Despite the importance and outcomes of family support in the workplace, few researchers have examined informal support and the mediating roles of work-family conflict and job stress in the support-turnover relationship. In our study we tested a model grounded in theories of conservation of resource (Hobfoll, 1989), social exchange (Blau, 1964), and organizational support (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986), and based on results of previous studies. Informal workplace family support was our independent variable, the dependent variable was employee turnover intention, and work-family conflict and job stress were the mediating variables.

Using structural equation modeling we tested the responses of 616 employees (age: M = 34.81 years; gender: 53.7% female) to self-administered questionnaires. We computed the mean scores of the variables on a 5-point scale (informal workplace family support: M = 3.41; work-family conflict: M = 2.67; job stress: M = 2.42; turnover intention: M = 2.63). Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients (.78 - .94) for all variables indicated good internal consistency. The average variance extracted values (AVE; .511 - .596) suggested high convergent validity.

Consistent with the literature, the results showed significant effects of informal workplace family support on turnover intention (β = -.131, p < .0001), work-family conflict (β = -.131, p < .0001) and job stress (β= -.083, p < .05). There were significant effects of work-family conflict on job stress (β = .674, p < .0001) and turnover intention (β = .247, p < .0001), and a significant effect of job stress on turnover intention (β = .344, p < .0001). Results of the tested mediation model showed that the direct influence of informal workplace family support on turnover intention became nonsignificant (β = -.029, p = .515), suggesting that work-family conflict and job stress fully mediated the influence of informal work-family support on turnover intention. The model fit indices of goodness of fit (GFI = .929), incremental fit (IFI = .943), Tucker-Lewis (TLI = .931), comparative fit (CFI = .943), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA = .062; χ²/df = 3.38) were acceptable. Informal workplace family support, work-family conflict and job stress explained 30% of the variance in turnover intention.

The results suggest that when organizations provide their employees with informal workplace family support, such as greater discretion to manage their work, and permission to leave work earlier than usual to attend to family matters, these provisions help reduce employees’ work-family conflict, which, in turn, reduces both their job stress and turnover intention.

We concluded that informal workplace family support is a potential resource for reducing employee turnover, and that work-family conflict and job stress play important mediating roles in this support-turnover relationship.

References

Aminah, A., & Zoharah, O. (2010). Perceived family-supportive work culture, affective commitment and turnover intention of employees. Journal of American Science, 6, 839-846.

Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.

Bozo, Ö., Toksabay, N. E., & Kürüm, O. (2009). Activities of daily living, depression, and social support among elderly Turkish people. The Journal of Psychology, 143, 193-205.

Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 500-507. http://doi.org/bmzkg6

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513-524. http://doi.org/czr

Kreiner, G. E. (2006). Consequences of work-home segmentation or integration: A person- environment fit perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 485-507. http://doi.org/dnzg4n

Lapierre, L. M., Spector, P. E., Allen, T. D., Poelmans, S., Cooper, C. L., O’Driscoll, M. P., … Kinnunen, U. (2008). Family-supportive organization perceptions, multiple dimensions of work-family conflict, and employee satisfaction: A test of model across five samples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 92-106. http://doi.org/cj5rf5

Pasewark, W. R., & Viator, R. E. (2006). Sources of work-family conflict in the accounting profession. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 18, 147-165. http://doi.org/bqfrhg

Aminah, A., & Zoharah, O. (2010). Perceived family-supportive work culture, affective commitment and turnover intention of employees. Journal of American Science, 6, 839-846.

Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.

Bozo, Ö., Toksabay, N. E., & Kürüm, O. (2009). Activities of daily living, depression, and social support among elderly Turkish people. The Journal of Psychology, 143, 193-205.

Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 500-507. http://doi.org/bmzkg6

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513-524. http://doi.org/czr

Kreiner, G. E. (2006). Consequences of work-home segmentation or integration: A person- environment fit perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 485-507. http://doi.org/dnzg4n

Lapierre, L. M., Spector, P. E., Allen, T. D., Poelmans, S., Cooper, C. L., O’Driscoll, M. P., … Kinnunen, U. (2008). Family-supportive organization perceptions, multiple dimensions of work-family conflict, and employee satisfaction: A test of model across five samples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 92-106. http://doi.org/cj5rf5

Pasewark, W. R., & Viator, R. E. (2006). Sources of work-family conflict in the accounting profession. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 18, 147-165. http://doi.org/bqfrhg

Aminah Ahmad, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]