Innovative work-life balance after COVID-19

A significant problem in modern management is the permanent connection of human capital with the organization. The perception of employees through the prism of capital capable of generating value for the organization is a significant challenge, and is also the main barrier to the implementation of various methods of managing this capital (Pietruszka-Ortyl, 2004; Bombiak, 2014). The most important task for human resource management is to take into account all its complexity and diversity in different levels and areas, one of which is work-life balance.

A turbulent environment determines the many changes to which forms of work performance are subjected. The environment in which modern employees function forces them to make constant changes and search for various methods of combining their professional and private lives (Kurtyka-Chałas, 2014; Kurtyka-Chałas, 2018; Lachman, 2004). For some time, the boundaries of the separation between various spheres of human life have been blurring, causing increased tensions between family and work, as well as increased discomfort in everyday life, which has an impact on the quality of work and private life. The variety of roles undertaken by adults, as well as the time spent on performing individual tasks, makes the flexibility of employees essential and, at the same time, difficult to implement. Making the boundaries between different roles more flexible is reflected in the lives of individuals and various entities. As a result, some employees experience a decline in job satisfaction and a lower quality of private life. The discussion of the relationship between the performance of various family and professional roles can be taken up on many levels. On one hand, the conflict between various spheres of employees’ lives can be described. On the other hand, the possibility of combining work with one’s private life can be analyzed through the description of harmony and facilitation, which is known as work-life balance (WLB). Work-life balance is a complex phenomenon without a universal definition. Maxwell, McDougall, and Greenhaus et al. define it as “the extent to which a person is evenly involved in, and satisfied with, his or her work and family roles” (Maxwell, McDouggall, 2004; Greenhaus, Collins, Shaw, 2003; Greenhaus, Beutell, 1985).

The coronavirus pandemic has caused changes on various levels, and its effects will be felt for many years to come. The epidemic threat forced the introduction of numerous restrictions, which in turn influenced the functioning of many organizations, especially families and their members (Reza Azizi, Atlasi, Ziapour, Abbas, Naemi, 2021). Employers, who largely found themselves in a difficult economic and organizational situation, decided to make drastic changes in the forms and structure of employment, and started to use new instruments (The Future of Work and COVID-19, 2020) that would make it possible to work from home. The epidemic forced and accelerated the spread of remote work, provided at a distance, outside the headquarters of organizations. Work in a stationary and remote system has also started to be combined much more often than before (i.e., hybrid work). The changes that took place during the several months of the pandemic were so significant that regardless of the epidemic situation, their effects will remain visible for years or even decades to come. They will also be influenced by the expectations and habits of employees, which were changed during the pandemic. It seems necessary to follow and identify changes in human resource management (Gigauri, 2020) and WLB.

Therefore, this article aims to analyze WLB, from the perspective of the organization, for the new times after the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the results of this research, WLB will be presented as an innovative element of human resource management, which should be subject to constant adaptation to the changing environmental conditions of a functioning organization. Experiences in the field of WLB will be presented in a sample of over 10.000 working parents in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. A special place will be used to analyze the expectations of employees through the assessment of satisfaction and commitment to the duties performed, resulting from the use of WLB tools. Thanks to the analysis of the results of this national research, it will be possible to present recommendations that organizations can implement in the application of WLB. The indicated recommendations will help to look at WLB as an innovative element of human resource management.

The balance between private and professional life is a multidimensional phenomenon defined as work-life balance (WLB). This trend emerged at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s in the USA and Great Britain when the provisions regulating weekly working time entered into force. It was then that more attention was paid to the role of the employee’s free time in the development of individuals, enterprises, and entire societies. The reasons for the creation of the WLB concept are also seen in the social and cultural changes related to women’s entry into the labor market and the need to apply a new division of domestic and caring responsibilities. It should be noted that the history of WLB dates back to the late period of the Industrial Revolution, when the high costs (eg. health) associated with excess work were first recognized (Kumanu, 2022). Another breakthrough was the feminist movement, followed by the book Kanter (1977) (Kanter, 1977a), in which the author draws attention to the need to apply WLB to the practice of each organization. The subject of WLB gained particular importance in the second half of the 20th century due to changes in the functioning of women: their willingness to fulfill themselves not only in the role of a mother but also in a career; in the “home” but also in the role of employees (Kirch, 2008). On the other hand, for men, this topic gained a new meaning with the introduction of a new model of family functioning (a division of parental responsibilities) and the possibility of online work (Kirch, 2008), which was developed further during the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be added, however, that despite the passage of years and many changes, research still shows differences between women and men in terms of (in) balance between work and private life (Duxbury, Higgins, 1991; Gutek, Searle, and Klepa, 1991; Duxbury, Lee, 1994). Since the 1980s and 1990s, organizations have been implementing various tools to reconcile work and private life, and the idea of WLB is gaining more and more important in scientific studies in various fields.

