In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of U.S. employees whose work is capable of being done remotely report they use a hybrid work arrangement that includes some remote work and some work in the office. This poses a challenge for leaders because research shows that employee use of flexible work arrangements (FWA) can negatively affect employee outcomes. The current study, a cross-sectional survey of 1,258 employees who work full time in the U.S., uses the theory of communicative leadership to understand the influence of leader communicative support of FWA on the relationship between employee use of FWA and two employee outcomes: flourishing at work (a measure of well-being) and job engagement. Results show that higher levels of employee use of FWA is associated with less flourishing at work and job engagement; however, leader communicative support of FWA moderates this relationship, with high-quality leader communicative support associated with higher levels of flourishing at work and job engagement. The results have implications for leadership and work-life scholarship and provide practices that leaders can implement to help support employee engagement and well-being.
AbidG.ZahraI.AhmedA. (2016). Promoting thriving at work and waning turnover intention: A relational perspective. Future Business Journal, 2(2), 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbj.2016.08.001
AllenT. D.GoldenT. D.ShockleyK. M. (2015). How effective is telecommuting? Assessing the status of our scientific findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615593273
4.
AllenT. D.JohnsonR. C.KiburzK. M.ShockleyK. M. (2013). Work–family conflict and flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility. Personnel Psychology, 66(2), 345–376. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12012
AzarS.KhanA.Van EerdeW. (2018). Modelling linkages between flexible work arrangements’ use and organizational outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 91, 134–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.06.004
7.
BäckströmI.IngelssonP.JohanssonC. (2016). How communicative leadership influences co-workers’ health – a quality management perspective. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 8(2), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-08-2015-0059
8.
BargeJ. K.HirokawaR. Y. (1989). Toward a communication competency model of group leadership. Small Group Behavior, 20(2), 167–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649648902000203
9.
BeckelJ. L. O.FisherG. G. (2022). Telework and worker health and well-being: A review and recommendations for research and practice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073879
10.
BellB. S.McAlpineK. L.HillN. S. (2023). Leading virtually. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 339–362.
11.
BjärntoftS.HallmanD. M.MathiassenS. E.LarssonJ.JahnckeH. (2020). Occupational and individual determinants of work-life balance among office workers with flexible work arrangements. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041418
12.
ChenY.Weziak-BialowolskaD.LeeM. T.BialowolskiP.CowdenR. G.McNeelyE.VanderWeeleT. J. (2023). Working from home and subsequent work outcomes: Pre-pandemic evidence. PLOS ONE, 18(4), Article e0283788. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283788
13.
ClarkeN.AlshenalfiN.GaravanT. (2019). Upward influence tactics and their effects on job performance ratings and flexible working arrangements: The mediating roles of mutual recognition respect and mutual appraisal respect. Human Resource Management, 58(4), 397–416. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21967
14.
DemeroutiE.BakkerA. B.NachreinerF.SchaufeliW. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
15.
DienerE.WirtzD.TovW.Kim-PrietoC.ChoiD.OishiS.Biswas-DienerR. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9493-y
16.
ErbenJ.SchneiderF. M.MaierM. (2019). In the ear of the beholder: Self-other agreement in leadership communication and its relationship with subordinates’ job satisfaction. International Journal of Business Communication, 56(4), 505–529. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488416672431
17.
ErumH.AbidG.ContrerasF. (2020). The calling of employees and work engagement: The role of flourishing at work. Business, Management and Economics Engineering, 18(1), 14–32.
18.
FairhurstG. T. (2001). Dualisms in leadership research. In JablinF. M.PutnamL. L. (Eds.), The new handbook of organizational communication: Advances in theory, research and methods (pp. 379-439). Sage Publications.
FisherC. D. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring wellbeing at work. In ChenP. (Ed.), Wellbeing: A complete reference guide: Work and wellbeing (Vol. 3, pp. 1–25). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118539415.wbwell018
22.
GajendranR. S.HarrisonD. A. (2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524–1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524
GoldenT. D. (2006). The role of relationships in understanding telecommuter satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(3), 319–340.
25.
