Lingard, H; Brown, K; Bradley, L; Bailey, C and Townsend, K (2007) Improving employees' work-life balance in the construction industry: Project alliance case study. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 133(10), pp. 807-815. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Work-life conflict has a damaging effect on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, productivity turnover, and absenteeism. On an individual level, work-life conflict is associated with employee burnout, mental health issues, substance abuse, and diminished family functioning. Thus, work-life balance is an important issue to the construction industry, in terms of both organizational effectiveness and occupational health. Long and inflexible work hours are the most consistent predictor of work-life conflict among construction employees, particularly those working on-site or in a project office. There is considerable resistance to the adoption of new ways of scheduling work within the industry. This paper describes the post hoc evaluation of a compressed work week (reducing the length of the working week, but increasing the length of the working day) in a case study project alliance in Queensland, Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented to demonstrate the beneficial impact of the initiative on employees' work-life balance. The evaluation provides prima facie evidence that alternative work schedules can improve construction employees' work-life balance, creating benefits for construction employees and organizations. The paper concludes that project alliances provide an ideal environment in which work-life balance initiatives can help to create high-performance work systems in the construction sector.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | case reports; employees; personnel management; productivity; scheduling |
| Index terms: | occupational health, Queensland, project alliance, scheduling, absenteeism, turnover, personnel, burnout, construction sector, evidence, job satisfaction, Australia, organizational effectiveness, productivity, construction employee, organizational commitment, case study, mental health, work-life balance, construction industry |
| Subjects: | health conditions and diseases, sociology, occupational health and safety management, industry analysis, management, Geography, operations research, business management, contractual arrangements, business, evaluation and assessment methods, data collection methods, practitioner |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Procurement, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Organizational Design, Time Control, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here