Tag Archives: work-life balance

Work-Life Spillover has a Positive Side?

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Topic: Work-Life Balance
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (SEP 2010)
Article: Meta-Analytic Review of the Consequences Associated with Work-Family Enrichment
Authors: L. A. McNall, J. M. Nicklin, A. D. Masuda
Reviewed By: Lauren A. Wood

With the increasing number of dual-income earning couples, organizations are taking more of an interest in work-life balance practices. Much research on work-family conflict has linked high conflict to low job satisfaction, low life satisfaction, high stress levels, increased health complaints, and greater turnover intentions. However, a smaller body of research has taken a spin to work-life balance by examining the potential, positive effects of work-family spillover know as work-family enrichment (e.g., improving the quality of work or family experiences). As with work-family conflict, enrichment is thought to stem from two primary sources: work influencing family (WFE) attitudes and behaviors and family influencing work (FWE) attitudes and behaviors.

The current meta-analysis examines both work and family domains as sources of enrichment (WFE and FWE), by investigating both domains’ effects on work-related outcomes (i.e., job satisfaction, organizational commitment), non work-related outcomes (i.e., family satisfaction, life satisfaction) and health-related outcomes (i.e., physical / mental health). The results reveal that overall, both WFE and FWE are positively associated with positive work outcomes, non work-related outcomes, as well as health-related outcomes. This suggests that enrichment in one domain does indeed have a positive effect on other areas of life.

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Relax! Weekend Recovery Does a Career Good!

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Topic: Work-Life Balance, Stress
Publication: Journal of Organizational Behavior (NOV 2010)
Article:The weekend matters: Relationships between stress recovery and affective experiences
Authors: Fritz, C., Sonnentag, S., Spector, P. E., & McInroe, J.
Reviewed by: Charleen Maher

Admit it. We all look forward to the weekend after a long week at work. Here’s another reason to look forward to it: Research finds that it’s important to emotionally recover from stressful work demands. A recent study by Binnewies et al. (click here for the IOATWORK review) found that mentally detaching oneself from work, relaxing, and engaging in non job-related tasks during the weekend helps employees feel recovered during the following work week.  This leads to better self-reported performance and citizenship behaviors as well as increased initiative to complete work tasks.  These are positive outcomes for organizations, but when it comes to employees, there are more specific emotional benefits to consider.

The current study by Fritz et al. examined the effect of several types of weekend recovery experiences on both positive and negative feelings. Relaxation during the weekend increased positive feelings (joviality, serenity, self-assurance) and decreased negative feelings (fear, hostility, sadness) by the end of the weekend. Engaging in mastery experiences (activities that promote challenge and provide opportunities to learn new skills) during the weekend was related to increased positive feelings (joviality, serenity, self-assurance).  Finally, psychological detachment (mentally distancing oneself from work) was also related to increased positive feelings (only joviality and serenity) by the end of the weekend. 

The weekend isn’t always full of positive recovery experiences, however. 

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When Helping Hurts: The Dark Side of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

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Topic: Citizenship Behavior, Work-Life Balance
Publication: Journal of Organizational Behavior (AUG 2010)
Article: Citizenship under pressure: What’s a good soldier to do?
Author: M. C. Bolino, W. H. Turnley, J. B. Gilstrap, & M. M. Sauzo
Reviewed by: Sarah Teague

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are defined as voluntary behaviors that facilitate organizational functioning but are not formally rewarded by the organization. The presence of these behaviors has consistently been shown to benefit both individual and organizational outcomes. In recent years, however, the accuracy of this definition has come into question as the degree to which employees engage in OCBs (or don’t) may actually be impacting the way they are evaluated by the organization. In the midst of the field’s infatuation with the impact of good deeds, the potentially dark side of OCBs has been largely neglected – a state of affairs that Bolino and colleagues intended to correct.

The authors of the current study suggest that increased expectations for employee involvement with the organization outside of work, along with the impact it may have on performance evaluations, has led to what they call citizenship pressure.  Citizenship pressure refers to “a specific job demand in which an employee feels pressured to perform OCBs, and it is conceptualized as distinct from related topics such as role overload and OCB norms. The authors suggested that citizenship pressure would be positively related to OCBs but also to work-family conflict (i.e. work demands interfering with family), work-leisure conflict (i.e. work demands interfering with general personal time away from work), job stress, and intentions to quit.

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When Mental Detachment from Work is a Must

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Topic: Stress, Wellness, Work-Life Balance
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (AUG 2010)
Article: Staying well and engaged when demands are high: The role of psychological detachment
Authors: S. Sonnentag, C. Binnewies, and E.J. Mojza
Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger

When we’re faced with high job demands at work, stress and emotional burnout often lurk right around the corner.  Regardless of the potentially harmful effects of high job demands, they’re a reality for many of us.  But before we  throw up our  hands in surrender when work piles up,  there are buffers against the dreaded consequences of excessive job demands.  One such buffer is known as psychological detachment, which is a fancy term for “leaving work at work” and devoting mental resources to non-work-related things while not on the clock. 

In a recent study, Sonnentag et al. (2010) explored how psychological detachment helps employees stay healthy and engaged over time when job demands are high.  The findings suggest that employees who do not detach themselves from work during non-work times experience increased emotional burnout over time (one year later in the study).  High job demands also have detrimental effects on employees’ physical health and work engagement, but only for those who do not psychologically detach themselves from work.  For employees who do “leave work at work”, high job demands do NOT appear to lead to lower work engagement, increased physical health issues or increased burnout.  

