Effects of family friendly policies on employees' career and life satisfaction

The main purpose of this study is to make comparisons, and to examine the effects of family-friendly policies on career and life satisfaction levels of the employees in cooperative and banking enterprises within the field of finance. In this respect, brief information about the concepts of family-friendly policies, and career and life satisfactions were given systematically through literature review. The research sample of the study comprised of employees from Agricultural Credit Cooperatives Tekirdağ Regional Association and 43 employees from the cooperative enterprises operating under Agricultural Credit Cooperatives Tekirdağ Regional Association, and the employees from 8 private banks within the provincial borders of Tekirdağ. The survey data, which were collected through survey method from 280 employees, were first evaluated through explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis. One of the multi-variable statistical methods, Structural Equation Model, was used to test the hypotheses. In addition, t-test and one-way ANOVA tests were performed to determine the differences between two or more sample groups. Based on the findings obtained from the analyses, it was concluded that the employees have a positive view on the leave policies of their organizations, however, they also believe that their work environment should be more supportive, and their working conditions should be more flexible. Within this context, this negative perception on lack of supportive and flexible working conditions is expected to reduce the levels of career and life satisfaction of employees. In addition, the career and life satisfaction levels of cooperative employees were found to be higher than the career and life satisfaction levels of bank employees. Key words: Family friendly policies, career satisfaction, life satisfaction, cooperative enterprise, bank