Perceived Organisational Support, Work‐Life Balance, and Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Study of Grandparent Status
Date
Authors
Harris, Candice
Haar, Jarrod
Myers, Barbara
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
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Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
While older workers have received considerable attention from researchers, far less is known about the work experiences of grandparents. This study examines how perceived organisational support (POS) influences work‐life balance (WLB) and work outcomes (employee engagement and job satisfaction) with grandparent status as a moderator. Using a moderated mediation model tested on 783 New Zealand employees (including 155 grandparents) with the PROCESS macro, we find support for all direct effects. Importantly, when POS is high, grandparents report significantly higher WLB than non‐grandparents. Moderated mediation analyses further show that the indirect effect of POS on engagement and job satisfaction, via WLB, is strongest for grandparents. These findings position grandparents as a distinct and often under‐recognised segment of the workforce, suggesting they may engage with social exchange relationships in unique ways. For HR practice, this recognition goes beyond demographic categorisation—it calls for a critical evaluation of policies related to flexibility, leave, and wellbeing through the lens of later‐life caregiving responsibilities. By doing so, HR practitioners can better support the engagement and retention of this group, while researchers are encouraged to consider grandparent status as a meaningful variable in future HRM scholarship.Description
Keywords
1503 Business and Management, 3505 Human resources and industrial relations, 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
Source
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, ISSN: 1038-4111 (Print); 1744-7941 (Online), Wiley, 63(4). doi: 10.1111/1744-7941.70036
Publisher's version
Rights statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.