The work‐family dyad: multi‐level perspectives

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noreen Heraty ◽  
Michael J. Morley ◽  
Jeanette N. Cleveland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce a selection of papers within the issue that discuss the work‐family interface.Design/methodology/approachThe themes of the papers in the issue are outlinedFindingsThe papers address the following: conflict, facilitation and individual coping styles across the work and family domains; generational differences in work‐family conflict and work‐family synergy for Generation X, baby boomers and matures; the development and transmission of work‐related attitudes; a cross cultural comparison of female managers attitudes, experiences and career choices; the impact of individual and organisational characteristics on work‐family conflict and career outcomes, and the variation of work life integration experiences of mid‐career professional women.Originality/valueThe paper introduces the special issue which provides a varied mix of theoretical approaches and multi‐level perspectives to scope out and explain the links between work and family life.

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Ferri ◽  
Matteo Pedrini ◽  
Egidio Riva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the actual use of supports available from the state, organisations and families helps workers reduce perceived work–family conflict (WFC), explored from both works interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey of 2,029 employees at six large Italian firms. To test hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Findings WFC should be explored considering its bi-directionality, as supports have different impacts on WIF and FIW. Workplace instrumental support elicits mixed effects on WFC, whereas workplace emotional support and familiar support reduce both FIW and WIF. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the Italian national context, and data were collected in a single moment of time, which did not allow for observing changes in employees’ lives. Practical implications Human resource managers, as well as policy makers, will find this study’s results useful in designing effective work–life balance policies and supports, in which attention is devoted mainly to promoting workplace emotional supports and facilitating familiar support. Social implications The study highlights that by reducing pressures from work and family responsibilities that generate WFC conditions, organisational and familiar supports elicit different effects, which should be considered carefully when defining policies and interventions. Originality/value This study is one of the few that compare the role of supports provided by actors in different sectors on FIW and WIF, thereby allowing for an understanding of whether the bi-directionality of the conflicts is a relevant perspective.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 726-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Wulida Afrianty ◽  
John Burgess ◽  
Theodora Issa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of family-friendly programs at the workplace in the Indonesian higher education sector. The focus is the impact that these programs have on employees’ work family conflict. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of academic and non-academic staff from 30 higher education institutions across Indonesia participated in the research. A total of 159 completed questionnaires from 109 academic and 50 from non-academic staff are reported and statistically analysed using SPSS. Findings – Work and family experiences in Indonesia do not positively align with the findings reported in most academic literature pertaining to western societies where the use of family-friendly programs (i.e. flexible work options, specialized leave options and dependent care support) leads to a reduction in employees’ work family conflict. In fact, some of the programs were found to have the opposite effect in the Indonesian context. Research limitations/implications – The design of family-friendly support has to take into account the context in which the policies will operates; these policies are not transferable across countries in terms of their effectiveness. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies that has examined the operation and effectiveness of family-friendly support programs in an Indonesian context.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 883-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhash C. Kundu ◽  
Rina S. Phogat ◽  
Saroj Kumar Datta ◽  
Neha Gahlawat

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of various workplace characteristics on work-family conflict among dual-career couples in India. Design/methodology/approach Primary data based on 393 employees belonging to dual-career couples were analyzed. Using multiple regression analysis, the study has attempted to find out the effects of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Findings The findings indicate that not all workplace characteristics effect work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Out of 13 characteristics, 8 workplace characteristics, namely, development and flexibility, co-worker support, supervisory support, job competence, self-employee control, practicing overtime, flexibility and discrimination, are found to have significant effects on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Research limitations/implications As this study is limited to the dual-career couples employed mainly in organizations operating in India, these results may not be generalized to other areas such as traditional career couples, self-employed member of couples and in other national contexts. Practical implications It would be beneficial for organizations to understand and implicate that adoption of certain workplace characteristics provide appropriate choices, freedom and environment for dual-career employees, which further encourage them to build effective amalgamation of work and family roles suiting their individual circumstances. Originality/value This study is an important and almost first study on dual-career couples in India on such issues. As a very scant number of researches have examined the impact of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict on such extensive basis, it definitely contributes to HR literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 636-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoona Rasheed ◽  
Salman Iqbal ◽  
Faisal Mustafa

