Policies, Technology and Leadership Support on Work-Life Balance among Employees of Selected Private Hospital in Klang Valley

: Work-life balance experience has significant consequences on employees' engagement towards the organization. Hence, the objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between organizational support namely policy support, technology support and leadership support on work-life balance. The researcher conducted quantitative research and used a structured survey by distributing electronic questionnaires to a sample size of 225 employees of in private hospital. To assess and measure the level of the relationship under investigation, descriptive analysis, normality analysis, reliability analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis and linear regression were used to assess the significance of the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable of this study. The result of the finding concluded that the most influential independent variable to the work-life balance was the leadership support, followed by the technology support. This result suggested that the better the leadership and technology support on the employees the better the work-life balance can be. The leadership passion for providing tangible and non-tangible support and making available relevant technology infrastructure, and the leader’s ability to drive effective work-life balance policies for the employees to enable them to effectively perform their jobs are essential for an engaged employees and productive organization. As the outcome of this research, it is hoped that the organization will be able to make a decisive decision in helping its employees improves their work-life balance by providing clear guideline in term of written policy, appropriate leadership supports and the right technology tool which in turn will enhances the employee's engagement and organizational efficiency.


Introduction and Background
A good work-life balance can improve employee well-being, positive job-related attitudes, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance (Hayman, 2009).In the hospital working environment, the management is keen to explore appropriate organizational policies, technology, and leadership support to achieve a positive work balance as one of the strategies for reducing turnover among the employees in the hospital.Vyas (2022) also reported that the labor force today is composed of more workers who look for flexibility in work hours to ensure work-life balance.As the work and family context evolves, recent findings indicate a significant upward trend in healthcare providers who desire a better work-life balance for their employees.Greenhaus, Collins and Shaw (2003) refer to work-life balance as an activity carried out by an individual.Hence, he or she gets equal satisfaction and uniform self-engagement with both work and life as an individual.In the past, the trend in work-life balance evolved around work, life and balance as a whole (Deery, 2008).Employees were looking into a trade-off between work commitment and the ability to fulfil the commitment to the family only.Work and family are perceived as two important domains for those employed (Gragnano, Simbula & Miglioretti, 2020).Later, Pinson (2023) depicted the complexity of the relationship between a leader's work-life policy adoption, employee perception and work-health outcome.
Other researchers further emphasized the importance of educating the supervisors, as the key person between employers and employees, to effectively communicate and support policies (Hopkins, 2005).Employers can find ways to reduce workload, overtime and business travel.Employers can make provisions to its policies and implement career development and advancement programs.Employees are similarly responsible for limiting the amount of job-related work at home, limiting the reliance on overtime hours, reducing business travel and becoming more knowledgeable about work-life policies.Similarly, few studies focused mainly on technologically assisted tools at work (Siraskar, Kumar, Patil, Bongale, & Kotecha, 2023).Due to this, companies tend to have an excellent work-life balance that can improve an employee's health, attitude towards their job, job happiness, commitment to the organization, and performance on the job (Hayman, 2009).According to Ivasciuc, Epuran, Vuța & Tescașiu, 2022) the change in generation age shows that technology has made it easier to manage responsibilities and different areas of life.However, the researcher also said that more research was needed to understand how technology affects work-life balance (Wiradendi, Solikhah, Fidhyallah & Lestari, (2020).Work-life balance is tricky for the company because of the nature of the job and the need for stable technology tools before employees can choose flexible working arrangements like working from home.Managers' support for the implementation is also significant for the hospital.
Also, earlier studies in this area found that how a leader acts positively affects their employees' engagement (Armstrong, 2009).Haar, Sune, Russo, & Ollier-Malaterre (2019) said that how leaders act has also been mentioned as a significant factor in how well employees balance their work and personal lives.Previous studies in this area found that how an employer acts positively affects their employees' engagement (Armstrong, 2009).Leaders act has also been mentioned as a significant factor in how well employees balance their work and personal lives.Previous studies in this area found that how a leader acts has a direct, positive effect on how engaged their employees are Armstrong, (2009).Haar, Sune, Russo, & Ollier-Malaterre (2019) said that how leaders act has also been mentioned as a significant factor in how well employees balance their work and personal lives.

