Work-family conflict is the disagreement that occurs when the roles an individual plays as a family member and a worker create a disagreement. There is a conflict at the workplace and at the same time, there is a disagreement in the family due to the roles one plays. Research describes that people have a specific amount of energy and time that they are expected to spend. Both work and family require a certain degree of the time and energy and if they are be balanced, a person will disturbed mentally and psychologically (Camgoz, 2014). As the number of working mothers and fathers increases over the years, the rate of work-family conflicts also increases (Thomas & Ganster, 1995) because they cannot balance between work and family. One factor will demand more attention than the other. Businesses and families are looking for solutions to reduce the conflict or stop it with all means.
Some of the solutions highlighted are having favorable company policies that support families. In addition, having empathetic supervisors in job places can also reduce the conflicts. Supervisors that understand the value of a family and the role parents or caretakers have. A positive work – the family supportive supervisor, cares for the well-being of the employees. When this environment is created, a worker feels cared for by the employer. With the concern, the employee can balance between the work and family (Kossek, Pichler, Bodner & Hammer, 2011). This research paper will seek to identify the relationship that exists between reduction of work-family conflicts and positive work-family supportive supervisor.
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A positive work-family supportive supervisor reduces the conflict exists between families and work. One of the ways that they act to reduce the conflict is that they empathize with the workers or employees. Forms of empathizing include setting flexible schedules and talking to them in case of a family issue. Secondly, they are the agents of companies they work for and hence stand a chance of influencing the organization’s decision-making process (Hammer, Kossek, Bodner & Crain, 2013). They can help put in place policies that support workers in balancing between work and family. Some of the policies might include establishing a day care center for children of working mothers and also having employees work within favorable hours so as to create time for their families (Crain et al. 2015). Hammer, Kossek, Bodner & Crain (2013) further describe that supervisors that support family values promote healthy lifestyles within families and also contribute to the continuity growth of a company or organization. Therefore, supportive family supervisors make a significant contribution to both employees and the company.
The supervisor who is supportive empathizes with the desire of an employee to balance between their work and family. In so doing, he or she can put together a schedule that is flexible so that the worker can be with the family at the right time. In addition, the supervisor can tolerate the behavior of the employee for example, i, if he or she wants to make phone calls to their home when children get home after school. The supervisor is also able to give the employee some time for him or her to visit the child care center, elder-care centers or even to give permission to the worker to bring along their children to workplaces. Apart from these, an empathizing supervisor is in a position of offering some words of encouragement to the employee if the caretaker leaves or quits the job. With these different forms of empathizing, a worker will feel cared for and his or her family roles valued. These practices will help an employee meet both the family and work responsibilities that they have (Thomas &Ganster, 1995).
Supervisors that empathize with employees are significant in helping the worker balance between the work and family roles. The balance helps reduce the stress and strain that the employee might encounter (Winfield & Rushing, 2005). They further discuss that supervisors have the mandate and the authority to make decisions that govern how an organization should operate. Therefore, family supportive supervisors will put in place measures, just like those highlighted by Thomas & Ganster (1995) to help workers balance between family roles and work responsibilities. Family-supportive supervisors are significant within an organization and hence the need of each company and organization to put in place measures that favor working parents, especially mothers. If a balance is met, then businesses will realize significant profits and tremendous growth because the workers will be comfortable since they know how their families are doing.
Family supportive supervisors help in putting up measures and policies that favor working parents. Winfield and Rushing (2005) say that directors and managers of organizations have the ability to implement family-friendly policies or choose to live them out. They add on and say that supervisors have been given a greater responsibility to make decisions as compared to the owners or management. In organizations, programs that support families are by choice, and a supervisor has the option of allowing them or not. In addition, the supervisor has the mandate to choose who will enjoy the advantages. On the other hand, the supervisors can allow some of the policies to be breached, especially when they are family supportive. In allowing family-friendly policies to be practiced, the stress and conflict in families or workplaces are reduced. Kossek et al. (2011) also echo the same ideas by saying that it is mostly the responsibility of the supervisor to decide on what happens with the employees put under him or her. Therefore, a family supportive supervisor will ensure the workers are comfortable at work and that their families are safe and healthy too.