The main assumption of this concept was to draw attention to the problems of employees in reconciling work and private life. It is noted that the harmonious coexistence of both areas of human life (professional and private life) allows for the achievement of better results, rather than limiting one area or supporting the functioning of one area of human life at the expense of the other. An employee who skillfully combines professional and non-professional life may be more satisfied and feel a higher level of satisfaction in various spheres of life. A satisfied employee is more effective, enjoys professional and private life, is resistant to stress, and falls ill less, but also has favorable conditions for performing family-related duties and improving the quality of his life.

Therefore, it is worth noting that WLB can be analyzed from various perspectives (Clark, 2000), e.g., from the perspective of psychology, sociology, family policy, or management; therefore, it is a very interdisciplinary issue that requires a broader perspective. When talking about WLB, one should also mention working conditions (Kirch, 2008) and the significant role of the working environment (Kirch, 2008), which may be conducive to maintaining a work-life balance.

When it comes to the definition of WLB, it is difficult to give a universal one, with which all researchers would agree (Bulger, 2014). Some people understand WLB to achieve both professional and private goals; others understand it as satisfaction in their professional and private life (Bulger, 2014). The term work-life balance has been analyzed for a long time; however, it is often synonymous with ideas such as reflection on one’s own experiences in life and at work, the level of involvement in social roles played or life satisfaction, the pleasure of combining work and personal life, conscious control of life roles, etc. (Ferguson, Carlson, Zivnuska, Whitten, 2012; Kaliliath, Kalliath, 2013). Alternatively, Greenhaus and Allen define the balance between work and private life as a general approach in which there is compliance between the effectiveness and the sense of job satisfaction in an individual and their compliance with the life values of a human being (Greenhaus, Allen, 2011). Individuals evaluate their effectiveness in each role concerning their internal standards. The level of satisfaction derived from each fulfilled role is also important. People who feel balance (harmony) also have a feeling of satisfaction in their main roles (work or family); regardless of the assessment in the other role, they may feel that they are living in a balanced way. On the other hand, Stankiewicz-Mróz defines WLB by pointing to the essence of the balance mechanism, and in particular, “directing attention to maintaining a balance between professional and private life, allows the individual to strive for self-realization in non-employee aspects of life while maintaining understanding of the multidimensionality of the situation” (Stankiewicz-Mróz, 2008). McNall identified three determinants of the WLB concept: “work,” “non-work,” and “health”. The first element, “work,” is understood as professional life, and is related to the performance of work and the performance of official duties. Another element is the lack of work (so-called non-work), which can also be referred to as life outside work. This element, however, has nothing to do with unemployment, which is part of one’s working life; instead, it refers to one’s non-professional and private life. The third component is “health,” associated with the assessment of how work and life outside work affect employee health (McNall, 2009).

It should also be emphasized that in most of the old studies, the authors, when writing about private life, meant family roles (primarily: the role of the mother). Nowadays, however, the perspective is slowly widening; scientists emphasize that when studying WLB, due to the changing social and cultural conditions, one should also take into account private roles outside the family (e.g. the role of a friend, the role of a social activist, etc.) (Bulger, 2014). Despite these first voices broadening the WLB research perspective, most analyses still focus primarily on family roles, which seems justified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced women to make some professional sacrifices for the organization of family life (primarily the issue of childcare, in addition to full-time work) (Savage, 2020; Wysokie Obcasy and Wyborcza, 2022), although it was difficult for them to achieve WLB before (Pettit, Hook, 2009).

