Positive work experiences seem to brighten up one's home life, for a new study has found that invigorated and dedicated employees have happier family life.
Researchers at Kansas State University have found that employees who are engaged in their work, which includes higher levels of vigour, more dedication and absorption in day-to-day activities, have better moods and more satisfaction at home.
"Our research indicated that individuals who were engaged in positive experiences at work and who shared those experiences with significant others perceived themselves as better able to deal with issues at home, became better companions and more effective overall in home environment," lead researcher Satoris Culbertson said.
For the study, the researchers tracked 67 extension agents for two-weeks to determine the relationship between daily work engagement and work-to-family facilitation. They found both work engagement and work-to-family facilitation vary considerably from day-to-day.
"Just because an employee might not be invigorated or dedicated to his or her work on a Monday doesn't mean he or she won't be engaged on Tuesday or vice versa. Additionally, one's work can facilitate things at home to a different extent depending on the day and what has happened on that particular day," Culbertson said.
The researchers also found that daily work engagement had a positive effect on family life after controlling for workload -- heavy or light work hours were not a factor.
"Work addicts, or workaholics, have been shown to experience higher levels of work-family conflict. On the contrary, our study showed that higher levels of engagement were related to higher levels of work-family facilitation rather than conflict," Culbertson said.
He has an advice for employers: "Generating high levels of engagement among workers has a positive impact on the work-family interface."
The findings have been presented at the conference for Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in New Orleans.
