Abstract
Purpose: Many employees do not use work-family practices to their full extent, even when they are in need of them. Drawing on the concept of psychological safety the authors propose a new construct: psychological accessibility– employees' sense of embracing the benefits of work-family practices without experiencing a fear of using them. The authors argue that the psychological accessibility of work-family practices could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices among employees with similar levels of family needs. Furthermore, the authors propose multilevel contextual factors that could affect the psychological accessibility of work-family practices. Design/methodology/approach: The authors develop a theoretical multilevel framework for work-family practices that places psychological accessibility at its core and addresses accessibility of work-family practices from a macro level that includes institutions and the different attributes of the national culture, a meso level that includes work time norms in organizations, and a micro level, that includes the social context at the team level in organizations. Findings: As part of the conceptual development the authors offer 10 propositions. Originality/value: The authors' multilevel model of psychological accessibility could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices across different national, organizational and group contexts. This paper refocuses scholarly attention to the psychological antecedents of the utilization of work-family practices. The authors offer some practical recommendations to make the utilization of work-family practices a psychologically safe activity.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Journal | Cross Cultural and Strategic Management |
Early online date | Jun 8 2022 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 20 2022 |
Keywords
- Cross-cultural
- HR practices
- Theory
- Work and family
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business and International Management
- Cultural Studies
- Sociology and Political Science
- Strategy and Management
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management