'Handle with care': The mediating role of schedule i-deals in the relationship between supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities and employee outcomes

摘要

Drawing on theories of perspective-taking and i-deals, this study explores the impact of supervisors' own caregiving responsibilities for elders and parental status on subordinates' schedule i-deals. Moreover, we investigate the extent to which schedule i-deals mediate the relationship between supervisors' caregiving responsibilities and two employee outcomes: satisfaction with work-family balance and turnover intentions. Using a sample of 520 dyads involving 137 supervisors and 520 employees, the results of multilevel analysis show that supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders is positively related to schedule i-deals, but their parental status is not. The findings also show that schedule i-deals mediate the effect of supervisors' caregiving responsibilities for elders on subordinates' satisfaction with work-family balance and turnover intentions. This research contributes to the i-deals' literature by focusing on the role of managers' own caregiving responsibilities in facilitating the provision of schedule i-deals to their subordinates and by exploring the consequences of schedule i-deals to gain an understanding of the mutually beneficial nature of such deals. From a practical point of view, supervisors and HR departments might utilise schedule i-deals to drive desirable employee outcomes, in particular their caregiving responsibilities, and to engender a family-supportive organisational culture.