Work–life balance policies and practices in Nigeria: experiences from managerial and non managerial employees in the banking sector

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonWork design and content is changing. Accompanying this change has been an increasing demand by workers for policy makers to factor the issue of managing workers’ work and life. Work–life balance as a concept has attracted attention for several years as a result of individuals attempting to juggle multiple demands from both work and outside the workplace. The number of multiple demands on individuals usually vary from one person to the other and can increase or decrease at different stages of the person’s life. Essentially, this study reviewed work–life balance literature as espoused from the UK and US schools of thought. The purpose of this research is to explore the extent to which work–life balance policies and practices are a reality for employees and managers in the Nigerian banking sector; to investigate the adoption and use of policies/practices in Nigerian banks and finally to examine the barriers to and reasons for their muted adoption and utilisation of work–life balance policies and practices in Nigerian banks. This research is exploratory in nature and it adopted a mixed-method research technique which allowed for in-depth information from the respondents. The methodological approach used in this study is a qualitative dominant mixed method. A mixed-method approach was used in this study following the traditions of McCarthy, Darcy and Grady (2010); Kalliath and Brough (2008); Halford, (2006) and Beauregard and Henry (2009) to ensure the validity and reliability of the study and also to offer different insights in order to make the final result of the research more robust. A questionnaire and semi structured interview technique was utilised. The study was based on 20 of the 24 banks in the Nigerian banking sector. The total sample size was three hundred and sixty nine (369), of which two hundred and fifteen (215) questionnaires were completed and one hundred and thirty four (134) semi-structured interviews conducted for the bankers while (20) semi structured interviews were conducted for the trade union officials. In order to ensure that the cross-section of relevant respondents was as representative as possible, interviewees were divided into three categories: employees, managers and trade union officials. SPSS was used to analysis the quantitative data, while qualitative data was analysed using NVivo software through the coding of the large quantity of data collected. The themes that emerged from the analysis were used to discuss the research issues in the light of prior research findings from various empirical researches. The quantitative contribution of the study revealed that age was not significant to the bankers as regards issues relating to work life balance. The qualitative findings on the other hand revealed that there is diversity in terms of how both managerial and non-managerial employees understood and experienced WLB initiatives in the Nigerian banking sector. In addition, the study showed that cultural sensitivity affects how WLB is appreciated and utilised. The research also contributes to the spill-over theory by adding age, gender, implementation and benefits of work–life balance. This research has contributed to the body of knowledge on work–life balance issues in the Nigerian banking industry. This study also contributes to the existing literature on connotations of work–life balance by utilising a mixed method approach to explore and explain the different notions of work–life balance and usage of work–life balance initiatives

An Assessment Of The Competitors' Strategies Of Global System Mobile (GSM) Communication For Service Providers In Nigeria

This study examines the Competitors’ Strategies of the five GSM Service providers in Nigeria. Survey questionnaire was administered to the stakeholders in order to collect the data .The purpose of this study is to identify those strategies employed by each network against its competitors and how those strategies succeeded in bringing about the realization of corporate objective, promotion, customers satisfaction and target market. We find that various strategies adopted by the GSM providers provide a significant influence on the promotions, corporate objectives, Target markets and customers satisfaction. In addition we find that there is need for GSM providers to involve in marketing research in order to create their own original promotional strategies (or products) instead of imitating or mimicking strategies by other network. Furthermore, the study recommends that they should continue to lay more emphasizes on the strategies for promotions, customer services, corporate objectives and the target market so as to achieve the organizational goa

Work-Family Balance and Coping Strategies among Women: Evidence from Commercial Banks in Nigeria

changing family and work structures in Nigeria makes coping with work and family roles a challenging one for women to handle even with organizational interventions. The study specifically examined the determinants of work-family balance experience among women in the banking sector. A review of literature was carried out while the study was anchored on two theoretical platforms: Role Theory and Social Exchange Theory. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested for the study. The first hypothesis revealed that age of the respondents, children ever born (parity), marital status, staff category and religion are significant determinants of work-family balance. Women with children in parity ratio of 1-2, 3-4 and 5 and above are 1.654, 1.455 and 1.235 times more likely to be unable to balance work-family roles compared to those with zero parity (i.e. the reference category). The third hypothesis estimated significant influence of work status on the work-family balance; this is statistically significant at pvalues of 0.005, 0.003, and 0.01 for senior staff, supervisors and junior staff respectively. The study concludes that if work demands become heavy, marital roles cannot be shelved or neglected and tension between the two boundaries will require a compromise. In this instance, women will prefer to stake the job rather than losing their families. The study suggests effective policy intervention from organisation and effective family support from the family-base to reduce the complexities of balancing work and family demands

Work Life Balance Policies and Practices: A Case Study of Nigerian Female University Students

