Does it pay off to offer family-friendly practices? Exploring the missing links to performance

Abstract

Family-friendly practices (FFP) are viewed as an important tool to achieve equal opportunities and a supportive culture, with potential benefits for the organizational image and its employer branding. To date, however, there is an imperfect understanding of whether FFP affect firm performance and what are the mechanism of the possible association. This study tests a comprehensive model to investigate whether FFP affect firm performance and analyzes the role played by work–life balance (WLB) as a mediator between the provision of FFP and employee attitudes and firm performance.Using a sample of 724 public and private Portuguese companies and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression, the results show that the availability of FFP indeed has a positive influence on WLB, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, but it does not impact family satisfaction. Moreover, WLB mediates the relationship between FFP and firm performance. It is noteworthy that men and women do not perceive the impact of these practices the same way, with FFP having a greater impact on female job satisfaction than on their male counterparts. In addition, participants with lower levels of education and lower levels of annual income perceive a stronger impact of FFP on organizational commitment and WLB than the remaining participants. Men and participants with lower levels of education also perceive a stronger impact of WLB on family satisfaction.

Assessment of Employee Well-Being on Organisational Effectiveness & Productivity: A Literature Review

“…Family-friendly practices which are defined as practices that support employee's work and family obligations, are important in creating a supportive and non-discriminatory environment between men and women in the workplace (Guedes, Soares, Mosquera, & Borregana, 2023). These practices generally include flexible working arrangements such as flexible working hours or telework, as well as childcare assistance (Guedes et al, 2023).…”

“…Family-friendly practices which are defined as practices that support employee's work and family obligations, are important in creating a supportive and non-discriminatory environment between men and women in the workplace (Guedes, Soares, Mosquera, & Borregana, 2023). These practices generally include flexible working arrangements such as flexible working hours or telework, as well as childcare assistance (Guedes et al, 2023). Organizations that offer flexible working arrangements tend to provide the most satisfaction for employees, specifically employees who have the option to work reduced organizational core hours or the capability to change their daily or weekly schedules (Hayman, 2010).…”

“…More organizations have moved towards working from home, remote work, hybrid work models, and virtual meetings (Juchnowicz & Kinowska, 2021). The study conducted by Guedes et al (2023) found that family-friendly practices have a positive impact on women's job satisfaction and well-being compared to their male counterparts. Furthermore, when organizations provide employees with the option to avail of family-friendly practices, it positively correlates with employee attitudes, resulting in greater well-being (Guedes et al, 2023).…”

“…The study conducted by Guedes et al (2023) found that family-friendly practices have a positive impact on women's job satisfaction and well-being compared to their male counterparts. Furthermore, when organizations provide employees with the option to avail of family-friendly practices, it positively correlates with employee attitudes, resulting in greater well-being (Guedes et al, 2023). Work-life conflict (WLC) has also been shown to decrease for employees when organizations partake in family-friendly practices (Vyas, Cheung, Ngo, & Chou, 2022).…”