Managing work life balance and wellness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing work life balance and wellness - Essay Example The recent economic crisis is thinning and with that, HR managers are scheduling interviews. Companies have started viewing their employees as an important and noteworthy fraction within the stakeholders’ list. Hence, now the scenario calls for improvement in working conditions; job stress, work-life balance and employee wellness are factors that are taken very seriously by HR managers. This change was primarily inspired by studies that show the correlation amongst mental fitness and organizational performance (Hancock & Szalma, 2008, pp.32-34). Research shows that (Cassidy et al., 2009, p.262) while a poor work-life balance has a long lasting negative effect on an employee’s productivity, it is much more harmful for his/her creativity. Therefore, it is more so essential for HR managers in creative firms to maintain equilibrium within an employee’s timetable. People Management Challenges faced by HR Professionals I. Change Management While ‘change managemen t’ is vastly a broad term, therefore the focus here would lie upon three major changes: 1. Economic Change: Change brought about by variations (mostly negative) within economic conditions drastically affects an employee’s work-life balance, this is because adverse economic conditions point towards job losses and this possible ‘loss-of-secure-income’ position drastically affects an employee’s performance as the employee loses sight of his goals and concentrates more towards keeping his job intact. This situation according to CIPD (2010) creates stress, which would result in behavioural changes such as lack of focus, failures of commitments, increased time on work (due to reduced work speed and lack of commitment). 2. Technological Change: While it is commonly believed that adapting newer technology would result in job-cuts, researches have proved otherwise (Hayter, 2000, p.267). But this too does not hold true for some industries, as while apparatus might not necessarily cut jobs, but they definitely bring about a change by drastically increasing the level of skill required to conduct an operation, this increase in mental pressure is responsible for stress which disrupts work-life balance. 3. Strategic or Operational changes: While operational changes are a must for every organization owing to changes in consumer behaviour and technological enhancements, such changes many have many effects on an employee’s performance, as operational behaviour sometimes become compulsive. The overall wellness and work-life balance is largely based upon the HR department’s ability to handle and promote change within an organization. In order to avoid complications, the HR team must prepare a theoretical training module based upon the proposed changes and initiate training procedures to prepare the staff for the upcoming change. II. Time Management Time management is a crucial challenge for HR professionals, as time is the basis of the work-life balance. While some might disagree that time management is concerned with HR, it is not true as under most professional work environments the revenues are high enough to sustain explicit staff members for each type of job, then it is the responsibility of the HR department to allot work to the best suited employee or department. A recent initiative by the HR department ofR depatym,ent DS Norden a Dutch

Revising this qualitative research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Revising this qualitative research paper - Essay Example Exactly how the elderly cope with chronic illness, and how they develop their own self care strategies in response to those illnesses, is extremely significant: the impact of the disease can be attenuated by proper self care. In the lives of most elderly people, self-care not only can foster the individual to develop his or her potential under the limitations of disease, it can be helpful in keeping independence and initiative, enhancing the sense of control over health, and reaching the best state of physiological, psychological, and social well being (Connelly 1987). Given the significance of the area, one research question is particularly important: What are the experiences of self care in the chronically ill elderly The primary objective of this paper is to discuss the life experiences of self-care in this class of individual. First, I will provide a contextual background by defining self care and chronic disease, explaining the general significance of the issue, and then relating those concepts to the elderly living in Taiwan. Secondly, I will provide an evaluation of why the phenomenological research approach is the most appropriate qualitative research method, and offer a critique of the results of other studies on the subject. Finally, I will describe the steps that could be taken to conduct a qualitative study and propose why these steps are appropriate in answering the research question. Contextual Background Self Care. The concept of self care developments has been an area of concern in various academic departments such as medicine, nursing, psychology, sociology, and health education (Gantz, 1990). Each academic discipline has focused upon different aspects of self-care from its own perspective of what is important or significant. The following are viewpoints from medical, health education, and nursing perspectives are more directly related to nursing care, and further introduce the concept of self-care. In the field of medicine, Levin (1976) demonstrates it has long been believed that self-care is a process which operates in favor of one's health. Self care promotes health while it prevents, discovers, and treats diseases. It is considered a vital part of preliminary care in the nursing system. Vickery (1986) believes that self-care is constructive behavior and an individual's way to pay attention to medical issues. In other words, self care is a behavioral expression that focuses on medical problems or physical symptoms; and it also displaces nursing care obligations. Behavioural changes of patients are, for the most part, concentrated on following medical advice (Gantz, 1990). Health education coordinates individuals' regulative and corrective behaviors by making use of the education process and behavior-change strategies (Parcel, Bartlett, and Bruhn, 1986). For example, under applied stress or self-adjusting skills and self-handling behavior, correction skills help change living modes (Gantz, 1990), promote