Fatherhood research interview

Dads are more committed employees and more engaged parents with flexible working, says new research

Recently Jennifer Liston-Smith, Head of Coaching interviewed Dr. Simon Burnett, Senior Research Associate, Lancaster University Management School, Department of Management Learning and Leadership.

A rigorous study (survey with 1,100 responses and over a hundred participants in teleconference focus groups and interviews) has been investigating the links, for working fathers, between flexible working, family life, wellbeing and work satisfaction.

The research has been conducted by Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) (Dr Simon Burnett, Dr Caroline Gatrell, Distinguished Professor Cary Cooper and Professor Paul Sparrow) and the charity Working Families (Chief Executive Officer Sarah Jackson (OBE); Policy and Research Officer Jonathan Swan); and financed by the Lottery Research Fund.

Inflexible and stressful work 'harming families'

The findings are particularly important when set against a Demos report just launched emphasising the links between inflexible work and stress for parents.

Responding to the Demos report, Children's Commissioner for England Maggie Atkinson, has said:

"The lesson from this is that we have to look at ways of working that allow parents to share responsibility and provide children with the support parents want to give." The fatherhood research behind this interview gives practical shape to that need.

Flexibility at work can be positive for work AND family life

Findings suggest that Dads want to be much more involved in their children's lives at home and that flexibility at work is a huge help in supporting this.

The research also revealed that fathers who have some flexibility in their working arrangements also show positive benefits in their work relationships, sense of control at work, job security, reduction in sense of overload, commitment to their organisation, their perceived commitment of organisation to them, their physical health and their positive psychological well-being.

As Simon Burnett points out in our interview:

For these fathers 'working flexibly in some way had a positive impact over those who do not work flexibly in any way'.

The research holds important messages for both Dads and employers about the way forward, which are captured in the short interview.

Download the full Fatherhood Research Interview

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