Seeking advice and support when needed is a crucial skill for employees to change their job characteristics for the better – known as job crafting (Tims et al., 2011).
In our WLF study with 848 employees in Spain, we found positive correlations between both asking the supervisor for help as well as asking colleagues for help and better work-life flows (i.e. less time and emotional strains that impede nonwork experiences).
At the same time, the higher the job context of autonomy, the more frequently asking the supervisor for help when needed, but not colleagues. This is an example of how combinations of contextual factors (level of autonomy) can interact with individual behaviors that impact the work-life flow.