HR Priorities and Work-Life Balance
Discuss about the Field and Charting Future Directions.
Workplace enslavement has been one of the major issues that organizations have to deal with. With the increasing demands of modern workplaces, individuals have found themselves spending more time in carrying out work-related duties and less time attending to family duties (Banfield, Kay & Royles, 2018). In the face of these pressures, the family takes a back seat. Lack of work-life balance is a major contributor to employee turnover, reduced productivity and absenteeism. Organizations like PepsiCo, through the active role played by their current CEO, Robert Rietbroek has realized the importance of work-life balance in enhancing organizational productivity. The CEO introduced major changes in creating a healthier work-life balance for PepsiCo’s to enhance their ability to balance between work and family commitments. He has been on the forefront in encouraging his employees to always focus on meeting both their family and work obligations without sacrificing one for their other. His leave loud policy has been a major turning point for the organization. The policy obligates leaders to make their departure from the organization form the organization known especially when the departure is done before the end of working hours to attend to other commitments (Chung, 2017). This essay explores the various aspects of PepsiCo’s leave loud policy.
The human resources are the backbone of any organization. An organization’s performance is determined by how productive and motivated its employees are. This reason obligates employers and organization to have a strategic focus on their employers (Bolman & Deal, 2017). HR priorities refer to the human resources areas of focus by organizations. PepsiCo’s focus on enabling a work-life balance for its employees is based on a number of strategic priorities.
The first priority is attracting, retaining top talent and enhancing workplace diversity. PepsiCo is an organization committed to sustaining its talents with its focus on developing and retaining its employees. Having the right people doing the right job in an organization is, therefore, one of the priorities that the organization is aiming at achieving through its work-life balance policies. Contemporary employees have become more focused on attaching themselves to organizations that value and treat them respectfully. A conducive work environment and flexible terms of work are therefore some of the aspects that they will consider before accepting a job (Cascio, 2018). Additionally, the retention of employees is based on their level of satisfaction. Ability to balance between work and family commitments is one of the factors that lead to employee satisfaction. Flexible working arrangements in an organization can also lead to increased workplace diversity because the arrangement meets the needs of different employees. The organization, therefore, aims at tapping into this gap by providing flexible working terms and a conducive work environment.
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
The second priority being pursued by the organization is increasing productivity. The goal of any organization is to get the most out of its employees. Employee productivity is directly manifested in an organization’s productivity. While working for long hours might not necessarily translate to increased productivity having in place strategies that increase the satisfaction of employees can play a significant role in improving the productivity of employees (Ranjan, 2017). By having in place flexible working conditions, employees become more committed to their jobs. It also improves their job satisfaction. Increased commitment and satisfaction are directly proportional to employee’s productivity. The organization is, therefore, aiming at improving the productivity of their employees through the work-life balance policies.
Sometimes lack of work-life balance can be detrimental to the health of employees. Burnout is a common occurrence in situations where employees have to endure long working hours. It also occurs where employees lack control over their jobs. Burnout may lead to depression, lethargy, and cynicism on the side of employees (Guest, 2017). Work flexibility puts employees in control of their how they carry out their jobs and enables them to set their own work-related goals. The ability of employees to work according to their own schedules and have time to attend to other commitments can enhance their overall well being. The organization is therefore focused on improving the well being of its employees.
The underlying principle of implementing the leave loudly strategy is to reduce Presenteeism in the organization. It aims at developing a culture where employees can freely leave the organization to attend to family commitments without fear of being victimized or losing their job (Murphy, 2017). In the absence of such policy employees will tend to sacrifice their family commitments by only leaving the organization after their leaders have left. The implementation of the strategy is therefore intended to promote work-life balance within the organization by championing flexible family-friendly work policies.
The leave loudly strategy is strategically focused on promoting and enhancing other Human resource practices. Its rationale resonates quite well with the goals of work-life balance, Social responsibility, workforce planning and workforce equity and diversity.
Workplace equity is focused on promoting equal and fair treatment for all employees. Workplace equity presents all employees with equal opportunities and offers advantages for both people in leadership positions and their subordinates (Luthans & Doh,2018). On the other hand, diversity means the availability of employees representing different races, ability, ethnicities, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. PepsiCo highly values diversity. The organization strongly believes that different values, experiences, and attributes are an important aspect of organizational productivity and sustainable organizational growth (Brewster, 2017). The organization is committed to embracing individual differences including work styles to benefit from the benefits of diversity in an organization. The strategy aligns with workplace equity and diversity in that it ensures that all employees both at the top and the bottom of the organization have equal chances of attending to personal commitments (Chung, 2017). Flexibility promotes diversity in that different people may have different needs which need to be met. Women, for example, may have different needs attached to their families. Others may include employees from different religions having to attend to religious functions at different times. These needs are better fulfilled where there is flexibility. The strategy, therefore, aligns with the promotion of equity and diversity.
