Impacts of Family-Friendly Workplace Arrangements on Employee Morale : A Gender Comparison

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between family-friendly workplace arrangements and work morale among Japanese working women and men. Specifically, I address the following three questions: 1) Do formal workplace family policies and informal work-family arrangements enhance Japanese employees’ work morale? If so, are the impacts different for women and men? 2) Does the presence of family unfriendly workplace climate reduce worker morale? 3) Do family responsive workplace arrangements exert stronger impacts on work morale for women than for men? The results suggest that family responsive workplace arrangements are likely to enhance Japanese women and men’s attachment to the employer and reduce the likelihood of their leaving the job, indicating that human resource management that is sensitive to employees’ family needs is likely to bring benefit to the organization. Importantly, present findings show that informal aspects of work, such as supervisor support and job flexibility, have a significant impact on employees’ work morale for both sexes.