Supportive Work-family Culture Research Articles

Authentic Leadership, Empowering Leadership and Work-Family Enrichment: The Role of Supportive Work-Family Culture within the Hospitality Industry

ABSTRACT This study examines authentic and empowering leadership as antecedents of work-family enrichment while assessing the moderating role of supportive work-family culture. Data was retrieved from 328 employees from small-sized hotels in Ghana and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that authentic and empowering leadership positively and significantly influence work-family enrichment, further demonstrating that supportive work-family culture moderates the infuence of authentic and empowering leadership on work-family enrichment. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The effect of family supportive supervisor behaviors and work-family culture on turnover intention and work-family conflict

The purpose of this research was to look into the work-life interface of professionals in a de-manding and high-risk occupation in an organization in the security sector. Specifically, it focuses on the interaction between supervisor behaviors and culture with turnover intention and work-family conflict. The present study centers on data from a public security organization (3861) in a Latin American country. The validity of the measuring instruments was evaluated through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was then applied to evaluate the relationship between variables. Results found show a statistically significant negative impact of the supervisor behaviors in organizational (turnover intention) and individual outcomes (work-family conflict). At the same time, organizational culture negatively affects turnover intentions and work-family conflict. While confirming results coming from the private sector in other countries, the importance of supervisor behaviors and culture provides implications for work and family practices in this type of organization.

Work–family policies and the transformation triangle: women, organizational culture and managerial strategy

PurposeThis research addresses how companies develop a process of transformation to a more family responsible behaviour and the role that women play in this process. This paper aims to propose a model in which a female workforce is seen as contributing to the development of the family responsible firm. The model includes two paths for transformation, the supportive work–family culture and the managerial strategy for work–family using a mediation model. The analysis was performed in a sample of 1,048 Spanish firms.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses are tested using Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediated regression technique, the Sobel’s test (1982) and a bootstrap re-sampling with 5,000 and 10,000 iterations to determine the significance of the mediation.FindingsThe results confirm the impact of the proportion of women in the workforce on organizational culture and managerial strategy, factors that lead to a real increase in the accessibility of work–family policies. The mediation effect is total.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations stemming from the survey used and from the cross-sectional data.Practical implicationsThe role of women, the culture and managers in promoting work–family policies appears clear. The need for the active reinforcement of the supportive work–family culture in companies and managerial strategy, diffusion, planning and involvement are all key factors in the development of work–family policies.Social implicationsGovernments and society as a whole should urge firms to use all means at their disposal to guarantee the formal adoption of work–family policies.Originality/valueResearch that analyses the way in which work–family culture and the managerial strategy for work–family generate change does not usually incorporate the female component of the labour force as an explanatory element.

Individual, organizational and social level antecedents of work-family enrichment: Does gender acts as a moderator?

PurposeThis study aims to fulfill the need to explore positive side of work–family interface, especially in emerging economies like India. The authors assessed the relationships of individual (family role salience), organizational (work–family culture) and social (community support) antecedents to work-to-family enrichment. They also examined whether gender moderated the relationship between the three antecedents and work-to-family enrichment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected on a questionnaire scale from 487 employees.FindingsIt has been found that family role salience, supportive work-family culture and community support were directly related to work-to-family enrichment. Gender did not influence the relationship between work-family culture and work-to-family enrichment. However, relationships between family role salience and work-to-family enrichment, and between community support and work-to-family enrichment, were stronger in case of the male employees. The evolving nature of gender and integration of work-family-community domain provide insights into managers and policymakers about the importance of family and community in the organizations.Practical implicationsThe study builds a business case for facilitating a positive work-family culture in India for both male and female employees. The results point to the transitioning socio-cultural scenario of India, which advocates more similarities than differences in modern gender role expectations and identity. The current study emphasizes that while formulating policy, managers and policymakers should keep in mind evolving preferences of both the genders.Originality/valueThe research provides a holistic view of how individual-, organizational- and social-level factors may affect employees’ work–family enrichment in India. It also highlights the changing role of gender. Theoretical and practical limitations are also discussed.