Literature Review
Work-Life Balance: The term work-life balance, as used here, is taken from a definition offered by Singh and Khanna (2011) and refers to the desire of both employees and their employers to find a happy medium between them.Similarly, Visser and Williams (2006) defined work-life balance as an individual's ability to meet their obligations in and out of the workplace while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.Work-life balance is the harmony between one's professional and private responsibilities, as defined by Higgins (2002).A lack of work-life balance programs has been linked to lower levels of employee engagement, which can harm an organization's productivity (Abdulaziz, Bashir, & Alfalih, 2022).Employee loyalty and output can improve by creating a work atmosphere where employees feel safe juggling their professional and personal lives.It refers to the degree to which one's personal and professional lives are equally active and satisfying.Employees who can strike a healthy balance between work and personal life significantly impact a company's bottom line because their productivity and creativity translate into better customer service.The modern family structure can range from the nuclear family to single-parent households to dual-income households to parents who work in different fields, all of which might affect a person's ability to strike a healthy work-life balance (Muralidhar, Prasad & Mangipudi, 2020).Another scholar writing in the Journal of work-life balance emphasized the need to find a middle ground between the stresses of caring for one's family and those of performing one's job effectively.
The results of numerous studies on the critical topic of workers' ability to strike a healthy work-life balance have been compiled.An employee's output can be affected by many factors, including the quality of their work-life balance.Workers who can strike a good work-life balance tend to be more productive than their colleagues who struggle to do so.Job and life satisfaction are significantly impacted by an individual's capacity to balance professional and personal commitments (Omar et al., 2015).The importance of the employee as a critical player in the company's success must be one of the company's top priorities.An employee's health and happiness benefit from a strong work-life balance, whereas the opposite is true when the two are out of whack (Nwagbara, 2020).Employees who feel their managers have their backs are less likely to quit, but this can only happen if they enjoy their jobs and can strike a healthy work-life balance.Aruldoss, Kowalski, and Parayitam (2020) define work-life balance as "the degree to which one's personal and professional lives are harmonious."A person's life consists of everything they do outside of their paid employment, such as maintaining their home and caring for their children, as well as their parents and other relatives.People can work long hours and be productive and healthy if they have a life outside of work, so the argument goes.
Policies: Guidelines, policies, and information are all terms used to describe the organizational policies that exist within an organization to establish norms for implementing corporate plans and objectives.Wellwritten policies and procedures are crucial to the success of any program inside an organization.Employees benefit from a more balanced life thanks to a more flexible work strategy, decreasing stress, boosting morale, and decreasing turnover.For the study of female police officers in Sarawak (Omar, Mohd, & Ariffin, 2015).For RSD Hospital to function, the management and staff require a work-life balance policy to guide the organization's central operations, planning, activity, and decision-making.Greater work-life balance awareness is required in today's competitive labor market to attract and maintain highly valued personnel.The advantages of a flexible work arrangement vary from one type of employer to another.
The ability to set one's work schedule is an example of time flexibility; working from several locations illustrates space flexibility, and customizing one's work approach illustrates performance flexibility (Hill, 2008).However, organizations should explicitly establish and adopt work-life balance policies, which human resources directors and managers often draft.In contrast, such policies are typically implemented and controlled by line managers or supervisors at the unit level (Trullen, Bos-Nehles, & Valverde, (2020).Worklife balance policies can operate relatively differently across different organizational units/sections, managers, and locations, posing obstacles to implementation and consistency in practice.The multiperspective addition to the theory of work-life balance policy and practices suggests the necessity for nuanced approaches to accommodate various individual circumstances and demographics.Consequently, the following hypothesis follows from that finding: Work-life balance is influenced by policies, according to Hypothesis 1: Policies have a significant relationship towards work-life balance.
Technology: As defined by Easmin, Anwar, Dovash, and Karim (2019), technology entails the technological infrastructure that allows workers to access their work from anywhere at any time, using devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.Technology is widely employed in the workplace to facilitate problemsolving and information dissemination.Because workers may talk to their colleagues from any location, their productivity rises (Hu, Santuzzi, & Barber, 2019).Existing research conducted by Erkılınç, (2023) found that companies can offer more work-life balance-friendly schedules thanks to technological advancements, including digitization of work processes and meeting platforms.Using mobile technologies in business has been studied and praised for its many advantages.These include increased mobility, greater access to information and people, and greater efficiency.Enhanced capacity to work together, more efficient use of time thanks to adaptable scheduling, more fun and entertainment options, and a more comprehensive range of media and forms of expression to meet varying demands.Samat, Zaki, Rasidi, Roshidi & Ghul, (2020) state that a virtual work program can help employees achieve a better work-life balance and boost workplace productivity.Employees can save on transportation costs and office space by using a virtual program that allows them to operate from anywhere at any time.This has also been tested during the recent MCO (Movement Curfew).The pilot study for this research involved corporate office support functions working remotely from March 18, 2020, to May 13, 2020, when the MCO was lifted.They can do their jobs from the comfort of their own homes.This demonstrates that some employees in the Company benefit from the availability of technology help, which benefits their work-life balance.According to Holden and Sunindijo (2018), employees who use ICTs are more likely to strike a healthy work-life balance since the tools they have at their disposal make it easier for them to get their jobs done outside of regular business hours.In addition to telework, most meetings and communications during the most recent MCO period took place online, using tools like Google Meet, Zoom, and Google Meetings.Consequently, the following hypothesis follows from that finding: Second, there is a strong correlation between technology and the concept of work-life balance.Hypothesis 2: Technology has a significant relationship with work-life balance.
Leadership Support: According to Easmin, Anwar, Dovash, and Karim (2019), "technology" is the network of computers, servers, and other electronic devices that allow workers to access their files and communicate with one another at all times.Robijn, Euwema, Schaufeli, & Deprez, (2020) found that a leader's approach to inspiring and motivating their team has a significant impact on employee engagement.Haar (2019) argues that leadership style is a significant factor in whether or not workers can strike a healthy work-life balance.In addition, Haar (2019) posited that of the three (3) dimensions of leadership behavior-relation-oriented (focused on consideration, trust, and socialization), structure-oriented (focused on clear goals, instructions, and follow-up of performed work), and change-oriented (focused on novel approaches to work, new visions for the future, and development-relation-oriented leadership was found to be the key to a healthy work-life balance).According to this theoretical study on work-life balance, leadership support is seen as supportive of employee engagement.This could be explained that the organizational cultures recognize the importance of work-life balance to employee engagement and retention.In addition, Susi and Jawaharrani (2011) emphasized the significance of a healthy work-life balance for motivation and continued success.Consequently, the following hypothesis follows from that finding: Hypothesis 3: Technology has a significant relationship towards work-life balance.

