The Relationship Between Work Engagement and Work–Life Balance in Organizations: A Review of the Empirical Research

• Published in: Human Resource Development Review 2020-09, Vol.19 (3), p.240-262
• Main Authors: Wood, Jacob, Oh, Jihye, Park, Jiwon, Kim, Woocheol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Employee development; Employees; Human resource management; Work life balance
• ISSN: 1534-4843; 1552-6712
• DOI: 10.1177/1534484320917560

Employers increasingly attempt to create the right environments where employees experience work–life balance. At the same time, organizations concerned with their organizational-level outcomes encourage improving employee work engagement. The question becomes, how do employee work–life balance and work engagement relate to one another? A similar question concerns human resource development (HRD) practitioners who seek to help both employees with balancing their work and life and employers with their organizational goals. A body of literature has examined the relationship between work–life balance and work engagement, which we review in this article. We identify and synthesize the findings of 37 articles empirically investigating the relationship between work–life balance and work engagement. The findings showed the various antecedents, mediators, and moderators that depict the relationships between work engagement and work–life balance. Furthermore, we provide insight into HRD scholarship regarding how to clarify the direction of causality between two concepts, which has been largely left inconclusive. Finally, our article proposes insightful directions for future research and practice in the field of HRD.