EXPLAINING ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIVENESS TO WORK-FAMILY ISSUES: THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE EXECUTIVES AS ISSUE INTERPRETERS.

The present study examines the effect of a supervisor (leadership) position on a father’s time spent on child care (child care involvement). Drawing on time use and work–family research, it adapts the “stress of higher status” hypothesis to child care involvement and explicates the underlying mechanism. The proposed moderated mediation model posits that (1) a leadership position means longer work hours, which explains the lower child care involvement, and that (2) this process depends on the possibility to choose when to start and quit work (flextime), which weakens the work–family border. A Swiss sample ( n = 2,820) of tertiary-educated, employed fathers from couple households is used to conduct the analysis. The results provide evidence for both (1) and (2), although, contrary to expectations, flextime does not mean longer work hours for leaders. The issue of child care involvement by fathers in leadership positions has wider relevance for work–family issues, because they are supervisors and thus shape work environments.

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The Impact of Human Resource Policies on Employees

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/019251390011004002 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 368-383 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

ELLEN GALINSKY ◽

PETER J. STEIN

Keyword(s):

Human Resource ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Major Work ◽

Family Problems ◽

Supervisory Relationships ◽

Human Resource Policies ◽

Fortune 500 Companies ◽

Family Issues ◽

Work Family ◽

The Impact

Using a number of empirical studies of human resource policies in Fortune 500 companies, this article focuses on (a) the major work/family problems faced by employees, (b) how work/family programs affect productivity, (c) what trends are emerging among companies, and (d) how a subsample of leading scientific companies and universities are responding to work/family issues. The seven major issues employees face are examined: child care, elder care, work time and timing, relocation, job demands and autonomy, supervisory relationships, and organizational culture. The major characteristics of Stage 1 and Stage 2 companies are compared, the later companies having more comprehensive and multifaceted programs that are responsive to employee needs. The research indicates that although some of the leading corporations and universities are responsive to work/family problems, many are still not aware of nor responsive to work/family strain and conflict.

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The New Dad: The Career-Caregiving Conundrum

10.1007/978-3-030-75645-1_11 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 197-212

Author(s):

Brad Harrington

Keyword(s):

White Collar ◽

Boston College ◽

Paternity Leave ◽

Family Issues ◽

Wide Range ◽

Work Family ◽

Changing Role ◽

Transition To Fatherhood ◽

College Educated

AbstractThis chapter draws mainly from “The New Dad” studies, a decade long research series done by the Boston College Center for Work & Family which studied the changing role of primarily college-educated, white-collar fathers working in large US-based corporate settings. The series explored the experiences of these fathers on a wide range of issues including their transition to fatherhood, work roles, definitions of success, attitudes on paternity leave and caregiving, and work-family issues.

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