Work-life balance and employee exit intentions: evidence from three selected commercial banks in the Wa Municipality

Abstract

In this modern, dynamic and complex business environment, organisations including commercial banks are under immense pressure to acclimatise to changes, opportunities and challenges in bid to compete and survive. This therefore puts pressure on staff to meet target. In this regard, staff may either have to concentrate more on their job to meet the demanding target at the neglect of their family and vice versa. It is in this regard that the current study seeks to examine the effect of work-life balance on employee exit intentions in three selected commercial banks in the Wa municipality, Ghana. The study employed the quantitative approach and causal research design due to its research objectives. The census technique was employed to solicit for information from all the 106 staff of the three commercial banks within the Wa municipality. However, data obtained from 98 respondents with a 92.6 percent response rate were reliable and thus used for the study. The study employed descriptive tools such as means and standard deviations in analysing data obtained from structured questionnaires. The study found that, having in-depth knowledge about one’s work is a positive and highest determinant of work life balance among the employees. Finally, the study found work life balance to have a negative significant effect on the exit intention of the banking staff in the Wa municipality. To address these problems, the study recommended that, management of these commercial banks that should organise more intensive, innovative and educative employee development programmes through workshops. Organising workshops regularly to address various challenges facing the staff at the workplace would help increase their level of knowledge about their work roles and in turn improve work life balance.