a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tWork-life balance (WLB) is receiving increasing attention in the human resource management field. Line managers are playing a more active role in HRM decision-making, including work-life balance decisions, with the devolution of human resource management responsibility. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this paper develops a conceptual model explaining what affects line manager WLB policy and practice behaviors and the consequent impact on employee WLB experience in their organizations. Line manager WLB policy involvement, policy awareness, perceived policy instrumentality, and personal policy utilization are variables which are proposed to impact line manager attitudes towards WLB policies. These attitudes, in turn, are proposed to affect three employee WLB policy outcomes: employee WLB policy awareness, policy uptake, and policy satisfaction. The implications for future research and practice are set out.

Summary This paper explores the antecedents of work-life balance for employees as they progress through different career stages denoted by age. To date, research has failed to adequately explore how work-life balance issues develop over the course of an employeeÕs working life. As a consequence, much of the work-life balance policy and practice research examines WLB issues from a relatively static and unchanging perspective resulting in praxis which is undifferentiated. Such a Ôone size fits allÕ approach to the design and development of work-life balance initiatives is not only costly but likely to be ineffective in terms of meeting the real needs of different categories of employees. This paper challenges the static approaches and instead seeks to examine if and how WLB is affected and shaped by different antecedents as they impact on differing career stages as defined by distinct age categorisations.The research was carried out among a sample of 729 employees in 15 organisations (10 private sector and 5 public sector organisations) in the Republic of Ireland. Four career stages are considered with regard to both men and women irrespective of their parenting status. The findings suggest that factors which impact upon work-life balance differ marginally across various career stages thereby indicating that WLB is a concern for employees at all career stages and not the preserve of parents with young children only. These findings shed new light on our understanding of the antecedents of work-life balance and have particular implications for organisations who wish to foster a culture which values work-life balance across all career stages for all their employees.

While many aspects of the dramatic shifts caused by digital government have made enormous progress, the leadership of those who serve the public via electronic means has yet to take a significant step forward. This article addresses three questions: How significant has e-leadership become? What are the challenges in trying to create a more comprehensive model of defining and measuring e-leadership? And, based on current knowledge, what skill and behavioral elements are candidates for a concrete e-leadership model? The authors develop and test an original model that focuses on e-leadership as a competence in virtual communications (i.e., the use of ICT-mediated communications) and the digital opportunities and challenges that are created. The results provide strong support for the proposed model. The article concludes with a discussion of a future agenda for e-leadership research that can be developed in a manner that is fruitful for theory and practitioners. Evidence for Practice• Leadership is as much virtual as it is face-to-face today; e-leadership is an important and distinctive ability in organizational management that can lead to more effective organizational functioning. • An effective e-leader communicates clearly, provides adequate social interaction, and demonstrates technological know-how through and within virtual environments. • In the long term, effective e-leadership builds responsible teams, sets effective accountability processes, inspires change, and develops trust virtually. • E-leadership is a set of technology-mediated social influencing processes intended to change attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, and performance within organizations. • Six competencies lead to effective e-leadership: e-communication, e-social skills, e-change skills, e-team skills, e-tech savvy, and e-trustworthiness.

Drawing on systems theory, we conducted a moderated meta‐analysis of the training and organisational performance relationship using 119 primary studies. We examined the moderating effects of quality versus quantity of training, time, institutional and organisational context factors in the relationship between training and organisational performance. Our findings reveal that training is positively and directly related to organisational performance with no statistically significant difference between measures of training quality and quantity. We found that the relationship was stronger over time and that country performance orientation and country labour cost moderate the training and organisational performance relationship. We found no evidence for the moderating effects of the three organisational context moderators we examined (i.e. industry sector, organisational size and technology intensity). Finally, our results reveal that training type (i.e. general or firm‐specific) does not moderate the training and organisational performance relationship.

Purpose-This paper aims to explore how mid-career professional mothers perceive themselves in relation to their work and family roles, how they experience these roles, how they merge their work, family and individual self, and what meaning they make of this integration. Design/methodology/approach-The study used in-depth qualitative interviews with 18 participants aged between 37 and 55 with at least one dependent child under the age of 18, in dual-earning/career households. Findings-The study reports that a complex relationship of work-related dynamics and personal factors shaped the meaning for these women amid competing priorities of work, family and individual lives. Organisation and coordination of multiple activities with support from various sources was fundamental to finding balance. A deep sense of motherhood was evident in that their children were their number one priority but career was of high importance as they sought stimulation, challenges, achievement and enrichment in their work. Now, in mid-career transition, the respondents seek more self-care time in an effort to find new meaning in the work, family and self equation. Research limitations/implications-The study raises important issues for the management of professional working mothers and the implications of the study for individuals and organisations are set out. Originality/value-This paper makes contributions to work-life integration and career theory. It provides one of the first empirical studies on work-life integration in Ireland using the construct of meaningful work and secondly builds on the kaleidoscope career model theory.

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360° feedback processes have gained popularity as a performance management and career development tool in contemporary organisations. This monograph explores the nature of 360° feedback, investigates the factors which have influenced its emergence and contrasts it with more traditional performance management processes used by organisations. It specifically identifies the benefits and problems associated with 360° feedback in the context of management of performance and employee career development. The monograph considers the issues surrounding different sources of feedback, i.e. peer, subordinate and self. The monograph concludes with a discussion of the issues pertaining to the use of multi‐rater feedback as a tool for performance improvement and career development.

Collective learning is important to both human resource development (HRD) researchers and practitioners. Collective learning is a broad term and includes learning between dyads, teams, organizations, communities, and societies. Most conceptions of collective learning highlight characteristics such as relationships, shared vision and meanings, mental models and cognitive and behavioral learning. Collective learning processes pose challenges for both HRD research and practice. For researchers, we need to more fully understand how collective learning processes occur, the factors that affect collective learning, and the emergent nature of collective learning. For practitioners, the challenge concerns whether collective learning can be planned, structured, and managed.