"Organizational Dynamics of Workplace Flexibility: Contextual, Change, & Multi-level Linkages"

Abstract

Although employer and employee interest in workplace flexibility policies and informal practices (e.g. flextime, telework, part time, leaves) to support flexible working is growing, an accumulated body of research suggests mixed consequences and complexities in implementing these new ways of working (Kelliher & Anderson, 2009; Kossek & Michel, 2011). Additionally, far more research has focused on the individual level and on the promise of flexibility than on the organizational realities of implementing and enacting flexibility across diverse contexts (Kossek, Baltes & Mathews, 2011). The goal of this symposium is to present original research that speaks to under-examined organizational dynamics of workplace flexibility policies and practices. Each of the papers addresses issues related to how workplace flexibility is implemented, culturally understood and enacted “in situ”; linked (or not) to organizational change or occupational experiences; and most papers examine emergent multi-level dynamics. Specific topics addressed include how work teams respond in different ways to a work-family intervention; a qualitative study of how varying organizational cultures of flexibility shape the ways in which supervisors' interpret, understand, and enact workplace flexibility practice; a longitudinal field study examining differing unfolding processes, customization, and factors related to the dynamics and “stickiness” of sustainable change following implementation of a work-family intervention in nursing homes across multiple states; and a study of the degree to which faculty members view work- life flexibility as a driver of occupational choice in seeking academic careers. Our discussant is Jeffrey Greenhaus, a leading theorist of work-family issues. New Ways of Working? Variations in Implementation of a Work-Life Intervention Presenter: Erin L. Kelly; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Phyllis Moen; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Erin Hoekstra; U. of Minnesota Work-Life Intervention Stickiness: The Unfolding and Sustainability of Organizational Change Presenter: Ellen Ernst Kossek; Purdue U. Presenter: Rebecca J Thompson; Purdue U. Presenter: Kelly Davis; Pennsylvania State U. Presenter: Nicole DePasquale; Pennsylvania State U. Presenter: Patricia Gettings; Purdue U., West Lafayette Presenter: Erika Sabbath; Havard U. Presenter: Erin L. Kelly; U. of Minnesota Presenter: Lisa Burke; Purdue U. Reasons for Pursuing a Career in Academia: Discretion and Work-Life Balance Presenter: Rebecca J Thompson; Purdue U. Presenter: Stephanie C. Payne; Texas A&M U. The Cultures of Flex: Organizational Context & Implementation Meanings for Supervisors Presenter: Ellen Ernst Kossek; Purdue U. Presenter: Patricia Gettings; Purdue U., West Lafayette Presenter: Peter Berg; Michigan State U.