The Impact of Work-life Balance Policies on Perceived Organizational Performance in the U.S. Federal Agencies: Exploring the Moderating Effect of Leadership Support

This study enhances our understanding of the implementation of work-life balance policies and its impact on perceived organizational performance in U.S. federal agencies. While interest in implementing work-life balance policies began in the 1960s and 1970s after the influx of females into the labor market, few studies have examined the impact of these policies on organizational performance in the public organizations context, particularly in the federal agencies. Drawing on the social exchange theory and using Federal Employees Viewpoints Survey (FEVS) from 2011- 2015, this study expected that work-life balance policies would have significant positive relationship with perceived organizational performance in the U.S. federal agencies, and that leadership support will have a significant positive moderating effect. The study also expected that the relationship between work-life policies and perceived organizational performance will be more positive in feminine organizations compared to masculine organizations. However, the findings do not support all these expectations. With the exception of employee’s assistance programs, work-life balance policies do not seem to have a significant positive impact on perceived organizational performance. In terms of moderation effect, the results indicate that leadership support only has a significant positive moderation effect on the relationship between perceived organizational performance and childcare programs, alternative work schedules, and wellness programs in all U.S. federal agencies. Leadership support also has a significant positive moderation impact on the relationship between perceived organizational performance with alternative programs, and wellness programs in feminine organizations. This study asserts the need to re-evaluate the implementation and the practices of work-life balance policies in the federal agencies. This study also encourages public administration scholars to conduct more systematic research on work-life balance policies to provide more concrete evidence on its importance in the public sector context, and to provide recommendations on how to improve the impact of such policies.