Research Methodology
This study aims to investigate the relationship that exists between the independent variables (policies, technology, and leadership support) and the dependent variable (work-life balance).In that case, the descriptive analysis is used to look at and describe the set of measurements.The research design helps academics gather, analyze, and make sense of the study's pragmatic point.That study design, according to Zikmund (2013), was a master plan that laid out the steps that would take to collect and analyze the data.

Population and Sampling:
The sampling frame was used to choose the people as the sample for this study.For this study, the sample frame was made up of all workers at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur, and the researcher used non-probability sampling to get information from them.Surveys were sent randomly to 225 workers via email, and the Human Resources department permitted this to happen.

Measurement:
Based on Ajmal and Khan, (2023) the five-item work-life balance scale was created.These five policies were taken from Oyewobi, Oke, Adeneye, Jimoh, & and Windapo (2020), these five technology items and five policy items were taken with a 1 for "Strongly Disagree," 2 for "Disagree," 3 for "Moderate," 4 for "Agree," and 5 for "Strongly Agree," all five questions used the Likert scale.A dependability analysis was done to make sure that this study was strong.Variables with a Cronbach's Alpha value of more than 0.7 are statistically accurate, according to Peterson (1994).An instrument with a Cronbach's Alpha value of more than 0.6, on the other hand, was considered safe by Sekaran (2006) in his research.Table 1 shows that all of the items used in this study have high internal uniformity.

