The construction of work–life balance: The experience of Black employees in a call-centre environment

Abstract

Orientation: Work–life balance, as a crucial aspect of employee and organisational wellness, remains an interesting field of research, especially due to the changing demographic employee profile. Research purpose: The objective of the study was to explore Black employees’ construction of work–life balance in a customer care environment. Motivation for the study: The conceptual debate regarding the construct of work–life balance in general as well as limited qualitative research with regard to Black employees’ experience of work–life balance in a South African context motivated the study. Research design, approach and method: This qualitative study was designed from an interpretivist perspective. Ten employees, selected through purposeful sampling, participated in the study. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews and grounded theory was applied during data analysis. Main findings: The grounded theory analysis of the data yielded six themes central to participants’ construction of work–life balance. The findings suggest that work–life balance is conceptualised as a continuous, subjective and holistic valuation of satisfaction derived from multiple roles in relation to the importance to the individual at a given point in time. Practical/managerial implications: Findings provide valuable managerial information to guide suitable strategies enhancing the work–life balance experience and by implication employees’ general wellbeing, job satisfaction and commitment. Contributions/value-add: This study contributes to the evolving body of knowledge with regard to work–life balance and provides a unique context-specific perspective to the conceptual understanding of the construct.