The Effect of Family-Friendly Policies on Career and Life Satisfaction: A Research on Cooperative and Bank Employees

Abstract

Studies in the literature reveal that the family lives of employees have an important effect on their jobs. In this context, it is seen that the concept of "Family Friendly Organization" has emerged in the management literature and has gradually gained importance. Organizations that respect the family life of their employees and develop and implement policies in this regard are considered within this framework. In today's intense competitive environment, understanding the factors that play a role in the productivity of human resources in organizations and managing them is one of the main goals of organizations. In this direction, it is necessary to turn employees into happy employees in order to keep their efficiency and productivity high. It is seen that family-friendly policies that can be applied in organizations help establish a balance between work and family, create an organizational environment where employees are encouraged to think and act creatively and demonstrate their skills and paves the way to a more humane and democratic organizational structure, as well as achieving a healthier family structure. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of family-friendly policy implementations on employees’ levels of career and life satisfaction. The sample of this research consists of cooperative and bank employees. Survey data, which have been collected through survey method from 280 employees have been evaluated by means of explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural Equation Model was utilized for testing the hypotheses. In addition, t-test was performed in order to determine the difference between the two sample groups. Based on the findings gathered from this study, employees see the conditions related to leave policies in their organizations as positive but think they do not have a work environment that includes supportive and flexible working conditions. The negative perception of the lack of supportive and flexible working conditions is expected to manifest as reduced levels of career and life satisfaction for employees. Furthermore, the career and life satisfaction levels of cooperative employees were found to be higher that of bank employees.