ABSTRACT
In modern era, maintaining work life balance has become a more laborious task. Helping employees to attain a good work life balance will definitely increase work satisfaction. It is a tough job especially for the professionals like doctors who work 24/7 for the welfare of the people. This paper makes an attempt to measure the factors which influence work life balance of doctors.
INTRODUCTION
The term ‘work life balance’ refers to maintaining a healthy balance between the work and personal roles. Health care, child care, elderly care and family commitment are considered as personal responsibilities. One’s job and personal will clash at the same time it will lead to conflicts. Maintaining proper work life balance will reduce the stress level and which will enhance work performance. Errors and mistakes in doctors’ profession are often irrecoverable and create more impact in the life of others. This balance is indispensable because it will not only help to improve the efficiency of the work performance but also increase personal health and relationship. This research paper attempted to find the factors associated with work life balance. The factors include gender, age, marital status, nature of job, experience, working hours, average number of patients treated per day and doctor -patient ratio.
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SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
This paper makes an attempt to find out the work life balance of doctors. For this purpose, data are collected from 233 allopathic doctors who are working in Dindigul district.
METHODOLOGY
The study involves the data collected from primary as well as secondary sources .The primary data have been collected from the respondents through questionnaire/ interview schedule and the secondary data have been collected from websites, newspapers, magazines, books, and journals. Having completed the data collection, the filled up questionnaire/ interview schedule were edited properly to make them ready for coding. Information collected with the help of a questionnaire was summed up by preparing a Master Table with the help of a spreadsheet. Data have been entered into computer using SPSS software (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for analysis.
The work life balance of doctors has been classified into three categories namely, high level, moderate level and low level. The respondents who have secured scores more than the arithmetic mean and standard deviation (72.50+9.28) have high level of professional satisfaction. The respondents who have secured less than the arithmetic mean and standard deviation (72.50-9.28) have low level of professional satisfaction and those who have secured scores between these two (81.78 and 63.22) come under moderate level of satisfaction. The level of work life balance of doctors is depicted in the following Table.
It is clear from the above Table that out of 233 respondents selected for the study 27(11.59%) respondents fall under the category of low level of work life balance, 174(74.68%) doctors fall under the category of moderate level of work life balance and 32(13.73%) respondents fall under the category of high level of work life balance. Thus, it is inferred that majority of the respondents fall under the category of moderate level of work life balance.
FACTORS INFLUENCING WORK LIFE BALANCE
Eight variables are identified to examine the association with the level of work life balance. These variables include demographic and professional details. Chi-square test has been used to examine the association. The level of confidence chosen is five per cent.
GENDER AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among female respondents. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among male respondents. As the calculated chi-square value (0.072) is less than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, there is no significant association between gender and the level of work life balance.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are in the age group of upto 30 years. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are in the age group of 41 to 50 years. As the calculated chi-square value (13.554) is greater than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is a significant association between age and the level of work life balance.
MARITAL STATUS AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among doctors who are unmarried. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are married. As the calculated chi-square value (8.756) is greater than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is a significant association between marital status and the level of work life balance.
NATURE OF JOB AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among doctors who are working in private hospitals. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are working in Government hospitals. As the calculated chi-square value (14.004) is greater than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is a significant association between nature of job and the level of work life balance.
EXPERIENCE AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among doctors who are having six to ten years of experience. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are having upto five years of experience. As the calculated chi-square value (12.995) is greater than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is a significant association between experience and the level of work life balance.
WORKING HOURS AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
The percentage of respondents with high level of work life balance is found to be high among doctors who are working eight to ten hours per day. The percentage of respondents with low level of work life balance is found to be high among respondents who are working more than ten hours per day. As the calculated chi-square value (3.257) is less than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, there is no significant association between experience and the level of work life balance.
NUMBER OF PATIENTS AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
As the calculated chi-square value (9.494) is less than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence, there is a significant association between number of patients treated per day and the level of work life balance.
DOCTOR - PATIENT RATIO AND LEVEL OF WORK LIFE BALANCE
The following null hypothesis is formulated and tested with the help of chi square test and the result is shown in the Table given below.
There is no major difference among the respondents who are classified on the basis of sufficient doctor - patient ratio. As the calculated chi-square value (2.086) is less than the Table value at five per cent level, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence, there is no significant association between sufficient doctor patient ratio and the level of work life balance.
CONCLUSION
Eight variables are selected to test their association with the level of work life balance. Factors like age, marital status, nature of job, experience and the number of patients treated per day have a significant association with the level of work life balance and the remaining three factors like gender, working hours and sufficient doctor - patient ratio do not have any significant association with the level of work life balance.
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