Been, W.

Horta Guerreiro, M.D.

van der Lippe, T.

English

When Marissa Mayer of Yahoo! took over from her predecessor, she reduced the flexible working options of employees. After he became a father, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook extended parental leave options.These examples show that top managers of organizations are of vital importance for work-life arrangements: policies within organizations that help employees combine work and private life.There are different kinds of work-life policies. For example, the possibility to have flexible starting and ending times of a working day (flextime), the possibility to work from home (telecommuting), the reduction of working time (part-time work hours), the extension of statutory leave options and the provision of on-site childcare.There are important organizational differences in the extent of work-life arrange provided to employees. For example, organizations in the public sector tend to provide more options as do larger organizations. Also, the number of work-life arrangements provided by work organizations to employees varies between countries.When do top managers support the provision of work-life arrangements to employees in their organizations? And how does the context of the organization and country affect the conditions under which top managers are supporting the provision of work-life arrangements?A recent study looks into these questions in the context of five European countries: Finland, Portugal, UK, Slovenia and the Netherlands

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl)UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)European top managers’ support for work-life arrangementsBeen, W.; van der Lippe, T.; Horta Guerreiro, M.D.Publication date2017Document VersionFinal published versionLicenseCC BY-NC-SALink to publicationCitation for published version (APA):Been, W. (Author), van der Lippe, T. (Author), & Horta Guerreiro, M. D. (Author). (2017).European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements. Web publication or website,Work in Progress. https://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/07/european-top-managers-support-for-work-life-arrangements/General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s)and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an opencontent license (like Creative Commons).Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, pleaselet the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the materialinaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letterto: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Youwill be contacted as soon as possible.Download date:10 Mar 2023European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements | Work in Progresshttps://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/07/european-top-managers-support-for-work-life-arrangements/[22-3-2019 13:14:13]   Follow Blog via EmailEnter your email address to follow this blogand receive notifications of new posts byemail.Join 604 other followersFollowBlogrollBad HessianBeat the PressCitings and SightingsEconomic Sociology and Political EconomyEveryday SociologyFamily InequalityFemchatGender & SocietyGlobal SociologyLSE Impact of Social SciencesLSE USAPPOrgtheoryRacism ReviewScatterplotSociological ImagesSociology LensWealthInequality.orgWORK/CULTURELinksAmerican Sociological AssociationASA Section on Labor and Labor MovementsInternational Sociology AssociationSociety for the Study of Social ProblemsWork and OccupationsMetaRegisterLog inEntries RSSComments RSSWordPress.com— Work in ProgressSociology on the economy, work and inequalityHome About Panels Topics  By Guest ContributorOctober 7, 2017Research FindingsLeave a commentEuropean top managers’ support for work-lifearrangementsby Wike Been, Tanja van der Lippe and Maria das Dores Horta GuerreiroWhen Marissa Mayer of Yahoo! took over from her predecessor, she reduced the flexible workingoptions of employees. After he became a father, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook extended parentalleave options.These examples show that top managers of organizations are of vital importance for work-lifearrangements: policies within organizations that help employees combine work and private life.There are different kinds of work-life policies. For example, the possibility to have flexible starting andending times of a working day (flextime), the possibility to work from home (telecommuting), thereduction of working time (part-time work hours), the extension of statutory leave options and theprovision of on-site childcare.There are important organizational differences in the extent of work-life arrange provided toemployees. For example, organizations in the public sector tend to provide more options as do largerorganizations. Also, the number of work-life arrangements provided by work organizations toemployees varies between countries.When do top managers support the provision of work-life arrangements to employees in theirorganizations? And how does the context of the organization and country affect the conditions underwhich top managers are supporting the provision of work-life arrangements?A recent study looks into these questions in the context of five European countries: Finland, Portugal,UK, Slovenia and the Netherlands. Business case arguments and social legitimacyFollowEuropean top managers’ support for work-life arrangements | Work in Progresshttps://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/07/european-top-managers-support-for-work-life-arrangements/[22-3-2019 13:14:13]This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.Top managers support work-life arrangements when they see in their provision a good business casefor the organization. However, this is not the whole story.In the context of Europe, top managers have a preference for providing work-life arrangements that, inprinciple, target all employees rather than custom work-life arrangements for high performingemployees only. This finding can be explained by top managers’ concern about the social legitimacy ofthe