GoldenT. D.VeigaJ. F. (2008). The impact of superior–subordinate relationships on the commitment, job satisfaction, and performance of virtual workers. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(1), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.12.009
26.
GrumanJ. A.SaksA. M. (2011). Performance management and employee engagement. Human Resource Management Review, 21(2), 123–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2010.09.004
27.
HammerL. B.KossekE. E.YraguiN. L.BodnerT. E.HansonG. C. (2009). Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). Journal of Management, 35(4), 837–856. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308328510
28.
HamrinS.JohanssonC.JahnJ. L. S. (2016). Communicative leadership: Fostering co-worker agency in two Swedish business organizations. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 21(2), 213–229. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-05-2015-0025
29.
JablinF. M.CudeR. L.HouseA.LeeJ.RothN. L. (1994). Communication competence in organizations: Conceptualizations and comparison across multiple levels of analysis. In ThayerL.BarnettG. (Eds.), Emerging perspectives in organizational communication (pp. 114–140). Ablex.
30.
JangS. J. (2009). The relationships of flexible work schedules, workplace support, supervisory support, work-life balance, and the well-being of working parents. Journal of Social Service Research, 35(2), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488370802678561
31.
JohanssonC.MillerV. D.HamrinS. (2014). Conceptualizing communicative leadership: A framework for analysing and developing leaders’ communication competence. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 19(2), 147–165. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-02-2013-0007
32.
JohnsonA.DeyS.NguyenH.GrothM.JoyceS.TanL.GlozierN.HarveyS. B. (2020). A review and agenda for examining how technology-driven changes at work will impact workplace mental health and employee well-being. Australian Journal of Management, 45(3), 402–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896220922292
33.
KahnW. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724. https://doi.org/10.5465/256287
34.
KimH.MattsonL. D.ZhangD.ChoH. J. (2022). The role of organizational and supervisor support in young adult workers’ resilience, efficacy and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 50(6), 691–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2022.2141070
35.
KimY. (2021). Building organizational resilience through strategic internal communication and organization–employee relationships. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 49(5), 589–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2021.1910856
36.
KoivistoS.RiceR. E. (2016). Leader prototypicality moderates the relation between access to flexible work options and employee feelings of respect and leader endorsement. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(22), 2771–2789. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1126337
37.
KossekE. E.KalliathT.KalliathP. (2012). Achieving employee wellbeing in a changing work environment: An expert commentary on current scholarship. International Journal of Manpower, 33(7), 738–753. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437721211268294
38.
KossekE. E.KelliherC. (2023). Making flexibility more I-deal: Advancing work-life equality collectively. Group & Organization Management, 48(1), 317–349. https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011221098823
39.
KossekE. E.PerriginoM. B.LautschB. A. (2023). Work-life flexibility policies from a boundary control and implementation perspective: A review and research framework. Journal of Management, 49(6), 2062–2108.. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063221140354
40.
KossekE. E.PerriginoM. B.RussoM.MorandinG. (2023). Missed connections between the leadership and work–life fields: Work–life supportive leadership for a dual agenda. Academy of Management Annals, 17(1), 181–217. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2021.0085
41.
KossekE. E.ThompsonR. J. (2015). Workplace flexibility: Integrating employer and employee perspectives to close the research–practice implementation gap. In T. D. Allen & L. T. Eby (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of work and family (pp. 255–270). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199337538.013.19
42.
KumarS.SarkarS.ChaharB. (2021). A systematic review of work-life integration and role of flexible work arrangements. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 31(3), 710–736. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-07-2021-2855
43.
LaGreeD.HoustonB.DuffyM.ShinH. (2023). The effect of respect: Respectful communication at work drives resiliency, engagement, and job satisfaction among early career employees. International Journal of Business Communication, 60(3), 844–864. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884211016529
44.
LautschB. A.KossekE. E.EatonS. C. (2009). Supervisory approaches and paradoxes in managing telecommuting implementation. Human Relations, 62(6), 795–827. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709104543
LittleT. D. (2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
47.
LittleT. D.LindenbergerU.NesselroadeJ. R. (1999). On selecting indicators for multivariate measurement and modeling with latent variables: When “good” indicators are bad and “bad” indicators are good. Psychological Methods, 4, 192–211. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.4.2.192
48.
