Supportive supervisor training improves family relationships among employee and spouse dyads.

Abstract

Employee family relationships have been increasingly tied to job outcomes and are known to be a strong predictor of employee health and well-being. As such, taking steps toward uncovering actionable tools organizations can implement to foster improvements in family relationship quality is important and should not be overlooked in occupational health psychology interventions. Supportive supervisor training (SST) targets improving employees' ability to meet their nonwork needs; however, the focus and discussions of the implications tied to SST have largely excluded marital and parent-child relationships, spouses, and spousal outcomes. Further, mounting evidence suggests contextual factors shape when SST is most meaningful; however, more research is needed to uncover individual-level factors that may facilitate training effects. This study used a cluster-randomized controlled trial design to evaluate a worksite-based SST with a sample of 250 employees (separated military veterans) and their matched spouses. Using an intent-to-treat approach and 2-level random effects models, results demonstrated that the SST promoted couples' dyadic marital relationship quality 9 months following baseline. Additionally, when employees were under higher levels of baseline stress, couples' dyadic marital relationship quality and positive parenting both improved following the SST. Thus, an SST is beneficial for family relationships as reported by both employees and spouses, which goes beyond previously demonstrated employee health and well-being benefits.

Diet quality during the COVID-19 pandemic: Effects of workplace support for families and work-to-family enrichment in dual-earner parents with adolescent children

“…Moreover, a substantial body of research has focused on diet interventions in the workplace (e.g., Clemente et al, 2021 ; Haugaard et al, 2016 ; Mulaney et al, 2021 ). To our knowledge, the positive relationship between resources gained from the work-family interface and diet quality have been less explored, whereas most studies focused on the relationship between work and eating habits, have been carried out at an individual level (i.e., the worker), neglecting the interdependence between individuals ( Brady et al, 2021 ; Carlson et al, 2019 ; Matias & Recharte, 2020 ; Lo Presti et al, 2020 ). In this sense, according to the W-HR model resources gained in the work domain can also crossover from workers to their family members, which can lead to dyadic resource gains (Chen al., 2015; ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012 ), that is, one individual can respond to their family member's resource gain as if it were their own ( Hobfoll et al, 2018 ).…”

Family Supportive Supervisors Behaviour for the Sandwich Generation: Considerations for Training Practice

“…Coinciding with this, it is evidenced that the immediate SV in particular plays a crucial, linking and gatekeeping role in both access to opportunities and perceptions of family supportive practices (Brady & Hammer, 2021;Hammer, Kossek, Yragui, Bodner, & Hanson, 2009;Kossek, Petty, et al, 2018;ter Hoeven, Miller, Peper, & den Dulk, 2017). A SV can be stimulating but can also adopt an unsupportive attitude towards family supportive practices installed by the higher management level (Kossek, Odle-Dusseau, & Hammer, 2018).…”

“…FSSB is not a personal characteristic, but a behaviour that can be influenced by, for example, targeted training. There is mounting evidence that training in which SVs learn how best to support their employees, both in their work role and non-work roles can have many positive effects on well-being, health and turnover intentions (Brady & Hammer, 2021). The literature has already described various elements that can be part of an FSSB training such as a webbased introduction, face-to-face role playing, discussion boards and cognitive self-monitoring for different work contexts (Brady & Hammer, 2021;Kossek, Odle-Dusseau, et al, 2018).…”

“…Within the framework of the Flemish Time4Help programme, two webinars with SVs and HR professionals were conducted. They were modelled on the training framework developed by Brady and Hammer (2021) and Hammer & Kossek (2013) and using input from qualitative research described in Chapter 1. The training consists of four parts: (1) presentation of the specific situation of the WSG with attention to how work can play both a positive and a negative role in well-being; (2) ideas for general family supportive practices and policies which can be interesting for the WSG; (3) introduction of the four components of FSSB with a special emphasis on practical considerations for the WSG; and (4) introduction of a self-monitoring tool for FSSB including a specific gender and generation perspective.…”

Effects of a Total Worker Health® leadership intervention on employee well-being and functional impairment.

“…The supervisor training aspect of the leadership intervention was designed to build upon traditional supportive supervisor frameworks, while also incorporating supervisor support for sleep and FSSB. The intervention draws on prior social support training interventions, whereby training supervisors in certain behavioral health leadership domains (Adler et al, 2015), such as support for family (FSSB; Kossek et al, 2011Kossek et al, , 2019, support for safety (Hammer et al, 2019), and support for sleep (Gunia et al, 2015), is an effective strategy for improving employee job and personal well-being outcomes (e.g., Brady et al, 2021;Gunia et al, 2015).…”