Male leaders with paternity leaves: effects of work norms on effectiveness evaluations

ABSTRACTWith the growing relevance of work–family balance and gender equality at work, researchers have extensively recognized the importance of men’s greater home involvement. Yet, little is known about how people evaluate men and particularly male leaders with involved fathering behaviours, such as taking a long paternity leave. Using a social normative perspective, we explore whether cultural standards providing social approval for work–life balance influence competence evaluations of male leaders who request a paternity leave. Results from three experimental and field studies suggest that perceptions of a supportive work-family culture favour more positive evaluations of male leaders with a paternity leave. Associations were stronger for people with leadership aspirations and roles. Several main effects emerged too: male leaders taking a leave beyond the standard (from 2 weeks to 3 months) received more negative evaluations than male leaders with a shorter, statutory leave (from 2 days to 2 weeks), and employees’ sexism predicted negative evaluations. Also, slightly lower status was attributed to male compared to female leaders who requested a leave. Findings are discussed in terms of how male managers’ domestic behaviour should be further reinforced with organizational discourses and practices.

ANALISIS PENGARUH PENGATURAN KERJA FLEKSIBEL TERHADAP KONFLIK KERJA-KE-KELUARGA DAN INTENSI KELUAR: SUPPORTIVE WORK-FAMILY CULTURE SEBAGAI PEMEDIASI

ABSTRAKPersaingan global dan pesatnya perubahan teknologi telah menciptakan turbulensi lingkunganbisnis, yang kemudian memicu ketidakpastian bisnis. Di sisi lain, komposisi keluarga dan tenagakerja mengalami perubahan, seperti adanya wanita karir, dan suami istri yang sama-sama bekerja.Hal ini akan berdampak pada kehidupan kerja dan keluarga mereka. Agar kinerja karyawan tidakterganggu, beberapa perusahaan mulai menawarkan pengaturan kerja fleksibel bagi karyawannya.Melalui penelitian ini akan diketahui bagaimana pengaruh pengaturan kerja fleksibel terhadapkonflik kerja-ke-keluarga dan intensi keluar yang dimediasi oleh supportive work-family culture.Data penelitian dikumpulkan melalui survei yang disebarkan kepada para karyawan yang bekerjasecara fleksibel dari berbagai sektor industri di Indonesia. Tercatat sebanyak 113 responden telahikut berpartisipasi dalam survei ini. Data dianalisis menggunakan metode hierarchical regressionsdan sobel. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengaturan kerja fleksibel dapat menurunkankonflik kerja-ke-keluarga dan intensi keluar. Pengaruh ini ikut disebabkan oleh supportive workfamily culture yang terbentuk ketika pengaturan kerja fleksibel diberlakukan di perusahaan.Kata kunci: pengaturan kerja fleksibel, konflik kerja-ke-keluarga, intensi keluar, supportivework family culture.ABSTRACTGlobal competition and rapid changes in technology has created turbulence of the businessenvironment, which then triggers business uncertainty. On the other hand, family and laborcomposition changed, such as the career woman, and the husband and wife who are both working.This will impact on the life of workers and their families. In order the employees performance arenot disturbed, some companies began to offer flexible work arrangements for their employees.Through this research will be known how the influence of flexible work arrangements on work-tofamilyconflict and turnover intentions mediated by supportive work-family culture. The researchdata are collected through a survey, distributed to the employees who work flexibly from variousindustrial sectors in Indonesia. As many as 113 respondents have participated in this survey. Thedata are analyzed using hierarchical regressions and sobel. The results showed that flexible workarrangements can reduce work-to-family conflict and turnover intentions. These influences comebecause supportive work family culture are formed when flexible work arrangements applied at thecompany.Keywords: flexible work arrangements, work-to-family conflict, turnover intentions, supportivework-family culture

When Satisfaction with Work-family Balance Pays

<p>This study examines the mechanism through which family supportive environments in organizations (i.e. family supportive supervisor behaviors and work-family friendly culture) relate to turnover intentions. In a sample of 340 individuals, analysis using structural equation modeling showed that satisfaction with work-family balance mediates the relation between family supportive environments in organizations and turnover intentions. Thus, family supportive environments in organizations facilitate greater satisfaction with work-family experiences, which, in turn, relates with lower intentions to leave the company. We discuss research and practical implications of this study.</p>

