Promoting felt responsibility for constructive change and proactive behavior: exploring aspects of an elaborated model of work design

Although new theoretical models that are suggestive of how work design might be used to foster proactive motivation and proactive performance have been proposed, these models need further elaboration and testing if they are to be useful tools for contemporary organizations. Accordingly, we examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change is a proactive psychological mechanism that explains how work design characteristics influence constructive change‐oriented behavior and proactive performance. Specifically, we examine job autonomy, position in the organizational hierarchy, access to resources, access to strategy‐related information, and role ambiguity as antecedents to felt responsibility for constructive change (FRCC). We also examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change are positively related to voice behavior (i.e., constructive, change‐oriented communication) and continuous improvement (i.e., proactive role performance). Results indicate hierarchical position and access to resources are positively related to FRCC. Results also indicate proactive personality moderates the relationship between access to resources and FRCC and the relationship between access to strategy‐related information and FRCC. Plots of the interactions reveal that these relationships are enhanced for individuals with proactive personalities. The results also indicate that FRCC is positively related to voice behavior and continuous improvement. Perhaps more importantly, the results suggest that FRCC explains the psychological process by which structural and socio‐structural forces influence proactive behavior. The results are discussed as they pertain to updated work design theory and theories of high involvement work systems, job characteristics, and leadership prototypes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workers’ Perceptions of Workplace Safety and Job Satisfaction

A lot of attention has beenfocused on workers ‘ perceptions of workplace safety but relatively little or no research has been done on the impact of job satisfaction on safety climate. This study investigated this relationship. It also examined the relationships between job satisfaction and workers’ compliance with safety management policies and accident frequency. A positive association was found between job satisfaction and safety climate. Workers who expressed more satisfaction at their posts had positive perceptions of safety climate. Correspondingly, they were more committed to safety management policies and consequently registered a lower rate of accident involvement. The results were thus consistent with the notion that workers ‘ positive perceptions of organisational climate influence their perceptions of safety at the workplace. The findings, which have implications in the work environment, are discussed.     

Does homesickness undermine the potential of job resources? A perspective from the work–home resources model

Rapid economic development in recent decades has resulted in a considerable increase in the number of people working far away from their home locations. Homesickness is a common reaction to the separation from home. Our research uses the work–home resources model to explain how the experience of homesickness can undermine the positive effect of job resources on job performance (i.e., task performance and safety behavior). In addition, we hypothesize that emotional stability and openness are key resources that can buffer the negative interference of homesickness with the job resources–performance relationship. We conducted two studies to test our hypotheses. Study 1 was a two‐wave longitudinal study using a migrant manufacturing worker sample. In this study, homesickness was measured at the between‐person level, and performance was measured three months later. Study 2 was a daily diary study conducted in a military trainee sample. In this study, homesickness was measured at the within‐person level to capture its fluctuations over 20 days, and daily job performance was assessed using supervisor ratings. Both studies showed evidence of the hypothesized moderating effect of homesickness and three‐way interaction effects of job resources, homesickness, and key resources (i.e., emotional stability and openness) on task performance and safety behavior.     

A double‐edged sword: The moderating role of conscientiousness in the relationships between work stressors,psychological strain,and job performance

Although conscientiousness was commonly viewed as a type of personal resource to help individuals reduce strain or mitigate the impacts of stressors, empirical research demonstrated mixed results. Based on the personal resource allocation perspective, we posited that rather than functioning as personal resource per se, conscientiousness may act as a key factor influencing how individuals allocate their personal resources. The current study examined the moderating roles of conscientiousness in the relationships that work stressors (i.e., challenge stressors and hindrance stressors) have with employee psychological strain and job performance by using multi‐source, time‐lagged data collected from 250 employees working at two companies. The results showed that both challenge stressors and hindrance stressors were positively related to psychological strain. Conscientiousness moderated the relationships between both stressors and psychological strain, such that the positive relationships were stronger for individuals with high conscientiousness. Conscientiousness also moderated the relationship between challenge stressors and performance, such that the relationship was positive for individuals with high conscientiousness but negative for those with low conscientiousness. Altogether, the findings suggest that conscientiousness acts as a double‐edged sword that both promotes performance and exacerbates the stress reaction of employees when they are confronted with stressful situations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shared aggression concerns and organizational outcomes: The moderating role of resource constraints

