The other side: Occupational interactional requirements and work-home enrichment

• Main Authors: BHAVE, Devasheesh P., LEFTNER, Alexandru M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: work-home enrichment; occupational interactional requirements; time allocation; vitality; workplace interactions; emotional labor; work-family; time management; Human Resources Management; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research_all/24; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=lkcsb_research_all
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We examine how occupational interactional requirements influence work-home enrichment. We identify two manifestations of work-home enrichment: through objective indicators of how employees allocate their time at home, and through perceptual reflections of employees on their work-home enrichment. We conceptualize occupational interactional requirements as restorative properties of jobs that provide employees with resources that they transfer to the home domain. In terms of objective indicators, our results indicate that employees transfer these resources by spending more time in resource depleting activities such as caring for household members, and less time in resource replenishing activities such as socializing and relaxing. This suggests that occupational interactional requirements facilitate the reallocation of time in the home domain. In terms of perceptual reflections, we observe that occupational interactional requirements spark employees' vitality, which, in turn, enriches their life at home. Our results attest to considering workplace interactions as resource replenishing features of jobs that provide benefits across work and life boundaries.