Discussion 2 : Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks (Read Attached Articles)

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THE IMPACT OF CAREER SUCCESS ON WORK LIFE BALANCE FOR MILLENNIUM GENERATION DOI: 10.17261/Pressacademia.2016219938 Demet Leblebici Aydin Okan University, [email protected] ABSTRACT Today’s workplace consists of mainly four generations; silence, baby boomer, X and Y generations. Although each generation has different values, beliefs, point of views, they are working altogether. This demographic diversity has brought many opportunities but also challenges for the organization. In order to manage the opportunities and challenges in the workplace which the varieties of generations bring up, each generation should be very well understood. Otherwise it can cause problems which in turn may influence the productivity and efficiency of the organization. As time passes and the new generation – Millennium- is appeared it in the workplace, the needs’ and perceptions’ of the employees also start to change too. Managing both work and private life in balance becomes important for the employees. Thus, the notion of work life balance has been started to handle by the managers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact and consequences of work-life balance for generation Millennium which is the youngest majority of current workforce by considering their values, and their perceptions and expectations from their career success. Keywords: Work life balance, millennium, career success JEL Classification: M10, M12, M15

1.INTRODUCTION Nowadays, we witness a gradual shift in the shape and structure of organizations, companies and industries. We can no more talk about a strict hierarchy of positions and status but a more flexible and relaxed working environment. Since there is variety of generations working together side by side to achieve same goals; companies and organizations have to manage different types of generations at the same time. In the light of these changes, employers have to comprehend and appreciate the characteristics and traits of their employees to offer a better working environment to them. Employees also need to understand their co-workers and superiors in order to be successful, peaceful and productive. Hence, with the great transformation in the organizational structure and working conditions, it is essential to have a reciprocal understanding of needs and characteristics.

Every generation has different mind sets, manners, ideas and actions; therefore we can conclude that every generation is different from the other. Obviously it is hard to manage all the differences such as beliefs, notions and priorities in their work and private lives. In order to have a harmonized team, diversities in beliefs, expectations and opinions should be controlled and managed properly. On the other hand, a right management can lead to fair competition and creativity among employees. A bad management of these differences can end up as a disaster for companies and employees such as quarrel between parties and confusion. Each working individual has both work life and social lives as separate domains but we should accept that these are related and sometimes overlapping concepts because every individual has a unique way to handle effect of his work life on his social life (Judge and Watanabe, 1993).

Naturally, every individual has different ritual to spend his free time. Some people can spend more time with their family and relatives, while others prefer to spend their free time with friends and have fun. Each method can be seen as a part of an activity to increase his/her quality of life. Therefore, people should have a balanced work life and non-work life to a have qualified life in both spheres and be productive and successful at all aspects of life (Greenhaus, et al., 2003). For a healthy life, both physically and psychologically work cannot be

Year: 2016 Volume: 3 Issue: 2

Journal of Management, Marketing and Logistics – (JMML), ISSN: 2148-6670

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the only purpose in one’s life. Managing both work and private life in balance becomes important for the employees. Thus, the notion of work life balance has been started to handle by the managers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact and consequences of work-life balance for generation Millennium which is the youngest majority of current workforce by considering their values, and their perceptions and expectations from their career success.

2.LITERATURE REVIEW Realizing the change of the working conditions and alignments of different generations, first governments then companies began to apply new regulations and laws in order to increase quality of life and stabilize work-social life. Mainly in the developed countries such as France, UK, Germany, USA and Australia there exist limitations to long working hours and privileges given to certain groups in order to balance their lives (Fagnani and Letablier, 2004) (Anon., 2014). To have similar conditions with EU countries and rest of the business world, Turkey likewise took some action and began to study on working hours and conditions (Anon., 2006).

In Turkey, some companies have already started to offer “Home Office” concept to their employees by providing remote network infrastructure. Another popular offer is “Flexible Work Hours” which is so beneficial for the women – specifically for the mothers. The main root cause of this newness is to shift of the perception. Henceforth, no matter where the employees sit or how many hours’ works for, but achieving the performance is the main expectation. Why is it so important to have a balanced work and social life? Some research indicate that people who cannot draw borders between work and home life are unable of living cordially and perform all their responsibilities and obligations at both domains (Scheiman, et al., 2009). Consequently, dissonance in their lives will lead to conflicts in their health and affiliation amongst family relatives (Schabracq, et al., 2004).

