Work-life boundaries, flexibility & equality in the hybrid age

A lunch buffet and refreshments will be provided before the seminar from 12.30.

Zoom link: https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/86292925349

PhD students and colleagues beyond BBS are welcomed. This event is hosted by Mengyi Xu, co-organised with Work Inclusivity Research Centre (WIRC).

Abstract

Organisations, and occupational cultures also play a key role in the degree of choice individuals have in being able to access flexible working—a form of work-life boundary management—to control where, when, and how connected we work. As return to the office mandates grow, organisations, leaders, and employees are still figuring out the best ways to work together in this post-pandemic world as a critical future or work issue. It’s important that everyone regardless of their job, background, or personal circumstances has a fair chance to work in a way that suits them, while supporting productivity and advancing in a career. The talk will share research from a number of studies focusing on different levels of analysis. At the individual level, we have choices in how we manage our attention, energy, and connectivity, whether its juggling work emails and texts at the dinner table, or finding it hard to switch off when working from home. And when we are working, we may need to make decisions while receiving texts from family members or friends, (or co-workers on other projects) on how to multi-task and focus. First, I will l explain the different ways people handle these challenges, which often involves ‘work-life boundary management styles’, or ‘flexstyles’. Individuals, teams, and organisations and leaders vary in their cultural flexstyles and narratives. How individuals workplaces segment and blur the work-nonwork interface matters for well-being, job quality experiences, and sustainable careers. Next, I will turn to the leaders’ role in supporting work-life flexibility and conclude with organisational interventions and policies to support control over the work role. I will share examples from various workplaces, including business, universities, retail, and nursing homes, showing how employees, managers and employers can better handle these work-life challenges. 

If you would like to self- assess your own work-life boundary management style before the seminar, a tool is available for university educational use at: https://purdue.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_38n9h7OgvNdDeRf 

Biography

Ellen Ernst Kossek is a pioneering scholar recognized for advancing the field of work-family research and flexibility in the management field. Dr Kossek is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and has been recognized the past four years by Elsevier/Stanford ranking as one of the top 2% of scholars publishing globally in business. She was the first elected President of the Work-Family Researchers Network. She serves as Associate Editor of Human Resource Management, and is editing a special issue on remote and hybrid work for Organization Science. Her work has been published in top journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Journal of Applied Psychology, as well as HBR and the business press (Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal). Her current research interests focus on leadership development and workplace interventions to advance family-supportive workplaces, gender inclusion across many social identities and occupations, and implementation of flexibility policies for work-life equality.