Show me the evidence! Identifying and
developing evidence-based work-life policies
and practices from a systematic review of
Australian and international research
Natalie Skinner & Janine Chapman
• Educating Professionals • Creating and Applying Knowledge • Engaging our Communities
Today …….
CWL review:
•1,926 AU & international publications (2000 – 2013)
Eby et al (2005)
• 190 work-family studies 1980 – 2002
• quantitative psychology/management pubs
Is there anywhere on earth exempt from these swarms of new books?”
(Erasmus, early 16th century scholar)
And further, by these, my sonne, be admonished: of making many bookes there
is no end, and much studie is a wearinesse of the flesh.
(Ecclesiastes, 1611 King James Bible)
We have reason to fear that the multitude of books which grows every day in a
prodigious fashion will make the following centuries fall into a state as
barbarous as that of the centuries that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.
(Adrien Baillet, 1685, French scholar and critic, biographer of René Descartes)
CWL review ……2000 - 2013
• AU & NZ research in peer-reviewed journals
• Quant + qual
• N = 23 studies of general workforce
• N = 43 (select) industry studies
• 10 public sector
• 17 health/social services
• 16 construction
• Less common: longitudinal
• Rare: org interventions
Inclusion criteria
1. The study must include measures of work-life outcomes
• work-family or work-life conflict, facilitation, spillover, interaction,
intersection etc
2. The study findings must be applicable to policy formation and
development
3. The research must be located in Australia or New Zealand
4. The article must be published between 2000 and 2013 in a peerreviewed publication.
International evidence - outcomes
• 3 x meta-analyses
• consistent: physical & psychological health, job satisfaction
• .20 - .40 (burnout, stress)
• mixed: absenteeism, performance, turnover intention
• n.s to .29
• 10 x longitudinal studies
• consistent: mental health (burnout, psych distress), sickness
absence
• Australian studies (n = 6)
• Consistent: psych distress, turnover/absenteeism
Performance & productivity
• Meta-analyses of WLI-perf assoc: .11 - .16
• Complexity – measurement, predictors
• Gilboa et al (2008): job ambiguity strongest predictor of performance
• Indirect relationship via:
•
Reduced sickness absence / absenteeism
•
Greater motivation/commitment/effort (reciprocity norm)
• Libby Holden & colleagues – AU study
• longer hours  reduced performance effectiveness & increased
absenteeism
Major policy areas:
• Flexibility
• Work hours
• Leave (paid/unpaid)
• Childcare
Flexibility
Australian studies
• consistent: lower work-life interference (WLI)
• mixed: type of flexible work practices
International studies – meta-analyses & longitudinal studies
• mixed: impact on WLI
• n.s to -.30
• Nijp et al 2012: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, self-rated perf
• *Best Buy intervention in U.S
Hours
Australian studies (n = 10)
• Consistent: higher work-life interference (WLI)
• Mixed: exact number of hours (40 – 41+)
International studies – meta-analyses
• Consistent: higher WLI
• Actual hours & time demands (expectations to work long hours)
• .21 to .27
Leave & childcare
Where is the research on w-l outcomes (& do we need it)?
• Australian qual studies on uptake of leave
• Family/parenting strains, turnover
• AWALI – uptake of paid leave (*mothers*)
• AU qual studies on childcare
• Women’s employment participation, reduced work-family stress
What does it take …… ?
‘Best Buy’ Head Office – U.S
Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)
• Employee and manager training, executive support
• Flexible work the norm, regardless of gender, life stage, work role
• Culture & practices: employees “do whatever they want, whenever
they want, as long as the work gets done”
• Workers change work arrangements without asking permission
But wait, it’s complicated …….
“boundaryless” jobs & “greedy organisations”
• Task & time autonomy, responsibility for work & outcomes
• Performance linked to job security & promotion
• Focus on high commitment to achieving work goals, no matter what the work
hours required to achieve performance targets within strict deadlines
A large number of Dutch workers “find themselves trapped in a cycle of unfinished tasks
and after-hours duties despite new laws and regulations that broaden the individual
possibilities to choose the desired amount of working hours” van Echtelt et al (2006)
International studies – meta-analyses
• N=8
• Organisational culture
• .27 - .31
• Workload
• .45 - .65
In sum…..
• Educating Professionals • Creating and Applying Knowledge • Engaging our Communities
Policy/practice
Evidence
Flexible work arrangements
 Offer a range
AU (WLI)
International (health/
org outcomes)
Work hours (actual & expected)
 Cap at average of 40–41 hrs (?)
AU & Int
Paid leave – recreational &
parental/care
AU & Int (qual)
 Encourage/mandate uptake
Rating


workload, culture

Fit with preferences
?
Other considerations
Men’s participation in
parenting/ care (AU, Int)
Women’s employment
participation
Infant/child health
Psych research: rest & recovery
Policy/practice
Evidence
Rating

Other considerations
Childcare services
 Organisations & governments
AU & Int (qual)
Workload
AU & Int
Qual & Quant

‘deal breaker’
Culture
AU & Int
Qual & Quant

‘catalyst’
?
Women’s employment
participation
Policy is necessary but not sufficient
How do you change workplace cultures?
• Make non-standard work practices mainstream
• Not “special consideration” for “privileged few”
• eg Best Buy in the U.S
• Managers & supervisors embody & communicate organisational culture
• Supervisor training
• Address “unintended consequences”
• Outcomes speak louder than policies
• Protect against economic, social & career penalties
• For employees and supportive managers
• Importance of supportive co-workers
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
T.S Eliot, Four Quartets
Lack of
‘downtime’
in non-work
hours,
increased
stress
24/7 access
to email &
work tasks
Feelings of
compulsion to
remain
constantly
connected &
up-to-date
Mazmanian et al (2013). The Autonomy
Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email
Devices for Knowledge Professionals.
Organization Science
21
Feel
competent,
productive, in
control, enjoy
flexibility
Development
of collective
norm of being
constantly
available &
responsive
We shape our tools and afterwards
our tools shape us
Marshall McLuhan (1994)
Natalie Skinner
Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Work + Life
University of South Australia
(08) 8302 4250
Natalie.Skinner@unisa.edu.au
www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Centrefor-Work-Life/