Results and Discussion
The result presented the demographic analysis of the respondents.Table 2 summarizes the characteristics of the total sample of customers or subscribers who participated in the study.For this study, the researcher electronically distributed the questionnaires to 225 employees working at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur.Out of 225 total questionnaires distributed, 181 employees responded and completed the survey, equivalent to 80.44% of the response rate.As a result, 181 (80.44%) were taken as valid and continued for the subsequent analysis.The finding shows that most respondents were females, 132 (72.9%).On the other hand, 49 (27.1%) were male, which is lower than the number of female respondents.This study shows that female dominates the employees.
In addition, the majority of the respondents are age between 26 years old to 35 years old (71 respondents, 39.2%).The second highest number of respondents was aged between 36 years and 45 years old, equivalent to 54 employees (29.8%).The third group comprised 28 respondents; 15.5% were between 20 and 25 years old and those above 45.Only 28 (15.5%)employees were reported to be 45 years old and above.Most of the respondents are married, with 107 (59.1%) respondents.This was followed by the single status of 70 (38.7%)respondents, and finally, only 4 (2.2%) of the respondents fell under the "other" category of marital status.Most of the respondents have one to four children, with a total of 94 employees (51.9%).Secondly, 83 (45.9%) employees are not childbearing, and only 4 employees have several children, more than four (2.2%).
More demographic analysis showed that most respondents were in management and administration positions, with 86 (47.5%) employees.They are followed by employees in allied health, 57 (31.5%) and 38 (21.0%).The analysis indicated that most employees have worked between 2 years and seven years, representing 70 (38.7%)respondents at RSD Hospital.Secondly, followed by 62 (34.3%) of the employees have been working for less than 2 years in the company.There were 32 (17.7%) employees who have worked between 8 years and 14 years of service.Finally, only 17 (9.3%)employees have stayed longer in the company for more than 14 years of service.Descriptive Statistics: Descriptive statistics analyze the preliminary analysis consisting of normality and factor analysis, as shown in Table 3. Normality Testing was conducted to ensure each variable was within the normal distribution (Coakes, Steed & Ong, 2010).The data collected was therefore tested for normality in determining the distribution shape.Normality was measured using the skewness and kurtosis values to assess the result's normality.The distribution is considered approximately normal when the value of the skewness and kurtosis is within the range of +/-3 on each variable.From Table 3, the independent variables of organizational supports, the skewness was within the range of -0.291 to -0.707, and for the dependent variable, is -0.707.The result of the kurtosis is positively distributed within the range of 0.029 to 0.090 for the independent variable and 0.079 for the dependent variable.The result of the research is based on the table below; the normality distribution of the data was considered normal as the value of the skewness and kurtosis were between +/-3, ranging from 0.090 to 0. 979.Next, is the result of factor analysis?The analysis result is measured The Kaiser-Meyer-OIkin (KMO) measure should be greater than > 0.5.A score of KMO >0.6 is preferred.The KMO result indicates whether or not each factor predicts enough items.The Bartlett test should be significant (i.e., a significance value ≤0.5.The result of this study.Indicates the KMO value was 0.899, and the Bartlett test was significant as the significance value was 0.000 (p<0.001).This means that the variables are correlated significantly to provide a reasonable basis for factor analysis.Correlation Analysis: The correlation analysis was analyzed to explain the relationship between one independent variable and the dependent variable.From Table 5, the policies (r=0.440,p<005), technology (r=0.440,p<005), and leadership support (r=0.488 p<005) were significant influences towards work-life balance.All the hypotheses H1 to H3 were supported in this study.In addition, regression analysis was conducted to analyze which of the following variables were most influenced towards work-life balance.The regression result shown in Table 6 indicates that the R square (R2) was 0.265, which indicated that policies, technologies and leadership support explained 26.5% of the variance in the work-life balance.73.5% were predicted to be influenced by other factors among the employees with the Sig. of F .000.
In the previous study, Omar, Mohd, and Ariffin (2015) stated that well-written policies and procedures play an essential part in implementing any program.A flexible working policy helps to balance work life, reduce stress among employees, reduce the number of turnover and increase employees' commitment towards the organization.Further, according to Downes & Koekemoer (2011), as an organization, clear policies, guidelines and information about flexible working arrangements are essential for the effective use of flexible working arrangements.Offering a wide range of family-friendly policies and program help the organization to improve retention and reduces turnover (De Cieri, Holmes, Abbott & Petit, 2005).In relation to the finding on the correlation analysis between policy support and work-life balance for employees at the Hospital, it shows that the policies have a significant moderate and positive relationship with employees' work-life balance.The better the support provides clear and compelling guidelines and policies, the better it serves the employees in terms of their work-life balance.
Most companies offer flexible work arrangements to accommodate their employees to balance home and family concerns with professional lives.In addition, Samat et.al (2020) suggested that the flexible work arrangement was supposed to be good for using information and communication technology (ICTs  Discussion: Several studies in the past have shown that companies have paid more attention to how the support they give their workers affects their work-life balance.A good work-life balance can improve an employee's health, attitude towards their job, happiness, commitment to the company, and performance on the job.More recent research, like Oyewobi et al. (2022) has shown a significant rise in healthcare workers who want a better work-life balance.Employers understand that organizational support, especially leadership support, plays a significant role in how well employees handle their work and personal lives.As the first statistic shows, researchers found that leadership dramatically affects how well workers at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur balance their work and personal lives.Regarding technology support, Haeger and Lingam (2014) found that the change in generation age shows that technology has helped employees balance their work and personal lives.Several studies in the past have shown that companies have paid more attention to how the support they give their workers affects their work-life balance.The employee feels that their boss can have a good effect on their commitment to the company, their happiness at work, their decision to stay with the company, and their performance-one of the essential people-focused traits that good leaders should have, and the show is leadership support.
A good work-life balance can improve an employee's health, attitude towards their job, happiness, commitment to the company, and performance on the job.Hayman (2009).More recent research, like Samat et al., (2020) has shown a significant rise in healthcare workers who want a better work-life balance.Employers realize that organizational help, especially leadership support, plays a significant role in how well employees balance their work and personal lives.As the first statistic shows, researchers at one private hospital in Kuala Lumpur found that leadership significantly affects how well workers can balance their work and personal lives.Regarding technology support, Haar et.al (2019) found that the change in generation age shows that technology has made it easier to handle responsibilities and different areas of life.Therefore, work-life balance was good when using information and communication technologies (ICTs) because it gave employees more freedom and let them do work in places other than work, which helped with their social and family needs.However, some experts have said that more research is needed to fully understand how technology affects the balance between work and life.The results of this study agreed with those of earlier research that found that technology support is not as important as support for leadership.There is a weak but vital link between the two independent variables.Improving work-life balance in the organization has been getting much attention.This is common because more research has been done on work-life balance.

