Smartphone and Work-Life Balance for Internet- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theSmartphone and Work-Life Balance for Internet. Answer: Work-life balance is basically the level of participation between the personal as well as professional activities in a particular persons life. It is also used to refer to the level to which their activities related to their job are present at their respective residences. There are several explanations of the ideal work life balance. It is a huge issue in the present age of technological advancement and internet facilities as the increased amount of technology is thought to remove the importance of physical location in the definition of work life balance. Previously it was actually impossible to take work home before the advent of the internet and technology. Now, however the lines have become blurred between work and time spent at home. Contributing to the changes happening in the cultural political and the financial spheres, the digital age of internet networks and mobile technologies has a considerable impact of the present day work situations and businesses. Used by billions of people, smart-phones have become a tool for employee empowerment. Technological advancement specifically in the past decade has been huge enough to be immeasurable. The lines between professional and personal are blurred due to the advancement in the mobile technology in addition to the cloud based software and internet propagation. On witnessing this requirement to become much more flexible the workers are challenged in balancing their lives and work in a proper and effective manner. This is due to the fact that employees at present can be permanently at work due to their availability all round the clock. It is often argued that the smart-phones have replaced the authoritarian control of the managers. The main issue which is being discuss ed in this particular essay is related to the smart-phone use and the work-life balance. The claim made is The smart-phone enables employees to achieve work-life balance. This claim is rather erroneous because there have been several instances of stress arising in the lives of the employees due to the incessant use of smart-phones and their automatic connectivity to work and their availability to their work authorities. Stress is reportedly the most common feature of a poor work-life balance. In the present situation of technological advancement and demanding jobs mental stress has been considered to be a significant economic as well as health issue which is responsible for causing the need for employees to do more in less amount of time (Sarker et al., 2012). Popular complaints which are often made by people who are against the claim is that employers should have a certain responsibility towards their employees. Certain sections of people feel that employees who are stressed out and tired are less productive and much more likely to commit errors (Derks et al., 2015). The way in which people work at present has changed drastically and in case there is not a proper amount of check on the time spent on the gadgets, there is a chance that the mobile devices can severely impact personal lives of the working class. Smart-phones by nature are addictive thereby harming the way a person starts or ends his or her life. Though smart-phones help in staying connected, it also causes a severe pressure and they majorly impact the work-life balance of employees (Skinner Chapman, 2013). It has been extensively stated that the work family conflict causes a major decrease in the employees job satisfaction and organisational commitment thereby increasing their turnover intentions, job related stress and burnouts. Conflicts of such nature can be mitigated by the creation of a proper work life balance amid the changing pattern of work and its demands. Despite the fact that smart-phones on many occasions help employees to meet their professional targets, it also hampers the family life and its enrichment (MacCormick, Dery Kolb, 2012). The threshold level of smart-phone use is different for different employees and therefore can have varying impacts on their lives (Oulasvirt et al., 2013). Doctors all over the world are also suggesting the urgent need to ensure a time of no-gadget use. It is desirable that all employees need to relax and avoid any sort of smart-phone usage. People on the positive side of the claim feel that smart-phones connect individuals with their colleagues around the world thereby allowing them to respond quickly, collaborate much more efficiently and streamline the flow of work or even access corporate data with the help of applications on the smart-phones. They can balance their lives in case of flexible timings and work from home facilities. It is also their claim that concepts of flexible timings and even the possibilities of taking work home were not even a possibility earlier. Cases were mothers can work from home and even take care of their kids are a facility which only technological advancement has been able to make possible. Smart-phones help employees to connect and make known their problems from the comfort of their respective homes (Skinner Chapman, 2013). Smart-phone has undoubtedly revolutionized the way in which people communicate for their work purposes and the way in which they can access information which are related to their work as well as private interests. It has also shaped service as developers for seeking to taking advantage of on the market available for the development of apps and other content for the smart-phone users. They give users the ability to stay on top of the work outside of their offices and the employers also benefit from the increased amounts of productivity (MacCormick, Dery Kolb, 2012). There is no doubt however that there is a significant loss of private time and problems between the personal life and their work place. It is actually the connectivity 24*7 which causes a major disruption in the work life balance (Yun, Kettinger Lee, 2012). It is therefore the duty of the employees to make sure that they keep sufficient amount of time for their families and their home. It is crucial to have a solid foundation of family values in order to succeed in the workplace as well. A person whose mind is always disrupted with issues at home cannot be productive at his or her work as well. References: Demerouti, E., Derks, D., Lieke, L., Bakker, A. B. (2014). New ways of working: Impact on working conditions, workfamily balance, and well-being. 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