Introduction
Work-family balance has become a critical issue over the past two decades, driven by economic challenges, organizational restructuring, and increasing competition in the business environment. The relationship between work and family life has changed significantly over time, creating new challenges for both men and women in the workforce. Employees today face constant pressures that often lead to conflicts between their professional responsibilities and personal lives. As a result, work-family balance is an essential aspect that human resource management must address in organizations (Hussein Isse Hassan, 2018: 13).
Work-life balance programs have existed since the 1930s, providing policies and regulations that enable employees to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently while maintaining flexibility to manage personal matters (Wiradendi, 2020: 1103). Various definitions of work-life balance have been proposed. Granhaus and Allen (2011) define it as "the degree to which an individual's effectiveness and satisfaction in their work and family roles align with their life priorities." From a managerial perspective, work-life balance refers to the ability to fulfill professional and personal responsibilities satisfactorily while minimizing role conflicts.
 
This study aims to address two fundamental research questions:

What are the key strategies for improving work-life balance in government organizations in Birjand?
How can these strategies be ranked in terms of effectiveness?

 
Method
This study employs a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative). Based on its nature, it is an applied study, and based on its methodology, it follows a descriptive survey design. The statistical population is divided into two parts:

Qualitative Component: The population includes faculty members from the management, psychology, and social sciences departments of Payam Noor University in Birjand, as well as managers of government organizations in Birjand in the year 1403 (Persian calendar).
Quantitative Component: The population comprises all employees of government organizations in Birjand in 1403, estimated at approximately 6,000 individuals.

For the qualitative phase, 10 faculty members from the mentioned university departments and 10 expert managers from government organizations were selected using snowball sampling.
For the quantitative phase, the sample size was determined to be 361 individuals based on the Morgan table. A stratified random sampling method was employed, categorizing government organizations into five sectors: technical and civil, industrial and mining, cultural and educational affairs, political and defense affairs, and social and economic affairs. From each category, participants were selected using a simple random sampling method. A total of 370 questionnaires were distributed, and 360 fully completed responses were collected. Data was gathered using a researcher-designed questionnaire.
 
Findings
After reviewing existing research, consulting professors, managers, and experts, and conducting the Delphi process, 25 key factors were identified to improve work-family balance. These include receiving fair and timely salaries, ensuring job security, fostering organizational trust and loyalty, enhancing employee skills, motivating efficient workers, attracting competent individuals, and reviewing performance-based reward systems. Other critical factors involve promoting an Islamic values-based organizational culture, valuing human capital, reducing job stress, addressing inefficiencies, encouraging social responsibility, avoiding personal biases in
decision-making, strengthening workplace relationships, and improving managerial perspectives on work-family balance. Additionally, factors such as prioritizing productivity over mere physical presence, implementing flexible work schedules, defining clear job roles, gaining family support, considering employee personality traits, and acknowledging the influence of job type and work location (native vs. non-native employees) were highlighted. To assess the perceived importance of these factors among government employees in Birjand, the Friedman ranking test was conducted. The findings revealed that job security, work location, organizational culture, and employee expertise ranked as the most significant factors, with average scores of 18.10, 16.15, 15.84, and 14.90, respectively. Conversely, focusing on productivity over physical presence (10.07), implementing stress-reduction programs (10.15), and addressing inefficiencies through process improvements (10.52) received the lowest rankings. These results suggest that employees prioritize stability, workplace culture, and expertise over productivity-focused policies and stress management initiatives.
Discussion and Conclusion
This study identified stable employment status and job security as key factors in improving work-family balance. These findings align with the study by Hashemi and Darwish (2014), which emphasized the role of job security in preventing burnout and reducing stress caused by job instability. This suggests that ensuring job security can effectively alleviate work and family pressures. Another significant factor identified was the city of work (native vs. non-native employees). The findings suggest that while organizations should prioritize competence in hiring, they should also consider whether an employee is native to the area when making placement decisions. Additionally, welfare facilities for families were found to enhance work-family balance, consistent with the research of Hunter et al. (2017), which highlighted the role of such facilities in reducing job pressures and fostering a better balance between professional and personal life.
However, this study faced certain limitations, including challenges in accessing experts and the constraints of using a questionnaire as the primary data collection tool. To improve the reliability of these findings, future research could incorporate additional methods such as interviews and document analysis. Another limitation was the restricted statistical population, which may limit the generalizability of the results. To address this, it is recommended that similar studies be conducted in other organizations and cities. For a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, future research could compare work-life balance among employees in service, manufacturing, and educational sectors. Additionally, further studies could explore the interrelationships between work-family balance and work-family conflict, as well as the broader consequences of work-family balance in government organizations.