Work-life balance in public accounting: An experimental inquiry into supervisor support for subordinate career progression

IF 1.2 Q3 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Advances in Accounting Pub Date : 2023-06-01 DOI:10.1016/j.adiac.2023.100646

Mary Sasmaz, Timothy J. Fogarty

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Work-Life Balance (WLB) continues to be a concern of audit professionals because the long work-hours environment can have negative effects for both individuals and organizations. Audit firms have continuously committed to helping employees with the creation of work-life balance and well-being programs. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the firm's official commitment to work-life balance is reflected in supervisors' evaluation of subordinates. This study conducts a between subjects experiment using actual audit supervisors as participants to capture responses to ways that a hypothetical staff person might pursue WLB. As part of this, a hypothetical non-financial WLB metric used as part of the formal performance evaluation process is examined as a potential tool for strengthening the effectiveness of audit firm investments in WLB. The results show that WLB alternatives still have negative career consequences, and these consequences would not be mitigated by the use of a formal WLB performance evaluation metric. Although career consequences of WLB are not significantly related to gender, performance evaluation is not gender neutral.

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公共会计工作-生活平衡:主管对下属职业发展支持的实验研究

工作与生活的平衡（WLB）仍然是审计专业人士关注的问题，因为长时间的工作环境可能对个人和组织都产生负面影响。审计公司一直致力于帮助员工建立工作与生活的平衡和幸福计划。本研究的目的是确定公司对工作与生活平衡的官方承诺是否反映在主管对下属的评估中。这项研究进行了一项受试者之间的实验，使用实际的审计主管作为参与者，以捕捉对假设员工可能追求WLB的方式的反应。作为其中的一部分，作为正式绩效评估过程的一部分使用的假设非财务WLB指标被视为加强审计公司在WLB投资有效性的潜在工具。结果表明，WLB替代方案仍然具有负面的职业后果，并且这些后果不会通过使用正式的WLB绩效评估指标来减轻。尽管WLB的职业后果与性别没有显著关系，但绩效评估并不是中性的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Advances in Accounting BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

6.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： Advances in Accounting, incorporating Advances in International Accounting continues to provide an important international forum for discourse among and between academic and practicing accountants on the issues of significance. Emphasis continues to be placed on original commentary, critical analysis and creative research.