Why Having a Family-Supportive Culture, Not Just Policies, Matters to Male and Female Job Seekers: An Examination of Work-Family Conflict, Values, and Self-Interest

A common strategy to recruit job seekers, particularly women, is to develop and market a family-supportive workplace. We conducted two studies to investigate whether family-supportive policies and/or culture influenced organizational attractiveness, whether gender differences exist, and three theoretically based reasons why they might exist: (a) women anticipating or experiencing greater work-to-family conflict, (b) women having stronger family values, and (c) women expecting to benefit more from family-supportive practices than do men. In Study 1, 195 undergraduate students rated their attraction to a firm using a 3 (Type of Policy: dependent care assistance, flexible work arrangements, control) x 3 (Work-Family Culture: supportive, unsupportive, control) x 2 (Participant Gender) between-subjects design. A supportive work-family culture was associated with higher ratings of organizational attractiveness than was an unsupportive culture, and the effect was stronger for women. The effect of culture on organizational attractiveness was partially mediated by anticipated work-family conflict, but this mediation did not explain gender differences. In Study 2, we surveyed 255 job-seeking and working adults about the importance of family-supportive policies and culture to job choice. Participants rated a family-supportive culture as more important than policies to job choice, and women valued culture more than did men. The gender difference was explained by women’s stronger belief that they would benefit from a family-supportive culture rather than differences in values or work-family conflict. Results suggest that organizations that develop and market a family-supportive culture, rather than only policies, are more appealing to job seekers, especially women.

Personal and Environmental Predictors of Academics’ Work-to-Family Enrichment at Research Universities

This paper aims to discover predictors of academics’ work-to-family enrichment at Malaysian Research Universities. The underlying theoretical foundations of this study are the work–family enrichment theory by Greenhaus and Powell and the model of primary antecedents, consequences, and moderators of facilitation by Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, and Kacmar. The sample includes 295 academics from three Malaysian Research Universities, and data were gathered via online and offline surveys. This study found that all the selected personal factors (i.e. extraversion, core self-evaluation, overall health), and environmental factors (i.e. social support, job autonomy, supportive work–family culture) were significantly related to work-to-family enrichment among the academics. In addition, extraversion and social support were the best predictors of academics’ work-to-family enrichment. Conclusion and implications for theory and practice are discussed in the paper.

A Demands and Resources Approach to Understanding Faculty Turnover Intentions Due to Work–Family Balance

Using data collected on tenure-line faculty at a research-intensive Midwestern university, this study explored predictors of faculty job turnover intentions due to a desire for a better work–family balance. We adopted Voydanoff’s theoretical framework and included demands and resources both within and spanning across the work and family domains. Results showed that work-related demands and resources were much stronger predictors of work–family turnover intentions than family-related demands or resources. Specifically, work-to-family negative spillover was positively associated with work–family turnover intentions, and two work-related resources (job satisfaction and supportive work–family culture) were negatively associated with work–family turnover intentions. On the other hand, family-related demands and resources (within the family domain or boundary-spanning from family to work) did not significantly predict work–family turnover intentions.

Personal and organizational resources of family caregivers ' well-being

Purpose– Previous research on the work-family nexus has tended to concentrate on childcare responsibilities. This neglects consideration of an increasing population of employees who care for dependents such as elders, impaired partners or disabled children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate organizational and personal resources as antecedents of work-family conflict (WFC) and irritation in a sample of employed family caregivers.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from 508 employees within one organization who had informal family caregiving responsibilities.Findings– The results indicate that a supportive work-family culture was an important resource for reducing WFC and health-related self-efficacy reduced irritation. In sum, when a company fosters a family-friendly culture that includes working in a constructive and understanding manner with employees who have informal family caregiver responsibilities, it becomes easier for the employees to integrate the demands of work and family demands. Moreover, health-related self-efficacy is an important resource that can improve stress and future researchers should give it greater consideration.Originality/value– This study contributes to existing literature by the identification of personal and organizational resources of informal family caregivers with the aim to reduce their stress experiences.

