Integrating FSSB with Flexibility I-Deals: The Role of Context and Domain-Related Outcomes

Abstract

Changing employee demographics present new challenges for both employees and organizations. There is a need to take a more active, cross-domain approach to employee performance and well-being. Family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and flexibility i-deals have the potential to help address these challenges. Despite their potential we know little about their connected roles in influencing employee outcomes in multiple domains. We draw from resource theory, specifically Conservation of Resource (COR) theory and the Work-Home Resources (WH-R) model, to propose that FSSB acts as a resource which facilitates resource accumulation via flexibility i-deals. We further postulate that these increased resources lead to improved outcomes in family performance and work outcomes (i.e. increased prosocial motivation and decreased deviant behaviors) and that these effects are contingent on the level of family-friendly environment in the work unit. To test our proposed moderated mediation, matched data were collected from supervisors and their subordinates from two South American organizations based in Chile and Columbia. The results supported the hypothesized relationships between FSSB and flexibility i-deals and the moderated mediation effect on family performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.