Lodging managers' perceptions of work and personal life balance
Abstract
This dissertation presents research at the nexus of need and calling: the need for a greater understanding of lodging managers' work and personal life balance, and a calling to improve the overall quality of their lives. Thus, this study proposes four goals: (1) to assess lodging managers' perceptions of difficulty in balancing their personal lives with work, and to determine the degree to which they think that they have achieved this balance; (2) to ascertain if lodging managers' work interferes with their personal lives or vice versa; (3) to determine the extent to which lodging managers' personal lives are enhanced by work or vice versa; and (4) to develop and empirically test three models linking work/life balance with three characteristics (personal, work and family) and two outcomes (an intention to quit and overall life satisfaction). In order to meet these objectives, this study adopted a qualitative research design using a questionnaire survey of a sample of lodging managers. Structural equation modeling was used to test three proposed models. The results indicated that despite long work hours and in the inherent stress of in the lodging industry, most lodging managers believed that they had struck a balance between their work and personal lives. With regard to the interaction between work and personal life, this study identified their respective bidirectional effects. Personal life boundaries are more permeable to work demands than work boundaries are to personal life demands. Work seems to interfere more than it enriches personal life and personal life seems to enhance work more than it interferes. Work interference with personal life and personal life enhancement of work were found to be predictive of lodging managers' perceptions of difficulty and success in balancing their lives. Companies supporting of work/life balance and job involvement were predictive of employees' intention to quit. Personal life involvement was positively related to overall life satisfaction. The implications of these results for employers and researchers were discussed, and suggestions for future study were presented.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Kline, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Labor relations
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