Family Supportive Supervisor and Leaders and Leaves Trainings

Learning modules to enhance supervisors abilities to support employees.

Supportive Supervision & Management for Family & Personal Life

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Leaders and Leave: Supporting Employee Use of Paid Family and Sick Leave Policies

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Family Supportive Supervision Research

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Background

Rising demands for working caregivers of children and adults who comprise three-fourths of the U.S. workforce an aging global population, and increasing employee and family health and mental health challenges are converging trends highlighting the need for the measurement of new constructs and the development, delivery and evaluation of evidence-based organizational interventions designed to increase family supportive workplaces Supportive workplaces for family and nonwork roles have been referred to “as engines of psychological health and well-being  especially for caregivers such as parents who the U.S. Surgeon General has identified at their breaking point. Such work is also important for gender equality, workforce burnout and family well-being.

Given the U.S. is lagging in research and practice to enhance employer implementation of work-family policies and supportive cultures  Professor Ellen Ernst Kossek was principal investigator on an NIH grant that included an intervention to improve supervisor support for using paid sick and family leave policies in one of the first randomized clinical trial in the U.S.. Recognizing that even if and when federal mandates are passed in the U.S. to require paid sick and family leave, serious gaps exist in employee perceptions of support for the paid family and sick leave policies currently available offered voluntarily by employers or due to state or city mandates. Receiving an NIH Start Up Technology Transfer grant, she led a national research team to validate and develop new software to train supervisors to support family and sick leave policies . The software will publicly available. The study showed that a majority of all employees regardless of family demands, in organizations where supervisor were randomly assigned to the intervention, reported higher job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Women with childcare responsibilities reported improved physical health; and sandwiched care workers reported higher job satisfaction. 

The Family Supportive Supervisor Training and Workplace Assessment Tool study was funded by the NIH (National Institute of Health Grant #2R42AG060347-02A1) through the STTR program and approved by Purdue University’s IRB Institutional Research Board (2020-1687.)

Family Supportive Supervision Research

Kossek, E., & Hammer, L. (2008). Work/life training for supervisors gets big results. Harvard Business Review, 1, 36. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4183157/

Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Yragui, N. L., Bodner, T. E., & Hanson, G. C. (2009). Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). Journal of Management, 35(4), 837-856. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308328510

Hammer, L. B., Ernst Kossek, E., Bodner, T., & Crain, T. (2013). Measurement development and validation of the family supportive supervisor behavior short-form (FSSB-SF). Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(3), 285. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032612

Kossek, E. E., Pichler, S., Bodner, T., & Hammer, L. B. (2011). Workplace social support and work–family conflict: A meta‐analysis clarifying the influence of general and work–family‐specific supervisor and organizational support. Personnel Psychology, 64(2), 289-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01211.x

Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Anger, W. K., Bodner, T., & Zimmerman, K. L. (2011). Clarifying work–family intervention processes: The roles of work–family conflict and family-supportive supervisor behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 134.  Finalist Rosabeth Moss Kanter award for excellence in  work-family research. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020927

Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Zimmerman, K., & Daniels, R. 2007. Clarifying the construct of family supportive supervisory behaviors (FSSB): A Multilevel perspective. In Research in occupational stress and well-being. (P. L. Perrewe and D. C. Ganster Editors)(Vol. 6, pp. 171-211). Amsterdam: Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3555(06)06005-7

Kossek, E. E., Vaziri, H., Perrigino, M. B., Lautsch, B. A., Pratt, B. R., & King, E. B. (2025). Reenvisioning family-supportive organizations through a diversity, equity, and inclusion perspective: a review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2520-2548. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063241310149

Kossek, E. E., Porter, C. M., Rosokha, L. M., Wilson, K. S., Rupp, D. E., & Law‐Penrose, J. (2024). Advancing work–life supportive contexts for the “haves” and “have nots”: Integrating supervisor training with work–life flexibility to impact exhaustion or engagement. Human Resource Management, 63(3), 397-411. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22207

Kossek, E. E., Thompson, R. J., Lawson, K. M., Bodner, T., Perrigino, M. B., Hammer, L. B., … & Bray, J. W. (2019). Caring for the elderly at work and home: Can a randomized organizational intervention improve psychological health? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000104

Crain, T. L., Hammer, L. B., Bodner, T., Olson, R., Kossek, E. E., Moen, P., & Buxton, O. M. (2019). Sustaining sleep: Results from the randomized controlled work, family, and health study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 180. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000122

Kossek, E. E., Petty, R. J., Bodner, T. E., Perrigino, M. B., Hammer, L. B., Yragui, N. L., & Michel, J. S. (2018). Lasting impression: Transformational leadership and family supportive supervision as resources for well-being and performance. Occupational Health Science, 2(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-018-0012-x

Kossek, E., Odle-Dusseau, H. and Hammer, L. (2018). Family Supportive Supervision around the globe. (K. M. Shockley, W. Shen, and R. C. Johnson (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Global Work-Family Interface, Cambridge Industrial and Organizational Psychology series. p. 570-596.  https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108235556.031

Kossek, E. E., Petty, R. A., Michel, J. S., Bodner, T. E., Yragui, N. L., Perrigino, M. B., & Hammer, L. B. (2017). Work-family subcultures: Workgroup multilevel influences on family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) affecting individual sleep quality and safety performance. In Las Heras, M. Chinchilla, N. Grau, M. (Eds.) Work-Family Balance, Technology and Globalization.  U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. P. 62-85.

