Work and Family Roles Affect Job Satisfaction and Job Performance

The employee’s happiness and satisfaction is of great importance for performance. Managers and business researchers believe that job satisfaction is good for employee for health and wellbeing, and that would be reflected on productivity and effectiveness for the organization.

Several factors are behind job satisfaction including for instance pay, management, work environment, and a lot more. Among other factors that are verified for affecting job satisfaction and job performance is conflict between work and family roles. A recently published study has investigated that and tried to find answers on the impacts of job satisfaction and performance.

The study is published in a Journal of Southeast Asian Research is carried by researcher from University Utara, Malaysia, and researcher from Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. To carry out their study, researchers took a sample of 334 dual-roles women in Indonesian banks and asked them to fill questionnaires.

The employee satisfaction as noticed by researchers is influenced by work-family conflict. As they stated "employees with work-family conflict will have a lower level of job satisfaction…employees’ role conflict at work is destructive and creates job dissatisfaction for them."

Different studies have found that work-family conflict has negative effects on job satisfaction. And in line with these studies, researchers of the current study stressed out that "employees who have problems with their family become more emotional and do not have any mind-concentration and even stress; then it will reduce their job satisfaction." With exception for a workaholic woman who would instead "try to focus and finish the duties; afterwards it directly leads to increased job satisfaction."

Among the other valuable notices, researchers stated that "work-family conflict, which is triggered by work pressure, does not give any influence on whether an employee would like to move and find another job or not." In contrary "employees perceive work pressure as a challenge for them, and it should be handled wisely. In addition, they consider work competition and pressure as a chance to get a new better job" researchers stated.

When the employee is not satisfied, then the intention to quit the job increases. Researchers said that "family-work conflict has a positive and significant effect on the turnover intention… an employee, who gets family pressure, generally decides to move to other jobs because of some considerations, such as family-oriented workers who attempt to balance their dual-roles. If they could not manage and balance their family responsibilities, then it would be better for them to move and find new jobs."

To fight job dissatisfaction and improve employee’s happiness at work, and ultimately job performance, researchers provided a number of suggestions:

• Special attention for relaxing the pressure is a must.
• Organizations could provide some supports for their employees, such as setting child-care/playgroup facilities for women with early-age children, flexible work schedule, and supportive working environment.
• The government could offer important support to working women by regulating special leave for married-working men to part in family activities, such as paternity and child sick leave.
• A fit arrangement considering marital and family status would generate reduced pressure and conflict between work and family for dual-roles women.
• Human-resource practices should be more selective and proactive in designing job assignment and position between single and married women.

I'm a writer specializing in scientific news, mainly medical studies. I have contributed articles to different news outlets.