WORK-NONWORK INTERFACE 2
Scenario
A family-owned catering business has recently experienced increased booked events due
to competitors closing down. With the demand for their services increasing, they need to
improve their staff and locations. The company has prided itself in being a family-run business
with the supervisors being immediate family to the owners, so they promoted the owner’s son,
Jason, to head manager. During a busy weekend of events, Jason found out that his wife was
diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. The family is startled and low-spirited. Jason desires to
have the weekend off, so he can be with his wife and console her. Should the owners let him
have the weekend off even though the business might suffer or tell him to work the weekend, but
have a couple of days off next week?
Relevant Research
In a research study by Hetrick et al. (2023), they sought to expand the literature regarding
composite-level conceptualizations and dimension-level conceptualizations of work-family
conflict. Their results would lay a foundation for future research that is dimensional. The results
of the study displayed the importance of the manager being observant of the physical and verbal
signs of work-family conflict (Hetrick et al., 2023). If the stress displayed by the employee
intensifies, the manager needs to observe the responsibility of the employee and make a decision
about the importance of the tasks being completed.
Based on the importance of the situation, the owners need to strongly consider letting him
off for the weekend, so he can spend time with his family. In doing so, Jason will realize that the
owners not only view him as a manager but also as a family. If an employee recognizes the
managers of the company care about the employee’s work-life balance, then they are more likely
to work harder while they are at work (Hetrick et al., 2023).
Intervention Specifics
WORK-NONWORK INTERFACE 3
Based on the results found that were relevant to the example, the intervention is a
critically strong answer to Jason's requests due to the personal matter it contains. If the owner
had made Jason work during the family situation, the trust would have been broken between
Jason and the owners because their priorities would have been clear. A disadvantage of the
invention is that Jason was family. If an employee, who is not family, faces the same challenge,
the owners need to ensure they treat them the same, so the employees of the company do not get
the impression that they prioritize their family over them. If future companies were to be faced
with a related situation, they should make it known in the onboarding that an individual’s home
life takes priority over the company. If a situation arises in the home, they do not need to ask, but
just inform the company and why.
WORK-NONWORK INTERFACE 4
References
Hetrick, A. L., Haynes, N. J., Clark, M. A., & Sanders, K. N. (2023). The theoretical and
empirical utility of dimension-based work–family conflict: A meta-analysis. Journal of
Applied Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000552.supp (Supplemental)
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