Family-Specific Social Support at Work: The Role of Open and Trustworthy Communication

Family-friendly organizational policies are important for employees to manage work and family responsibilities. Besides formal policies, research has emphasized the importance of informal social support by organizational actors. The positive effects of organizational and supervisor support are already known, but findings are limited regarding family-specific support by coworkers. Taking a communicative perspective, this study tests the assumption that social support is contingent on trustworthy and open communication. To test this, 724 German employees participated in an online survey. Results confirm the relationship between family-specific support and the outcomes job satisfaction, policy use, and work-family conflict, through open and trustworthy communication. Additionally, the study illuminates the distinct roles of organizational actors’ (i.e., coworker, supervisor, organization) support on employee outcomes in the German context.

[1]  Kristen M Shockley,et al.  A Meta-Analysis of Work–Family Conflict and Social Support , 2017, Psychological bulletin.

[2]  Leslie B. Hammer,et al.  Changing Work and Work-Family Conflict , 2014, American sociological review.

[3]  Justin P. Boren.  The Relationships between Co-Rumination, Social Support, Stress, and Burnout among Working Adults , 2014 .

[4]  Doan E. Winkel,et al.  Managing diversity at work: Does psychological safety hold the key to racial differences in employee performance? , 2013 .

[5]  Justin P. Boren,et al.  Examining the Relationships Among Peer Resentment Messages Overheard, State Guilt, and Employees’ Perceived Ability to Use Work/Family Policies , 2013 .

[6]  D. Frey,et al.  Transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust , 2013 .

[7]  Todd Bodner,et al.  WORKPLACE SOCIAL SUPPORT AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT: A META-ANALYSIS CLARIFYING THE INFLUENCE OF GENERAL AND WORK-FAMILY-SPECIFIC SUPERVISOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT. , 2011, Personnel psychology.

[8]  Laurenz L. Meier,et al.  A meta-analysis of work-family conflict and various outcomes with a special emphasis on cross-domain versus matching-domain relations. , 2011, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[9]  B. Schneider,et al.  Organizational climate and culture. , 2009, Annual review of psychology.

[10]  Leslie B. Hammer,et al.  Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB) , 2009, Journal of management.

[11]  B. Peper,et al.  Work—family policies in a contradictory culture: a Dutch financial sector corporation , 2009 .

[12]  T. Beauregard,et al.  Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance , 2009 .

[13]  N. Bowling,et al.  A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Construct Validity of the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire Job Satisfaction Subscale. , 2008 .

[14]  D. Goldsmith,et al.  Communicating Social Support , 2004 .

[15]  S. Anderson,et al.  Formal Organizational Initiatives and Informal Workplace Practices: Links to Work-Family Conflict and Job-Related Outcomes , 2002 .

[16]  R. Eisenberger,et al.  Perceived supervisor support: contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[17]  A. Wharton,et al.  Employee's Use of Work-Family Policies and the Workplace Social Context , 2002 .

[18]  Kathleen J. Krone,et al.  "The policy exists but you can't really use it": communication and the structuration of work-family policies , 2002 .

[19]  T. Allen.  Family-Supportive Work Environments: The Role of Organizational Perceptions , 2001 .

[20]  T. Allen,et al.  Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: a review and agenda for future research. , 2000, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[21]  A. Pruyn,et al.  THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION AND PERCEIVED EXTERNAL PRESTIGE ON ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION , 2000 .

[22]  Laura L. Beauvais,et al.  When Work–Family Benefits Are Not Enough: The Influence of Work–Family Culture on Benefit Utilization, Organizational Attachment, and Work–Family Conflict☆☆☆★ , 1999 .

[23]  Patricia M. Sias,et al.  From coworkers to friends: The development of peer friendships in the workplace , 1998 .

[24]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[25]  E. Kossek,et al.  Work–family conflict, policies, and the job–life satisfaction relationship: A review and directions for organizational behavior–human resources research. , 1998 .

[26]  J. Halpert,et al.  Mixed Messages: Co-Worker Responses to the Pregnant Employee , 1997 .

[27]  B. Burleson,et al.  Communication of social support: Messages, interactions, relationships, and community. , 1997 .

[28]  Karen S. Markel,et al.  Developing and Testing an Integrative Model of the Work–Family Interface , 1997 .

[29]  Paul E. Spector.  Job satisfaction: application, assessment, cause, and consequences , 1997 .

[30]  Robert McMurrian,et al.  Development and validation of work–family conflict and family–work conflict scales. , 1996 .

[31]  Patricia M. Sias.  Constructing perceptions of differential treatment: An analysis of coworker discourse , 1996 .

[32]  J. H. Davis,et al.  An Integrative Model Of Organizational Trust , 1995 .

[33]  D. Ganster,et al.  Impact of family-supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: A control perspective. , 1995 .

[34]  J. Barker.  Tightening the Iron Cage: Concertive Control in Self-Managing Teams , 1993 .

[35]  W. Sewell.  A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation , 1989, American Journal of Sociology.

[36]  Donald P. Rogers,et al.  Communication Climate, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment , 1988 .

[37]  D. P. Rogers.  The Development of a Measure of Perceived Communication Openness , 1987 .

[38]  E. Eisenberg,et al.  Reconsidering Openness in Organizational Communication , 1987 .

[39]  R. Brislin.  Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research , 1970 .

[40]  W. Goodenough,et al.  Human Group , 1951, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining. 2nd Ed..

[41]  R. Richter,et al.  The New Roles of Men and Women and Implications for Families and Societies , 2018 .

[42]  L. Raymond,et al.  The role of supervisory behavior, job satisfaction and organizational commitment on employee turnover , 2016 .

[43]  F. Esch,et al.  Mit Employer Branding die Arbeitgeberattraktivität steigern , 2014 .

[44]  M. Butts,et al.  How Important Are Work-Family Support Policies? A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Their Effects on Employee Outcomes , 2013, The Journal of applied psychology.

[45]  David J. Prottas,et al.  Relationships among organizational family support, job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being. , 2006, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[46]  P. Brough,et al.  Work/Family Conflict, Psychological Well-Being, Satisfaction and Social Support: A Longitudinal Study in New Zealand , 2004 .

[47]  P. O. Saksvik,et al.  Expanding the psychosocial work environment: workplace norms and work-family conflict as correlates of stress and health. , 2004, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[48]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[49]  Jeffrey H. Greenhaus,et al.  Sources of Conflict Between Work and Family Roles , 1985 .

[50]  J. House.  Work stress and social support , 1981 .