDF.
Events
The newsletter provides a platform for publicising and reviewing events. Submissions of this kind should be no longer than 2000 words, and if possible should be substantially shorter than this.
Book Reviews
These should not exceed 2000 words. In all cases, the newsletter editors reserve the right to reduce the word limits where appropriate, and to edit manuscripts if necessary.
Manuscript preparation
Manuscripts should be prepared according to the British Psychological Societys Style Guide (see http://www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/bps_style_guide.pdf). Authors are requested to pay particular attention to these guidelines when preparing references lists. All submissions should be in English. Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, and should incorporate page numbers. The title page should include the full title of the manuscript, author name(s), institutional affiliations and contact details. We are happy to do some minor copy editing, but we would be grateful if you could ensure that submissions have been proof read and are print ready
Manuscript submission
All contributions should be submitted by email to the newsletter editors: Roxane L. Gervais (roxylg@alumni.fdu.edu) and Barbara Lond (drbarbaralond@gmail.com).
Contents
Messages from the Co-Chairs ........................... 1 Almuth McDowall & Gail Kinman Message from the Newsletter Editors ............ 3 Roxane L. Gervais & Barbara Lond Featured articles Balancing work with life: Does generation matter? ................................. 4 Work-Life Balance: Descriptions from Finnish Millennial............................................... 5 Susanna Kultalahti Gen Y research emphasises work-life balance ............................................... 8 Carina Paine Schofield & Sue Honor Focusing on transitions in multigenerational work-life balance research .................................................................. 11 Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya Baby Boomers, Generation X and their work-life balance: A review ........................... 14 Roxane L. Gervais Work-Life Balance: A global perspective: Findings from Lebanon Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view ............................................ 17 Karin L. Soweid New and Emerging Research Work-Life-Balance in the recession and beyond: An ESRC seminar series.................. 22 Suzan Lewis Sharing Knowledge and Networking .............. 24 Promoting Work-Life Balance Work-Life Balance Working Groups Fact Sheets .......................................................25 Conference Reviews Managing work-life balance: A workshop for practitioners......................... 25 Gail Kinman, Almuth McDowall, Christine Grant, Nicky Payne & Siobhan Wray Work-life balance research at the DOP Conference 2014 ...................................... 28 Gail Kinman The Work-life Balance Working Group at the NEC ............................................................. 34 Gail Kinman & Almuth McDowall Conference Announcements .............................. 35 Postgraduate Corner The Work-Life Balance Working Group Postgraduate Network Qualitative Research Diary: Training Workshop 11 February 2014 ............................................... 36 Jurate Cingiene One participants thoughts on the Workshop ................................................ 37 Caroline Fortunski Book Reviews ............................................................ 37 The WLB Working Group Members Corner Meet the Member Susie Phillips-Baker........................................... 38
St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR, UK Tel 0116 254 9568 Fax 0116 227 1314 E-mail mail@bps.org.uk www.bps.org.uk The British Psychological Society 2014 Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered Charity No 229642

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WLBWG Vol 5 - Final

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Division of Occupational Psychology

Applying the science of psychology to work

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter

DOP WLB Working Group Members

Message from the Co-Chairs

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Almuth McDowall & Gail Kinman

THE DOP 2014 CONFERENCE LOCATION BRIGHTON

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Message from the Newsletter Editors

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Balancing work with life: Does generation matter?

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance: Descriptions from Finnish Millennial

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance: Descriptions from Finnish Millennial

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Gen Y research emphasises work-life balance

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Gen Y research emphasises work-life balance

What do the managers think?

Importance of work-life balance to Gen Y

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Carina Paine Schofield & Sue Honor

Its not just Gen Y everyone wants work-life balance

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Focusing on transitions in multi-generational work-life balance research

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Focusing on transitions in multi-generational work-life balance research

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Baby Boomers, Generation X and their work-life balance: A review

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Baby Boomers, Generation X and their work-life balance: A review

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance: A global perspective

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Table 1: Thematic synthesis of themes and patterns.

Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view

Figure 1: Relationship between gender equity and the datas themes.

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-life conflict and the Arab Spring: A researchers view

DOWNTOWN BEIRUT, LEBANON

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

New and Emerging Research

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance in the recession and beyond: An ESRC seminar series

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Sharing knowledge and networking

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Promoting Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

References and further reading

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-life balance research at the DOP Conference 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014

Work-Life Balance Working Group Newsletter, Volume 5, Spring 2014