Does work and family imbalance impact the satisfaction of police force employees? A “net or a web” model

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of work–family conflict (WFC) and family–work conflict (FWC) on the level of job satisfaction for the police force employees, considering organizational and community embeddedness as the two moderators.

Design/methodology/approach

A convenience-based sample of 345 employees working in the capital city police force was collected using a questionnaire-based survey.

Findings

A negative association was found between WFC and the employees’ job satisfaction, and both organizational and community embeddedness were found to moderate these associations.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests policymakers to develop HR strategies to mitigate work and family imbalances in order to enhance job satisfaction among the police force employees.

Practical implications

Practically, this study contributes by suggesting flexible working hours and reducing the workload of the police force.

Originality/value

This study highlights the importance of the effects of community and organizational embeddedness on the associations between inter-role conflicts and job satisfaction among police force employees. The study adds to the limited literature on the constructs of WFC and FWC to elucidate the moderating role of embeddedness.

Citation

Ahmad, R. and Islam, T. (2019), "Does work and family imbalance impact the satisfaction of police force employees? A “net or a web” model", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 585-597. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2018-0061