Family Highs, Career Ties: The Benefits of Family-To-Work Enrichment for Work Promotion Focus, Networking, and Career Opportunities

Abstract

Traditional work-family research often frames family responsibilities as constraints on career success, emphasizing conflict over enrichment. This study challenges this perspective by integrating traditional work-family theory with regulatory focus theory, showing how family-to-work enrichment and conflict shape employees' work promotion focus, networking behaviors, and the development of professional social networks. Across a series of four studies using multiple methodologies, we investigate both short- and long-term effects. A 10-day experience sampling study of working professionals (N= 50) demonstrates that daily fluctuations in family-to-work interactions influence professional networking behaviors. On days with greater family-to-work enrichment, employees report higher promotion focus and increased network building behaviors, whereas family-to-work conflict reduces promotion focus and dampens networking activity. A scenario-based experiment (N= 409) bolsters this finding, showing that family-to-work enrichment enhances, while family-to-work conflict diminishes employees' likelihood of engaging in networking behaviors. An examination of longer-term effects on the professional social networks of participants in a corporate leadership development program (N= 137) finds that sustained family-to-work enrichment is linked to both larger and more diverse career guidance networks, a key driver of professional success. A LinkedIn follow-up study (N= 115) extends these findings by showing that family-to-work enrichment relates to the size of professional social networks and career opportunities. By bridging work-family and career research, this study reframes family as a potential resource, highlighting its role in shaping goal-directed network building behaviors, professional networks, and ultimately, career opportunities. Practically, these findings underscore the importance of family-to-work enrichment as a strategic advantage for employees.