Jarrod M. Haar and Michael P. O’Driscoll
This study explored a number of work‐family attitudes and the current and future use of work‐family practices by gender, using a sample of 100 New Zealand employees. Females were…
Abstract
This study explored a number of work‐family attitudes and the current and future use of work‐family practices by gender, using a sample of 100 New Zealand employees. Females were significantly more supportive of work‐family practice users towards both male and female users. Female employees also perceived greater benefits from work‐family practices than male respondents. Finally, female respondents were more likely to consider using work‐family practices in the future, although there were no differences to wards current use of work‐family practices by gender. Overall, the findings suggest that female employees are more supportive of work‐family practices, their users, and the benefits associated with their use, supporting the socialisation theoretical perspective. The implications for research are discussed.
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The purpose of this paper is to understand the benefits of flexitime amongst users and non‐users, and determine what flexitime is used for by employees using a gender perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the benefits of flexitime amongst users and non‐users, and determine what flexitime is used for by employees using a gender perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The study consisted of interviews of 30 employees of a New Zealand local‐government organisation, including 22 users and eight non‐users of flexitime. Social exchange theory was used to test the benefits of flexitime towards job attitudes and work‐family balance, while the socialisation perspective was used to explore flexitime usage divided into use by gender and parental status.
Findings
Employees were highly positive of flexitime, including the eight non‐users. Further, many positive comments were made regarding the important role that flexitime plays in allowing employees to balance their work and family commitments. Analysis showed that while there were no differences between males and females who had no dependants, there were major differences between parents. Mothers, exclusively used their flexitime to support their mothering role like attending school events, while fathers used flexitime for personal activities such as exercise.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this research is the small sample of employees interviewed. Implications are that flexitime is a very positive work‐family practice with universal appeal to all employees including non‐users. However, this may come at the expense of reinforcing gendered roles for working mothers and fathers. Future research is needed to determine whether the flexitime usage by gender is universal, and whether working parents see the reinforcing of gender roles as a negative.
Originality/value
This paper undertakes one of the few examinations of employee usage of flexitime by gender and parental status, and clearly provides insights that can aid the work‐family and gender literature. It also reinforces the value of a work‐family practice to users and non‐users alike.
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Jarrod M. Haar, Chester S. Spell and Michael P. O'Driscoll
This study aims to test the belief that work‐family practices could have a negative influence in the workplace for non‐users of these practices.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test the belief that work‐family practices could have a negative influence in the workplace for non‐users of these practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative approach was undertaken, where users and non‐users of work‐family practices reported on a number of job‐related attitudes. Organisational justice theories suggest that employees will report lower attitudes if they feel that they are missing out on some benefit or practice. T‐tests were used to compare differences in these attitudes between users and non‐users.
Findings
There were no significant differences in any of the examined attitudes between users and non‐users of the organisations' work‐family practices.
Research limitations/implications
Implications are that firms should not necessarily decline the adoption of work‐family practices if they fear a “backlash” from their employees who would not use work‐family practices. The authors suggest that the social good these practices may provide might remove any negative feelings towards the organisation by employees who cannot use these practices.
Practical implications
Practical implications for public sector organisations might be offering work‐family practices that target the widest array of employees. Further, future research into work‐family backlash should compare actual users of multiple practices as explored here.
Originality/value
This is one of the few papers to explore users and non‐users of multiple work‐family practices. It confirms previous research into work‐family backlash, indicating that the non‐users are not adversely affected by work‐family practices that they do not or cannot use. However, unlike other studies, this paper explored the use of multiple work‐family practices, providing stronger and more realistic findings for managers to have confidence in their work‐family practices.
