Work life balance practices adopted in horticultural farms in Kenya

Abstract

Organisations in modern day competitive world can only perform at optimal levels if each employee is committed to the organisation's objectives and works as an effective team member. An inability to create a balance between work and personal life could affect employees’ effectiveness and productivity in the workplace. As the nature of the workforce continues to diversify, it will become increasingly important for organizations to consider all the factors influencing their employees’ ability to balance work and non-work commitments, and to find a way of incorporating them into their operating policies. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which work life balance practices are adopted by horticultural farms in Kenya. The study adopted a census research design. The results of the study indicate that horticultural farms in Kenya have adopted practices relating to time and to the job to a great extent while practices relating to the place and to the benefits have been adopted to a moderate extent only. The study recommends that greater attention should be paid to practices relating to the job as well as benefits as they are the ones with the lower ratings than practices relating to time and place. In particular, the farms should introduce employee assistance programs and study leave in order to empower the employees to make better use of the other practices they have been provided. Further, the farms should consider introducing flexible working hours and increased work autonomy so that the employee can schedule their work in a manner that allows them to attend to non work matters during off peak working hours/seasons.