Leadership, work-life balance and employee well-being in Dubai's service industries: implications for HRM

Purpose Drawing on Ryff's (1989) eudaimonic well-being framework and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, this study examines the implications of leadership for effective work-life balance (WLB) implementations and overall employees' well-being within Dubai's service industries. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was employed, utilizing in-depth semi-structured interviews with industry leaders and employees across key service industries in Dubai. Findings Our findings, derived from two groups – leaders and employees – show that leadership initiatives promote WLB and enhance employees' well-being. However, leaders highlighted persistent challenges, including operational constraints, resistance and inconsistencies in implementation. From the employees' perspective, the results revealed a complex and at times contradictory view of leadership's influence on WLB, proposing the concept of Work-Life Leadership (Mis)alignment (WLLM). Together, these perspectives provide a nuanced understanding of the enablers and barriers to effective WLB implementation. Originality/value The paper is the first to examine the implications of leadership for employees' well-being and the effective implementation of WLB practices in Dubai's service industries. It introduces the concept of WLLM to explain how inconsistencies in leaders' actions across structural, emotional and relational domains can turn leadership into a demand rather than a resource – undermining well-being, especially when perceived as symbolic. This advances Ryff's (1989) eudaimonic well-being framework and the JD-R theory by introducing WLLM as a new psychological demand. In doing so, this study advances human resource management scholarship by demonstrating that consistent alignment between HR policies and leadership behaviors is essential to turn WLB from a formal policy into a lived experience of employee well-being.