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the influences of informal organisational and family support on work-family conflict (WFC) and its subsequent impact on turnover intentions among female employees. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate the WFC among female individuals, data were collected through a questionnaire distributed among female employees in the service sector in Lahore, Pakistan, by using convenience-sampling technique. The collected data were analysed through a well-known statistical technique, SEM, using AMOS software. Findings The findings suggest that supports (informal organizational and family) have no impact to resolving the issues of WFC arising because of female members of the family working. Also, it was found that WFC is positively linked to employee turnover intentions. Practical implications By addressing WFC issues, this research has key implication for WFC practically. This study has essential implications for organization, so it can reduce the WFC by creating a supportive environment to create balance amongst work and family life. Specifically, managers need to be aware of the impact that social support and WFC have on turnover intention. Originality/value This study provides the model of WFC that helps in future research. The research also improves past studies’ methodology by testing the direct and mediation impacts between the constructs specifically in female employees. This study is a valuable addition to the existing body of literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Harris ◽  
Ranida B. Harris ◽  
Matthew Valle ◽  
John Carlson ◽  
Dawn S. Carlson ◽  
...  

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand the impact of techno-overload and techno-invasion on work and family. Specifically, we focus on intention to turnover in the work domain, work-family conflict in the work-family domain, and family burnout in the family domain. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating role of entitlement, a personality variable, in this process.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of 253 people who were using technology to complete their work over two time periods, the relationships were examined using hierarchical moderated regression analysis.FindingsThe results revealed that both techno-overload and techno-invasion were significantly related to greater turnover intentions, higher work-family conflict, and greater family burnout. In addition, entitlement played a moderating role such that those who were higher in entitlement had stronger techno-overload-outcome and technostress invasion-outcome relationships.Practical implicationsThese findings may provide managers key insights to help manage employees, especially those with an inflated sense of entitlement, to mitigate the serious negative outcomes associated with techno-overload and techno-invasion. In particular, both techno- overload and techno-invasion had minimal impact on negative outcomes when employee entitlement was lower. However, when employee entitlement was higher, techno-overload and techno-invasion had considerable negative effects.Originality/valueDue to the ubiquitous nature of information-communication technology (ICT) in organizations today, individuals often experience techno-overload and techno-invasion. This research utilized conservation of resources theory to examine these relationships. This study established the relationships of both techno-overload and techno-invasion with key organizational and family outcomes and points to the critical role of the personality variable, entitlement, in this process. The results provide theoretical and practical advancement in the role of technology with people in organizations today.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-142
Author(s):  
Abha Bhalla ◽  
Lakhwinder Singh Kang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the pattern of work-family interface outcomes by empirically testing work-family conflict and facilitation bidirectional dimensions simultaneously in relation to domains-specific (job and family) and domain nonspecific (life) satisfactions. In addition, the indirect effects of work-family interface dimensions on life satisfaction (LS), mediated through both domain-specific satisfactions are also examined to understand which domain satisfaction elicits major impact on LS. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling analysis was conducted on questionnaire data obtained from 212 fulltime journalists working in top ten dailies of Punjab, India. Parallel multiple mediated regression was used to estimate specific indirect effects caused by each of the two parallel mediators (job satisfaction (JS) and family satisfaction (FS)). Findings Results illustrate that both dimensions of work-family conflict strongly decreased satisfaction of an originating domain than satisfaction of the receiving domain while both dimensions of work-family facilitation increased satisfaction of both the domains on equal basis. Results further reveal that the effect of work-family conflict and facilitation dimensions on LS is indirect rather than direct. On comparison of specific indirect effects results demonstrate that only originating domain satisfaction act as a mediator to work-family conflict and LS relationship, while both JS and FS act as mediators to work-family facilitation and LS relationship. Practical implications Media organizations can offer interventions like family friendly policies, overtime pay, more autonomy, work rewards and skill variety, so that employees’ workplace resource reservoir can be strongly built up to meet future work and family demands. In this way, positive intrusion from work-to-family takes place, which leads to more JS and FS and in turn increased overall LS. Originality/value The study removes inconsistency regarding pattern of work-family conflict and facilitation outcomes by testing a comprehensive model that integrates originating domain, receiving-domain and domain-nonspecific outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neuza Ribeiro ◽  
Daniel Gomes ◽  
Ana Rita Oliveira ◽  
Ana Suzete Dias Semedo

