Work-family enrichment as a mediator between organizational interventions for work-life balance and job outcomes

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of work-family enrichment in the relationships between organizational interventions for work-life balance (job characteristics, work-life benefits and policies, supervisor support and work-family culture) and job outcomes (job satisfaction, affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour). It is hypothesized that organizational interventions for work-life balance will be positively related to job outcomes and work-to-family enrichment will mediate these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 216 managerial employees through a structured questionnaire from four organizations in India representing manufacturing and information technology (IT) sectors. Analysis was done using multiple regressions. Findings - Job characteristics were positively related to all the measures of job outcomes. Supervisor support and work-family culture were positively related to job satisfaction and affective commitment. No significant association was found between work-life benefits and policies (WLBPs) and any of the job outcome measures. Job characteristics and supervisor support were positively related to work-to-family enrichment. Work-to-family enrichment mediated the relationships between job characteristics and all job outcomes and between supervisor support and affective commitment. Research limitations/implications The correlational design prevents conclusions about causality. Practical implications The findings have implications for designing jobs, developing supportive work-family culture and managing employee work-family interface for maximizing individual and organizational outcomes. Originality/value The study reflected on the work-family domain relationships in a novel socio-cultural context and demonstrated the mediating role of work-family enrichment in the relationships between organizational interventions for work-life balance and job outcomes.