organization and thus the public viewing it as a good employer.Providing custom work-life arrangements might jeopardize the public’s view of the organization in theEuropean context where equal treatment of employees is highly valued, a principle that is reinforcedby the European Union.Compared to top managers of private sector organizations, top managers of public sectororganizations have a much stronger preference for work-life arrangements that target all employees.After all, gaining social legitimacy by showing morally acceptable organizational behavior is muchmore important for them.Nevertheless, in the countries we studied, top managers of private sector organization prefer work-lifearrangements aimed at all employees. Apparently, in the European context of this study, work-lifearrangements are seen as general terms of employment rather than as personal remunerations.Flexibility arrangements preferredFlextime and telecommuting are generally more supported by top managers than extending statutoryleave policies or offering part-time options. The rapid technological developments of the last decadeshave made it increasingly easy to adopt these arrangements within organizations. Moreover, theyhave fewest consequences for employee output because they do not alter employees work hours.More state policies means more top managers’ support for flexibility arrangementsWhen the government provides more work-life policies, for example extensive leave options and child-care arrangements, top managers tend to be more supportive of providing flextime and telecommutingfor employees. Apparently the supportive climate for the combination of work and private life that iscreated by extensive state support results in top managers’ willingness to support employees evenmore by providing them with work flexibility.National differences in the support of part-time workTop managers in Finland, Portugal, and Slovenia are less supportive of the provision of part-timeoptions for employees than their counterparts in the Netherlands and the UK. This can be understoodin the context that a “full-time work hours” culture is highly prevalent in the first group of countrieswhereas part-time work is more accepted in the UK and the Netherlands.Personal experiences and characteristics of top managers do not matter?Male and female top managers are equally supportive of work-life arrangements and so are topmanagers with and without children. The personal experiences a manager has had with a work-lifeconflict or personal use of work-life arrangements also did not shape their support of the provision ofthese arrangements within their organization.Top managers’ motivation to support work-life arrangements seems driven by business casearguments and social norms rather than personal experiences. This can possibly be understood by thefact that the idea of work-life arrangements is already well-spread within the societies we studied andtop managers that support them are no longer “pioneers.” In fact, employers that do not support themto some extent can increasingly be seen as somewhat “old fashioned”. However, it can also be thecase that more nuanced personal characteristics play a role in top managers’ decision making thantaken into account in this study.What is to be done?Of all different types of work-life arrangements, top managers are most likely to introduce flexibleworking options (flextime, telecommuting) in their organizations, even when they are not legallyrequired to do so. They are most likely to do so when they see a clear business case for flexwork. Topmanagers were less inclined to provide leave provisions beyond the statutory required and part-timeoptions in their organizations. These types of work-life arrangements might need legal reinforcementor need to be provided (paid) by the government in order to make them available for employees.European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements | Work in Progresshttps://workinprogress.oowsection.org/2017/10/07/european-top-managers-support-for-work-life-arrangements/[22-3-2019 13:14:13]Leave a Reply← Previous post Next post →There is no need for the government to worry that organizations will provide fewer work-lifearrangements when the state provides more work-life policies. National differences seem to indicatethat if the government is more involved in the provision of a certain type of work-life policies (leavepolicies, day care facilities), organizations will do more in the provision of other types of work-lifearrangements (flextime, telecommuting).In the European context, there is a strong preference for providing work-life arrangements targeting allemployees. Policies intending to stimulate the provision of work-life arrangements within organizationsare most likely to be well received by managers and workers when they emphasize what theorganization can gain by their implementation and how they contribute to the organization’s overallapproach to work.Wike Been is a postdoc researcher at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies of theUniversity of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Tanja van der Lippe is a Professor in the Sociologydepartment of the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Maria das Dores Horta Guerreiro is anAssociate Professor in the Sociology department of the University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. Thisarticle summarizes findings from “European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements” inSocial Science Research. Image: Jeroen Jager, via www.jeroenjager.nl (CC) Share this:Email Twitter Facebook 44 More    LikeOne blogger likes this.RelatedBuilding Flexibility IntoThe Way We WorkThe cost of sexualharassmentWhat if MARCUS, notMarissa, Mayer bannedtelecommuting at Yahoo?In "Commentary" In "Research Findings"In "Commentary"Blog at WordPress.com.

European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements

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European top managers’ support for work-life arrangements

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