What Helps Me Cope With Work–Family Conflict at My High-Performance Work System in India: A Thematic Analysis of Sociocultural Factors

Abstract

Executive Summary This study is located in the context of high-performance work systems (HPWS) in India. Extant literature indicates that the darker side of HPWS and work intensification impact employee lives and trigger work–family conflict (WFC) experiences. With the shift in organizational focus on employee well-being, it has become imperative to understand and unpack WFC experiences of employees in the Indian sociocultural context to design effective and contextual remedial mechanisms. Responding to this need, WFC experiences of employees in Indian HPWS contexts were closely examined in this study to unpack the role of prevalent sociocultural factors. Additionally, the study explored how employees coped with these life situations. Since organizations are now beginning to work towards enhancing the well-being of employees, this study offers insights into what coping mechanisms are deliberately or inadvertently in use to evaluate their effectiveness. Studying the nature of WFCs and coping mechanisms from a sociocultural lens, this study identifies and develops four major themes. Passive acceptance of WFC, unambiguous communication, emotional and instrumental support from family, informational support at work emerged as the four significant themes discussed at length in this article. Insights generated from the discussion of these themes point overarchingly towards the highly personalized and localized, individual-level approach prevalent amongst employees of HPWS in response to WFC episodes. The discussion and conclusion sections highlight the need for well-designed and mindful organizational interventions built upon an understanding of the sociocultural factors at work to effectively mitigate the employee stress generated by the HPWS environments. This work is especially relevant in an era of pandemic-related work models, millennial workers and work intensification due to the increased digitalization of workplace practices.

Wellbeing during a pandemic: An empirical research examining autonomy, work-family conflict and informational support among SME employees

“…Equipping staff with necessary information regarding processes of the company with the aim of emotional, instrumental, and informational aid can act as a protector when WFC exists, especially during remote work. Moderating effect of informational support among SME staff can enhance their wellbeing as found in the literature in China ( Rasool et al, 2021 ) and various other cases (e.g., Goh et al, 2015 ; Neto et al, 2016 ; Achour et al, 2017 ; Anand and Vohra, 2022 ).…”

“…Notably, implementation of the telecommuting practices imposed by the pandemic varies from one organization to another depending on the availability of resources and the level of preparedness of its employees ( Meyer et al, 2021 ; Raghavan et al, 2021 ). A consensus is observed among scholars related to the moderating impact of informational support on wellbeing and work-family conflict in various cases and different settings (e.g., Greenhaus et al, 2006 ; Goh et al, 2015 ; Neto et al, 2016 ; Achour et al, 2017 ; French et al, 2018 ; Anand and Vohra, 2022 ), the assumption is made upon updating employees working for SMEs with the information needed to take the necessary health measures and cope with the rapid changes in the work processes to minimize the negative influence of work-family conflicts on their physical and psychological wellbeing.…”

A call to action: Addressing the mental health disparities of LGBTQIA+ Indians

“…The dark side of collectivism includes a lack of individualism, conformity pressure, and aversion to change, as well as limited autonomy, due to which the LGBTQIA+ community encounters a life-long struggle with self-identity, sexual orientation, stigma, prejudice, and discrimination (Awanis et al, 2017;Anand, & Vohra, 2022). Homosexuals' mental health difficulties vary throughout cultures.…”