Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Perceived Organisational Support, Work-Life Balance, and Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Study of Grandparent Status(John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd, 2025-10-03) Harris C; Haar J; Myers BWhile older workers have received considerable attention from researchers, far less is known about the work experiences of grandparents. This study examines how perceived organisational support (POS) influences work-life balance (WLB) and work outcomes (employee engagement and job satisfaction) with grandparent status as a moderator. Using a moderated mediation model tested on 783 New Zealand employees (including 155 grandparents) with the PROCESS macro, we find support for all direct effects. Importantly, when POS is high, grandparents report significantly higher WLB than non-grandparents. Moderated mediation analyses further show that the indirect effect of POS on engagement and job satisfaction, via WLB, is strongest for grandparents. These findings position grandparents as a distinct and often under-recognised segment of the workforce, suggesting they may engage with social exchange relationships in unique ways. For HR practice, this recognition goes beyond demographic categorisation—it calls for a critical evaluation of policies related to flexibility, leave, and wellbeing through the lens of later-life caregiving responsibilities. By doing so, HR practitioners can better support the engagement and retention of this group, while researchers are encouraged to consider grandparent status as a meaningful variable in future HRM scholarship.Item Work and family interaction management: the case for zigzag working(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-08-21) Harris C; Haar JThe present study seeks to advance understanding of the interaction of work and family roles. Typically, while the intersection of these domains is established as either being detrimental (i.e. work-family conflict) or beneficial (i.e. work-family enrichment), we argue there is a fundamental issue with timing. Specifically, we offer zigzag working as an approach to understanding how work and family interact. We suggest, rather than roles operating separately (e.g. work to family or family to work), the reality of work is where employees have work and family roles intersecting simultaneously. We believe this provides unique insights for those with dependent responsibilities, representing potentially both a unique challenge and benefit. Our study has two samples (n = 318 employees and n = 373 managers) and we find support for zigzag working at the day-level and while it is positively related to work-family conflict dimensions it is also positively related to happiness. Overall, our paper offers a new lens on work-family border negotiation, providing empirical evidence showing that zigzag working does occur and that it appears to have unique properties. Importantly, zigging and zagging around work and dependents during a typical day represents both positive and negative effects, highlighting a unique occurrence within the literature.