The effect of work–life balance policies on women employees retention in united nations development programme - Somalia

Abstract

Work and personal life commitments cannot be easily separated; the competing priorities in an employee’s life result in work-life conflict. Organizations all over the world are adopting work-life balance (WLB) policies in order to accommodate the needs of a diversified workforce. This study was conducted to examine the effect of WLB policies on women employee retention at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia. The study objectives sought to establish employees’ awareness of the existence of WLB policies, identify challenges to the implementation of WLB policies and identify strategies that can be adopted for successful implementation of WLB Policies in UNDP Somalia. This study targeted UNDP Somalia offices both in Nairobi and Somalia. A descriptive survey design was used in this study. A sample of (60) employees was drawn by stratified random sampling techniques from a sample population of (104) employees on fixed term and permanent contracts. In addition six key informants were purposively recruited from staff holding managerial positions and within the human resources unit. The structured web-based questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect primary data. The quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientist Software (SPSS). Qualitative data derived from the Key informant’s interview was thematically analysed and merging patterns, trends or strongly held opinions were noted. The results were presented in the form of tables and charts. The findings of the study revealed that staff awareness is high especially among employees based in Nairobi. The study findings also revealed that the most commonly used WLB policies are study leave and family based policies such as maternity, paternity and child care leave. The main challenges to implementation and uptake of WLB policies at UNDP Somalia are heavy workload and negative perceptions. The study identified strategies which UNDP Somalia can adopt for successful implementation of WLB polices. These include; review workload and conduct work study, develop a management and human resources monitor and document usage of WLB policies, enlist management support and goodwill, embrace a more flexible working schedule, link performance to output and change organizational culture. From the findings, it was concluded that employees at UNDP-Somalia were aware of existence of WLB policies but that there was discrepancy between awareness and usage of the policies. The needs of both men and women in work-life policies were similar. The study findings also revealed that for WLB policies to be an effective tool for women employees’ retention, strategies must be adopted to address the challenges that affect usage and implementation of the policies. The study recommends that UNDP Somalia needs to raise awareness of the policies for Somalia based staff, carry out a work-study, redistribute work-load and outsource non-core functions where possible. Also recommended is that the WLB policies are regularly review, ensure organization’s culture is supportive of WLB uptake, streamline the process of request and approval, re-train supervisors and staff and develop retention strategies that incorporate other factors in consultation with employees and other UN agencies.