It is also worth adding that there is no agreement in the literature as to how to analyze the idea of WLB from the point of view of managing organizations. This concept is sometimes presented as an element of a broader view of management through the prism of corporate social responsibility (Leoński, 2015). You can also find analyses linking WLB with the social capital of an organization, building a climate, or organizational culture. Often, the problem of reconciling work and private life is part of a wider concept of human capital, human resources, and human resources management in an organization, wherein the benefits and negative consequences of the lack of balance for the organization of various spheres of an employee’s life are analyzed. Here, the most frequently analyzed are, among others: job satisfaction, job life satisfaction, the problem of workaholism, diversity management, forms of employment, the problem of discrimination or occupational diseases, etc. A different group consists of activities monitoring the impact of implemented WLB programs and tools on motivation, commitment, productivity, employee retention and attractiveness of the workplace. Here, one can often notice a gap and problems with establishing the research perspective and strategies for shaping tools for the future, as it shows a completely new perspective on the problem of understanding the needs and expectations of employees or establishing factors enhancing the involvement of various groups of employees in work (Gross-Gołacka, 2018; Słocińska, Robak, 2016; Gudelis, 2020; Thilagavathy, Geetha, 2021; Szczudlińska-Kanoś, Marzec, 2022). More and more often, employees force organizations to pay attention to non-wage factors influencing the quality of work performed. Many studies show that working conditions, the atmosphere at work, and the possibility of reconciling work and private life are important for employed persons (Kirch, 2008; Kelly Global Workforce Index, 2014).

In practice, many tools are used that make it possible to maintain a balance between various spheres of life of employees. The main instruments that can be used when introducing the idea of work-life balance include:

Various forms of working time and work organization. The most common types of employment are non-standard forms of employment, including part-time, flexible working hours, contracts for specific work and mandate contracts, teleworking, remote work, and “job sharing;” there are also training and counseling programs developing personal competences useful in private and professional life.

WLB is a significant challenge, especially when the nature of work and expectations regarding the quality of life are changing so that people still have a significant problem with maintaining work-life balance (Powell, Greenhaus, Allen, Johnson, 2019; Stankevičiūtė, 2022). That is why the introduction of innovative, effective WLB tools becomes such an important need (Lewis, Rapoport, Gambles, 2003).

Many authors (e.g. Friedman, Greenhaus, 2000; Barnett, Hyde, 2001; Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne & Grzywacz, 2006) indicate that WLB is very necessary because both family and professional work give people something important, such as better selfesteem or income, and this contributes to their fuller, better functioning in their everyday life in various spheres. In addition, the balance between private life and work results in a happy, healthier life, while imbalance can result in lower productivity, poor performance in the workplace, and also severe stress or burnout (Sathpathy, Litt, Patnaik, Mohapatra, 2019).

Previous studies have shown that people who maintain a balance between different parts of life are less burdened with depression, have higher self-esteem, and have a certain ease in fulfilling all assumed social and professional roles (Marks, MacDermid, 1996). Research clearly shows the numerous benefits of WLB for employees (Lobel, 1999) and the organization (table below).

Moreover, research has shown that the highest quality of life was enjoyed by people who devoted a little more time to their family than to work. People who have kept their time devoted to family and work in balance experience an average quality of life. On the other hand, the lowest quality of life is characteristic of people who devoted more time to work than to family life (Greenhaus, Collins, Shaw, 2003). Therefore, the results of the research show that work-life balance is very important for happiness and fulfillment. (Kofodimos, 1993). Many works (including Greenhaus, Parasuraman, 1999; Edwards, Rothbard, 2000; Friedman, Greenhaus, 2000) describe the relationship and the need for certain integrity between work and family life.

