Work-life balance: comparative international perspectives from Hospitality workers

Date
2011-02
Authors
Deery, M
Harris, C
Baum, T
Williamson, D
Jago, L
Supervisor
Item type
Conference Contribution
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of South Australia/Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE)
Abstract

The issue of work life balance (WLB) has attracted the attention of researchers for some time now, due mainly to the impact on personal and professional lives as well as the organisation's productivity. In the 24/7 labour intensive hospitality industry, balancing work, family life and other activities such as studying, the need to address the issues impacting on a work life balance is especially important. While some studies have examined WLB in the hospitality industry (see, for example, Wong and Ko, 2009; Chiang, Birtch and Kwan (2010), none have investigated whether there are variations across countries in the perceptions of WLB. This paper seeks to address this gap through a comparative study of hospitality employees' perceptions of WLB in Australia, New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK). Data from 513 respondents were analysed using a variety of techniques; factor analysis, for example, yielded eight robust factors that were subsequently used in regression analysis. The results from the regression analysis found that the factors of 'Stress and Frustration with Work', 'Supportive Work Colleagues', 'Balanced Time', 'Control over Work and Working Times', 'Behavioural Commitment', 'Working Hours' and 'Work Change and Flexibility' were statistically significant predictors of WLB. These results and others are discussed and the implications for industry and further academic research are provided.

Description
Keywords
Work life balance , Hospitality industry , Comparative study , Employees
Source
CAUTHE 2011 National Conference: Tourism : Creating a Brilliant Blend, Adelaide, S.A.: University of South Australia. School of Management, pp.1031-1035
DOI
Rights statement
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) encourages public access to AUT information and supports the legal use of copyright material in accordance with the Copyright Act 1994 (the Act) and the Privacy Act 1993. Unless otherwise stated, copyright material contained on this site may be in the intellectual property of AUT, a member of staff or third parties. Any commercial exploitation of this material is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the owner.