The significance of work-life balance has increased over time from the traditional focus on mothers with young children in employment to include a greater aspect such as female students in tertiary institutions. The number of female students combining full-time study with part-time employment has increased in recent years attaining this balance can be a complex and challenging task for female students. The purpose of this paper is to examine Nigerian female student’s perception on work life balance. This paper also explores how female students of tertiary institutions balance the competing demands of work, study, and social activities. The paper is based on a mixed method approach utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results showed that the female students had difficulties when balancing the multiple demands of work, study, and social activities. Adverse effects of this imbalance were found in the form of missed lectures and, increased stress. However, female students indicated the benefit of working such as obtaining relevant skills which improves their CV’s far outweighs the difficulties. The female students recognized that it was not the responsibility of the university to ensure that female students who were engaged in part-time employment were not overly distracted from school work. Although, they indicated that the university should show more concern towards female students financial conditions

Outcomes of Planned Organisational Change in the Nigerian Public Sector: Insights from the Nigerian Higher Education Institutions

Conflicting and multiple theories on organisation theory make it complex and therefore present a challenge to public sector administrators and researchers in the public sector. This research shows that government reform agenda did not achieve the desired result in improving the quality and standard of education in Nigerian higher education. There are therefore still gaps in understanding the process of introducing reforms agenda. The result of the in-depth interviews conducted indicated that cultural differences account for organisational values. Thirty one respondents from the five higher institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria and senior officers from the state ministry of education, science and technology believed that a uniform reform agenda would be difficult to implement in all local governments with varying educational needs and levels of educational development. The analysis of the result suggested that culture determines and influences the values of where the institutions are situated. It was discovered that the five institutions have different needs which the society will appreciate if reform agenda focuses on such requirements of the institutions. The paper suggests that the values of the society where an institution is situated should be understood before a reform is formulated. This practice will make the reform easy to implement and reduce the incidence of resistance

Career Development as a Determinant of Organizational Growth: Modelling the Relationship between these Constructs in the Nigerian Banking Industry

Background: Career development is argue to be “an ongoing, formalized effort” engage by organizations in enriching the organization’s human resources in alignment with employees’ and the organization’s needs. Methods: A sample was drawn from First City Monument Bank (FCMB) with two hundred and sixty five respondents. SPSS was used to analyze demographic characteristics of the respondents, while AMOS 21 was adopted for the Structural Equation modeling of the survey model. Results: Many of the associations between the tested variables were strong and positive. However, all the tested independent variables such as reward, recognition, skills, promotion had positive impact on organizational growth, while experience had negative impact. Conclusion: Results support the literature, in terms of the relationships between independent and dependent variables with the exception of experience, which had negative impact on organizational growth. Therefore, management should employ better strategies in retaining their experienced employees, which tends to effect on the organizational growth

Work-Life Balance Practices in Nigeria: A Comparison of Three Sectors

Abstract The study investigates the concept of work-life balance (WLB) policies and practices in three sectors of the Nigerian Economy namely the Banking, Educational and Power Sector. The types of WLB initiatives available in the three sectors were explored and the barriers to implementation of the WLB initiatives were identified. This research implored quantitative methods to investigate the work-life balance practices in three sectors of the Nigerian Economy. This was achieved using an in-depth case study analysis of these sectors. The data set comprised of responses from both managers and employees in the Banking sector with five hundred and eighty six copies of the questionnaire retrieved. The Educational sector comprised of both managers and employees with five hundred and thirty one copies of the questionnaire retrieved; while five hundred and seven copies retrieved from the Power Sector. The findings reveal that there is diversity in terms of how respondents perceive the concept of Work-Life Balance. There is a wide gap between corporate WLB practices and employees’ understanding of the concept; the paper suggests some policy implications which would aid the implementation of WLB policies in the studied sectors. This study also suggests direction for future research. Keywords: work life balance, Nigerian banking sector, Educational sector, Power sector, Human resource management

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Legal Regulation in Nigeria

This study examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Nigeria in the light of legal regulations, case laws and governmental policies. It will examine the existing role that the Nigerian law plays for the sustenance of the practise of CSR among its companies. A review of the literature on CSR reveals a dearth of knowledge on CSR policies and practices in Nigerian organisations. The study identifies how Nigeria views CSR, the growing importance of the CSR and the sources of CSR in Nigeria. The study also examines the range and scope CSR provided for by the laws and the emerging patterns of CSR in organisations operating in Nigeria. Lastly the article explores what are the forces driving or constraining or helping to shape the forms of CSR practices and policies. The findings reveal that there is diversity in terms of how CSR is understood and experienced in Nigeria. In addition, the study shows that environmental institutions affect how CSR is appreciated and utilised. The article suggests some policy implications in the form of support for CSR policies in this context