Reduction in work-family conflicts improves the health of the worker and family members. A family supportive supervisor helps reduce the stress that an employee might have especially when it comes to meeting the needs of the family and the work. Increased stress levels make some people aggressive and unable to meet the responsibilities they have. On the other hand, the results that workers offer might be substandard thus affecting their work and family relationships. Supervisors will create a flexible and worker friendly schedule that might reduce the stress of the employee thus help in maintaining proper health status because stress affects human health greatly (Wadhwa, 2016). Work-family conflict creates unfavorable environments for the worker, both at home and at the workplace. Therefore, proper measures need to be set to ensure their health and well-being is taken care of.
The supervisor is also able to put in place a policy that allows workers to bring their family members for example children to work or have to complete their jobs in the organization premises and not take the work at home. With this, they can have more quality time with their family members. In addition, the stress that is brought about by having pending tasks is reduced and most of the time while at home is spend on taking care of the needs of the family. There reports on disagreements in families that have made or carried incomplete work to complete it at home. The time is taken to finish the work was meant for the family. If a supervisor is strict to employees so they can complete responsibilities assigned within the stipulated time, then he or she supports family values. Quality time with family members is important because the working member has spent the whole day at work (Crain et al., 2015).
There are several support systems in workplaces or organizations. There is general supervisor support that entails the general expressions of being concerned about the employee, for example, emotional support and other instrumental support. This support is intended to provide a favorable working environment for the workers. On the other hand, supervisor work-family support presents an environment for the employee to be able to handle family matters and work issues without straining or experiencing any challenges. Per Wadhwa (2016), supervisors are always the agents of the organization. When a supervisor supports the work and family issues of an employee, then the organization is in full support of the same. The other form of support is the organizational support where people can relate to an organization and hence develop a positive attitude towards the organization while organizational work-family support is the ability of an organization to support both work and family roles of the employees through various ways like favorable working hours. At the same time, the employees can feel that the organization is concerned about their welfare (Kossek, Pichler, Bodner & Hammer, 2011).
Several studies have been carried out to identify the importance of organizational and supervisor support to employees. What most of the researchers did not tackle is how the support can reduce or prevent work-family conflicts. Different theories and models on employee support have also been discussed and little on work and family disagreements. On the other hand, what the previous studies have also focused on is the how the support motivates employees leading an organization or a company towards achieving its set objectives (Odle-Dusseau & Britt, 2012). Most researchers did not realize that the support is critical to the employee’s families rather than the organizations. The society has the perception of making a profit and hence will look for different ways of impressing their employees so that they are motivated to work towards achieving the goals of an organization. There is more than just making profits. These employees are family members, and these members are under their care. They need them just as much the companies, and other businesses need them. A balance must be there between their work and the people they care about. The supervisors in the work place are responsible for ensuring the employees are comfortable, and their families are also excellent.
The peace starts right from home and extends all the way to the work places. If work places provide favorable working environment and support, peace prevails, and workers will deliver what is needed of them. Focusing towards one direction, that is the performance and production of the workers when making policies is wrong. Employed supervisors should look for several ways of motivating employees among them being supporting their families by having favorable policies. The study will give a deeper insight on how family supportive supervisors can help in reducing work-family conflict.
The hypothesis of this study is to test if family-supportive supervisors in workplaces are capable of reducing the work-family conflicts or disagreements. Specifically, the study will focus on work-family conflict and family supportive supervisors. The various ways these supervisors have helped reduce the disparities that exist between working family members and their work places will be clarified and discussed further. The behavior of a family supportive supervisor and the way it might help reduce the work-family conflict will be discussed in detail. In summary, the study will correlate the behavior of family supportive supervisors and the work-family conflict. Working families need a peaceful environment for them to produce significant results for the company.
References
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