Despite much research, it remains unclear whether and how organizational work—life and resilience initiatives (WLRI) enhance employee commitment. To open this black box, this theory-building research analyses 73 in-depth interviews in a multinational pharmaceutical company. WLRI foster desirable outcomes for almost two-thirds of the sample (loyalty, pride, calculated appreciation and use as management tools), yet may have negative outcomes (disappointment, obligation to stay) or no outcome (indifference). To understand the processes implied, this research analyses employees’ awareness, need, access and judgment of the initiatives. A decision tree was built. Key success conditions lie in three layers of context: personal, work environment and national. This article argues for a new theoretical foundation of work—life research, combining classic individual-centred perspectives with relational theories, which remain under-investigated in work—life research.
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