Kossek, E., Wipfli, B., Thompson, R., Brockwood, K., & Work Family Health Network Writing Team. (2017). The work, family & health network intervention: Core elements and customization for diverse occupational health contexts. In F. Leong, D. Eggerth, D. Chang, M. Flynn, K. Ford, & R. Martinez (Eds.), Occupational health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities: Improving the well-being of racial and ethnic minorities (pp. 181–215). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000021-009

Bray, J. W., Hinde, J. M., Kaiser, D. J., Mills, M. J., Karuntzos, G. T., Genadek, K. R., … & Hurtado, D. A. (2018). Effects of a flexibility/support intervention on work performance: Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(4), 963-970. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117117696244

Rineer, J., Laskowitz, S., & Hammer, L. (2025). Family-Supportive Supervisor Training to Reduce Work-Family Conflict. Case Studies in IO Psychology: Practical Applications of Science, 227. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197692288.003.0014

Marino, M., Killerby, M., Lee, S., Klein, L. C., Moen, P., Olson, R., … & Buxton, O. M. (2016). The effects of a cluster randomized controlled workplace intervention on sleep and work-family conflict outcomes in an extended care setting. Sleep Health, 2(4), 297-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2016.09.002

Hammer, L. B., Johnson, R. C., Crain, T. L., Bodner, T., Kossek, E. E., Davis, K. D., … & Berkman, L. (2016). Intervention effects on safety compliance and citizenship behaviors: Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Study. Journal of applied psychology, 101(2), 190. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000047

Moen, P., Kelly, E. L., Fan, W., Lee, S. R., Almeida, D., Kossek, E. E., & Buxton, O. M. (2016). Does a flexibility/support organizational initiative improve high-tech employees’ well-being? Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Sociological Review, 81(1), 134-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415622391

Okechukwu, C. A., Kelly, E. L., Bacic, J., DePasquale, N., Hurtado, D., Kossek, E., & Sembajwe, G. (2016). Supporting employees’ work-family needs improves health care quality: Longitudinal evidence from long-term care. Social Science & Medicine, 157, 111-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.03.031

Moen, P., Kaduk, A., Kossek, E., Hammer, L., Buxton, O., O’Donnell, E., Almeida, D., Fox, K., Tranby E., Oakes, J. M., Casper L. (2015). Is work family conflict a multi-level stressor linking job conditions to mental health: Evidence from the Work Family Health Network. Work and Family in the New Economy Research in the Sociology of Work, 26,177-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-283320150000026014

Lam, J., Fox, K., Fan, W., Moen, P., Kelly, E., Hammer, L., & Kossek, E. E. (2015). Manager characteristics and employee job insecurity around a merger announcement: The role of status and crossover. The Sociological Quarterly, 56(3), 558-580. https://doi.org/10.1111/tsq.12092

Kelly, E. L., Moen, P., Oakes, J. M., Fan, W., Okechukwu, C., Davis, K. D., … & Casper, L. M. (2014). Changing work and work-family conflict: Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Sociological Review, 79(3), 485-516. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414531435 Rosabeth Moss Kanter award  winner for excellence in  work-family research.

Kossek, E. E., Hammer, L. B., Kelly, E. L., & Moen, P. (2014). Designing work, family & health organizational change initiatives. Organizational dynamics, 43(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2013.10.007

Crain, T. L., Hammer, L. B., Bodner, T., Kossek, E. E., Moen, P., Lilienthal, R., & Buxton, O. M. (2014). Work-family conflict, family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB), and sleep outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(2), 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036010

Livingston, B. A., Pichler, S., Kossek, E. E., Thompson, R. J., & Bodner, T. (2022). An Alpha, Beta and Gamma approach to evaluating occupational health organizational interventions: Learning from the measurement of work-family conflict change. Occupational Health Science, 6(4), 513-543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-022-00122-y

Kossek, E. E., Perrigino, M. B., Russo, M., & Morandin, G. (2023). Missed connections between the leadership and work–life fields: Work–life supportive leadership for a dual agenda. Academy of Management Annals, 17(1), 181-217. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2021.0085

This is a partial list of research on family supportive supervision that focuses on research where Dr. Kossek was a co-author-often in collaboration with Dr. Leslie Hammer. Hundreds of additional studies have been conducted on family supportive supervision by scholars at many universities around the globe.