In the context of organizational benefits, it is worth emphasizing that WLB is an integral part of human resource management (Grzywacz, Carlson, 2007; Djawoto, 2022). The management staff of modern organizations must implement innovative WLB tools, because increasing the balance between the professional and private spheres brings many benefits to the organization, including, among others: employees are less stressed, more motivated, creative, and productive (Jackson, Fransman, 2018). In addition, employee turnover is reduced (Grover, Crooker, 1995), and it is easier to find new candidates on the labor market through a positive image of the employer (Byrne, 2005). Appropriate WLB tools influence commitment to duties, job satisfaction (Thomas, Ganster, 1995; Bowen, 1998; Carlson, Perrewe, 1999; Abendroth, den Dulk, 2011; Jackson, Fransman, 2018), and, thus, overall satisfaction with life (De Simone, Lampis, Lasio, Serri, Cicotto, Putzu, 2014). In addition, effective WLB tools help to increase the morale of the workforce, reduce the number of sick leaves, and therefore can reduce labor costs and improve the organization’s performance. It should also be noted that the lack of WLB is one of the main reasons why employees leave competing organizations. Meanwhile, research from 2015 showed that as many as 67% of human resources specialists were convinced that employees in their organization retained WLB, while only 45% of staff confirmed this (Kumanu, 2022). It is important to introduce innovative WLB tools, especially now that younger people, just entering the labor market, expect a significant impact on the way and mode of work, as well as greater harmony between private and professional life than their parents (Byrne, 2005).

The literature on the subject agrees that WLB is an important challenge for human resource management today, especially in a situation where more and more people play dual roles (parent and employee) (Emslie, Hunt, 2009; Gregory, Milner, 2009; Maume, Sebastian, Bardo, 2010). Interestingly, even though many WLB support services are offered in the world today, not many employees use them (Bulger, Fisher, 2012). Thus, even though the WLB concept exists, its practical implementation is still not quite popular (Adame-Sánchez, Caplliure, Miquel-Romero, 2018). Also, little has been said about WLB in the context of managerial work (Schein, 1993).

This article assumes that balancing the professional and private life of employees is an important factor in managing human resources in modern organizations. Activities in the field of work-life balance require involvement in recognizing the needs of employees and adapting the activities of the organization, which should evolve depending on changes in the environment. It is important to treat work-life balance as a process that should undergo constant changes toward balancing, harmonizing, integrating, adjusting, or reconciling work and private life (Marzec, Szczudlińska-Kanoś, 2022). The dynamic perception of WLB is also the assumption that individual employees are subject to changes causing a change in involvement in various spheres of life, which should be reflected in the strategies of individual organizations. Nowadays, rapidly changing conditions require organizations to adopt an innovative approach to employee management. It should be emphasized that human resource management should be subject to constant processes of improvement and adaptation to various changes. Adequate human resources management requires that employees are treated as a key resource of the organization, and therefore it is necessary to take into account the needs, expectations, and care for the quality of life of employees in various spheres. Caring for employees’ needs shapes a sense of identity within the organization and should be treated as innovative in the field of human resource management.

Innovation can be understood as the ability and motivation of an organization to constantly search for and put into practice new concepts, ideas, and inventions. Innovation may also be treated as the art of management enabling the achievement of compatible interests of employees with the organization’s goal (Ściborek, 2004). According to Kossek (1989), innovation in human resource management is defined as an idea, policy, program, practice, or system relating to human resource management functions, if they are new to the organization that adapts it (Kossek, 1989). In modern conditions, innovation in human resource management means everything different from the usual forms of human resource management, bringing the organization closer to achieving its goals. It is particularly important to stimulate the progress, activation, and personal development of employees by constantly creating conditions for overcoming resistance, habits, and traditional ways of thinking and acting for employees. Work-life balance programs and activities create opportunities on various levels for innovative activities for an organization in human resource management (Karcz, 2009; Chrząszcz, 2019).

During the coronavirus pandemic, working parents found themselves in an especially difficult situation. On one hand, they had to adapt to the new operating conditions of schools and educational institutions, and on the other hand, they tried to constantly provide work and deal with the organization of family life. It should be noted that the pandemic has caused many negative effects that have resulted in a completely new view of work and private life, which should be subject to detailed diagnoses from various perspectives. The changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic have triggered the process of changes in the work performed on many levels. It seemed necessary to study and describe the phenomena related to it, both from the point of view of employees and entities in the management perspective. Some researchers analyzing WLB describe the conditions of the pandemic as an element that allows a new look at the idea of balancing work and private life. (Godlewska-Bujok 2020) However, research results are lacking.

