133 research outputs found
Connections with Coworkers on Social Network Sites: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A large number of individuals are connected with their coworkers on social network sites (SNS) that are personal and professional (e.g., Facebook), with consequences on workplace relationships. Drawing on SNS, social identity and boundary management literatures, we surveyed 202 employees and found that coworkersâ friendship-acts (e.g., liking, commenting) were positively associated with closeness to coworkers when coworkers were of the same age or older than the focal individual, and with organizational citizenship behaviors towards coworkers (OCBI) when coworkers were of the same age. Harmful behaviors from coworkers (e.g., disparaging comment) were negatively associated with closeness (but not with OBCI) when coworkers were older than the focal individual. In addition, preferences for the segmentation of oneâs professional and personal roles moderated the relationship between coworkersâ friendship-acts and OCBI (but not closeness) such that the positive relationship was stronger when the focal individual had low (vs. high) preferences for segmentation
When are Social Network Sites Connections with Coworkers Beneficial? The Roles of Age Difference and Preferences for Segmentation between Work and Life
Individuals are increasingly connected with their coworkers on personal and professional social network sites (SNS) (e.g., Facebook), with consequences for workplace relationships. Drawing on SNS research and on social identity and boundary management theory, we surveyed 202 employees and found that coworkersâ friendship acts (e.g., liking, commenting) were positively associated with closeness to coworkers when coworkers were similar in age to or older than the respondent and were positively associated with organizational citizenship behaviors towards coworkers (OCBI) when coworkers were similar in age. Conversely, harmful behaviors from coworkers (e.g., disparaging comments) were negatively associated with closeness when coworkers were older than the respondent, and with OCBI when coworkers were older than the respondent and coworkersâ friendship acts were high. Preferences for work-life segmentation moderated the relationship between coworkersâ friendship acts and OCBI (but not closeness) such that the positive relationship was stronger when the respondent had low (vs. high) preferences for segmentation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study and propose an agenda for future research
Desperately Seeking Sustainable Careers: Redesigning Professional Jobs for the Collaborative Crafting of Reduced-Load Work
Reduced-load (RL) work, a flexible customized form of part-time work in which a full-time job is redesigned to reduce the hours and the workload while taking a pay cut, can enable sustainable careers. Yet previous research suggests mixed results, with RL work facing implementation hurdles such as insufficient workload reduction, and stalled careers often adversely affecting women and caregivers. This study, therefore, focuses on the implementation of sustainable RL work and sheds light on key issues under-examined in prior studies: 1) the job redesign tactics that supervising managers implement to reduce workloads, and 2) shared responsibilities at the job and organizational levels. Drawing on the literature on sustainable careers, work redesign, and job crafting, we analyze 86 qualitative interviews with managers who experimented with RL work, HR experts, and executives in 20 organizations that were early adopters of RL work. We identify differentiating and integrating work redesign tactics that either reduced or reshuffled workloads. Next, we propose a three-stage process of collaborative crafting of RL work, in which employees, managers, and employers share responsibilities to strengthen the work redesign tactics and manage cultural expectations to support RL implementation. We provide implications for future research and practice
Connecting with Coworkers on Social Network Sites: Strategies, Social Norms and Outcomes on Work Relationships
Although an increasing number of individuals are connected with their coworkers on social network sites (SNS) that are professional and personal (e.g., Facebook), little research has explored the outcomes of these connections on interpersonal relationships at work. Drawing on SNS research as well as on an existing typology of online boundary management strategies (i.e., audience , content , custom and open ), we took an exploratory qualitative approach and interviewed all employees of 4 teams in diverse working environments. Our findings reveal that although intervieweesâ behaviors reflected the 4 strategies, there were gray zones, and the audience strategy veered off course. Almost all interviewees monitored their content disclosure through either content or custom strategies. Specific social norms regarding SNS emerged. The outcomes of connecting with coworkers on SNS were mostly positive, including liking, closeness, respect, and organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (OCBI). However, disliking, loss of respect and envy were also mentioned
Supportive organizations, workâfamily enrichment, and job burnout in low and high humane orientation cultures
The present study draws on the workâfamily and cross-national management literature to examine the relationships between Family-Supportive Organizational Perceptions (FSOP), workâfamily enrichment, and job burnout across five countries with different cultural backgrounds: Malaysia, New Zealand, France, Italy, and Spain. Using a combined sample of 980 employees, we find support for a partial mediation model in which FSOP is positively associated with workâfamily enrichment, which in turn is negatively related to job burnout. Given our focus on support, we test the moderating role of the cultural value humane orientation, that is, the extent to which a society values altruism, kindness, and compassion. The five countries in our sample offer variation in their country-level scores as determined by the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004). We found that individuals from cultures that scored higher in âas isâ humane orientation (i.e., scores for actual practices) experienced lower job burnout when FSOP increased. This pattern was reversed when considering âshould beâ humane orientation (i.e., scores for ideal values). The implications for the workâfamily and the cross-national management literature, and for practice, are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Swearing at Work: The Mixed Outcomes of Profanity
