Direct and indirect links between organizational work-home culture and employee well-being

The extent to which an organization’s culture exhibits support for its employees’ efforts to balance work and personal responsibilities has been shown to influence a number of work- and home-related outcomes. This study tests a model with a mix of mediated and moderated relationships to investigate direct and indirect routes by which work-home culture may affect employee well-being. Sex differences in these relationships are also explored. Data collected from public sector employees in the UK indicate that a supportive work-home culture is significantly associated with lower levels of psychosomatic strain among employees. For women, this relationship is mediated by reduced levels of work-home interference. Different types of support demonstrate different effects for men and for women: managerial support has a more beneficial impact on women’s well-being, and organizational time demands have a more detrimental impact on men’s well-being. Recommendations for managers to boost employee well-being include shifting the focus away from presenteeism and toward work outputs in order to reduce gender stereotypes and improve attitudes toward those using flexible work practices and family-friendly initiatives, incorporating work-home supportiveness into the managerial performance appraisal process, and compensating or otherwise recognizing employees taking on absent colleagues’ workloads