Purpose The incompatibility between the sphere of work and the family is a reality that plagues many workers today. The difficult articulation of these two domains leads to the experience of the phenomenon called work–family conflict (WFC). This paper aims to assess the impact that WFC may have on employee engagement and performance, as well as on their turnover intention. It is also intended to test the mediating effect of engagement on the relationship between WFC and performance, and between WFC and the turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach One hundred and sixty-seven employees from various Portuguese organizations were surveyed. Respondents reported their perceptions of own WFC, engagement, performance and turnover intention. Findings The results revealed that employees who feel a higher WFC have lower levels of engagement and greater intention to leave the organization. The WFC showed no relation to performance. Engagement takes on the mediating role in the relationship between WFC and the turnover intention. Practical implications The relevance of this study is related to the implications that it may bring to companies in the context of implementing work–family balance strategies to reduce the referred conflict. Originality/value This study contributes to WFC literature by attempting to integrate in the same model four concepts in a single study to provide a model that depicts the chain of effects between WFC, engagement, individual performance and turnover intention, which has never been done in the Portuguese context.


Author(s):  
Chantal Remery ◽  
Joop Schippers

Today, as an increasing share of women and men is involved in both paid tasks at work and unpaid care tasks for children and other relatives, more people are at risk of work-family conflict, which can be a major threat to well-being and mental, but also physical health. Both organizations and governments invest in arrangements that are meant to support individuals in finding a balance between work and family life. The twofold goal of our article was to establish the level of work-family conflict in the member states of the European Union by gender and to analyze to what extent different arrangements at the organizational level as well the public level help to reduce this. Using the European Working Conditions Survey supplemented with macro-data on work-family facilities and the economic and emancipation climate in a country, we performed multilevel analyses. Our findings show that the intensity of work-family conflict does not vary widely in EU28. In most countries, men experience less work-family conflict than women, although the difference is small. Caring for children and providing informal care increases perceived work-life conflict. The relatively small country differences in work-family conflict show that different combinations of national facilities and organizational arrangements together can have the same impact on individuals; apparently, there are several ways to realize the same goal of work-family conflict reduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Shamsul Arefin ◽  
Md. Shariful Alam ◽  
Nazrul Islam ◽  
Mateusz Molasy

PurposeResearchers have shown increasing interest, in recent times, in organizational politics and how it affects employees and organizations. This paper aims to investigate how perceived organizational politics (POPS) impact employee behaviors such as task performance, organizational citizenship and turnover intention, by affecting work-family conflict.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 287 full-time frontline hotel employees in Bangladesh was collected. A hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test the hypotheses. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software.FindingsThe results show that work–family conflict plays a mediating role in the indirect effect of POPS on task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and turnover intention. The findings of the study also suggest that POPS has a positive association with work–family conflict and turnover intention, and negative association with task performance and OCB.Research limitations/implicationsThis study cannot confirm causal inference, which can be the scope for future studies.Practical implicationsManagers may design the work environment in ways that ensure work and family interface and employee retention. Training programs can help employees deal with organizational politics and potential impact on work and nonwork problems. Managers should provide employees with the necessary support to sustain in-role and extra-role behavior in the political environment.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, no prior studies have been carried out with this scope in the South Asian context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-440
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Yu ◽  
Xiaotong Meng ◽  
Gang Cao ◽  
Yingya Jia

Purpose Conflict between work and family is a significant issue for entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of entrepreneurial failure on both family–work conflict (FWC) and work–family conflict (WFC) and the moderating role of perceived control of time and organizational slack based on conservation of resources (COR) theory. Design/methodology/approach This study used a questionnaire to explore the relationship between entrepreneurial failure, FWC/WFC, perceived control of time and organizational slack. Data were collected from the Chinese context in 2018 and as a result received 318 valid questionnaires, obtaining a response rate of 63.6 per cent. Findings The study finds that entrepreneurial failure has a significant relationship with FWC but a nonsignificant relationship with WFC and that perceived control of time and organizational slack moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial failure and FWC/WFC. Originality/value This study aligns the field of family–work (work–family) conflict and entrepreneurial failure. It addresses a research gap in the conflict literature by introducing one form of resource loss: entrepreneurial failure as a source of conflict between work and family based on COR theory and the work–home resources model. The study also enriches the literature on the social cost of entrepreneurial failure by exploring the crossover effect of entrepreneurial failure on conflicts in the family domain. Furthermore, the study advances the understanding of managing conflict between work and family after entrepreneurial failure.


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