In the search and 'acquisition' of talent globally, organisations have embarked on improving their employee value proposition, in addition to appreciating their employees as human capital and human investment, rather than human resource.
Part of the latest trend has been the promotion of 'work-life' balance.
While work-life balance may appear to be a structural and even psychological construct of how employees could be facilitated to have both 'work' and 'life'; it also possess an underlying problem with respect to our understanding of 'work' and 'life'.
Firstly, the first impression that one gets will be the separation between work and life that needs to be balanced. In this perspective, it implies that we have to divide ourselves between 'work' and 'life' such that we have a balance. In any balance, it is implied that we apportion equal 'weights' to our 'work' and 'life'. But what if, our 'life' is so much more than our 'work'? Or our 'life' is our 'work'? Or our 'work' is our 'life'?
The current efforts in providing employees with 'work-life' balance has been to ensure that our 'work' does not become our 'life'. It seems to imply that you need more than 'work' to have a 'life' - you need to have something to think about, to care for, to collaborate with, 'outside office hours'. The current efforts have yet to address nor accommodate those who has set their 'life' as 'work' in the sense that we 'work' towards obtaining and achieving a fulfilling 'life' - i.e. 'work' only if it gives meaning to your 'life'.
Secondly, the term 'work-life balance' has placed 'work' in front of 'life', thereby giving priority to 'work' - the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Critical Success Factors (CSFs) - that drives our motivation and economic sustenance. While we may structurally divide our time between 'work' and 'life', our minds and concerns may continue to focus on our 'work' at either the conscious or sub-conscious level. Given that we are living in an information and communication age, there has been limited barriers to allow us to continue 'work'-ing, even when we are supposedly meant to be 'li[fe']-ving.
Since early last year, I have thought about another KPI (Kinship Priority Index) which will provide us a better sense of how we manage our 'work-life' balance. I sensed that we can truly claim to have achieved the balance when we are clear about ways in which we manage our KP Index. If we constantly place other aspects of our lives - especially with those who we are meant to care about (our kins) - below that of our 'work', we have yet to attain a balance.
Personally, my life is much more than my work. 'Outside office hours', I have volunteered my services toward youth development as a mentor, advisor and chairperson; as well as apportioned some time for National Service as a soldier and commander; and some time to preserve and promote traditional knowledge as a researcher and interpretor. This is above my duties as a father, son, husband, brother, uncle, nephew, grand-uncle and grand-son.
With such a life, I will definitely not achieve a 'work-life' balance. I will definitely not achieve the KPIs and possess the CSFs for my organisation, for I 'work' for my 'life' which is much more than my 'work'. Perhaps, a LIFE-work imbalance. The only problem I have is that no one will pay me for such a LIFE, and hence, I have to work.
