The Influence of Organizational Reconciliation Policies and Culture on Workers Stress Perceptions

Abstract

Work-family reconciliation plays a crucial role in the well-being of employees, having impacts at the individual, social and organizational level. Studies concluded that poor work-life balance as one of the ten predictors of psychosocial risks at work. A family-friendly culture relates to how an organization values and allows the articulation of the various spheres of its workers' life. We intended to determine the effect of different variables like the existence of services, the organizational culture and the managers and colleagues support, on the stress experienced. A sample of 156 employees, from five organizations in the same region of Portugal, responded to a survey contributing to the empirical results of the study. We have conducted a structural equation model to test whether the factor solution of the perception of the reconciliation capability -STRESS model demonstrated a goodness of fit to the population studied. We've concluded that more important than the existence of reconciliation services, the perception of a supportive organizational culture, namely by colleagues and supervisors has great influence in reconciliation capability and by that way on work stress feelings. This might explain why workers do not use all the spectrum of resources provided by organizations and states to work-life reconciliation.

Fatigue at Work: Scale Validation with Airline Pilots

“…Among the approaches reported in the literature, occupational stress considers that people have an ability to confront stimuli in an intermediate state between health and disease (Silva et al, 2015), requiring actions for individual and collective mental health management. A study of the occupational stress resulting from effects of different organizational variables showed that support from managers and colleagues at work (Monteiro et al, 2017) was more important than human resources services or the organizational culture. The mainstream belief holds that occupational stress is manageable by the organization and adaptable to the environment in which it operates.…”

“…Most research in Administration addresses stress and burnout, with the latter defined as a psychophysiological state of occupational exhaustion and incapacity to work (Monteiro, Pereira, Daniel, Silva, & Matos, 2017;Vasconcelos, Vasconcelos, & Crubellate, 2008). However, fatigue at work has received far less research attention in Administration journals, as evidenced by the dearth of studies found by the authors in a review of the relevant literature.…”

Em busca do equilíbrio: o debate atual sobre o conflito trabalho-família nos periódicos científicos Brasileiros

“…Outra parte expressiva da produção científica brasileira, 5 dentre os 19 artigos identificados, enfatiza a preocupação com as consequências negativas da falta de equilíbrio entre a vida pessoal e profissional,para as organizaçõs e para os indivíduos, ao discutir o papel que políticas e outras ações empreendidas pelas organizações desempenham, no esforço de diminuir esse conflito (Andrade, 2017;Lima & Jesus, 2011;Maia et al, 2015;Monteiro& Daniel, 2017;Oliveiraet al, 2013).…”

“…Monteiro e Daniel (2017) argumentam que mais importante do que haver ferramentas de conciliação é a percepção do empregado sobre a existência de um suporte por parte da organização, da gerência e dos colegas para os dilemas decorrentes do conflito trabalhofamília. Em outras palavras, a identificação desse suporte,traduzido sob a forma de uma cultura organizacional "amigável à família" (Monteiro & Daniel, 2017) Por outro lado, Andrade (2017) afirma que medidas específicas se mostram eficazes na busca de um maior equilíbrio entre a vida profissional e pessoal dos funcionários desde que sejam realizadas em conjunto com outras iniciativas. Dessa forma, alinhar medidas organizacionais relacionadas à flexibilidade de horários e gestão do tempo, por exemplo, à uma cultura organizacional que preza e apoia a conciliação pessoal-profissional, tem se mostrado determinante para a percepção individual positiva do funcionário acerca da eficácia dessas medidas.…”

“…agiria como um potencializador da noção de direitos do trabalhador, reduzindo o sacrifício da vida familiar e o stress, o que poderia produzir maior satisfação no trabalho(Monteiro & Daniel, 2017).…”