We explore the use and misuse of swearing in the workplace. Using a qualitative methodology, we interviewed 52 lawyers, medical doctors and business executives in the UK, France, and the U.S. In contrast to much of the incivility and social norms literatures, we find that male and female business executives, lawyers and doctors of all ages admit to swearing. Further, swearing can lead to positive outcomes at the individual, interpersonal and group levels, including stress-relief, communication-enrichment, and socialization-enhancement. An implication for future scholarship is that âthinking out of the boxâ when exploring emotion related issues can lead to new insights. Practical implications include reconsidering and tolerating incivility under certain conditions. We identified a case in which a negative phenomenon reveals counter-intuitive yet insightful results
Remote Workersâ Privacy Concerns, Psychological Climate for Face Time, and Organizational Affective Commitment
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the shift to high-intensity remote workâthree days or more a weekâaccelerated the digitalization of work processes on platforms such as Slack or Teams and the blurring of boundaries between work and personal life through videoconferencing and the use of personal devices for work. This paper explores the relationships between high-intensity remote workersâ information and communication technologies (ICT) privacy concerns, psychological climate for face time, and organizational affective commitment. Building on organizational support and social information processing theories, we argue that ICT privacy concerns and perceptions that an organization values physical presence in-office may undermine commitment to the organization. Based on a two-wave study of 1065 remote workers in a large multinational bank, we find that ICT privacy concerns and psychological climate for face time reinforce one another and are negatively associated with subsequent affective organizational commitment
A cross-national study on the antecedents of workâlife balance from the fit and balance perspective
Drawing on the perceived workâfamily fit and balance perspective, this study investigates demands and resources as antecedents of workâlife balance (WLB) across four countries (New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain), so as to provide empirical cross-national evidence. Using structural equation modelling analysis on a sample of 870 full time employees, we found that work demands, hours worked and family demands were negatively related to WLB, while job autonomy and supervisor support were positively related to WLB. We also found evidence that resources (job autonomy and supervisor support) moderated the relationships between demands and workâlife balance, with high resources consistently buffering any detrimental influence of demands on WLB. Furthermore, our study identified additional predictors of WLB that were unique to some national contexts. For example, in France and Italy, overtime hours worked were negatively associated with WLB, while parental status was positively associated with WLB. Overall, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Boundary Management Permeability and Relationship Satisfaction in Dual-Earner Couples: The Asymmetrical Gender Effect
Given the increasing use of technology and the growing blurring of the boundaries between the work and nonwork domains, decisions about when to interrupt work for family and vice versa can have critical implications for relationship satisfaction within dual-earner couples. Using a sample of 104 dual-earner couples wherein one of the partners is a member of the largest Italian smartphone-user community, this study examines how variation in boundary management permeability within dual-earner couples relates to partner relationship satisfaction, and whether the effect differed by gender and partnersâ agreement on caregiving roles in the family. Using actorâpartner analysis, we examined the degree to which an individual and his or her partnerâs level of family-interrupting work behaviors (FIWB, e.g., taking a call from the partner while at work) and work-interrupting family behaviors (WIFB, e.g., checking work emails during family dinner) was positively related to relationship satisfaction. Results show that women experienced greater relationship satisfaction than men when their partners engaged in higher levels of FIWB, and this relationship was stronger when partners had perceptual congruence on who is primarily responsible for caregiving arrangements in the family. This study advances research on dual-earner couples by showing the importance of examining boundary management permeability as a family social phenomenon capturing transforming gender roles
Gender Inequality in Household Chores and Work-Family Conflict
The fact that the permeability between family and work scopes produces work-family
conflict (WFC) is well established. As such, this research aims to check whether the
unequal involvement in household chores between men and women is associated with
increased WFC in women and men, interpreting the results also from the knowledge
that arise from gender studies. A correlational study was carried out by means
a questionnaire applied to 515 subjects (63% men) of two independent samples
of Spanish men and women without emotional relationship, who lived with their
heterosexual partner. As expected, results firstly show unequal involvement in household
chores by women and men as it is higher in women that in men, and the perception
of partner involvement is lower in women that in men. Secondly, those unequal
involvements relate differently to men and women on different ways of work-family
interaction. They do not increase WFC in women comparing to men, although there
are tangentially significant differences in work conflict (WC) and statistically significant in
family conflict (FC). However, perception of partner involvement on household chores
increases WFC both in men and in women but not WC nor FC. Nevertheless, increase
on marital conflict (MC) by domestic tasks neither affect in a significant way WFC
in women nor in men, but increase WC in both women and men and FC only in
women. Results also confirm that subject involvement on household chores is not a
significant predictor of WFC in women nor in men, and that MC by domestic tasks
is a statistically significant predictor in women of WFC and FC, but not in men. Thus,
results show that traditional gender roles still affect the way men and women manage
the work and family interaction, although the increased WFC due to involvement in
housework is not exclusive to women, but also occurs in men. Personal and institutional
recommendations are made on the basis of these results to cope with these conflicts
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