In connection with the above, it is worth learning about the experiences of over 10,000 working parents in Poland in the field of WLB during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of the research was to comprehensively assess the situation of working parents during the pandemic, and in particular to determine how employees have combined their professional duties with caring for children during the pandemic. This research made it possible to collect information about changes in the conditions of work and the functioning of families. A diagnosis of the situation of employees and working parents is necessary to properly identify new challenges for management and indicate development directions for work-life balance. A special place in the analysis is occupied by the expectations of employees through the assessment of satisfaction and commitment to the performed professional and caring duties, which has become the basis for indicating an innovative approach to WLB. Based on the analysis of this nationwide survey, recommendations for organizations that can be implemented in the application of the WLB concept will be presented. The indicated recommendations may allow us to look at WLB as an innovative element of human resource management.

The study used the diagnostic survey method; the technique was the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) Internet survey. The questionnaire consisted of 37 questions (mostly closed using the Likert scale, nominal scales, and 2 open questions), which was available on the website of the national electronic journal Librus and sent via the portal directly to users’ accounts. The legitimacy of the applied method was dictated by the fact that the studied population (working parents) was scattered territorially and was characterized by a large social and demographic diversity. Since the study was aimed at checking if and how the pandemic changed parents’ ways of combining work with childcare, it was necessary to select the research group in a purposeful way. The target group of the online questionnaire was a specific group of respondents: working parents and Internet users, and in the case of this research, it was limited to users of only one nationwide electronic journal. Parent-employees with children were particularly sought out by the authors of the study. The nationwide survey was conducted among 10,331 respondents, including 7,800 professionally active parents with children in the period from March 16 to April 2, 2021.

The main scientific problem is: What innovations in the field of work-life balance do parents expect from contemporary organizations as a result of experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

The main hypothesis H0 was formulated during initial research: that working parents have had problems with reconciling their work and private life during the pandemic. For the purposes of the study, more detailed hypotheses were separated, which were as follows (presented in the figure below):

H1. Job satisfaction during the pandemic is rated low.

The research was prepared in such a way as to diagnose the examined problem from three levels: work, family life, and reconciliation of work and family life, which made it possible to confirm the main and partial hypotheses. First, the research aimed to determine how working parents perform their work during a pandemic, paying attention to remote work as a new and popular form of working since the beginning of the pandemic, parental activities, and occupational activities between those who care for children. The third level assessed the importance of the work-life balance (WLB) concept for working parents. The combination of three planes provided the basis for diagnosing the conditions of combining professional work with childcare during a pandemic, making it possible to diagnose the idea of work-life balance during a pandemic, both from the side of employees (professionally active parents) and employers (organizations) and created the basis for an innovative approach to the idea of WLB in post-pandemic times.

Figure 1.

We were able to verify our hypotheses through analysis of the research results. Most of our indicated hypotheses have been positively verified. The main hypothesis was confirmed: our nationwide surveys showed that working parents had problems with reconciling work and family life. Maintaining harmony between work and caring for children created many challenges for them in both their professional and private lives. During the pandemic, parents had to increase their commitment to both work and family responsibilities (confirming H2 and H4). Job satisfaction during the pandemic was assessed as a medium, although the highest levels of satisfaction were recorded for people employed full-time and in the business sector (partially confirming H1). Most parents adapted their work so that they could take care of their children, which means that the largest share of people who were very satisfied with their professional life was among those who definitely did not adapt their work to taking care of children. Half of the parents were unable to separate their working hours from caring for their children. For three-quarters of parents, combining work with caring responsibilities was difficult, which means that parents expected tools to support their stability in life. Certainly, one factor is that in Poland, mainly women perform family duties, which means that they are mainly interested in appropriate WLB tools. However, it is also important that WLB tools are also prepared for men, as men were shown to have increased their commitment to family responsibilities during the pandemic. The pandemic not only increased the difficulty of maintaining harmony between different spheres of life, but working parents also paid even more attention to the challenges of reconciling family and professional life. This finding fully confirmed H3. It was especially visible in the analysis of the factors influencing people’s choice of workplace. These research results provided the basis for confirming the H5 hypothesis. Parents especially expected the development of remote work and various tools facilitating the reconciliation of private and professional life (e.g., various forms of employment, organization of childcare for children by employers, benefits for parents, etc.).