Most research on workplace aggression focuses on the antecedents and consequences of aggression for individual workers. The current study examines how shared workplace aggression concerns relate to internal and external organizational outcomes. Drawing on the work stress, social identity, and social contagion literatures, we propose relationships between unit‐level aggression concerns and unit‐level measures of performance and employee attitudes in a public school sample (2989 employees; 163 schools). We also propose that these relationships differ depending on the resource context of the school. Consistent with our expectations, schools in which teachers had strong shared concerns about aggression also had poorer shared job attitudes and poorer student outcomes, as indicated by average standardized test scores at the school. The impact of shared concerns about aggression on school‐level standardized test scores was stronger for resource‐rich schools than for schools with fewer resources. The current study contributes to organizational research as it establishes that workplace aggression concerns have adverse consequences for the whole organization, not only for the individuals experiencing the events. Our findings demonstrate that employees' shared concerns about aggression have an impact on organizational outcomes and suggest a prevention‐focused approach to workplace aggression. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ripple effect: A spillover model of the detrimental impact of work–family conflict on job success

Exploring the role of both the employee and supervisor, we tested a model of how cognition‐based work‐to‐family conflict manifests itself in the workplace, impacting employee job success. Based on conservation of resources theory and the concept of loss spirals, we hypothesized that when an employee's work interferes with family demands, the resulting work‐to‐family conflict spills over to the work domain via employee emotional exhaustion. We further argued that the behavioral manifestation of employee emotional exhaustion in the workplace is low employee engagement, as assessed by the supervisor. Drawing on signaling theory, we proposed that supervisor assessments of employee engagement are related to promotability, performance ratings, and salary. Work scheduling autonomy, as a boundary condition, is examined as a resource that attenuates these relationships. Data collected from 192 employee–supervisor dyads of a Fortune 1000 company, as well as performance ratings and salary obtained from company records 9 months later, indicated support for our conceptual model. Future research examining employee work–family conflict and job outcomes is discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work status and organizational citizenship behavior: a field study of restaurant employees

This survey‐based field study of 257 service employees developed and tested a model of differences in the organizational citizenship behavior of full‐time and part‐time employees based on social exchange theory. Questionnaire data from matched pairs of employees and their supervisors demonstrated that part‐time employees exhibited less helping organizational citizenship behavior than full‐time employees, but there was no difference in their voice behavior. We also predicted that both preferred work status (an individual factor) and organizational culture (a contextual factor) would moderate the relationships between work status and citizenship. For helping, results demonstrated that preferred status mattered more to part‐time workers than to full‐time. For voice, preferred work status was equally important to part‐time and full‐time workers, such that voice was high only when actual status matched preferred status. Contrary to our expectations, work status made more of a difference in both helping and voice in less bureaucratic organizations. We discuss the implications of work status for social exchange relationships, differences in the social exchange costs and benefits of helping compared to voice, and ramifications of our findings for future research. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking workplace incivility to citizenship performance: The combined effects of affective commitment and conscientiousness

Although all human relationships are believed to generally adhere to the basic tenets of social exchange theory, recent research suggests that exchange processes may vary as a function of individual differences. We tested this possibility by examining whether the effects of uncivil workplace exchanges on employee attitudes and behavior were moderated by conscientiousness. Using matched data from 190 job incumbents and their supervisors, we found (i) the effect of workplace incivility on citizenship performance to be transmitted through affective commitment and (ii) the strength of this effect to depend on individual differences in conscientiousness. As such, the overall pattern of relationships supported moderated mediation, in that, the indirect effect of workplace incivility on citizenship performance through affective commitment was stronger for individuals high (as compared with those low) in conscientiousness. These findings broaden the focus of prior research by illustrating that, in addition to the mediating effects of cognitive and stress‐based factors, social exchange processes are important for understanding incivility's adverse effects on citizenship performance and that such exchanges are moderated by individual differences in conscientiousness. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overqualification and counterproductive work behaviors: Examining a moderated mediation model

The current study examined the effect of employees' perceived overqualification on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Building on person–job fit theory and prior research on such organizational phenomena, we conceptualized overqualification as a type of poor person–job fit. Drawing on the dual‐process model, we further suggested that in processing their person–job misfit, overqualified employees might cognitively appraise themselves as less worthy organizational members and experientially feel angry toward the employment situation. We also suggested that to the extent that overqualified people are sensitive to justice, they may react more or less strongly to being overqualified. We tested our predictions using time‐lagged data from a sample of 224 workers and their supervisors employed in a large manufacturing company in China. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we found that organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and anger toward employment situation mediated the positive relationships between perceived overqualification and both self‐rated and supervisor‐rated CWBs. In addition, justice sensitivity moderated the relationship between perceived overqualification and the mediators (i.e., OBSE and anger) and the indirect relationship between perceived overqualification and CWB. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behaving safely under pressure: The effects of job demands,resources, and safety climate on employee physical and psychosocial safety behavior

