Work-Life Balance And Employee Engagement Among Private Hospitals In Minna, Niger State

Abstract

Employees especially those in private sectors are mostly tied down and occupied entirely by work making them unable to make adequate balance between their work and outside work affairs which leads them to be disengaged at the work place there by affecting their productivity and organizational performance at large. Various studies revealed reciprocal relations as well as bidirectional rather than a clear results regarding the relationship between work-life balance and employee engagement and as such this study expand on the current literatures by examining the effect of work-life balance on employee engagement using spillover theory as the foundation. The study employed a quantitative survey by administering a structured questionnaire to 194 employees of 9 private hospitals in Minna using census based sampling technique. Formulated hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression and the results revealed R² of 0.685 and R value of 0.741 indicating that work-life balance accounted for a high variations in employee engagement and that the variables are strongly correlated as well. Findings revealed that flexible work arrangement and leave policy have a positive significant effect on employee engagement while career development opportunity have a positive but insignificant effect on employee engagement. The study concluded that work-life balance is a predictor of employee engagement within the context. Recommendation was made that the management of the hospitals should introduce and strengthen flexible work arrangements by implementing shift flexibility policies and also design a comprehensive and fair leave policies that will suits the needs and circumstances of employees.