oa Veranderingen in overwegingen van topmanagers over werk-privébeleid tijdens de economische crisis

Changes in top managers’ considerations around work-life arrangements during the economic crisis

In this article we ask the question how the considerations of top managers regarding organizational work-life policies have changed during the recent time of economic crisis and how these changes can be understood from the organizational context. The result of the comparison of semi-structured interviews held in 2008 and again in 2011 show that top managers have become more cost-aware during the economic crisis. Considerations of top managers around work-life policies tend to focus more on consequences for the organization, rather than on employee needs. At the same time we see that work-life policies are increasingly perceived by the top managers as integral part of their organizational policies. Top managers combine this sense of increased integration of work-life arrangements with their increased focus on consequences for the organization by setting conditions for the use of policies by employees ensuring that it will not harm the organization.