ABSTRACT

The energetic state before the start of work has been associated with work-related outcomes (e.g. job performance). However, little is known regarding the determinants of the energetic state before starting work. It can be assumed that working parents, in particular, face various resource-consuming demands (e.g. childcare-related demands) before they start working that may impact the subsequent workday.

To test this assumption, we conducted a diary study involving 130 working parents over five workdays. We investigated the effects of childcare-related and commute-related demands as predictors of changes in fatigue between awakening and starting work. Furthermore, we examined the mediated effect of morning demands on job performance via start-of-work-time fatigue. Finally, we investigated whether work schedule flexibility and childcare drop-off time flexibility attenuated the adverse effect of morning demands on fatigue. The results indicated that morning childcare-related and commute-related demands had a significant indirect effect on job performance, as these morning demands predicted start-of-work-time fatigue, which in turn was associated with daily job performance. Work schedule flexibility, but not drop-off time flexibility, buffered the effect of morning demands on start-of-work-time fatigue. To enhance the job performance of working parents, future research should pay more attention to contextual factors before daily work starts.

摘要

开始工作之前的精力充沛的状态与与工作相关的结果（例如，工作绩效）有关。但是，对于开始工作之前的能量状态的决定因素知之甚少。可以假设，特别是在职父母在开始工作之前会面临各种资源消耗需求（例如与育儿相关的需求），这可能会影响随后的工作日。

为了检验这一假设，我们进行了一项日记研究，涉及五个工作日内的130名在职父母。我们调查了与保育和通勤相关的需求的影响，这些需求是唤醒和开始工作之间疲劳变化的预测指标。此外，我们研究了上班时间疲劳对早晨需求对工作绩效的影响。最后，我们调查了工作时间表的灵活性和托儿服务的下班时间灵活性是否能减轻早晨需求对疲劳的不利影响。结果表明，与托儿相关和通勤相关的早上需求对工作表现有显着的间接影响，因为这些早晨需求预测了上班时间的疲劳，而疲劳又与日常工作表现相关。工作时间表的灵活性，但不包括下班时间的灵活性，减轻了早晨需求对工作时间疲劳的影响。为了提高在职父母的工作绩效，未来的研究应在日常工作开始前更加关注上下文因素。