WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN BANKING INDUSTRY

Abstract

This research was conducted within a span of four months. The study was conducted on work life balance in banking industry and it was limited to Karachi only. The sample size for this research was 50 and 10% of the banks of Karachi were covered which include United bank Limited, Bank Alfalah and Summit bank. For the purpose of secondary data collection, various research papers and articles were referred which originated not only from Pakistan but from many different countries as the scope of work life balance is much deeper abroad as compare to Pakistan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of work life imbalance at banks, the extent of awareness regarding this concept and the factors that cause imbalance in employees' lives. Finally, the current policies were examined to determine the scope of work life balance at banks. Qualitative research methods were applied which include questionnaire and interview. The survey was conducted with the help of a questionnaire and interviews. The sample was chosen through convenient sampling which is a non-probability sampling technique. Interviews were conducted with the branch managers of united bank limited and Bank Alfalah and vice president of Summit bank while fifty questionnaires were distributed amongst employees of banks. It was discovered that bank culture does not support work life balance policies and it follows overtime and long working hour’s culture. Moreover, employees here are overloaded with work specially united bank limited and bank Alfalah as they are leading banks of Pakistan therefore they have to give maximum service to their customers. While according to summit bank’s vice president work load will increase in future. Employees in UBL and Alfalah are given high salaries and benefits but still employees here feel tired and depressed due to a lot of work. They neither have enough time for themselves nor for families. Employees here are suffering from stress related diseases. While employees of Summit bank seems satisfied with the workload but seems unsatisfied with the salaries and benefits. Therefore if these banks really want to retain their employees on long term basis and keep them mentally and physically fit then HR department must designs such policies which promote work life balance among the employees of the banks.