Work-life balance practices amongst construction employees in Malaysia

Abstract

The idea of work-life balance (WLB) is relatively fresh in Malaysia. WLB here/in Malaysia is in an environment where there is a shortage of understanding within the organisation and not enough knowledgeable workers that are bold enough to express this culture. With respect to work-life balance, many Malaysian based multinational companies begin to shape their workforce into a work-life balance inclined work structure. Regardless, there is a deficiency of work-life balance practice among construction companies in Malaysia. Balancing the right profession with a daunting timeline project can be difficult, as it can influence workplace satisfaction and a work-life balance. In fact, lack of support from the company can contribute to a greater struggle for a work-life balance. This research examined the work-life balance practices amongst employees of construction firms located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This study investigates the level of adoption of WLB in the organisation and the relationship of WLB with job performance (JP), employee turnover (ET), nature of interpersonal relationships amongst colleagues (IR) and job control (JC) as a moderating factor. These are the factors discussed to investigate a successful work-life balance practice and culture in an organisation. Data collection was via google form questionnaire distributed to employees from various construction firm in KL. 159 respondents were collected. Descriptive analysis was adopted for objective 1, while Partial Least-Square structural equation model analysis was adopted for objective 2 & 3 via software Smart-PLS. Findings from this study shows that level of adoption of WLB in construction firms are still lacking and require further improvement. The relationship shows that there is an effect of WLB with JP, ET & IR while JC does not have any moderating effect towards the relationship. Further research can be done on the influence of JC on WLB. This research can be utilized by the organisation resource management to assist their companies to make the most out of these factors using work/life initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the market, as work-life balance has always been a focal point of those interested in the quality of working life and its relation to broader quality of life.