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What is glass ceiling effect

·        Policies are sometimes under-utilized by career-oriented professionals.
·        Users may face stigma; career backlash; glass ceiling effect.
·        Policy use is sometimes not supported by management.
Absenteeism, supervision, equity, performance, customer service and the overall creation of more work for managers who have to coordinate the implications of more complex policies are among the most prevalent concerns of among management when considering the implementation of these types of policies.
Given the valid concerns, what are the benefits—both tangible and to the culture of an organization that undertakes the adoption of policies designed to help employees with work-life balance?  . 


I see life-changing benefits of work-life balance. In my first company, I did not have any work-life balance, because the company mostly worked on fixed bid projects and the prime focus was on profitability. As a result, the projects were short staffed and everyone in the project was working round the clock. As you get the picture, there was no life and all we had was work all the time. Saying that I have a great work life balance in my current organization. But, that came for a price, I have hit a glass ceiling, and I think if you want work-life balance, you will have to be ok with where you are.
HR might promote work-life balance, but those are mostly in policy documents you never see or some emails you see and just ignore. I have never seen HR actively enforcing work-life balance. And everyone is okay with that. I think, every organization has a work-life balance policy, but it does not work out all the time. The culture is very important, if everyone works late, then one person feels kind of guilty to leave early. So, I think when the culture plays a most important role. A better work-life balance, of course, helps with better health and mental wellbeing.
I think employees function better and just more productive. If HR wants to implement any policy that encourages work-life balance, they should start training managers and supervisors. They should first tell the supervisors the benefits or good work-life balance. Supervisors would have their concerns, HR should have enough data and information to establish their points.

What does an organization stand to gain if it can work through the growing pains of implementation? 
An organization can gain employee retention rate and productive employees(NIbusinessinfo.co.uk, n.d.). Work-life balance is really important for most employees. And employees do not leave the organization if they have a great life. Like they have time for their family, hobbies and they can take time offs.

Have you worked as an employee—have you worked for an employer who offered work-life policies? 
Like I mentioned above, I never saw any policy from HR, not during onboarding or otherwise. Maybe in our industry, since it is service focused we cannot afford to have one.
 How were they implemented?  Were you able to use them?  Discuss your experiences as they relate to what you’ve read
We work as much as our project demands. But, my current employer is better than my previous one, and I have a good work-life balance. But, I see some emails from HR promoting work-life balance. I believe it is more of a culture of the organization and the supervisors can promote or to the least should not oppose it.
I get to take meetings from home if those meetings are late in the evening or early in the morning. I can occasionally work from home, especially if it is a snow day or bad weather day in general(Miller,2016). Even if you have a doctor’s appointment, you can work from home. It is ok to take breaks throughout the day. And moreover, how much work is getting done is more important that how long I am at work. And I love the culture at my current workplace, it is a reason why I do not think about leaving the employer, as I might not get this work-life balance ever again.

Reference –
Retrieved on 3/24/2019. Retrieved from https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/advantages-improved-worklife-balance

Miller, B ( February, 206). How to Improve Work/Life Balance for Employees. Retrieved from https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2016/02/10/how-to-improve-worklife-balance-for-employees/

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