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Jarrod M. Haar and Chester S. Spell
The paper seeks to understand the adoption rates of total quality management (TQM) by New Zealand firms, and the role that organisational size plays in determining adoption rates.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to understand the adoption rates of total quality management (TQM) by New Zealand firms, and the role that organisational size plays in determining adoption rates.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 997 random New Zealand firms of all sizes yielded 228 responses. Factors tested to predict TQM adoption were organisational size, workplace autonomy, performance standards, use of teams and group problem solving. In addition, organisational size was tested as a potential moderating variable on the other factors.
Findings
Overall, 33 per cent of firms in New Zealand used TQM, with an addition 5 per cent no longer using TQM, indicating strong adoption rates by international standards. All the direct effects and moderating effects were supported. Consequently, firms with higher level of workplace autonomy, use of performance standards, use of teams, and use of group problem solving were more likely to have adopted TQM, and this was more likely for larger firms than smaller firms. As a result, strong support was found for the interacting effect of organisational size.
Research limitations/implications
The implications are that TQM adoption rates are much higher in New Zealand than suggested in the international literature. A highlight of the present study is the focus on firms of all sizes, rather than being limited to only larger sized firms.
Originality/value
This paper provides much needed information on the state of TQM in New Zealand and provides a unique approach by testing the moderating effects of organisational size on predictor factors on New Zealand firms.
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Maree Roche and Jarrod M. Haar
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of leaders’ life goals on their work related wellbeing. Self‐determination theory (SDT) asserts aspirations (life goals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of leaders’ life goals on their work related wellbeing. Self‐determination theory (SDT) asserts aspirations (life goals) pursued in terms of personal growth, health, affiliation and community support psychological wellbeing, while aspirations of wealth, image and fame thwart wellbeing. However, little is understood about the influence of life goals towards leaders’ wellbeing at work, specifically job burnout.
Design
The study explores seven dimensions of aspirations on a sample of 386 New Zealand leaders towards emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Data were collected in two waves (1=predictors and 2=outcomes) and structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships between variables.
Findings
The study found that all extrinsic aspirations were significantly and positively correlated with job burnout, while mainly the intrinsic aspirations were significantly and negatively correlated. The structural model showed that wealth and image aspirations were positively related to emotional exhaustion and cynicism, while health aspirations were negatively related. Finally, relationship aspirations were negatively related to cynicism.
Implications
This study shows the importance of life goals and the role they play towards leaders’ job burnout. Leaders focussed on extrinsic aspirations are more likely to burnout at work than those focussed on intrinsic aspirations. Hence, what leaders focus on in terms of overall life objectives matter for their workplace wellbeing.
Originality/value
Findings are significant because, for the first time, relationships between the SDT dimensions associated with (a leader's) life goal orientations and job burnout has been established.
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Job burnout is a popular topic for researchers and a pressing issue for employees and employers. However, the most popular measure has become widely critiqued, and a new construct…
Abstract
Purpose
Job burnout is a popular topic for researchers and a pressing issue for employees and employers. However, the most popular measure has become widely critiqued, and a new construct – the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) – has been offered as a better way to assess burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 1,022 employees across a wide range of occupations, sectors and industries. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and odds ratio calculations are explored.
Findings
The present psychometric properties of the BAT construct are supported. Overall, 11.1% of employees met the high burnt-out risk threshold. Determinants of burnt-out risk were explored, with significant findings from high perceptions of organizational support, large firm-size, young age and long work hours found. No gender differences. The odds ratio provides greater insights into the risks associated with factors, especially working 55+ hours/week, which resulted in 580% higher risk of burnt-out risk.
Research limitations/implications
The findings highlight the danger of burnt-out risk and provide a useful benchmark for those exploring the burnt-out risk rate.
Originality/value
The BAT has not been tested in New Zealand across a sample of employees. Given the large size and breadth of employees, this provides useful generalizability to the BAT-NZ. The determinants tested here are all unique to the literature and provide new insights.