Supportive work–family environments: implications for work–family conflict and well-being

Work–family conflict (WFC) remains a growing type of stress and concern for many employees. Recognizing these difficulties, organizations are offering various formal programs (e.g. on-site childcare, flextime, compressed work week, telecommuting and so on.) to help their employees in balancing both work and family life. However, many employees are hesitant to use them due to ‘stigmas’ attached to them. A work environment that is supportive of such programs is likely a contributing factor in the success and effectiveness of these programs. This study tested a model that examines the availability of work–family programs and work–family culture (i.e. in terms of managerial support, organizational demands and career consequences) as predictors of WFC. The model also examined the effects of WFC on individual's well-being (i.e. life satisfaction and work engagement). Data were collected from 112 employees, and the overall fit of the model was good (i.e. the model was reasonably consistent with the data). Results demonstrated that the availability of work–family benefits promoted a supportive work–family culture, which was inversely related to WFC. WFC contributed negatively to both life satisfaction and work engagement. That is, employees who reported more WFC were less satisfied with their life and were less inclined to be engaged at work. Results of the study highlight the importance of inculcating an accommodating work environment, and will be discussed.

Dual sources of support for dual roles: how mentoring and work–family culture influence work–family conflict and job attitudes

This study examines the influence of mentoring support and perceptions of a supportive work–family culture on the level of work–family conflict (WFC), job satisfaction and affective commitment reported by employees in a Fortune 100 professional services organization. Main effects and interaction effects between mentoring and work–family culture were explored. Results indicate that the presence of a mentor is significantly related to affective commitment while a supportive work–family culture was associated with less WFC – both family interference with work and work interference with family – and greater job satisfaction and affective commitment. For both job satisfaction and affective commitment, there is an interaction effect that suggests a synergy between direct and contextual support. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

When Satisfaction with Work-Family Balance Pays

This study examines the mechanism through which family supportive organizations (i.e. family supportive supervisor behaviors and work-family friendly culture) is negatively related to turnover inte...

Across the continuum of satisfaction with work–family balance: Work hours, flexibility-fit, and work–family culture

This study investigated the association between hours worked per week and satisfaction with work–family balance, using data from a 2007–2008 survey of employees nested within organizations. We tested hypotheses informed by the resource drain and resources-and-demands perspectives using quantile regression. We found that the negative association between hours worked per week and satisfaction with work–family balance was significantly stronger at the 25th percentile, as compared to at the 75th percentile, of satisfaction with work–family balance. Further, there was some evidence that perceived flexibility-fit (i.e., the fit between worker needs and flexible work options available) and supportive work–family culture attenuated the relationship between hours worked and satisfaction with work–family balance. The results suggest that analyses focusing on the average relationship between long work hours (such as those using ordinary least squares regression) and satisfaction with work–family balance may underestimate the importance of long work hours for workers with lower satisfaction levels.

Work-family culture and job satisfaction: does gender and parenting status alter the relationship?

Previous studies on work-family culture have examined its relationship with different employee outcomes (e.g., work-family conflict, job satisfaction, commitment) but neglected one important question; namely, who are most likely to benefit from a supportive work-family culture in terms of positive employee outcomes? The aim of this study was to shed new light on the work-family culture–job satisfaction linkage by examining the moderator effects of gender and parenting status in this relationship. Specifically, we asked whether gender and parenting status would alter the association between work-family culture and job satisfaction. We hypothesized – on the basis of traditional gender roles – that women, and especially mothers, would benefit most from a family supportive organizational culture. We utilized three divergent samples gathered from male (N=768) and female (N=1364) employees in Finland: (1) a female-dominated sample from social and health care; (2) a male-dominated sample from paper industry; and (3) more gender-mixed sample from the ICT company. Work-family culture was described through its positive (work-family support) and negative facets (work-family barriers), whereas job satisfaction was operationalized via a facet-based scale. Hierarchical moderated regression analyses performed separately for the three different organizations revealed that the results for mothers and fathers under the condition of high work-family support differed in the paper mill and the information and communication technology (ICT) company. Thus, in addition to gender, the type of organization also moderated the relationship. Specifically, in the paper mill, mothers benefited more from high work-family support than fathers, whereas in the ICT company the reverse situation held: fathers benefited more than mothers. Thus, high work-family support was associated with higher job satisfaction among mothers in the paper mill and among fathers in the ICT company.

