Successes in Changing Flexible Work Arrangement Use

Sweet, Stephen; Pitt‐Catsouphes, Marcie; James, Jacquelyn Boone

doi:10.1177/0730888415595094

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Training and resources for managers that would facilitate their support for fathers taking leave was another aspect of absent infrastructure. Previous research has shown managers are unlikely to promote use of family-supportive work arrangements unless they see this as part of their job, have received training in the task and believe that the organization will hold them accountable (Sweet, Pitt-Catsouphes, & Boone James, 2016). Despite the fact that Swedish fathers have had the right to paid parental leave since 1974, a blue-collar manager complained, top management could come up with examples of solutions, we know of course that people should be able to be at home with children today, but I think that there isn't always a foundation in practice for how we fill the gap when someone is away.…”

Section: Lack Of Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace support and European fathers’ use of state policies promoting shared childcare

Haas

Hwang

2018

Community, Work & Family

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Social policies such as paternity leave and parental leave offer fathers the opportunity to be more involved in childcare than earlier generations of fathers. While such policies are increasingly offered by governments around the world, research by the International Network on Leave Policies and Research shows that many European fathers do not take advantage of these benefits, despite fathers' growing interest in participation in early childcare. This article introduces a special issue devoted to understanding how the workplace can impact European fathers' interest in and abilities to take leave, a topic that has received relatively little research attention. The articles in the special issue suggest that barriers to European fathers' leavetaking are deeply embedded in workplace culture and work practices and will be difficult to eradicate without a dramatic challenge to the concept of the male ideal worker, who prioritizes work above family. RÉSUMÉ Les politiques sociales comme le congé de paternité et le congé parental offrent aux pères l'opportunité de s'involver dans les soins aux enfants plus que les pères des générations précédentes l'ont fait. Tandis que telles politiques sont offertes de plus en plus par les gouvernements autour du monde, les recherches du Réseau international sur les Politiques de Congé montrent que beacoup de pères ne prennent pas davantage de ces bénéfices. Cet article introduit un numéro thématique sur la compréhension de l'impact du lieu de travail sur l'intérêt des pères européens au congé et sur leur capacité d'en profiter, un sujet auquel les recherches ont accordé peu d'attention. Les articles dans ce numéro thématique suggèrent que les barrières à l'utilisation des congés par les pères sont profondément intégrées dans la culture du lieu de travail et les habitudes de travail, et seront difficiles à éliminer sans un défi dramatique contre la conception de l'homme travailleur idéal, qui donne priorité au travail plutôt qu'à la famille.

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Section: Lack Of Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace support and European fathers’ use of state policies promoting shared childcare

Haas

Hwang

2018

Community, Work & Family

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“…Flexible work arrangements have become an expectation of younger generations within the workplace (Lyons & Kuron, 2014). Original Research Sweet, Pitt-Catsouphes and Boone James (2016) discovered that older managers were less likely to implement FWAs and that women were more inclined to use and implement such arrangements. Kahn (1990) defines employee engagement as a work situation whereby employees are engaged cognitively, physically and emotionally in their job roles.…”

Section: Flexible Work Arrangementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of flexible work arrangements on employee engagement: An exploratory study

Weideman

Hofmeyr

2020

SA Journal of Human Resource Management

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This research was conducted to explore the influence of FWAs on employee engagement in order to gain a richer understanding than what is offered in pre-existing literature, and to provide practical recommendations to practitioners through a proposed framework.Motivation for the study: Flexible work arrangements are becoming increasingly popular management practices within the business landscape. Significant research has been conducted to understand the influence of FWAs on various employee engagement constructs; however, these findings still show considerable variations and are highly inconsistent.Research approach/design and method: This study used a qualitative mono method to explore the influence of FWAs on employee engagement. Qualitative, exploratory data allowed the researchers to gain new insights. A total of 23 semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted. Respondents comprised eight subject matter experts and 15 employees from six different organisations, across six different industries. Interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.Main findings: This study found a positive relationship between FWAs and employee engagement. It also revealed that FWAs were positively associated with various employee engagement constructs found in the literature, with the most prominent finding showing positive influence of FWAs on employee well-being.Practical/managerial implications: This study further developed a proposed framework for the successful implementation of FWAs to improve employee engagement. Contribution/value-add:This study offers theoretical, methodological and practical implications for employee engagement and human resource development scholars and practitioners motivated to find ways to better manage FWAs and improve employee engagement.

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“…It is therefore important to study the role that managers -who for the most part are men in large private companies -constrain or facilitate fathers' leavetaking, through gatekeeping and mentoring (Blithe, 2015). Men managers are less likely than women managers to facilitate employees use of flexible working arrangements (Sweet, Pitt-Catsouphes & James, 2016). They also tend to behave as role models following the ideal worker norm by t working long hours and seldom using work-life policies (den Dulk, Peper, Sadar & Lewis, 2011).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Policy is not enough – the influence of the gendered workplace on fathers’ use of parental leave in Sweden

Haas

Hwang

2018

Community, Work & Family

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While fathers in Sweden have had the right to paid parental leave since 1974, fathers take only one-fourth of all days of parental leave parents take. There is a strong cultural norm of involved fatherhood, so couples typically want to share leave more evenly than they in fact do. This article explores how the workplace might constrain fathers' use of this policy, a topic that receives much less attention than economic or attitudinal obstacles. Based on interviews with 56 employees in five large private sector companies, we found that fathers' opportunities for parental leave were reported to exist at the margins rather than at the center of their work lives. Workplace culture included deeply held normative expectations that made it difficult for fathers to choose to take leave, while several aspects of workplace structure negatively affected fathers' capabilities of taking leave. Workplace culture and structure seemed to be based on the gendered idea that the ideal worker will prioritize work and has limited caregiving responsibilities, which set meaningful limits to fathers' ability to take even the two months of nontransferable leave granted by legislation. Future research should explore how formidable these obstacles are in a more representative sample of companies. Contemporary fathers are expected to be more involved in childcare than earlier generations (Coltrane, 2009). The right to government-mandated paid parental leave is a policy that could increase men's involvement in early childcare, without sacrificing their labor market status. Parental leave for fathers is also a policy that can promote gender equality, since fathers who take parental leave are more likely to share childcare with partners after their leaves are over (

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Successes in Changing Flexible Work Arrangement Use

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Workplace support and European fathers’ use of state policies promoting shared childcare

Workplace support and European fathers’ use of state policies promoting shared childcare

The influence of flexible work arrangements on employee engagement: An exploratory study

Policy is not enough – the influence of the gendered workplace on fathers’ use of parental leave in Sweden

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