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Jarrod Haar, Candice Harris and Barbara Myers
The purpose of this paper is to extend the study of work-life balance (WLB) by exploring the influence of WLB amongst older workers. Theoretically, this study suggests that the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the study of work-life balance (WLB) by exploring the influence of WLB amongst older workers. Theoretically, this study suggests that the psychological benefits of age on relationships between WLB and well-being might be stronger for those “younger” older workers than those working toward or beyond retirement age. This study tests a moderated mediation model whereby the effects of WLB on anxiety and depression (through job stress) are moderated by age.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data from 512 New Zealand employees in three older age cohorts (55–59 years, 60–64 and 65+ years).
Findings
This study finds that WLB reduces job stress and leads to lower anxiety and depression. Job stress positively influences anxiety and depression and partially mediates the influence of WLB. Significant interaction effects are found by age, with the lower age cohort (55–59 years) reporting the strongest benefits from WLB and this effect reduces as employees get older but remains significant.
Social implications
Even when focusing on older workers, the findings show younger older workers elicit stronger benefits from WLB toward well-being, although all age groups find WLB beneficial.
Originality/value
This paper offers novel insights into the question of whether the importance of WLB for well-being differs among older workers.
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Vinh Le Nguyen and Jarrod Haar
Supporting employees’ work–life balance (WLB) has been a standard human resource management practice, thus the concern is now shifted toward its outcomes. The present study…
Abstract
Purpose
Supporting employees’ work–life balance (WLB) has been a standard human resource management practice, thus the concern is now shifted toward its outcomes. The present study predicts that while WLB can boost organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), this positive effect may depend on the quality of leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships. The study seeks evidence to clarify how the WLB–OCBs relationship can be moderated by the LMX quality.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 216 frontline employees in New Zealand was used to test two moderation models using SPSS, AMOS and PROCESS macro.
Findings
WLB was found to have substantial effects on OCBs-individual (OCBs-I) and OCBs-organization (OCBs-O) if the quality of LMX was high. Under low LMX quality, however, WLB failed to boost OCBs-I and OCBs-O. Thus, the influence of WLB on OCBs seems to be conditional on the leader–subordinate relationship as a boundary factor.
Practical implications
Supporting low-LMX-quality employees to balance their work–life roles seems insufficient to push OCBs. Managers and organizations need to improve the quality of leader–subordinate relationships to unblock the desired effects of WLB toward OCBs, and, ultimately, organizational effectiveness and performance.
Originality/value
The findings extend the research stream around the boundary impact of LMX relationships on the employees’ WLB – OCBs link in which the OCBs construct was especially examined in terms of OCBs-I and OCBs-O.
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Jarrod Haar and Kirsty de Jong
The purpose of this paper is to explore impostor syndrome or impostor phenomenon (IP), which is defined as high-achieving individuals' failure to internalize accomplishments…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore impostor syndrome or impostor phenomenon (IP), which is defined as high-achieving individuals' failure to internalize accomplishments. Despite the wide study of IP, the role of the context beyond the individual is largely ignored, although recently, calls have been made for such scrutiny. In this study perceived organizational support (POS) is included as a contextual factor.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a large and representative sample (n = 1,042) of New Zealand employees, the study seeks to investigate IP using the standard Clance IP scale test, and the frequency of IP is calculated. Next, it assesses the links between IP and mental health, specifically job anxiety and job depression, are explored. POS is included as a moderator.
Findings
Overall, the study finds solid evidence of the psychometric properties of the scale, with the following frequencies across categories: few IP issues (14.0%), moderate IP issues (37.3%), frequent IP issues (39.7%) and intense IP issues (8.9%). Regression analysis shows that IP is positively related to job anxiety and job depression. The interactions between POS and IP support the hypothesized buffering effect. Additional tests suggest that IP is a widespread workplace phenomenon irrespective of individual or organization demographics.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study highlight the common nature of IP in the workplace and its role in mental health. However, POS clearly can play a key role in its management in the workplace.
Originality/value
The IP literature has a limited focus on workplaces, and mental health, including POS as a moderator, and provides additional value.