Career enhancement strategies, supportive work relationships and subjective career success: the moderating role of family–work conflict

Abstract

PurposeOur study examines the impact of career enhancing strategies (CES), supportive work relationships and family–work conflict (FWC) on subjective career success.Design/methodology/approachThe data were sourced from 107 professionals, who were the members of an alumni LinkedIn group of the Masters Human Resource degree program from a university in the Midwestern United States. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test the study hypotheses.FindingsResults indicate that both forms of CES – networking and mentoring – were positively associated with subjective career success, and there exists a positive association between perceived organizational support and subjective career success. Further, FWC moderates the relationship between subjective career success and mentoring and also moderates the relationship between subjective career success and perceived supervisor support.Practical implicationsOrganizations should provide opportunities to employees for networking and institute formal mentoring programs to enhance employees' perceptions of subjective career success. It is also crucial for organizations to promote work–life balance initiatives that can help reduce the levels of FWC experienced by employees.Originality/valueOur study makes important contributions to the extant literature by highlighting the importance of CES and supportive work relationships in ensuring subjective career success. It also identifies an important moderator, FWC, which can significantly impact subjective career success.