Employee perceptions of organizational support: an organizational commitment to a balanced work environment
Date
2011
Authors
Miller, Carol Tharp, author
Gilley, Jerry W., advisor
Waite, Alina M., advisor
Banning, Jim, committee member
Good, Glenn, committee member
Scott, Malcolm, committee member
Makela, Carole, committee member
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Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine how employees perceive their organization's family-friendly policies as they relate to achieving a positive work-life balance. Work-life balance is defined as the level of satisfaction associated with how one functions at home and work with very little work-life conflict. Work and personal demands are contributing to the need for such family-friendly policies. The literature suggests that companies are making the commitment to adopt formal family-responsive policies, which must be guided by a supportive organizational culture to be successful (Galinsky & Stein, 1990; Kossek & Nichol, 1992). This study explores the impact that one company has made on its employees through the experiences of eight participants. I had to understand how employees perceived the organizational culture and I wanted to understand how work-life balance was influenced by the organizational culture. The study focused on understanding the participants' experiences. Phenomenological research allowed me to share in the experiences of eight New Belgium Brewing Company employees. Phenomenological design enables the researcher to examine the human experience through detailed descriptions of people being studied (Creswell, 1994). The findings revealed how participants experience the culture related to work-life balance. Analysis of the data resulted in five major themes, which represented how participants experienced their work environment. The first of the thematic structures was organizational culture. Culture is integral to how the participants see the organization; however, it does not stand out as a unique component of what New Belgium Brewing Company does--it was more about who they are. Culture connects the participants to New Belgium Brewing Company. The second theme was relationships. Relationships built in direct correlation to the organizational culture. Work-life balance was the third theme, revealing the participant responses were less about company policies and programs and more about participants working in a company that cared. The fourth theme related to participants' commitment; participants want to do the best job they could, not only for the company, but specifically for the company CEO. The fifth theme was sustainability, suggesting the size of the company could be a factor in maintaining a sense of community.
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Subject
employee perceptions
work life balance
organizational culture
organizational commitment