LittleT. D.RhemtullaM.GibsonK.SchoemannA. M. (2013). Why the items versus parcels controversy needn’t be one. Psychological Methods, 18, 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033266
MadsenV. T. (2020). Communicative leadership on internal social media: A way to employee engagement? In Tkalac VerčičA.TenchR.EinwillerS. (Eds.), Joy (Vol. 5, pp. 93–114). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-391420200000005008
51.
MayfieldJ.MayfieldM. (2017). Leadership communication: Reflecting, engaging, and innovating. International Journal of Business Communication, 54(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488416675446
52.
MikkelsonA. C.SloanD.TietsortC. J. (2021). Employee perceptions of supervisor communication competence and associations with supervisor credibility. Communication Studies, 72(4), 600–617. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2021.1953093
53.
MillerK. I.MongeP. M. (1986). Participation, satisfaction, and productivity: A meta-analytic review. Academy of Management Journal, 29(4), 727–753.
54.
PalumboR. (2020). Let me go to the office! An investigation into the side effects of working from home on work-life balance. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 33(6/7), 771–790. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-06-2020-0150
55.
ParkJ. W.ParkS.ChoY. J. (2023). More isn’t always better: Exploring the curvilinear effects of telework. International Public Management Journal, 26(5), 744–763. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2023.2214133
56.
R Core Team. (2023). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
57.
RichB. L.LepineJ. A.CrawfordE. R. (2010). Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 617–635. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.51468988
58.
SardeshmukhS. R.SharmaD.GoldenT. D. (2012). Impact of telework on exhaustion and job engagement: A job demands and job resources model. New Technology, Work and Employment, 27(3), 193–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-005X.2012.00284.x
59.
SchaufeliW. B. (2017). Applying the job demands-resources model: A ‘how to’ guide to measuring and tackling work engagement and burnout. Organizational Dynamics, 46(2), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.008
ShockleyK. M.AllenT. D. (2007). When flexibility helps: Another look at the availability of flexible work arrangements and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71(3), 479–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.08.006
SpreitzerG. M.CameronL.GarrettL. (2017). Alternative work arrangements: Two images of the new world of work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4(1), 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113332
64.
TaylorS. S. (1999). Making sense of revolutionary change: Differences in members’ stories. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12(6), 524–539.
65.
TengbladS. (2006). Is there a ‘new managerial work’? A comparison with Henry Mintzberg’s classic study 30 years later*. Journal of Management Studies, 43(7), 1437–1461. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00651.x
66.
ter HoevenC. L.van ZoonenW. (2023). Helping others and feeling engaged in the context of workplace flexibility: The importance of communication control. International Journal of Business Communication, 60(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488419898799
67.
TourishD.JacksonB. (2008). Guest editorial: Communication and leadership: An open invitation to engage. Leadership, 4(3), 219–225. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715008092359
68.
Vander ElstT.VerhoogenR.SercuM.Van den BroeckA.BaillienE.GodderisL. (2017). Not extent of telecommuting, but job characteristics as proximal predictors of work-related well-being. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(10), Article e180. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001132
69.
van QuaquebekeN.EckloffT. (2010). Defining respectful leadership: What it is, how it can be measured, and another glimpse at what it is related to. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(3), 343–358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0087-z
70.
WangH.XiaoY.WangH.ZhangH.ChenX. (2023). “Who knows me understands my needs”: The effect of home-based telework on work engagement. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 619–635. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S402159
71.
WeidemanM.HofmeyrK. B. (2020). The influence of flexible work arrangements on employee engagement: An exploratory study. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v18i0.1209
72.
WickhamH. (2016). ggplot2: Elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer-Verlag.
73.
WillettJ. F.LaGreeD.ShinH.HoustonJ. B.DuffyM. (2023). The role of leader communication in fostering respectful workplace culture and increasing employee engagement and well-being. International Journal of Business Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884231195614
74.
YueC. A.MenL. R.FergusonM. A. (2021). Examining the effects of internal communication and emotional culture on employees’ organizational identification. International Journal of Business Communication, 58(2), 169–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488420914066
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
