Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors: Employee Insights

Work-life balance is becoming increasingly difficult as technology enables individuals to work anytime and anyplace. Family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSBs) can help address this challenge through instrumental support, emotional support, role modeling, and creative management practices. The outcomes of such behaviors include greater work-life balance, positive work-family spillover, increased organizational citizenship behaviors, improved employee well-being, and better family relationships. Although scales have been developed to measure these dimensions, the results may be influenced by subjective factors on the part of employees. These scales are also limited to numerical results, thus not providing insights into employees’ lived experiences. This qualitative study analyzes interview data focused on FSSBs to increase understanding of employees’ lived experiences. Findings indicate that fostering work-life balance and enhancing employee well-being depends on managerial practices that create a supportive and empowering workplace culture. In contrast, adaptability to employees’ evolving needs is crucial for long-term success.