Like the rest of the world, India has experienced a significant change in its population demographics, family structure and work profile in the last two decades. Changes in the work practices due to globalization and increased competition have led to great pressure on the workforce. Long working hours have become the norm of the day leading to individuals struggling for achieving a balance in their work and non-work lives. Individuals are finding it difficult to meet the commitments of both work and home, and the result is job dissatisfaction, life dissatisfaction, absenteeism, high turnover, stress and other health-related problems. The subject of work-life balance has received a lot of attention from employers because of the benefits it offers to organizations and their people in removing negative work-related outcomes. According to the Work Foundation, work-life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. A key element of work-life balance is a feeling of achievement and enjoyment at the workplace. Moreover, it also signifies achievement and enjoyment in other three realms of one’s life viz., family, friend and self. Work-life balance affects issues such as employee retention, reduced absenteeism, increased motivation and productivity. An imbalance, therefore, is a matter of concern for organizations as it adversely affects the physical as well as the psychological wellbeing of employees. To maintain the balance between work and home, an individual’s role is as important as that of the organization. One of the recent approaches towards managing this imbalance is through one’s emotional intelligence.
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