On the other hand, the tension will affect their career, their behavior and performance at work. Thus there will be a huge dissatisfaction both with their family and their career path (Hughes and Bozionelos, 2007).

Traits of Millennium Generation

Newest generation at the workplace is known as Generation Y or Millennials who were born between 1981 and 1995 (Anon., 2014). Their education, background and childhood is much more different than Gen X even though they are also children of both working parents mostly (Weston, 2006).These shifts of childcare and education have huge impact on formation of Gen Y’s character and rules they value (Raines, 2002). This education involved not only school education but also sports, music and arts trainings which will end up raising intellectual and programmed adults who did not have any spare time in their childhood (Raines, 2002), (Weston, 2006). Members of this cohort care and value their family and worth people and words. According to Leo (2003) and Raines (2002), they have a humanist mind set, believe that everyone is same and deserve a good life (Leo, 2003). Since they were raised as part of different groups, they value teamwork and team players, realized the importance of being united in early ages. Moreover, money is not the main motivator in their lives, but time is, flexibility and work environment are much more significant as motivators (Cole, et al., 2002). This also lies in their ideology of team work, since they need an environment which can be adoptable to them and create sense of fitting (Cole, et al., 2002).

Furthermore, they decide and act in brief time without overthinking about the subject but assume the consequences to be very effective and magnificent .The main reason for their great expectations and assumptions is the technological advancement they have experienced. Patterson (2007) expressed that their world opinion is much more different than previous generations because every corner of the globe is reachable with networks and technology. Of course, there are some disagreements about the consequences of the technological improvement Gen Y went through. Some writers think new technology enables Gen Y to be independent, unique and creative whereas other academics suppose it will create a generation which is discourteous, unfaithful and concerned about life and their career (Weston, 2006) (Kovarik, 2008).

Gen Y is now present at work place since 1998 and managers and supervisors need to learn how to deal with hem in order to please them and increase productivity at the same time for a harmonious company (SUjansky, 2004). Yes, they have indeed very exclusive attributes and way of thinking and may be hard to manage smoothly. Agreeing with the study of Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) in 2006, Gen Y

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population consider themselves as highly educated and potential in order to achieve high ranks and prosperous lives (UAO, 2006). Raines (2002) summarized this generation as friendly, outgoing, self-reliant, expectant, capable of work, cooperative, unbiased about people and events, success oriented and well-read and cultured and they are being recruited to companies in time of need for such capacity and ability (Raines, 2002).

Career Success

In the past, careers were closely linked to promotions in the organizations which are known as moving up the ladder. (Rosenbaum, 1979; Wilensky, 1961; Whyte, 1956). Today’s organizational and environmental systems are more dynamic which makes career more unpredictable, vulnerable and multidirectional (Baruch, 2006). In this context, it is said that career is boundaryless (Ashkenas, Ulrich, Jick, and Kerr, 1995). Although, in some societies, professional success is accepted as a key factor for a successful life (Wiese, Freund, and Baltes, 2002), individuals start to change their norms, values and attitudes towards their private life and work (Baruch, 2006; Polach, 2004). Thus, no more, career is limited to moving up the ladder but is defined and formed more individually. That is to say, career is taken into account as a lifelong sequences which is an accumulation of role- related experiences and both family and personal life experiences/relations which encounters over a lifetime of the individuals. (Arnold and Cohen, 2008; Hall, 2002). Ultimately, careers are comprised of both objective and subjective elements. Career success can defined as the sum of the positive work and psychological outcomes which also results from an individual’s work experiences. (Seibert and Kraimer, 2001).Although career success is important for each individual in the business life, the motivating factor and its affect may alter for Millenniums.