Relationships between work-family culture and work attitudes at both the individual and the departmental level

There is a need to better understand the nature of work-family culture and its relationships with job-related outcomes. The main objective of this study was to investigate the associations between a supportive work-family culture and work attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, work engagement, turnover intentions) at both the individual and work departmental level. Survey-based data were gathered from 52 Finnish work departments (1219 individuals) in the domains of health care, ICT, and the paper industry. Data were analysed via multilevel structural equation modelling. Work-family culture was assessed via managers’ supportiveness, organizational time demands, and the expected career consequences of taking up work-family-related benefits. The results showed, first, that employees in the same work department shared similar perceptions of the department's work-family culture and work attitudes; second, the perceptions of the work-family culture shared within the work department as well as employees’ individual perceptions of it were associated with work attitudes. Thus, the positive effects of a supportive work-family culture on work attitudes were established at both the individual and work departmental levels.

Equipping managers to assist employees in addressing work-family conflict: Applying the research literature toward innovative practice.

Although there is a great deal of research documenting that work-family conflict is a problem, the literature offers much less in the way of practical managerial guidance. Equipped with the well-documented premise that support from the immediate supervisor or manager is associated with diminished work-family conflict, the authors aimed to bridge the science–practice gap by articulating (a) the effective ways in which a manager can demonstrate support and (b) what can be done to equip and encourage managers to be supportive. The authors' review draws on leader-member exchange theory and empirical research as well as the emerging work on idiosyncratic deals to derive five recommendations for managerial practice. Recommendations address managerial training, empowerment, and motivation, in addition to the type of context (i.e., supportive work-family culture) and tools (i.e., work-life job analysis) expected to be most useful to a manager's efforts to address employees' work-family conflict.

Women and family-friendly policies in the Korean government

This paper discusses the desires and realities of women and family-friendly policies in the Korean government. The implementation of policies for gender equality during the past two decades has increased the ratio of women in the civil service. As the number of women in the government has increased, family-friendly policies have been provided for civil servants to balance work and personal life. Family-friendly policies are expected to positively affect the civil servants and government performance. However, the family-friendly policies are not effectively implemented because they are not properly bundled, and civil servants are reluctant to take advantage of these policies under male-centered organizational practices. To aid civil servants in balancing the role requirements of work and family, government organizations should create family-friendly work environments by not only instituting various proper family-friendly programs but also by promoting a supportive culture. Several efforts for establishing such a supportive culture are suggested.Points for practitioners To aid civil servants in balancing the role requirements of work and family, government organizations should create family-friendly work environments by instituting various family-friendly programs and by promoting supportive work—family culture. Only providing family-friendly programs without promoting cultural change is insufficient. Several efforts are essential to establish a supportive work—family culture. First of all, the organizational leaders should be aware of the positive effects of family-friendly programs on employees' attitude and behavior and organizational performance. They need to make civil servants believe that their careers will not be negatively affected by using family-friendly benefits through providing them with counseling and education on family-friendly programs and work—life balance. They should also make every effort to reduce the male-centered organizational practices and to support the work—family concerns of the civil servants.

Occupational and Industry Sex Segregation and the Work–Family Interface

This study examines how gender interacts with the extent of occupational and industry sex segregation to affect family-to-work conflict, work-to-family conflict, coworker support, and supportive work-family culture. Using a theoretical framework that highlights the negative ramifications of working in a sex-atypical occupation or industry, we hypothesized that men and women would be impacted differently by the percentage of women in an occupation or industry. The data (N = 2,810) are from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (a US sample). Findings suggest that gender interacts with the percentage of women in an industry in significantly predicting coworker support and supportive work–family culture. Gender also interacts with the percentage of women in an occupation in significantly predicting family-to-work conflict.