Human Resources Practices as Predictors of Work‐Family Outcomes and Employee Turnover

TLDR

The study investigates how human resources practices influence work‑family conflict, employees’ control over work‑family demands, and turnover intentions among 557 dual‑earner white‑collar workers. Using hierarchical regression on a nonrandom sample, the authors examine three HR practice categories—work‑family policies, attachment‑inducing incentives, and work design—to assess their impact on the three outcomes. Results show that work design best predicts employees’ control over demands, while incentives most strongly predict conflict and turnover, with significant gender differences, suggesting that combining policies, redesign, and incentives most effectively reduces conflict and turnover.

Abstract

Drawing on a nonrandom sample of 557 dual‐earner white‐collar employees, this article explores the relationship between human resources practices and three outcomes of interest to firms and employees: work‐family conflict, employees’ control over managing work and family demands, and employees’ turnover intentions. We analyze three types of human resources practices: work‐family policies, human resources incentives designed to induce attachment to the firm, and the design of work. In a series of hierarchical regression equations, we find that work design characteristics explain the most variance in employees’ control over managing work and family demands, whereas human resources incentives explain the most variance in work‐family conflict and turnover intentions. We also find significant gender differences in each of the three models. Our results suggest that the most effective organizational responses to work‐family conflict and to turnover are those that combine work‐family policies with other human resources practices, including work redesign and commitment‐enhancing incentives.