Table 3
In addition, the mean and standard deviation were also calculated and analyzed as presented in Table4.The analysis presented that the practice of the policies (Mean=3.667,Std= 0.778), technology support (Mean=3.667,Std= 0.778), leadership support (Mean=3.733,Std= 0.819) and work-life balance (Mean=3.479,Std= 0.821), the result explained was moderately practiced by the management.

Table 4
).It increased the employee's flexibility, allowing them to fulfil work in a non-work environment, facilitating social and family needs.In the other study, Allvin (2011) revealed in his finding that "technological advancement in the digitization of work process, meeting platform enables the company to offer flexible work arrangement that creates both opportunity and challenges for workers work-life balance".The finding on the correlation analysis between technology support and work-life balance for employees at the Hospital shows that technology support has a significantly moderate and positive relationship with employees' work-life balance.Moreover, previous literature that supported this finding were Easmin, Anwar, Dovash, and Karim (2019), and Robijn, Euwema, Schaufeli, & Deprez, (2020) which revealed that leadership style has a direct positive influence on employee engagement.Dixon & Sagas (2007)earlier suggested that perceived organizational support can positively impact organizational commitment, job satisfaction, employee retention and performance.Leadership support is an essential people-oriented behavior that influential leaders must demonstrate.The finding result from the correlation analysis done on RSD Hospital at Desa Park City, Kuala Lumpur, was supported by the Employee Engagement Survey conducted in 2019, which revealed that supportive management would be perceived as highly engaged leaders in the case of RSD Hospital employees.