Reverse exploration: how employees' perception of a high-commitment work system relates to their work-family conflict

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resource Management
• Sociology of Work

Background:

• The modern competitive work environment exacerbates work-family conflict (WFC).
• Economic and societal changes in China have increased the prominence and negative impacts of WFC.
• The job demand-resource framework guides the investigation of WFC drivers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between perceived high-commitment work systems (HCWS) and WFC.
• To investigate the mediating role of job embeddedness (JE) in the HCWS-WFC relationship.
• To explore the moderating effect of gender on the HCWS-WFC pathway.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire survey was administered to employees in Hainan Province, China.
• 599 valid responses were collected using convenience sampling.
• Hayes' PROCESS software was employed for hypothesis validation.

Main Results:

• Perceived HCWSs showed a positive correlation with WFC.
• JE partially mediated the association between HCWS and WFC.
• Gender moderated the relationship between JE and WFC.

Conclusions:

• Effective HR management is vital for mitigating WFC related to HCWS and JE.
• Implementing gender equality policies is recommended to support female employees.
• These strategies can improve employee satisfaction and organizational sustainability.