scholarly journals How work–life conflict affects employee outcomes of Chinese only-children academics: the moderating roles of gender and family structure

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiping Xian ◽  
Carol Atkinson ◽  
Yue Meng-Lewis

PurposeChina's controversial one-child policy has been blamed for creating an ageing population, a generation of employees without siblings and a 4-2-1 family structure that places eldercare responsibility, primarily on women. Current understanding of how this affects contemporary employees' work–life interface is lacking. This study examined the moderating roles of family structure and gender in the relationships between work–life conflict (WLC), job satisfaction and career aspiration for university academics.Design/methodology/approachOnline and self-administered surveys were used to collect data, which involved 420 academic staff in three Chinese research universities.FindingsOur results revealed that WLC is positively related to career aspiration, and this relationship is stronger for academics with siblings and, within the only-children group, significantly stronger for women than for men. WLC is also negatively related to job satisfaction, and this relationship is stronger for only-children academics.Research limitations/implicationsResults were limited by a cross-sectional sample of modest size. Nevertheless, this study contributes to the understanding of gender roles and changing family structure in the work–life interface of Chinese academics.Practical implicationsOur findings have implications for both universities seeking to improve staff well-being and for wider society. A number of support mechanisms are proposed to enhance the ability of only children, especially women, to operate as effective members of the labour market.Originality/valueOur results showed that only-children academics face a unique set of difficulties across career and family domains, which have been previously neglected in literature.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Shipman ◽  
Darrell Norman Burrell ◽  
Allison Huff Mac Pherson

Purpose The unimagined workplace disturbance caused by the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has made many organizations virtual or telework driven workplaces, often without the infrastructure and systems in place to support employees facing these sudden workplace changes (Burrell, 2020). Many stressors accompanied this transition, to include lack of childcare, home-school responsibilities and layoffs and business closings. These stressors have perpetuated concerns for the job and financial security for all workers (Fox, 2020), leading some employees to struggle with the work-life balance out of concern for being laid off due to perceived low productivity (Fox, 2020). This study aims to explore those manifestations. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses in the USA. Findings The results of this qualitative research case study provide knowledge and information about the need for small businesses to be resourceful and resilient in the way that they support and engage remote workers. This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19-induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment for small real estate businesses. The analysis of current work-life structures through a qualitative lens provides trends among workers to gain a greater perspective of the current accelerators and barriers to worker success in a COVID-19 teleworking environment. Originality/value This qualitative research case study explores the impact COVID-19 induced telework has on their job satisfaction, mental well-being and aspects of organizational commitment to fill a gap in the literature concerning emerging workplace dynamics due to COVID-19 for small real estate businesses. The value of this research is that majority of the participants were African-Americans, which represents a participant group that is highly under researched.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merlin Mythili Shanmugam ◽  
Bhawna Agarwal

Purpose This study aims to explore the leaky pipeline issue (attrition of working women due to motherhood) in the Indian information technology (IT) sector. The study analyses the effect of organisational and supervisory support perceptions on the use of flexible work options and its relationship with career outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, work-life conflict and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire to test the hypotheses was returned by 203 working women of the Indian IT sector belonging to three categories, namely, women undergoing treatment for infertility, pregnant women and women who had recently given birth at the time of the survey. Findings The findings state that the use of flexible work options significantly reduce work-life conflict, decrease the intention to turnover and increase job satisfaction, with organisational and supervisory perceptions playing a significant moderating role. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on self-reported responses. Nevertheless, the study provides insights into the work-life priorities of Indian women at the time of motherhood and opens up specific research opportunities to address the leaky pipeline due to pregnancy and childbirth. Practical implications Organisations should take genuine initiatives to effectively use the flexible work options and provide supervisory training for increased sensitivity to help reduce role conflict and let working women make informed choices in their careers and lives at the time of childbirth. Originality/value The paper could be the first known paper to study this special category of working women at the threshold of motherhood in the Indian IT sector.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 156-162
Author(s):  
Dr. D. Shoba ◽  
Dr. G. Suganthi

Work-Life balance has its importance from ancient days and the concept is very old, from the day the world has been created. There was a drastic change that has occurred in the market of teachers and their personal profiles. There are tremendous changes in various families which have bartered from the ‘breadwinner’ role of traditional men to single parent families and dual earning couples. This study furnishes an insight into work life balance and job satisfaction of teachers working in School of Villupuram District. The sample comprises of 75 school teachers from Government and private schools in Villupuram District. The Study results that there is increasing mediating evidence in Work-life balance as well as Job satisfaction of teachers are not affected by the type of school in which they are working. Job satisfaction or Pleasure of life will be affected as a whole by Work life balance of an individual which is the main which can be calculated by construct of subjective well being.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Taheri

