Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) ISSN No: 2319-5614 Volume 1, No.2, November 2012 _________________________________________________________________________________ www.borjournals.com Blue Ocean Research Journals 35 Work-Life Balance in the BPO Sector Mrs.Vanishree, Asst. Professor, MBA dept., CVR College of Engineering, Ibrahimpatan ABSTRACT The success of any organization is highly dependent on its workforce. Especially the ITeS BPO industry needs to be flexible enough to develop commitment and talent in their workforce. They need to adopt a strategy to improve the employees 'Work-life balance' to satisfy both the organizational objectives and employee needs. The data pertaining to the study has been collected from professionals working in BPO companies in Hyderabad to analyze the Work- life balance. This paper aims to investigate factors affecting Work-life balance, Work-life balance arrangements availed by the employees and impact of Work- life Balance on employees’ work life, family life, personal life and on employees’ relationship with management and employees. Analysis of literature and available data reveals that many employees are facing problems in adjusting their family life and personal life with their Organisational workload. Key words: Work-life balance, family life, work life, relationships Introduction India is one of the most preferred outsourcing destinations. Indian ITeS BPO industry has been increasingly contributing to the domestic economy over the years. It is also providing valuable contribution to the services sector (NASSCOM, 2011).Though cost reduction and availability of skilled English-speaking employees have been the key growth drivers in the industry, many other factors such as access to talent, service quality, and productivity have kept the Indian ITeS BPO industry competitive in the global market. Some of the Human Resource related issues receiving considerable attention in the BPOs are work conditions, organizational environment management-labor relationships, work force empowerment and work- life balance. Work-life balance is the stability characterized by the balancing of an individual’s life complexity and dynamism with environmental and personal resources such as family, community, employer, profession, geography, information, economics, personality, or values (Crooker et al, 2002).Work-life balance has become a subject of concern in view of the contemporary technological, demographic, market, and organisational changes associated with it. Increasing demand for work-life balance have forced BPO companies to take some of the initiatives such as alternative work arrangements, flexible working hours, leave policies and benefits in lieu of family care responsibilities and employee assistance programmes. Such policies are known as ‘work-life benefits and practices’ (WLBPs). Studies suggest that WLBPs help to improve employee commitment, morale, satisfaction and performance as these reduce the level and intensity of stress that employees experience (Bruck, et al., 2002). The availability of technology anywhere which assists in the connectivity of people has delineated the boundaries between work and personal life. Literature Review Thompson, (2002) classified work-life initiatives into five (5) categories namely, (1) Time-based strategies like flexi-time, telecommuting and job sharing; (2) Information-based strategies like relocation assistance, elder care resources, company work/life balance intranet; (3) Money-based strategies like leave with pay, scholarships for dependents; (4) Direct services like onsite childcare, concierge services and takeout dinners; and (5) Culture-change strategies like training or focus on employees’ performance not office face time. Hyman et al. (2004) observed that organizational pressures, combined with lack of work centrality, result in work intruding into non-work areas of employees’ lives. Such intrusions often manifest themselves differently depending on the type of work, extent of autonomy and organizational support.