Culture and support for workplace flexibility matter: An ecological framework for understanding flexibility support structures

Abstract

Firms use flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to attract, retain, and satisfy human resource capital, while workers use them to manage work and nonwork demands and to reduce stress and conflict. Yet, even when firms have such policies on the books, employees often do not use them because they perceive a lack of support from their organization or their supervisor. Employees may even feel that they will be stigmatized for using such policies. Using an ecological framework, we examine factors that influence support for FWAs at multiple levels: the organization or business unit, the supervisor or work group, and the individual. We offer recommendations to address the mechanisms that affect FWA support at these levels of analyses and present ways organizational leaders may positively influence a work environment by supporting workplace flexibility.