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Abstract

In an organizational context, employees are more than mere followers but individuals with multiple roles beyond their employment which interact and influence the way they work. When the demands from work and family life collide, scholars describe this inter-role conflict as work–family conflict (WFC) where the role pressures from work and family are mutually incompatible creating increased feelings of strain and decreased life and job satisfaction which affect their work performance and commitment (Blanch & Aluja, 2012; Hagqvist et al., 2017). Given the importance of having work-life balance, human resource management (HRM) theory argues work flexibility, such as the opportunity to telecommute or work from home, benefits employees by providing them more leadership and discretion in the management of their time and in combining work and family tasks (Dai et al., 2016). Leaders who recognize their employees’ multifaceted lives and make flexible work accommodations in consideration of these factors facilitate improved organizational culture and climate conditions which promote optimal organizational and employee performance. Leaders who can see themselves in the roles of their followers or who have greater concern for them as individuals have the potential to influence cultural-normative organizational contexts with family-friendly policies which impact employee performance. Given the potential for future study in this area, this author’s purpose is to explore parallels in the current HRM and organizational research literature where the intersection of leader-follower trade (LFT) and leader-member exchange (LMX) may facilitate supportive organizational contexts which alleviate WFC for employees and promote more positive organizational outcomes.

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