WORK LIFE BALANCE: MYTH OR REALITY PART 1
The concept of balancing work and life has been a major topic amongst professionals in this age.

The ability to manage the emotional needs of family members with the expectations at work has seemed to be a difficult task.

The business environment has not helped matters and that is not peculiar to any organization. The desire to survive in the midst of the challenging economic environment has kept organizations on their toes resulting in much more sacrifices and devotion to work than ever before.

This thread is to explore the various conditions that are responsible for the imbalance between work and life and evaluate if the desire to balance it is a myth or a reality.

There are many questions to be answered. Does work life balance exist? What are we trying to balance?

We keep working very hard, trying to be the best at work, studying more to become better professionally and academically and also trying to be the best father and mother to our children.

We also desire to be rewarding children to our aging parents.

Can there ever be a balance?

The desire to be successful drives us to embark on all these activities.

However, there seems to be a balance in the days of our parents and grandparents where some of them even come home to have lunch with their children and still return to work but those days are no more.

Today, it seems a choice has to be made in what we actually want while the other one may be the sacrifice that has to be made. There has to be a trade off.

I recall my wife collapsed during one of her postgraduate lectures because she was pregnant.

Her lecturer called and expressed his anger about her coming to class under that condition. The question then would have been: Should she have declined registering for postgraduate studies? Should she have waited to complete raising her children before going for further studies?

There are many factors contributing to the fact that a lot are on our plate and all are demanding attention at the same time. Mothers have resigned their jobs to take care of their children. There needed to be a trade off because they may not all be balanced at the same time

The World of VUCA

One of the factors responsible for the imbalance in work and life in the workplace today is the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) of the world we live in.

The world today is volatile with unstable challenges, uncertain with unknown outcomes, complex with many interconnected parts and ambiguous with lack of clarity. The world is changing with a rapid speed than as ever been known in history.

We are today operating in complex environment made prevalent by the rise of globalization and information technology. Famous companies are disappearing either because they went bankrupt or because they were taken over.

Imagine this: Only 11% of Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are still on the list today.

These factors have made it inevitable to be much more committed to work ethics than ever before.

Sacrifices are required from employees to work much more.

These sacrifices at work have denied workers the satisfaction of being with their families.

Work Life Balance is Role and Profession Dependent

There are roles and professions which require a higher degree of dedication and sacrifice for success.

As an experienced sales and marketing professional, I can say that the higher you rise in the profession, the hotter it becomes and the more the level of dedication required especially with increased competition.

In marketing, competitors are becoming more aggressive and looking for how to increase their own market share in the business environment. They are looking for how to displace you and you have to be on guard else your job is gone.

Therefore, it is imperative as a middle manger or senior manager in the sales profession to expect a level of denial to your family because of work exigencies. Your job requires regular travelling and that takes you away from home.

Another profession that requires a great level of sacrifice is a military or para-military career. This is a profession that requires a lot of postings both locally and internationally and it will be a mirage to expect that there will be a balance with your family life.

As a soldier, you are surely posted away from home and that sometimes may mean being at the war front.

How will you be with the family in such instance when you are always away on official duties.

These instances are pointing to the fact that a work life balance is somehow improbable in this age and with certain professions.

There are many other professions such as a pilot who will most times be in the air or an oil worker who will most times be on the oil field

Watch out for the second part.

WORK LIFE BALANCE: MYTH OR REALITY