When Family Demands Cloud Work: Goal Sharing and Trust Keep Ideas Alive

What is it about?

This study explores how family-to-work conflict—when family responsibilities interfere with job performance—affects employees’ willingness to champion innovative ideas at work. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the authors argue that family strain depletes employees’ mental and emotional resources, making them more likely to feel role ambiguity—a sense that their work duties are unclear—and therefore less likely to engage in idea promotion. Survey data from 118 employees in an Israeli professional services firm show that family-to-work conflict reduces idea championing by increasing role ambiguity. Employees distracted by family demands feel uncertain about their roles and conserve energy by avoiding extra-role behaviors like promoting new ideas. However, two coworker resources—goal congruence and goodwill trust—buffer this effect. Employees who share goals or trust peers maintain clarity and motivation, even under family stress. These results highlight that the family–work interface is not just a personal issue but a social and organizational one. Supportive workplace relationships act as a shield against the energy drain caused by family pressures, allowing employees to remain innovative and engaged. The study provides actionable insights for managers seeking to protect idea-related behaviors in times of high personal or family strain.

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research is unique in integrating family-to-work conflict, role ambiguity, and coworker relational resources into a single COR-based framework. It identifies role ambiguity as a critical psychological mechanism that explains how family stress undermines employees’ proactive innovation efforts and demonstrates how goal congruence and goodwill trust can interrupt this downward spiral. The study expands COR theory by showing how emotional and social resources jointly sustain idea championing in the face of external life pressures. It is also timely, as the data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, when family demands and work uncertainty surged. In this context, the study offers vital insights into how organizations can sustain innovation amid widespread personal strain. By emphasizing the buffering power of goal-aligned, trustworthy relationships, it provides practical strategies for HR leaders seeking to maintain employee engagement and creativity in periods of crisis and family-driven resource depletion.