Sonnentag et al.’s study reminds us that preoccupying ourselves with work during our off time (e.g., evenings, weekends, vacations) can lead to health issues and lower work engagement. 

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The Overwhelming Effect of Job Demands on Spillover

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Topic: Stress,Work-Life Balance
Publication:Journal of Vocational Behavior (JUN 2010)
Article: The costs of today’s jobs: Job characteristics and organizational supports as antecedents of negative spillover
Authors:A.R. Grotto and K.S. Lyness
Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger

Negative work-to-nonwork spillover occurs when employees’ negative moods, behaviors, etc. from workspill over into other parts of their lives (e.g., family life).  Grotto and Lyness (2010) recently investigated several factors that lead employees to experience negative spillover, including job demands and the availability of organizational support.

Based on a representative sample of 1178 working adults in the U.S. (from “the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce”), Grotto and Lyness found that high degrees of autonomy on the job and opportunities to develop one’s skills were associated with a reduction in negative spillover – that’s the good news.  The bad news, however, is that job demands such as the degree to which employees are required to take work home, time demands, (e.g., excessive work hours) and strain-based work demands (e.g., heavy workload, difficulty of the work) were associated with an increase in negative spillover.

Interestingly, Grotto and Lyness note that while much of the research on spillover has focused on the possible buffering effects of various organizational supports, their results suggest that job demands were by far the biggest contributor to spillover.

In fact, while autonomy and opportunities to develop skills do indeed predict less spillover, the effects were very small in comparison to the negative effects of job demands such as time- and stress-based demands and work at home requirements.

Grotto and Lyness conclude that organizational supports and favorable job characteristics (i.e., autonomy) are not enough to offset the negative effects of excessive job demands.  Thus, organizations must take another look at the demands placed on their employees.  Such demands can be particularly harmful to employees and can cause major problems for them and their employing organizations in the long run (physiological and psychological health problems, turnover, etc.). The bottom line:  While organizational supports are important and do reduce negative spillover, they do not appear to come close to buffering employees from the negative effects of excessive job demands.

Grotto, A. R., & Lyness, K. S. (2010). The Costs of today’s jobs: job characteristics and organizational supports as antecedents of negative spillover. Journal of Vocational Behavior , 76, 395-405.

Part Time Workers

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Topic: Work-Life Balance
Publication: British Journal of Management (JUN 2009)
Article: ‘Full time is a given here’: Part-time versus full-time job quality
Authors: McDonald, P., Bradley, L., & Brown, K.
Reviewed By: Benjamin Granger

More and more, employees are utilizing alternative work arrangements (flextime, flexplace) and part-time employment is increasing. And surprise, surprise –  part-time employment is predominantly utilized by women.  It has been suggested that this is due to the increased flexibility that part-time work grants (to balance work and family demands). But, what else should you know about part-time work?

McDonald, Bradley, and Brown (2009) interviewed 40 employees from an Australian government agency about their perceptions of the quality of part-time work. Despite the advantage of providing flexibility to employees, McDonald and colleagues uncovered several intriguing disadvantages of part-time work:

·   Part-time employees are often relegated on lower status projects than full-time employees.

·   In some cases, part-time workers are devalued as team members and contributors to the organization.

·   Some supervisors feel that part-time employees are less committed to the organization than full-time employees (less time at work apparently = less commitment to some managers).

·   Some think that it is unnecessary to provide mentoring or developmental opportunities to part-time employees (they must be more concerned with family life, so why develop them as employees?).

All in all, before accepting a part-time job, applicants/employees should consider these potential disadvantages.  It seems that part-time workers are perceived very differently than their full-time peers (at least in this study).  An additional issue to consider is that part-time employment is overwhelmingly utilized by women (hmm, does gender inequality in the workplace ring a bell to anyone?). Perhaps this trend contributes to many of the gender inequalities that are currently witnessed in the workplace.

McDonald, P., Bradley, L., & Brown, K. (2009). ‘Full time is a given here’: Part-time versus full-time job quality. British Journal of Management, 20, 143-157.

A Closer Look at the Role of Work Centrality in Work-Family Conflict

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Topic: Work-Life Balance
Publication: Journal of Management (2008)
Article: The moderating effect of work-family centrality on work family conflict, organizational attitudes, and turnover behavior.
Blogger: Benjamin Granger

Ever miss a child’s ball game for work? The conflict between an employee’s work role and family role is known as work-family conflict (WFC). When work interferes with the family role, this type of conflict is commonly referred to as WIF conflict (i.e., work is the originator of the conflict). Carr, Boyar, and Gregory (2008) present an article in the Journal of Management investigating the connection between WIF conflict and how much people value work versus family.

Although we know that conflict between work and family negatively affects both workers and organizations, the authors were interested in whether the value one places on work relative to family reduces some of the negative effects of WIF conflict.  Carr et al.’s results show that employees who are family-centered (value the family above work) tend to have more negative attitudes toward their job (low job satisfaction and commitment) and are more likely to quit when faced with WIF conflict.  Those who are more work-centered (value work above family) are not as negatively influenced
by WIF conflict.

It’s important for organizations to recognize that employees value work and family in different
ways.  It’s dangerous for organizational leaders to assume that all employees value work equally or that all employees SHOULD value work equally (My subordinates should value work just as much as I
do!).  If organizations fail to recognize and act on this knowledge, they may see higher quit rates and more employees with poor commitment and/or low job satisfaction, especially from those who are
relatively family-centered.

Carr, J.C., Boyar, S.L., & Gregory, B.T. (2008). The moderating effect of work-family centrality on work family conflict, organizational attitudes, and turnover behavior. Journal of Management, 34(2), 244-262.