Copyright © 2011 Surena Sabil, Sabitha Marican & Sheilla Lim Omar Lim Organizational Support and Work-family Enrichment among Professional Women: A Malaysian Case Surena Sabil University Malaysia Sarawak Sabitha Marican University of Malaya Sheilla Lim Omar Lim University Malaysia Sarawak This study aims to examine the consequences of organizational support towards work-family enrichment. It is hypothesized that family-friendly policies and work-family culture will be positively related to work-family enrichment. Data were collected from 255 professional women through a structured questionnaire that were distributed personally to the respective workplace. The study found that family-friendly policies and work-family culture were positively related to work-family enrichment. These results of the study imply that family-friendly policies and work- family culture are an important concern for individuals and organizations alike because of its positive consequences leading to increased work-family enrichment and family-work enrichment. Implications of these findings and recommendations for further enhancement are discussed. Key words: work-family enrichment, work-family culture, family-friendly policies, professional women. Participation of women in the workplace can be seen as a basis of excellence of future global competitiveness. Mainly because in Malaysia, women comprise 50% of the work force, whereby 70% of them are married working women (Public Service Department, 2010; Jamilah et al, 2006). Such trend of married working women in Malaysia will become a common scenario in Malaysia. Hence, bringing more women into the workplace is not a choice but a necessity for both economic and global competition. Furthermore, Malaysia has a long way to go since female participant rate is much less compare with developed countries where the figures are more than 70% (Nor Aini, 2008). As married couples, the wisdom to balance between the roles at home and at work is important to ensure the well being of the family (Sabitha, 2009). According to the popular belief, work is always believed as a burden or propagates negative impacts on the family. Therefore, efforts to balance the roles between work and family sometimes cause problems or stress (Kahn et al, 1964). Work and family conflict certainly has been under careful attention ever since to help deal with the pressures of work and family roles. Work and family conflict occurs when there is an overlap of roles which reflect incompatibility between work and family domain (Greenhaus & Beutell,1985). Although many studies have shown that the overlap between work and family roles lead to conflict (Aminah, 1995; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Kahn et al, 1964), there is also evidence that the benefits or advantages derived from the relationship of work and family (Carlson et al, 2006; Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; Rohany & Fatimah, 2006). The merge of work and family that produces something positive is known as enrichment. Work-family enrichment in detail means work and family working together to support each other and provide benefits to the other role (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006). Studies have shown that employed women suffer less from depression and have a positive impact on their psychological well-being (Baruch & Barnett, 1986; Rohany & Fatimah, 2006). Theories of Work and Family Roles It started with the role theory that was used as a basis for the approach of conflict between the role and diversity of roles (Kahn et al, 1964). Role theory, which emphasizes the role of stress or role conflict, occurs as a result of an overlap of work and family roles (Kahn et al, 1964). Role ambiguity is caused when an employee is unsure what type of job behavior to execute in a given work situation (Boles, Johnston & Hair, 1997). Research has proved that role conflict and role ambiguity affect a wide range of attitudes and behaviors across a variety of work settings.