CONTEXTUAL FACTORS IN THE SUCCESS OF REDUCED-LOAD WORK ARRANGEMENTS AMONG MANAGERS AND PROFESSIONALS.

The article presents the results of a study on the role of contextual factors on the level of success of reduced-load work in a sample of high level professionals and managers. Results reported in this article come from a qualitative study of eighty-two cases of reduced-load work arrangements among corporate professionals and managers in forty-two organizations in Canada and the U.S. In all of the cases, the target individuals studied had worked on a reduced-load basis for a minimum of six months. Most of the cases involved one-on-one negotiation between the individual employee and the senior manager involved, and the timing was most often associated with the birth of a first or subsequent child. Multiple-data sources and collection methods were used. Researchers face-to-face interviews with each reduced-load target manager or professional, as well as his or her spouse or partner, senior manager, a peer co-worker, and a human resources representative. Interviews were semi-structured and included the following topics: the structure of and reasons for the reduced-load work arrangement; how the job was restructured to accommodate the reduced-load schedule; perceptions of the challenges and difficulties involved in restructuring the job; costs and benefits of reduced-load work arrangements from multiple perspectives; and factors important in making the reduced-load work arrangements successful or unsuccessful.