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Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Factors Affecting Employee Use of Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Jennifer Smith
Digital Mobile, Auckland
Dianne Gardner
Massey University
The study examines work-life balance (WLB) using a sample of 153 employees in a large New Zealand organisation. Analysis of company policies identified sixteen WLB initiatives currently being offered. Employees were surveyed to determine the extent of their awareness and use of currently offered initiatives. Factors influencing WLB initiative use and employee outcomes for initiative use were investigated. Female employees and younger employees used more WLB initiatives while employees reporting higher levels of management support and supervisor support, and perceiving fewer career damage and time demands also used more WLB initiatives. No support was found for the role of coworker support on WLB initiative use. Initiative use was related to reduced work-to-family conflict. Work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, and commitment to the organisation were related to intention to turnover. The results highlight the importance of workplace culture in enabling an environment that is supportive of WLB and consequently use of initiatives that are offered by the organisation.
but not all employees make use of the initiatives that are available to them even when those initiatives would be helpfiil. The present research aimed to identify demographic and workplace factors that influence the extent to which employees use available WLB initiatives and whether the use of these initiatives impact on work-life balance and other outcomes. Demographic factors affecting ttie use of WLB initiatives While consistent age differences in the overall number of WLB initiatives used have not been found, consistent patterns in the extent to which different initiatives are used at different ages have been identified. Career stage models suggest that younger employees are likely to have fewer extemal demands on their
Factors Affecting Employee Use of Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Jennifer Smith
Digital Mobile, Auckland
Dianne Gardner
Massey University
The study examines work-life balance (WLB) using a sample of 153 employees in a large New Zealand organisation. Analysis of company policies identified sixteen WLB initiatives currently being offered. Employees were surveyed to determine the extent of their awareness and use of currently offered initiatives. Factors influencing WLB initiative use and employee outcomes for initiative use were investigated. Female employees and younger employees used more WLB initiatives while employees reporting higher levels of management support and supervisor support, and perceiving fewer career damage and time demands also used more WLB initiatives. No support was found for the role of coworker support on WLB initiative use. Initiative use was related to reduced work-to-family conflict. Work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, and commitment to the organisation were related to intention to turnover. The results highlight the importance of workplace culture in enabling an environment that is supportive of WLB and consequently use of initiatives that are offered by the organisation.
but not all employees make use of the initiatives that are available to them even when those initiatives would be helpfiil. The present research aimed to identify demographic and workplace factors that influence the extent to which employees use available WLB initiatives and whether the use of these initiatives impact on work-life balance and other outcomes. Demographic factors affecting ttie use of WLB initiatives While consistent age differences in the overall number of WLB initiatives used have not been found, consistent patterns in the extent to which different initiatives are used at different ages have been identified. Career stage models suggest that younger employees are likely to have fewer extemal demands on their
References: and Turnover Intention: Exploring the outcomes for subordinates. Journal of Allen, N. J., & Meyer, J. P. (1990) The Moderation Effects of Perceived WorkOrganizational Behavior, 15, 141-155. measurement and antecedents of Family Support. New Zealand Journal of O 'DriscoU, M. P., Ilgen, D. R., & Hildreth, affective, continuance, and normative Psychology, 33(), 35-39. K. (1992) Time Devoted to Job and commitment to the organization. Journal Off-Job Activities, Interrole Conflict, Haar, J., & Spell, C. (2001) Examining of Occupational and Organizational and Affective Experiences. Journal of Work-Family Conflict Within A New Psychology, 63, 1-18. Applied Psychology, 77(3)272-279. Zealand Local Government Organization. Allen, T. (2001) Family-supportive work The New Zealand Journal of Human O 'DriscoU, M. P., Poelmans, S., Spector, environments: the role of organizational Resources Management, 1, 1-21. P E., Kalliath, T, Allen, T. D., Cooper, perceptions. Journat of Vocational C. L., & Sanchez, J. I. (2003) FamilyHill, E. J., Hawkins, A. J., Ferris, M., & Behavior, 55(3), 414-435. Responsive Interventions, Perceived Weitzman, M. (2001) Finding an Extra Brough, P., & Kelling, A. (2002) Women, Organizational and Supervisor Support, Day a Week: The Positive Influence of work & well-being: the influence of Work-Family Conflict, and Psychological Perceived Job Flexibility on Work and work-family and family-work conflict. Strain. International Journal of Stress Family Life Balance. Family Relations, The New Zealand Journal ofPsychology, Management, 10(4), 326-344. 50(0,49-55. 57(1), 29-39. O 'DriscoU, M. (2000) Work and Family Hobson, C. J., Delunas, L., & Kesic, D. Department of Labour (1999) Childcare, Transactions. In P. Koopman-Boyden, (2001) Compelling evidence ofthe need Families and Work. The New Zealand for corporate work/life balance initiatives: A. Dharmalingam, B. Grant, V. Hendy, Childcare Survey, 1998: A Survey of S. Hillcoat-Nalletamby, D. Mitchell, Results from a national survey of stressful Early Childhood Education and Care M. O 'DriscoU, & S. Thompson. (Eds) life-events. Journal of Employment Arrangements for Children. Wellington: Transactions in the Mid-life Family Counseling, 38, 38-44. Labour Market Policy Group. (pp. 92-112) Hamilton: Population Association of New Zealand. aecurate way to measure the impact of initiative use. For example, an employee may suecessfully balance these two domains, and consequently report less conflict, turnover intention, and greater commitment to the organisation, but only be using a small number of appropriate initiatives (albeit, frequently) to achieve this. The appropriateness of WLB initiatives to employees ' circumstances also needs to be considered. Future research needs to explore frequency and appropriateness of initiative use as well as the number of initiatives used. New Zealand Journal of Psychology Vol.36, No.1, March 2007 11 J. Smith, D. Gardner Perlow, L. (1998) Boundary control: The social ordering of work and family time in a high-tech corporation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 328-58. Perlow, L. (1995. Putting the work back into work/family. Group & Organization Management, 20(2), 221AQ. Shinn, M., Wong, N. W., Simko, P. A., & Ortiz-Torres, B. (1989) Promoting the well-being of working parents: coping, social support, and flexible job schedules. American Journal of Community Psychology, 77(l),31-55. Thomas, L., & Ganster, D. (1995) Impact of family - supportive work variables on work-family conflicts and strain. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80{), 6-15. Thompson, C , Beauvais, L., & Lyness, K. (1999) When work-family benefits are not enough: The influence of workfamily culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment and workfamily conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54(3), 392-415. Wayne, J. H., & Cordeiro, B. L. (2003) Who is a good organizational citizen? Social perception of male and female employees who use family leave. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 49(5-6), 233-247. Author Notes Jennifer Smith, Human Resources and Training Manager, Digital Mobile, Auckland, New Zealand i. Address for correspondence: Dr Dianne Gardner School of Psychology Massey University Private Bag 102 904 North Shore Mail Centre Auckland, New Zealand Email D.H.Gardner@massey.ac.nz 12 ' New ZealandJournal of Psychology Vol. 36, No. 1, March 2007