Job Flexibility and Women’s Job Performance in Moroccan Insurance Companies: Work–Family Balance Versus Organizational Commitment Mediation

Abstract

Flexible work arrangements have been extensively advocated to improve employee performance. However, research evidence from non-Western, process-intensive service contexts remains underrepresented. Critically, it is unclear whether organizational commitment-based or work–family balance-based pathways are more influential in traditional work settings characterized by conservative institutional gender role expectations, an important boundary condition for social exchange theory (SET) and job characteristics theory (JCT). This research examines the relationship between job flexibility (JF) and female employees’ performance (PERF) via work–family balance (WFBS) and organizational commitment (OC) in Moroccan insurance companies. Analysis is based on survey data from 300 respondents and structural equation modeling. Results indicate that it has a modest direct positive effect on performance and significantly benefits OC as well as WFBS. OC was found to strongly predict performance and significantly mediate the flexibility–performance relationship, while work–family balance had a nonsignificant mediating effect, implying that flexibility may lead to higher performance in jobs with high levels of service standardization when viewed as sincere organizational support (increasing commitment) rather than an immediate enhancer of work–life balance. Thus, this study underscores the value of implementing flexibility policies that focus on fostering perceptions of fairness, trust, and supportive climates among female employees working in insurance companies or similar settings.