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test a model in which family-supportive organizational environment is associated with lower levels of turnover intention through higher levels of work-family enrichment and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 300 employees, the bootstrap procedure for estimating indirect correlations in multiple mediator models was used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest that employees experiencing high levels of family-supportive organizational environment are likely to report lower intention to leave their profession by virtue of their higher levels of job satisfaction and work-life enrichment.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to public organization and sample size. Further research is needed to make comparison between large/state-owned and small/private organizations.Practical implicationsIn the Iran context, work-family enrichment and job satisfaction are effective in reducing the employees' turnover intention. Organizations should show concerns for the employees' work-life enrichment and job satisfaction to reduce their turnover intention.Social implicationsTurnover is one of the problems of organizations in many countries throughout the world including Iran, which has negative consequences through increasing the cost of organizations. The results of this study suggest ways in which staff retention could be improved.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to supportive organizational environment literature by addressing the relationship between family-supportive organizational environment and employee-related outcomes. Given some commonalities between Iran and other developing countries, the findings might be of potential interest in comparative studies dealing with the employees' turnover issue.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-152
Author(s):  
Emily Hammer

The Problem Balancing work and life can be difficult. In a new world of work amidst COVID-19, balancing work and life has become even more challenging. Employees are struggling to adjust their work-life obligations while maintaining performance expectations. Providing employee support to reduce stress and minimize adverse effects on performance outcomes requires employer action. The Solution HRD interventions are recommended as organizational support mechanisms. These interventions are designed to reduce stress produced by work life conflict, particularly during stressful organizational events. Through organizational support, employees are offered the opportunity to increase individual performance. The Stakeholders HRD and HRM professionals, scholars, organizational planners, organizational leaders and managers, and all others who have a vested interest in employee well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Rief ◽  
Samantha Clinkinbeard

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between officer perceptions of fit in their organization and stress (organizational and operational), overall job satisfaction and turnover contemplation (within the last 6 months).Design/methodology/approachThe authors used cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 832 officers from two Midwest police departments to examine the relationships between fit, stress and work-related attitudes.FindingsPerceived stress and organizational fit were strong predictors of overall job satisfaction and turnover contemplation; organizational fit accounted for the most variation in stress, satisfaction and turnover contemplation. Organizational stress partially mediated the relationship between organizational fit and job satisfaction and organizational fit and turnover contemplation.Research ImplicationsMore research is needed to identify predictors of organizational fit perceptions among police officers.Practical implicationsFindings indicate that agencies should pay close attention to the organizational culture and structure when trying to address issues of officer well-being and retention. Further, the person−environment framework can be a useful tool in examining police occupational outcomes.Originality/valueThe authors findings contribute to research on officer stress by exploring perceptions of organizational fit as a predictor of stress and unpacking how officer stress matters to important work outcomes, including job satisfaction and thoughts of turnover, by considering stress as a mediator between organizational fit and these work outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melina Seedoyal Doargajudhur ◽  
Peter Dell

PurposeBring your own device (BYOD) refers to employees utilizing their personal mobile devices to perform work tasks. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and the task-technology fit (TTF) model, the purpose of this paper is to develop a model that explains how BYOD affects employee well-being (through job satisfaction), job performance self-assessment, and organizational commitment through perceived job autonomy, perceived workload and TTF.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data from 400 full-time employees in different industry sectors in Mauritius were used to test a model containing 13 hypotheses using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.FindingsThe SEM results support the hypothesized model. Findings indicate that BYOD indirectly affects job satisfaction, job performance and organizational commitment via job demands (perceived workload), job resources (perceived job autonomy) and TTF. Further, job resources influences job demands while TTF predicted job performance. Finally, job satisfaction and job performance self-assessment appear to be significant determinants of organizational commitment.Practical implicationsThe findings are congruent with the JD-R and TTF models, and confirm that BYOD has an impact on job satisfaction, job performance self-assessment and organizational commitment. This could inform organizations’ policies and practices relating to BYOD, leading to improved employee well-being, performance and higher commitment.Originality/valueThe expanded model developed in this study explains how employee well-being, performance and organizational commitment are affected by BYOD, and is one of the first studies to investigate these relationships.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayna Rodger ◽  
Nicola Callaghan ◽  
Craig Thomson

Purpose Sustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis. Findings There is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes. Originality/value This research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Hanif Soroya ◽  
Tehmina Sarwar ◽  
Muhammad Shahid Soroya

PurposeJob performance (JP) of employees is a key indicator of success for any organization; however, job performance is dependent on many factors including personal and organizational. The current study aims to investigate this phenomenon concerning the quality of work-life (QoWL).Design/methodology/approachThe study design was quantitative, and a questionnaire was filled by 130 professional librarians based on a convenient sampling technique. The research population was academic information professionals (IPs) serving the university libraries of Lahore, Pakistan. Data were analyzed using SPSS (20.0).FindingsJob career satisfaction is proved a key indicator of JP along with job control and general well-being (GWB). Counterproductive work behavior (CWB), which is a negative behavior, is significantly affected by poor job satisfaction (JS), stress, feelings of unhappiness and low workplace autonomy.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that if poor JS, stress, feelings of unhappiness and low workplace autonomy could be manipulated positively, CWB may be reduced and there are chances to improve the JP of IPs.Originality/valueThis is one of the first attempts that focuses on QoWL and its impact on JP of IPs. The study findings may help leaders and library administration to take employees' friendly decisions to provide a conducive work environment.


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