Understanding employee work‐life conflict experiences: Self‐leadership responses involving resource management for balancing work, family, and professional development
本研究通过41个半结构化访谈，发现攻读研究生学位的员工经历三种工作生活冲突（激励型、消耗型、维持型），并运用不同自我领导策略管理资源，对人力资源管理者理解员工冲突解决有参考价值。
Abstract The work–life conflict literature describes how employees manage conflict experiences, but little work has focused on experiences beyond work and family (or work and school) conflict to examine more broadly work, family, and professional development (e.g., when employees enter a graduate degree program). This study uses qualitative data to explore the work–life conflict experiences of employees undergoing professional career development in the form of gaining a graduate degree. We contribute to the literature on employees' work–life conflicts. To explore work–life conflicts, 41 semi‐structured interviews were conducted, and revealed that employees report three types of work–life conflict experiences—energizing, depleting and maintaining. Utilizing the conservation of resources theory, we link work–life conflict experiences with resource management and self‐leadership strategies enacted. We demonstrate that when employees report energizing experiences, they utilize behavioural strategies of self‐goal setting and self‐observation to acquire more resources. When employees report depleting experiences, they utilize constructive thought strategies for the evaluation of dysfunctional beliefs and self‐talk to recover from resource loss. Finally, when employees report maintaining experiences, they utilize natural rewards strategies to protect their stock of resources. The link between self‐leadership strategies and work–life conflicts plays a crucial role in understanding how conflict can be resolved.