BALANCING WORK AND LIFE OF CONTRACT STAFF IN THE NIGERIAN BANKS: PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The purpose of the paper is to create awareness of how employee performance is improved through work-life balance practices in the Nigerian Banks. Work-life balance practices such as leave policies, flexible work practices, teleworking and job-sharing were the variables of interest while contract staff or employees constitutes the unit of analysis. The questionnaire was used to gather information from one hundred and ten (110) respondents during the survey carried out in United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, in Agege Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State. The data were collated and analyzed with the use of Regression Analyses technique. The research findings showed that performance of contract staff in banks is predicted by practices such as leave policies, flexible work practices, teleworking and job-sharing, thus making them veritable organizational practices as concluded. The study suggests that such practices should be embedded into policies if contract employees are used as tools to achieve strategic organizational goals. Amongst the recommendations of the study were that the management of these banks should implement the work-life balance practices to increase employee and organizational performance. This study has theoretical and practical relevance as it helps the banks, contract employees, government and the society as a whole to fully understand work-life balance issues, informing them on how to manage it and reap the benefits.