WORK-LIFE BALANCE : BUSINESS AND BELIEF

While doing our jobs at various places in various capacities, many a times, we come across situations, where we face problems due to misalignment between managerial practices/ ethics (that we blindly follow) and the beliefs of people or people’s ethics (that we remain oblivious to). If we can understand this conflict, we are able to see more frameworks, understand the world better, take better decisions, ones that ensure a viable, sustainable and happy business. Many a times this conflict leads to dissatisfaction and related stress in personal life.

Here comes the concept of work–life balance, a concept of proper prioritization between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation). This is related to the idea of lifestyle choice. The expression "work–life balance" was first used in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individual's work and personal life. In the United States, this phrase was first used in 1986.

Despite the worldwide quest for Work-Life Balance, there is no universally acceptable definition of the concept. Let's first define what work-life balance is not. Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule an equal number of hours for each of your various work and personal activities is usually unrewarding and unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than that. And why not our work be a source of enjoyment and fun, making us feel happy and satisfied. Here comes the role of our beliefs.

Belief or let’s say ethical belief plays a key role in activities and behaviour. It determines choices and propels the decisions of buyers and sellers, regulators and shareholders, investors and entrepreneurs, employers and employees, vendors and customers. It determines how we do our job and what ultimately gets done. But, management science, however, steers clear of belief. It pays greater value to objectivity. Hence, greater attention is paid to institutional values. Organizational values are mapped to particular behaviours: the assumption is that certain behaviours reflect certain beliefs. This assumption allows the pretender to thrive in corporations, for as long as you are polite or mindful of protocol and respectful of rules, no one really cares what you feel or think. But it has a major problem. Belief may express itself in behaviour, but the reverse may not be true. Respect (intangible belief) may manifest in politeness (tangible behaviour), but politeness may not always reflect respect.

Management science has obsession with goals. Targets come first, then tasks, then people. The value placed on vision, mission, objectives, milestones, targets and tasks in modern business practice resonates with the European and American socio-economic realities and ideologies. They are convinced that goal-orientation is logical, hence the universal solution to all business problems. Following these frameworks, in pursuit of tasks and targets, many a times we ignore the people, people who work for us and people we work for. We do fearlessly unethical things, participate and promote corruption. While doing such things, we face a conflict with our social/ cultural ethos and beliefs, but we take the cover of tasks and targets.

Different communities have different belief systems and think differently, so approach life very differently. Management science is rooted in Western beliefs and indifferent to Indian beliefs. When management principles, rooted in Western/ American ethos, are applied in India “as it is”, it creates complications.

Different ethos and beliefs create different worldviews. The gap in worldviews are the root of conflict, frustration and demotivation. An objective institutional truth is upheld rather than individual truths. People are seen as resources, to be managed through compensation and motivation. They are like switches in a circuit board. But humans cannot be treated as mere instruments. They have beliefs that demand acknowledgment. They imagine themselves as heroes, villains and martyrs. They yearn for power and identity. Their needs will not go away simply by being dismissed as irrational, unscientific or unnecessary.

The Indian economic, political and education systems are rooted in Western beliefs, but Indians themselves are not. A very Indian approach to management should be worked out to resolve the inbuilt conflict in the present system.

Management is ultimately about decisions. When we take decisions, we use frameworks, either consciously or unconsciously. While frameworks of management science seek to be objective, the frameworks which seem more functional for India are primarily subjective. This subjectivity revolves around our beliefs, which are operative in our subconscious and control our conscious decisions.

In terms of management, therefore, primary reliance on systems and structures to improve organizational ill-health becomes questionable. If there is a conflict in our beliefs and our system’s beliefs then the problems of work-life imbalance will continue to be part of our life. We can not completely separate our work-life from our social-life. Somehow, the two get entwined and disturb the basic balance of life. We stop enjoying our job. When I talk about Work-Life Balance and enjoyment, it does not just mean "Ha-Ha" happiness. It means Pride, Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration, Love, A Sense of Well Being …all the Joys of Living. Therefore, the best methods to practice in our jobs are those we believe in and are ethically acceptable to us.

It is in this setting that the importance of instilling basic ethical norms in the process and progress of a professional career in all fields takes the driving seat. Perhaps, the curriculum of management education in India must be reoriented to reflect its national culture and character.

Mahatma Gandhi advocated a simple and self-sustaining lifestyle based on the dictum that while there was always adequate means to meet the needs of everyone, it was not enough to meet the greed of a few. The Indian ethos also reflects the same concept, which says

‘Atmano Mokshartham, Jagat hitaya cha’

(All work is an opportunity for doing good to the world and thus gaining materially and spiritually in our lives.)

Ethics and values must find a place in the art and science of management. The ability to do the right thing and, what is more important, doing it every time (even when no one is watching) is of utmost importance in the managerial environment. It must become the done thing, the insignia and talisman of a professional manager.