The secret to work-life balance

What's the secret to a good work-life balance? Kristina Chetcuti discovers that a useful tool is to know yourself to improve your efficiency and coping strategies.

Women tend to be burdened by default responsibility, which sees them take the blame for anything that goes wrong, according to Women's Study Group member Marceline Naudi.

"There is a quip that really summarises this: the husband looks out of the window and exclaims: 'It's raining'. The wife promptly responds: 'I'm sorry'. That's a typical example of default responsibility - the woman automatically felt responsible even for the change in weather," Dr Naudi said.

She raised this point during a workshop organised by the group, titled Women's Work Life Balance: Finding A Personal Space, geared at helping women deal with the issue of over-responsibility as a particular aspect of work-life balance.

Malta tends to be more of a masculine country, where roles of men and women differ most.

Statistics show that typical of Mediterranean countries, in Malta, tough values such as assertiveness and competition are traditionally associated with the role of men and tend to be more valued than the tender qualities associated with women, such as service and care.

Women need to be equipped to deal with the issue of over-responsibility in their personal and professional life, which tends to upset the work-life balance, according to workshop trainer, Catherine Bij de Vaate-Guerraz, from e-Equality, the Dutch centre on gender diversity and family.

Statistically, women have a tendency to carry the "over-responsibility" attitude into the workplace. Ms Vaate-Guerraz said: "Female employees often find themselves taking care of tasks that are not strictly their responsibility."

She said that, in the Netherlands, just 15 per cent of men worked between 15 to 35 hours a week compared to 59 per cent of women. However, when it came to household chores, women put in 23 hours a week while men logged a mere 11 hours a week.

Nonetheless, the Netherlands is considered to fare well on Hofstede's Cultural Dimension model, which determines the differences in gender roles in different countries. In fact, gender roles are less distinct than in Mediterranean countries.

Participants at the workshop, organised with the support of the Dutch Embassy in Malta, learnt to assess their behaviour and that of others through the Persolog Behavioural Profile, a scientific questionnaire by Geier Learning Inc. management trainers. The questionnaire reveals whether a person is more people-oriented or task-oriented; their preferred task functions; their limitations and their primary focus.

The group felt the need for such a workshop because of the tendency for women in Malta to believe they had to carry the responsibility for the household chores, and the well-being of people around them, as well as their careers.

Ms Vaate-Guerraz, a specialist trainer in emancipation, work income and care, was constantly aware of the delicate strategies involved in achieving a work-life balance.

"This balance is seen as an instrument for emancipation, promoting female labour participation and, therefore, ensures women's economic and financial independence. However, it is doomed if not accompanied with empowering efforts towards women," she said.

She explained that the main characteristic of successful people was that they were aware of their own strengths and true to themselves.

"Also, if you get to know the different behavioural styles of others, you can deal better with them and can create the best teamwork conditions for you and others.

"Knowing yourself and being able to assess the behaviour of people around you is a very important tool but it is equally important to take country gender roles into consideration when assessing personalities. There is a stronger tendency in Mediterranean countries for males to have dominant personalities, more because it is expected of them rather than because they are like that by nature," said Ms Vaate-Guerraz.

The aim of the workshop was to empower women, through knowledge of different behaviour profiles, on the premise that personality influences the way people interpret situations as well as the people's choice of coping strategies. According to the Persolog Behavioural Profile, there are four main personality traits: dominant, influencing, cautious or supportive.

Quick Check - Know who you are

Dominant
• Goal oriented
• Confident
• Impatient
• Controlling

Influencing
• Emotional
• Talkative
• Enthusiastic
• Doer

Cautious
•Distant
• Disciplined
• Precise
• Thorough

Supportive
• Calm
• Friendly
• Cooperative
• Sensitive