I’ll Support You Either Way: Examining Supervisor Work Support and Nonwork Support as Antecedents of Subordinates’ Recovery Experiences

Abstract Recovery from work substantially contributes to employees’ well-being and productivity but the role of supervisors in fostering recovery is largely unexplored. We introduce supervisor support regarding both work roles (i.e., work support) and nonwork roles (i.e., nonwork support) as interpersonal work experiences that positively relate to recovery. Integrating principles of boundary management theory into the work-home resources model (W-HR model), we examine supervisor support as a predictor of subordinates’ recovery experiences during nonwork time. Based on the W-HR model, we test indirect effects of vitality as a personal resource linking supervisor support to subordinates’ recovery experiences in the evening. Moreover, we extend the WH-R model by integrating working from home as a boundary condition into the WH-R model. Specifically, we suggest that supervisor support could be particularly important for subordinates’ evening recovery on working-from-home days. In a daily diary study over the course of two work weeks (171 employees, 871 days), we found that supervisor work support indirectly predicted subordinates’ recovery experiences via the personal resource vitality. In contrast, supervisor nonwork support directly predicted subordinates’ recovery experiences on working-from-home days (psychological detachment, relaxation, control). Our results suggest that integrating supervisor support in recovery research is important because supervisors supporting both work and nonwork roles positively relate to subordinates’ recovery. Our findings highlight that future research should distinguish between domain-specific support aimed at work versus nonwork roles.