A qualitative investigation into the relationship between work life balance and organisational commitment: Evidence from American software companies in Ireland
The study explores work life balance and organisational commitment of employees working in American software companies in Ireland. The researcher developed a conceptual framework examining external factors, individual factors, different types of benefits and mediators for utilising work life balance programmes. The researcher chose an exploratory phenomenological research approach for this study. Seven employees participated in semi structured interviews, from 4 different organisations. The researcher sought a balance of male and female participants, parents and individuals without children, managers and employees. The results indicate that work life balance and organisational commitment cannot be viewed in isolation. The main differences were found between working parents and individuals with no children with regards to their perceived experience of worklife balance and organisational commitment. In addition, the influence of technology and flexible working provided challenges and opportunities to workers. While workers were conscious of the negative effects of technology, specifically with regard to switching off after work, commitment levels were not affected by this. Further influence factors, such as organisational culture or quality of work contributed towards employee commitment. The developed framework proved useful throughout the research and together with the empirical findings contributed to the growing collection of literature on worklife balance and organisational commitment.