3.DATA and METHODOLOGY Research Model and Scales

In this paper, research model is built between the independent variable of career success and dependent variable of Work Life Conflict. A survey is conducted to 196 white collar Millennium employees from different sectors via short phone interviews and it is asked them to rate their responses by relevant ratings for each scale.

Figure 1: Research Model

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Under this research model, the below hypothesis is built which need to be measured by a statistical model.

Hypothesis 1: People who have high career success, experience more work-life conflict.

By the research subjective career success is measured which is career commitment. Career commitment is measured by the scale developed by Carson and Bedeian (1994). The scale consists of three dimensions: identity, planning, resilience. Carson and Bedeian report that the coefficient alpha reliabilities for the three dimensions ranged from 0.79 to 0 .85. They used 7 item-likert scales for measuring (From 7- “Strongly Disagree” to 1- “Strongly Agree”). Some items are reverse-coded. The items were translated to Turkish and tested for conceptual equivalence by Çiçek et al. (2015). The reliabilities (Cronbach’s Alpha) of the three components of career commitment (identity, resilience, and planning) in this study were α = .9177; 7008; and .8788 respectively.

Independent Variable

Work Life Conflict

Career Success

Dependent Variable

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Table 2: Questionnaire of Career Success

The research instrument measuring work interference with family and family interference with work comprised of five items each adapted from the work of Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996). All items were measured on a 5-point likert scale ranging (From 5: – “Strongly Disagree” to 1: “Strongly Disagree”). These two five item scales have demonstrated Cronbach alphas as α = .91. The related questions are located under Part IV of the questionnaire as follows.

Table 3: Questionnaire of Work Life Balance / Work Life Conflict

SPSS AMOS version is used for analyzing the output of the questionnaire. Output scheme of both scales are presented on the below:

QUESTIONS

Q1 My line of work/career field is an important part of who I am.

Q2 This line of work/career field has a great deal of personal meaning to me.

Q3 I strongly identify with my chosen line of work/career field.

Q4 I do not have a strategy for achieving my goals in this line of work/career field.*

Q5 I do not identify specific goals for my development in this line of work/career field.*

Q6 I do not often think about my personal development in this line of work/ career field.*

Q7 The cost associated with my line of work/career field sometimes seems too great.*

Q8 Given the problems in this line of work/career field, I sometimes wonder if the personal burden is worth it*

Q9 The discomforts associated with my line of work/career field sometimes seems too great*

QUESTIONS

Q1 As I have many tasks and responsibilities at work, I cannot spend time with my family.

Q2 Physical and mental fatigue at work makes my responsibilities at home difficult.

Q3 I cannot spare time for housework due to my job, I always postpone the housework.

Q4 My duties and responsibilities at work get ahead of my family life.

Q5 Due to my work responsibilities, I need to change my plans with my family.

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Table 4: Career Success /Results

QUESTIONS MEAN STD. DEVIATION

Q1 My line of work/career field is an important part of who I am.

5,57 1,503

Q2 This line of work/career field has a great deal of personal meaning to me.

5,34 1,631

Q3 I strongly identify with my chosen line of work/career field.

5,19 1,663

Q4 I do not have a strategy for achieving my goals in this line of work/career field.*

2,88 1,736

Q5 I do not identify specific goals for my development in this line of work/career field.*

3,01 1,886

Q6 I do not often think about my personal development in this line of work/ career field.*

3,09 1,809

Q7 The costs associated with my line of work/career field sometimes seem too great.*

3,93 1,887

Q8 Given the problems in this line of work/career field, I sometimes wonder if the personal burden is worth it*

4,37 1,974

Q9 The discomforts associated with my line of work/career field sometimes seems too great*

4,12 1,874

*Reverse coded questions

According to the Table 4, the phrase of “My Line of work / career field is an important part of who I am” has the highest score of mean which indicates that the majority of population put high emphasize on their work and career field.

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Table 5: Work Life Balance /Results

QUESTIONS MEAN STD. DEVIATION

Q1 As I have many tasks and responsibilities at work, I cannot spend time with my family.

3,05 1,116

Q2 Physical and mental fatigue at work makes my responsibilities at home difficult.