Increasing Productivity
Workforce planning refers to the continuous process used in organizations to align organizational needs and priorities with those of its employees. Workforce development, on the other hand, refers to the shift in focus on people rather than on businesses. Leave loudly strategy represents a shift in focus on employees and an attempt by the organization to balance between organizational needs and those of its employees. The strategy, therefore, aligns with the hr strategy enhancing the development of the organization’s meeting organizational needs without sacrificing those of their employees (Jiang, Hu, Liu & Lepak, 2017).
Social responsibility on the part of employers refers to their actions based on the best interests of their employees. It includes treating them equitably and fairly (Rothenberg, Hull & Tang, 2017). The strategy is aimed at ensuring that leaders lead their subordinates by examples. By leaders leaving loudly it is intended to show their subordinates that it is okay for them to leave early to attend to other commitments. It makes it okay not only for leaders but also for their subordinates. It is therefore intended to promote fair treatment for everybody within the organization. The strategy is also aimed at promoting the development of employees spiritually and educationally as well as providing them with good working conditions which are the main focuses of employer’s responsibility to the employee.
Work-life balance refers to the provision of flexible working arrangements for employees to enable them to meet their needs outside their workplace (Rees & Smith, 2017). This is the main focus of the strategy. It is meant to ensure that employees are not held back by their Job commitments anytime they need to attend to urgent commitments outside their work. It is therefore aimed at helping them to balance between their work and commitments outside the workplace.
The main reason why PepsiCo’s CEO has been so focused on promoting work-life balance is major that of his own experi8nece in balancing between his family and work commitments. The father of two has for the last 16 years learnt about the difficulties faced by employees in balancing their work and family commitments. He has been described as a dedicated family man who finds joy in spending time with his two children and his wife. He finds joy in enjoying home cooked dinners and making merry with his family and friends. He understands very well what lack of time for family for other parents like him (van den Bosch, 2017). He knows that apart from the work commitments, family commitments are much more important and should be an area of priority. Being a family man with who clearly understands the demands that employees are faced with in meeting work based and family objectives. Having had a firsthand experience in the challenges faced by employees has been a major boost in the implementation of the ‘Leave loudly’ strategy.
Improving Employee Wellbeing
The strategy directly touches on employee’s productivity and morale. The two terms go hand in hand in that where there is high morale among employees, productivity is likely to be high (Van Wingerden, Derks & Bakker, 2017). Through the strategy employees are able to spend less but quality hours undertaking their work commitments. While it is true that long working hours lead to increased output, working on overtime can only do so on short-term basis. In the long run long working for long hours leads to a drastic fall in productivity caused by unhealthy habits and exhaustion (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017). On the other hand short working hours leads to increased productivity in the long run. It has been shown that people who have short frequent breaks tend to be more productive than people who spend much more time before taking a break. The strategy through its flexibility concept has a positive impact on employee productivity. Work-life balance has been described as one of the greatest contributors of employees morale (Markoulli, Lee, Byington & Felps, 2017). The ability to balance between family and work commitments results to job satisfaction and overall well being of an employee. The strategy by its ability of improving the satisfaction of employees has had a positive impact on their morale. The strategy has made PepsiCo’s group of companies the highest contributor of retail grocery sales across Australia. Through increased morale, it has also led to a reduction in the number of employee’s leaving the organization by about 5% since its implementation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, work-life balance plays an integral role in the life of employees. It enables them to meet both work and family obligations. With the growing demands of modern workplaces, it has become increasingly difficult for employees to balance between work and family commitments. Family commitments get sacrificed most of the time. The implementation of ‘leave loudly’ strategy by the organization is part of its strategic focus on retaining talents through work-life balance provisions. It is intended to help employees to attend to both work and family commitments without fear of losing their jobs or being victimized. The strategy aligns with the organization’s strategic focus on enhancing workplace diversity and equity by promoting equal treatment and opportunities for all. It is also focused on promoting work-life balance, workforce planning, and development as well as the social responsibility of employees by the employer. The personal life of the CEO whereby he has been involved in both work and family life for the last 16 years has brought much insight into the benefits and challenges of work-life balance. The strategy is, therefore, a response to a firsthand experience aimed at making the work of his subordinates more fulfilling. The strategy could be a factor for enhancing the morale of employees through its job satisfaction aspect. In addition, it could lead to increased long-term productivity.
References
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