Explaining Organizational Responsiveness to Work-Family Issues: The Role of Human Resource Executives as Issue Interpreters

Abstract

A multitheoretical approach was used to explore why organizations vary in the degree to which they have adopted policies designed to help employees manage their work and family lives. Our findings indicated that: (1) significant differences existed across industries in work-family responsiveness; (2) the percentage of women employed by a company did not explain unique variance in responsiveness; and (3) organizations were more likely to offer benefits when work and family issues were salient to senior human resource staff and thought likely to impact the organization's performance if unaddressed.