EFFECT OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE ON PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED FEDERAL AND STATE HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN SOUTH -EAST, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of work-life balance on performance of selected federal and state health institutions in South- East, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study sought to: ascertain the extent to which employee assistance programme affect employee commitment, assess the nature of relationship between leave policies and job satisfaction, assess the nature of relationship between alternative work arrangements and productivity, explore the effect of dependent care policies on employee turnover and highlight the extent to which managerial support affects goal attainment. The study adopted survey design. The population of the study was 7,936 medical and non –medical staff from five selected federal health institutions and five selected state health institution in South-East, Nigeria. Staff sample size of 1020 was determined using Freund and William’s statistical formula from the staff population of seven thousand, nine hundred and thirty-six (7,936). Stratified sampling technique was used to select the respondents in each of the selected health institution while Bowley’s proportional allocation method was adopted to determine the allocation of questionnaire to each of the participated health institution. Data were collected through the use of the questionnaire and oral interview guide. The questionnaire was structured on a five–point Likert scale. A pilot study was conducted using test–retest method and tested with Spearman Ranking Order Correlation Coefficient. The result gave a reliability coefficient of 0.92, indicating a high degree of items consistency. The face and content validation of the instrument was done by five management research experts from both the industry and academia. Simple linear regression and Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient were used for the data analysis. The acceptable probability level of significance was 0.05. The findings revealed that employee assistance programs positively affected employees’ commitment (r =0.867; t = 6.31; F = 84.21 p < 0.05). Annual leave, maternity leave and sick leave had a positive relationship with job satisfaction (r = .94, p < 0 .05; r =.79 p < 0.05; r = .83 p < 0.05). Compress work weeks, telecommuting, flexi time, and job sharing had a positive relationship with productivity (r = .94, p < 0 .05; r =.89 p < 0.05; r = .63 p < 0.05; r = .53 p < 0.05). Dependent care policy positively affected turnover intention (r =0.729; t = 4.312; F =61.22 p < 0.05). Managerial supports positively affected goal attainment (r =0.974; t = 9.44; F = 59.82 p < 0.05).The study concluded that effective implementation of work-life balance indicators did not only benefit the selected health institutions but it was also a pointer for better organizational performance in terms of competitive advantage, better service delivery, customer loyalty, workers’ commitment, efficiency, profitability, employee retention, good corporate image and environmental friendliness. The study recommended that management of health institutions in South–East and the entire country should effectively implement work-life balance initiatives in order to offer a family-friendly atmosphere to attract and retain qualified employees for better service delivery to the affected Nigerian population.