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This paper examines life on and off the job for a nationally representative sample of 2958 wage and salaried workers, comparing the situations of parent and nonparent employees within the sample. Although parent and nonparent employees were found to be quite similar in most respects, some notable differences were revealed—in the value they place on different benefits and workplace policies; in the extent of the sacrifices they have made in their family/personal lives for the sake of their jobs or careers, and vice versa; and in the time they have available off the job for themselves and with their spouses after completing household chores and fulfilling child care responsibilities. In addition, parent employees exhibited significantly poorer quality of life outcomes than nonparents—higher levels of conflict between work and family I personal life, more stress, and less effective coping. Analyses designed to identify the workplace conditions under which employed parents fared better found that parents had better outcomes (less conflict, less stress, and better coping) when they had jobs with greater autonomy, more schedule control, fewer demands, and greater security. Parents also fared better when they had more supportive workplaces—more supportive supervisors, more supportive workplace cultures, and opportunities for job advancement that were not inhibited by gender or race. In contrast, access to policies, programs, and fringe benefits specifically intended to be family friendly—flexible time and leave policies and dependent care assistance—was not associated with lower levels of work‐family conflict, and only slightly predictive of lower stress and better coping.

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Using a nationally representative sample of data collected from waged and salaried employees in the United States (n = 2810) by the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), we evaluate workplace flexibility as another critical ingredient in creating an effective workplace. The study examined the bivariate relationships between six factors of workplace effectiveness and three job outcomes (job engagement, job satisfaction, employee retention) and one employee outcome (mental health). It also examined the relationship between a composite measure of overall workplace effectiveness and the four outcomes. Results indicated that all six aspects of workplace effectiveness and the composite measure of overall workplace effectiveness were strongly and positively related to job engagement, job satisfaction, and employee retention. They were also positively, but more modestly, related to employee mental health.It is more challenging than ever to manage effectively-to recruit top talent, to engage and retain this talent, and to maximize productivity-in the face of fierce competition, more complicated jobs, and changing workforce demographics. Growing numbers of employers are managing quite differently than they did only two decades ago as they attempt to create workplaces in which employees can work more effectively. These efforts have led researchers and management consultants to explore workplace factors that are essential to effective workplaces.Correspondence should be sent to Jenet I.