Seeking work-life balance: Employees' requests, supervisors' responses, and organizational barriers.

Abstract

This qualitative research examines how supervisors respond to the work-life balance needs of their employees. Supervisors from a Fortune 500 company were surveyed regarding their responses to employees' requests for work-life accommodations. Responses representing 1,150 employees' requests were content coded to explore trends and were clustered into meaningful categories. Data show that schedule changes and flexibility were the most commonly requested work-life accommodation and that such requests were accommodated 58% of the time. Supervisors responded to requests for work resources and modifications to daily work 81 and 44% of the time, respectively. The most frequent barrier to accommodating employees' request was lack of authority. Results provide insight into the ways that work organizations can support and empower supervisors to facilitate employees' work-life balance.Decades of research exploring the work-family interface have demonstrated that employees often experience conflicts between their work and personal spheres of life (e.g., Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). The changing nature of the work makes it increasingly essential to understand how such conflict can be alleviated (for a review, see Major & Germano, 2006). As life expectancy increases, more workers are caring for aging parents and are oftentimes finding themselves "sandwiched" between eldercare and childcare responsibilities

LMX, Breach Perceptions, Work-Family Conflict, and Well-Being: A Mediational Model

“…As the primary organizational agent, the supervisor is often the one who must inform employees of organizational changes and decisions. Supervisors are also responsible for granting schedule changes and time off (e.g., having veto power over benefit usage and permitting telework arrangements), dictating how daily work is conducted Downloaded by [New York University] at 20:18 05 July 2015 (e.g., regular workday scheduling, number of meetings), allocating work resources (e.g., granting access of mobile devices), and providing instrumental and social support for employees requesting work-life balance accommodations (Lauzun, Morganson, Major, & Green, 2010). Supervisors are in a unique position that permits them to have a powerful impact, directly shaping the work-life demands of subordinates.…”

Exploring the effects of workplace support on work-life experience: a study of Malaysia

“…Being empathized with employees' desire to seek balance between work and nonwork responsibilities, supportive supervisors facilitate beneficial experience in integrating work and nonwork roles (Brunetto et al 2010;Lauzun et al 2010;Wadsworth and Owens 2007). In accordance with Social Capital Theory, Judge, Ilies, and Scott (2006) suggest that positive social network membership improves the flow of information, resources, emotional support, trust, and goodwill among members and reduce negative emotions.…”

Successes in Changing Flexible Work Arrangement Use

“…For example, the tasks of some units may require greater amounts of synchronization and copresence, which in turn limits the types of FWAs managers can support (Brewer, 2000;Powell & Mainiero, 1999). A variety of structural challenges can confront managers, including resource deficits, coordination of work processes, client demands, technological limitations, or other concerns (Lauzun, Morganson, Major, & Green, 2010). In addition, prospects for FWA use expansion may be constrained by interpersonal dependencies that may exist within teams, as FWA use may potentially leave specific tasks unfilled (den Dulk & de Ruijter, 2008;Klein, Berman, & Dickson, 1999).…”