DO ORGANIZATIONAL WORK-LIFE INITIATIVES FOSTER COMMITMENT ?

Abstract

rouen Business school and LIsE-CNrs, CNAm
Paris
us and uK employers provide formal work-life
programs as well as informal flexibility to support
employees in their non-work lives. Although it is
claimed that work-life initiatives foster employee
commitment, the business case still needs to be
established. Based on a case study of a
pharmaceutical multinational, this research provides
real-life vignettes and offers a typology of seven
distinct outcomes of work-life initiatives on the
Individual/Organization relationship. Outcomes are
mostly beneficial, but some outcomes are
detrimental. An absence of outcome is observed on
part of the sample (indifference). A model outlines
four key factors determining the outcome:
awareness of the initiatives, need, access and
perception of the initiatives. These findings are
discussed in light of the theoretical frameworks
traditionally applied to work-life research and of
newer frameworks that should be investigated.