Promoting Work-Life Balance in Flexible Work

Abstract: Background: Flexible work arrangements (FWAs), which allows employees to decide when, where, and how to perform the work, is more prevalent than ever in modern working life. However, research about how FWAs can be organized to promote work-life balance (WLB) is sparse. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop, implement, and evaluate a workplace intervention among office-based employees with FWAs. More specifically, the aims wereto: 1) identify demands and resources related to WLB; 2) in co-creation with the investigated organization, identify suggestions for improvements to guide the development of a workplace intervention; and 3) implement and evaluate the effect of an intervention, addressing some of the identified suggestions on proximal (i.e., work strategies, use of work-related information and communication technology (ICT), productivity, and expectations of availability) and distal outcomes (i.e., WLB and interference between work and private life).Methods: Paper I was a cross-sectional study based on a comprehensive questionnaire that examined occupational factors and their associations with WLB. Paper II comprised focus group interviews to collect suggestions for improvements in FWAs at an organizational, work group and individual level. Therefore, while paper I and II informed the design of the intervention, papers III and IV comprised its implementation and evaluation. Paper III examined effects on proximal outcomes and paper IV on distal outcomes.Results: Identified resources related to employees’ WLB in FWAs were boundary management, information about how to organize work, and relation-oriented leadership. Identified demands were over-commitment to work, quantitative job demands, and expectations of availability. Perceived flexibility was a resource for WLB, which interacted with several demands and buffering their negative associations with WLB. Suggestions from the focus groups related to organizational (e.g., common guidelines for FWAs), workgroup (e.g., clarify expectations of availability) and individual-level improvements (e.g., determine own availability), which supported the development and implementation of an intervention addressing work strategies and culture in FWAs. Participants were satisfied with the intervention and reported changes in work strategies. No intervention effects were found on other proximal or distal outcomes.Conclusions: We identified both demands and resources related to employees’ WLB in FWAs. Employees suggested intervention activities mainly focusing on changing work strategies, both as individuals and as a workgroup. The intervention was effective in changing work strategies, but not in improving other proximal and distal outcomes.