Improved Work-Life Balance in Flexible Work? Effects of a co-created Workplace Intervention among Office Workers

• Background Achieving work-life balance in flexible work arrangements is a challenge for both individuals and organizations, but intervention studies are sparse. We aimed to investigate the extent to which work-life balance, work-home interference, and home-work interference changed among office workers with flexible work arrangements after a workplace intervention. Methods Together with a large governmental agency in Sweden, we co-created an intervention with a focus on work strategies and common rules for flexible work in two steps: 1) an education to change individual work strategies and 2) a workshop to develop common rules and routines for flexible work within the workgroup. Two comparable departments participated, with 97 workers in the group receiving the intervention and 70 in a control group. Work-life balance and work-home/home-work interference were measured using questionnaires before the intervention (baseline), after the education (6-month follow-up), and after the workshop (12-month follow-up); and analyzed using linear mixed models with adjustments for covariates. Results We found no marked effects of the intervention on work-life balance, work-home interference, and home-work interference, with statistically non-significant effect estimates at both 6- and 12-months follow-ups. Conclusions Further studies are needed to evaluate whether other initiatives could be more effective in promoting work-life balance among office workers with flexible work arrangements. 

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Health and Environmental Health (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

work strategies

work health promotion

digitalization

work-nonwork interference

Flexibelt arbete

Flexibelt arbete

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)