A literature query and an analysis of nationwide questionnaire surveys made it possible for us to draw conclusions and create detailed recommendations and implications for both organizations, employers and public authorities. Research has shown that employees expect employers to increase work flexibility and innovative tools to support parents. In order to meet the changing expectations of employees, employers (within their capabilities) should enable employees to work in a remote system with a choice of working hours, also under informal contracts. It is also important that employers use other tools to support WLB, such as the organization of childcare or subsidies to support it. Employers must be aware that they are co-creators of family policy and the labor market, and their ways of organizing work such as running a Family Friendly Employment (FFE) policy will benefit organizations, employees, and society as a whole. Indirectly, their actions may improve the very unfavorable demographic situation that occurs in all EU countries. Public authorities should create a legal framework supporting WLB, strengthen the development of institutional childcare (increasing the availability of nurseries, kindergartens, and school clubs), and educate about the responsibility of various entities for family policy and the labor market.

It seems necessary to constantly monitor parents’ expectations regarding WLB and make international comparisons to develop a variety of tools and programs that can be implemented. It seems that our presentation of nationwide research results in the field of WLB assessment may provide a good voice in the discussion in this area.

In modern conditions, organizations wanting to achieve their goals must be innovative and manage through innovation. Innovation in human resource management means implementing something different from the usual forms of management, in order to bring the organization closer to achieving its goals. Human resource management should aim for the best use of human capital in organizations. Human capital is a set of specific features, properly embodied in a person, having a specific value and constituting a source of future income for both the employee and the organization. In the face of contemporary changes caused by the pandemic, comprehensive employee management is of particular importance.

Entities should strive to make the best use of employee qualifications, which may enable the achievement of not only the goals of the organization but also the individual goals of individual employees. The implementation of innovative management requires the introduction of many changes in human resource management. Looking at employees not only through the prism of the work performed but also from the perspective of their private lives and the quality of their entire lives becomes a new challenge here. Organizations should strive for the best use of human resources, starting from competencies, to attitudes, to commitment, and ending with the identification of employees with the organization’s goals. The pandemic showed us all a completely new perspective on professional and private life. Work should not develop at the expense of family life. Proper uses of human resources should serve to create conditions for reconciling work and private life, and respect the needs of employees in their families and private spheres, which can be achieved with the appropriate implementation of the work-life balance concept.

So what innovations in the field of work-life balance do parents expect from contemporary organizations as a result of experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Nationwide research has shown that parents expect actions that support the reconciliation of family life with work. The constant striving to ensure conditions for the harmonious life of employees in various spheres seems necessary, especially in the post-pandemic times. It will be necessary to constantly adapt various tools and programs aimed at WLB, to match the expectations of employees. At the same time, it may be a concern that in various organizations it is very difficult to respond to the diverse needs of every single employee; therefore, it is necessary to address groups of employees as much as possible. Organizations’ WLB practices should be subject to constant processes of adaptation to various groups of employees, depending on their needs and expectations.

Our research has shown that working parents relate their job satisfaction with the possibility of reconciling work and private life, and they strive to maintain a balance between different parts of life. Working parents may have different views on the possibility of separating work and family life, but they almost all expect WLB measures. The pandemic has shown that satisfaction with family and professional life is essential to alleviate work-home and home-work conflicts, and it is necessary for the personal development of employees, and in turn for the benefit of the organization. Continuous changes in the environment require an innovative search for various methods and tools surrounding the idea of WLB. Nowadays, work-life balance should be treated as a minimized mismatch with the simultaneous achievement of maximized harmony between private life and work. It also seems important to change the center of gravity from striving for an ideal state of balance towards alleviating conflicts between work and non-work life, and to indicate possible facilitation. The innovation here can be understood as a constant adaptation to the changing needs of working parents. Stimulating progress and activating working parents through the permanent creation of conditions for overcoming resistance, habits, traditional ways of thinking, and acting through various WLB tools may be particularly important.

Research has confirmed that WLB tends to counteract the negative effects of work on private life. Contemporary parents expect actions from employers (organizations) and public authorities aimed at facilitating the performance of work, while paying attention to the individual (private) needs of various groups of employees. An interesting supplement to the conducted research would certainly be qualitative research (e.g. in-depth interviews with various groups of parents and employers), which would help better understand the needs of working parents in the field of innovative work-life balance tools. It also seems necessary to repeat the research in the post-pandemic times, so as to test our expectations in new conditions.