Work-life balance, psychological well-being and factors contributing to academics’ productivity and turn-over intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Work-life balance is one of the most important criteria for staff satisfaction in any institution. Achieving a good work-life balance is integral to ensuring that your institution is an employer of choice which consequently will ensure that the best employees will be attracted. The same can be said of academia, where having a well-balanced work-life can contribute to attracting, developing, and retaining suitably qualified academics. The aim of this study was to examine the work-life balance and psychological well-being of academics at a selected University of Technology in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The contribution of this study is to establish factors that influence the productivity as well as the turn-over intentions of academics during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was adopted with a structured questionnaire comprising a 5-point Likert Scale was employed to collect the data. The target population consisted of 175 academics of a selected University of Technology in KwaZulu-Natal. A census sampling method was employed for the study because the population size was small, and every member of the population had an equal chance of being selected. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques were employed in the study to establish the predictive power and reliability of the developed model. The data obtained from the questionnaire was then analysed using AMOS 27 statistical software. The results from the data revealed that 89% of academics still work long hours and have less time to spend with their families and loved ones. This is not ideal for achieving a healthy worklife balance. The results also confirmed that a poor work-life balance influences the productivity of academics negatively, causing poor psychological well-being for them. The literature also supported the fact that without a well-balanced work-life, the productivity will decrease, and turnover intentions will increase for academics. The results obtained from the data also indicated that 20% of the academics in the researched university are still acquiring their minimum qualification required to be in the academia, this is likely to be mirrored within other similar institutions in South Africa.