Abstract
This chapter looks at employee’s perceptions regarding the type of family-friendly work practices available to them by their employing organizations and, at the same time, it conveys their views on the organizational support received on these matters. The empirical research is based on a case study design that includes four companies belonging to different industries in Portugal . Overall, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews with both operational employees and human resource managers . The findings show that the HR managers in all the companies admit not having formal procedures on family-friendly work practices but only a set of informal practices that vary according to the functional level and the employee rank . The company size and resources, the type of operational activities or the work schedules are important explanatory factors for the scant adoption and implementation of family-friendly practices in these companies, and seem to play a more influential role than institutional forces. Immediate supervisor and co-worker support are perceived by the employees as fundamental sources of organizational support in the work–family life conciliation . The study limitations and future research suggestions are also presented.
Sandra Amorim holds a Master degree in Human Resources Management from the School of Economics and Management, University of Minho. Presently, she works for a private sector company.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Albrecht, G. (2003). How friendly are family friendly polices? Business Ethics Quarterly, 13, 177–192.
Allard, K., Haas, L., & Hwang, C. (2011). Family-supportive organizational culture and fathers’ experiences of work–family conflict in Sweden. Gender, Work and Organization, 18(2), 141–157.
Allen, T. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 414–435.
Amah, O. (2010). Family-work conflict and the availability of work-family friendly policy relationship in married employees: The moderating role of work centrality and career consequence. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 18, 35–46.
Ashforth, B. E., Kreiner, G. E., & Fugate, M. (2000). All in a day’s work: Boundaries and micro role transitions. Academy of Management Review, 25(3), 472–491.
Bagilhole, B. (2006). Family-friendly policies and equal opportunities: A contradiction in terms. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 34(3), 327–343.
Bardoel, E. A. (2003). The provision of formal and informal work-family practices: The relative importance of institutional and resource dependent explanations versus managerial explanations. Women in Management Review, 18(1/2), 7–19.
Beauregard, A. (2007). Family influences on the career life cycle. In M. F. Özbilgin & A. Malach-Pines (Eds.), Career choice in management and entrepreneurship: A research companion (pp. 101–126). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bond, J. T., Galinsky, E., Kim, S., & Brownfield, E. (2005). 2005 National study of employers: Highlights of findings. Families and Work Institute. http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports. Accessed July 05 2015.
Brought, P., & O’ Driscoll, M. (2010). Organizational interventions for balancing work and home demands: An overview. Work & Stress, 24(3), 280–297.
Coronel, J., Moreno, E., & Carrasco, M. (2010). Work–family conflicts and the organizational work culture as barriers to women educational managers. Gender, Work and Organization, 17(2), 219–239.
Daverth, G., Hyde, P., & Cassell, C. (2016). Uptake of organizational work-life balance opportunities. The context of support. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(15), 1710–1729.
de Sivatte, I., & Guadamillas, F. (2013). Antecedents and outcomes of implementing flexibility policies in organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(7), 1327–1345.
den Dulk, L., & de Ruitjer, J. (2008). Managing work-life policies: Disruption versus dependency arguments. Explaining managerial attitudes towards employee utilization of work-life policies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(7), 1222–1236.
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147–160.
Dolcos, S. M. (2006). Managing life and work demands: The impact of organizational support on work-family conflict in public and private sectors. North Carolina: North Carolina State University.
Eby, L. T., Casper, W. J., Lockwood, A., Bordeaux, C., & Brinley, A. (2005). Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980-2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 124–197.
Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 178–199.
Eriksson, P., & Kovalainen, A. (2008). Qualitative methods in business research. London: Sage.
Frye, N., & Breaugh, J. (2004). Family-friendly policies, supervisor support, work-family conflict, family-work conflict and satisfaction: A test of a conceptual model. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19(2), 197–220.
Galinsky, E., & Stein, P. (1990). The impact of human resource policies on employees. Journal of Family Issues, 11(4), 368–383.
Galinsky, E., Sakai, K., & Wigon, T. (2011). Workplace flexibility: From research to action. The Future of Children, 21(2), 141–162.
Giannikis, S. K., & Mihail, D. M. (2011). Flexible work arrangements in Greece: A study of employee perceptions. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(2), 417–432.
Gibbs, G. (2007). Analyzing qualitative data. London: Sage.
Glass, J., & Fujimoto, T. (1995). Employer characteristics and the provision of family responsive policies. Work and Occupations, 22, 380–411.
Glass, J., & Estes, S. (1997). The family responsive workplace. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(289), 313.
Greenhaus, J., & Beutell, N. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. The Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76–88.
Gregory, A., & Milner, S. (2009). Editorial: work-life balance: A matter of choice? Gender, Work and Organization, 16(1), 1–13.
Grover, S., & Crooker, K. (1995). Who appreciates family-responsive human resource policies: The impact of family-friendly policies. Personnel Psychology, 48(2), 271–288.
Hopkins, K. (2005). Supervisor support and work-life integration: A social identity perspective. In E. E. Kossek & S. J. Lambert (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives (pp. 445–468). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kirby, E. L., & Krone, K. J. (2002). The policy exists but you can’t really use it: Communication and structuration of work-family policies. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30, 50–77.