3,03 1,136

Q3 I cannot spare time for housework due to my job, I always postpone the housework.

2,88 1,148

Q4 My duties and responsibilities at work get ahead of my family life.

2,72 1,160

Q5 Due to my work responsibilities, I need to change my plans with my family.

3,05 1,192

According to the Table 5, questions of 1 and 5 have the highest score in comparative within the others. Due to the results, the majority of the population do not spend their time with their family because of their tasks and responsibilities. In addition to this, they need change their plans by the reason of their work responsibilities.

Reliability Analysis

Reliability means the internal accuracy of the responses which shows also whether the survey is a proper to tool to measure the hypothesis or not. Cronbach Alpha test was applied to all scales in the research to test the reliability of them in terms of internal consistency. George and Mallery (2003) provided the following rules of thumb: “α > .9 – Excellent, α > .8 – Good, α > .7 – Acceptable, α > .6 – Questionable, α > .5 – Poor, and α < .5 – Unacceptable (p. 231).

Table 6: Internal Consistency of the Survey

SCALE CRONBACH ALPHA

Career Success 0,517*

Work-Life Conflict /Balance 0,902

The value of Cronbach Alpha is lower than acceptable level for the scale of career success as 0,517. Question four is the main reason which decreases the reliability of this scale. (Q4: I do not have a strategy for achieving my goals in this line of work/career field). Once it is removed then the reliability is increased to 0.730. At this point, this question is not removed from the scale for the purpose of not breaking the structure of the scale.

Statistical Analysis

In statistical modelling, regression analysis is a statistical process for estimating the relationships among variables. More specifically, regression analysis helps one understand how the typical value of the dependent variable changes when any one of the independent variables is varied, while the other independent variables are held fixed. (George and Mallery, 2003). In order to measure the relation in terms of power and direction between the scales of the model, correlation analysis is applied.

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Table 7: Correlation of the Scales

Independent Variable / Dependent Variable

Work – Life Conflict

Career Success ,282*

* p<0,001,

Table 7 shows the relationship between the variables both dependent and independent. From the output of the correlation analysis, it can be defined that there is a positive and strong relationship between variables in general.

Table 8: Regression Coefficient for Gen Y

Dependent Independent Estimate S.E. C.R. P

Work – Life Conflict <--- Career Success ,093 ,045 2,068 ,039

Table 8 also shows that there is a relationship between the variables of career success and work life balance in the analysis. According to the output of the analysis, since there is a significant effect between career success and work life conflict (r= 0,282; p<0,001) so H1 is accepted.

4.CONCLUSION In this research, Millenniums have been discussed in terms of work life balance (or work life conflict; opposite of work life balance) by the impact of career success. In today’s work life, competition increases rapidly. While competition increases, the need for talent employees increases as well. Many organizations and leaders have already started to think about how to attract a talent anyway. But, there is another point which should be focused as well is how to retain a talent. Surely, attracting a talent is a big step which is taken but it does not mean that talent will continue to work in the organization forever. For this reason, both leaders and HR professionals have started to review the organizational needs and prepare the talents for the future needs by also taking development actions.

For example, many companies hold annual talent management reviews each year, define the key roles, set development actions for both key and other talents who can be the future replacers of those key roles. The basic reason for these consecutive actions is to have a talent pool and have successors for each key role in order to have a sustainable growth and promising power in the highly competitive market place. All the actions which are mentioned above are about strategic human resource management. On top of these, employees are also looking for a balanced work life conditions in their life. So, in addition to having a strategic mind-set to manage talents, leaders should confront that they provide a balanced work place for their teams which employees can manage their work and family life domains properly.

Since market conditions force to employees work harder than before, it is inevitable for employees to manage their each seconds properly in order to have a successful both work and family life. By the results of this research, career success has impact on work life balance for Millennium generations which means that higher intention on career success may results in higher work life balance. So that in order to have a balance between work and social domains, it is crucial for Milleniums to have a clear career path. On top of that although career success is consisted of both objective and subjective in this paper just subjective career success is measured. In the future, the variables of objective career success may be a ground setting for the next researches.

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