Gaps between managers' and employees' perceptions of work–life balance

Entitlement to Work-Life Balance Support: Employee/Manager Perceptual Discrepancies and Their Effect on Outcomes

“…Lambert and Haley‐Lock () make note of a stratification system in how opportunities for work‐life balance are offered within organizations. Similarly, Sánchez‐Vidal et al () found that managers were more likely than lower‐level employees to be aware of and therefore utilize work‐life balance practices. The authors put forth different plausible explanations for this finding, suggesting that support practices may not be available to all employees, be poorly communicated across the organization or be inadequately supported by managers.…”

“…Further, in line with Naumann et al (), clarifying stakeholder perceptions of entitlement (and in turn discrepancies between such perceptions) is fundamental to understanding expectations between individuals and their employing organizations and as a result attitudes and behaviors. The only other study that examined perceptual gaps, Sánchez‐Vidal and colleagues’ () work, looked at perceptual gaps in availability of practices and not the notion of entitlement: they used two different samples to confirm that employee and management perceptions on work‐life balance initiatives differ and affect employee take‐up of these initiatives. Thus, our work contributes to this limited stream of research by enhancing knowledge about discrepancies in perceptions on work‐life balance issues among different stakeholders in the organization.…”

“…One aspect that appears useful in enhancing our understanding is the informal culture of the organization. Sánchez‐Vidal et al () note that a supportive culture to work‐life balance may act as a mediator to explain indirect effects of work‐life balance practices on outcomes. Such a supportive culture may be reflected in the perceptions of organizational members, especially managers.…”

“…Most of these studies investigate the perceptions of either employees or managers separately, while research on differences in perceptions and their effects is limited. For instance, only Sánchez‐Vidal et al () investigated gaps between the availability of work‐life balance practices and perceptions of availability by employees in Spain along with effects on employee usage. Despite the lack of studies, extant research points toward significant links between perceptions and outcomes, thus providing a solid basis and rationale for investigating how any employee/manager discrepancies might relate to different outcomes.…”

“…Methodologically, our study takes extant research on the subject one step further by examining the proposed relationships across 20 countries through a multilevel methodological approach that allowed us to capture effects beyond possible country‐level differences. In addition, we contribute to the very small volume of studies (see Sánchez‐Vidal et al, ) that investigates perceptions among organizational members from a multistakeholder perspective using two matched samples, representing managers and employee representatives in firms. In turn, we explored the antecedents and outcomes of the perceptions of management and employees not separately but together, as a level of discrepancy.…”