Kossek, E. E., Lautsch, B. A., & Eaton, S. C. (2005). Flexibility enactment theory: Implications of flexibility type, control, and boundary management for work–family effectiveness. In E. E. Kossek & S. J. Lambert (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives (pp. 243–262). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kotey, B., & Sharma, B. (2015). Predictors of flexible working arrangement provision in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). International Journal of Human Resource Management. doi:10.1080/09585192.2015.1102160.
Lewis, S. (2001). Restructuring workplace cultures: The ultimate work-family challenge? Women in Management Review, 16(1), 21–29.
McCarthy, A., Darcy, C., & Grady, G. (2010). Work- life balance policy and practice: Understanding line manager attitudes and behaviors. Human Resource Management Review, 20, 158–167.
McCarthy, A., Cleveland, J., Hunter, S., Darcy, C., & Grady, G. (2013). Employee work-life balance outcomes in Ireland: A multilevel investigation of supervisory support and perceived organizational support. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(6), 1257–1276.
McCrea, R., Boreham, P., & Ferguson, M. (2011). Reducing work-to-life interference in the public service: The attributes of participative management as mediated by other work attributes. Journal of Sociology, 47, 313–332.
McGowan, R. (2009). Managerial discourses of work and eldercare: (Re)producing, resisting, and negotiating boundaries between private and public. Culture and Organization, 15(3/4), 307–329.
McNamara, T. K., Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Matz-Costa, C., Brown, M., & Valcour, M. (2013). Across the continuum of satisfaction with work–family balance: Work hours, flexibility-fit, and work–family culture. Social Science Research, 42, 283–298.
Mesmer-Magnus, J., & Glew, D. (2012). Workplace predictors of family-facilitative coworker support. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 27(4), 289–310.
Monteiro, R., & Domingos, L. (2013). O sentido do direito à conciliação: Vida profissional, familiar e pessoal numa autarquia. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, 73, 59–77.
Osterman, P. (1995). Work/family programs and the employment relationship. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 681–700.
Pasamar, S., & Valle, R. (2015). Antecedents of work–life involvement in work–life issues: Institutional pressures, efficiency gains or both? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(8), 1130–1151.
Pocock, B., Skinner, N., & Williams, P. (2008). Work- life outcomes in Australia: Concepts, outcomes and policy. In C. Warhurst, D. R. Eikhof, & A. Haunschild (Eds.), Work less, live more? Critical analysis of the work-life boundary (pp. 44–61). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Poelmans, S., Chinchilla, N., & Cardona, P. (2003). The adoption of family-friendly HRM policies: Competing for scarce resource in the labour market. International Journal of Manpower, 24(2), 128–147.
Ryan, A. M., & Kossek, E. E. (2008). Work-life policy implementation, breaking down or creating barriers to inclusiveness. Human Resource Management, 47(2), 295–310.
Santos, G. G. (2015). Narratives about work and family life among Portuguese academics. Gender, Work and Organization, 22(1), 1–15.
Santos, G. G., & Cabral-Cardoso, C. (2008). Work-family culture in academia: A gendered view of work-family conflict and coping strategies. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 23(6), 442–457.
Seeleib-Kaiser, M., & Fleckenstein, T. (2009). The political economy of occupational family policies: Comparing workplaces in Britain and Germany. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 47(4), 741–764.
Straub, C. (2012). Antecedents and organizational consequences of family supportive supervisor behavior: A multilevel conceptual framework for research. Human Resource Management Review, 22, 15–26.
Sutton, K. L., & Noe, R. A. (2005). Family-friendly programs and work-life integration: More myth than magic? In E. E. Kossek & S. J. Lambert (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives (pp. 151–170). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Sumer, S., Smithson, J., Guerreiro, M., & Granlund, L. (2008). Becoming working mothers: Reconciling work and family at three particular workplaces in Norway, the UK and Portugal. Community, Work & Family, 11(4), 365–384.
Thompson, C. A., & Prottas, D. J. (2005). Relationships among organizational family support, job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(4), 100–118.
Thompson, C. A., Beauvais, L. L., & Lyness, K. S. (1999). When work–family benefits are not enough: The influence of work–family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392–415.
Thornthwaite, L., & Sheldon, P. (2004). Employee self-rostering for work-family balance: Leading examples in Austria. Employee Relations, 26(3), 238–254.
Townsend, K., McDonald, P., & Cathcart, A. (2016). Managing flexible work arrangements in small non-for-profit firms: The influence of organizational size, financial constraints and workforce characteristics. International Journal of Human Resource Management. doi:10.1080/09585192.2015.1136671.
Vianen, A., & Fischer, A. (2002). Illuminating the glass ceiling: The role of organizational culture preferences. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75, 315–337.
Webber, M., Sarris, A., & Bessel, M. (2010). Organizational culture and the use of work-life balance initiatives: Influence on work attitudes and work-life conflict. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Organizational Psychology, 3, 54–65.
Wise, S., & Bond, S. (2003). Work-life policy: Does it do exactly what it says on the tin? Women in Management Review, 18, 20–31.
Yin, R. K. (1994). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Zartaloudis, S. (2014). The impact of the fiscal crisis on Greek and Portuguese welfare states: Retrenchment before the catch-up? Social Policy & Administration, 48(4), 430–449.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Amorim, S., Santos, G.G. (2017). Employee and Human Resource Managers Perceptions About Family-Friendly Work Practices: A Case Study Focused on Perceived Organizational Support. In: Machado, C., Davim, J. (eds) Managing Organizational Diversity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54925-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54925-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-54923-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-54925-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)