Introduction: Previous research has shown that employees who experience high job demands are more inclined to show unsafe behaviors in the workplace. In this paper, we examine why some employees behave safely when faced with these demands while others do not. We add to the literature by incorporating both physical and psychosocial safety climate in the job demands and resources (JD-R) model and extending it to include physical and psychosocial variants of safety behavior. Method: Using a sample of 6230 health care employees nested within 52 organizations, we examined the relationship between job demands and (a) resources, (b) safety climate, and (c) safety behavior. We conducted multilevel analyses to test our hypotheses. Results: Job demands (i.e., work pressure), job resources (i.e., job autonomy, supervisor support, and co-worker support) and safety climate (both physical and psychosocial safety climate) are directly associated with, respectively, lower and higher physical and psychosocial safety behavior. We also found some evidence that safety climate buffers the negative impact of job demands (i.e., work–family conflict and job insecurity) on safety behavior and strengthens the positive impact of job resources (i.e., co-worker support) on safety behavior. Conclusions: Regardless of whether the focus is physical or psychological safety, our results show that strengthening the safety climate within an organization can increase employees' safety behavior. Practical implication: An organization's safety climate is an optimal target of intervention to prevent and ameliorate negative physical and psychological health and safety outcomes, especially in times of uncertainty and change.     

Goal striving,idiosyncratic deals,and job behavior

Two important gaps remain to be filled in the idiosyncratic deals (i‐deals) literature. First, it is unclear which employees are predisposed to seek and receive i‐deals. Second, it is unclear how employees' perceptions of whether their coworkers are receiving i‐deals affect their own i‐deal experiences. This study proposed a theoretical model suggesting that (a) three key motivational goals identified in human development research, that is, achievement, status, and communion striving, predispose employees to seek and receive i‐deals; (b) employees' perceptions of whether their coworkers are receiving i‐deals moderate these relationships; and (c) employees' i‐deals are related to their job behavior. Data collected from more than 400 working adults in Italy showed that employees' motivational goals (particularly achievement and status striving) were positively related to the levels of i‐deals they received, and that these i‐deals were in turn positively related to supervisors' assessments of their in‐role job performance, voice behavior, and interpersonal citizenship behavior. High perceptions of the extent to which coworkers received i‐deals further strengthened the relationship between status striving and employees' perceptions of their own i‐deals, highlighting a trait‐situation interactionist perspective on employees' i‐deal experiences. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workers' perceptions of workplace safety and job satisfaction.

A lot of attention has been focused on workers' perceptions of workplace safety but relatively little or no research has been done on the impact of job satisfaction on safety climate. This study investigated this relationship. It also examined the relationships between job satisfaction and workers' compliance with safety management policies and accident frequency. A positive association was found between job satisfaction and safety climate. Workers who expressed more satisfaction at their posts had positive perceptions of safety climate. Correspondingly, they were more committed to safety management policies and consequently registered a lower rate of accident involvement. The results were thus consistent with the notion that workers' positive perceptions of organisational climate influence their perceptions of safety at the workplace. The findings, which have implications in the work environment, are discussed.     

A meta‐analysis of sleep and work performance: An examination of moderators and mediators

The present study utilizes meta‐analytic techniques to examine the literature on sleep and work performance. In line with previous meta‐analytic research, results indicate that sleep and work performance have a positive relationship. However, more importantly, results from moderator analyses reveal that the type of sleep measurement (sleep quantity and sleep quality), work performance measurement (task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior), analysis method (between‐person and within‐person), sleep report source (self‐report, other report, and objective), sleep recall window (day, week/month, and more than 1 month), and study setting (field and laboratory) differentially influence the strength of the sleep–work performance relationship. Furthermore, meta‐analytic SEM results indicate that certain mediators (affect, job attitudes, and cognitive resources) provide stronger explanations (i.e., stronger indirect effects) for the relationship between sleep and work performance, depending on the specific type of performance being examined. In general, results highlight the importance of construct operationalization and methodology decisions when conducting sleep–work performance research and provide greater insight into explanations for the relationship between sleep and work performance. Research implications, practical implications, potential limitations, and future directions are also discussed.     

Workplace safety perceptions and perceived organizational support: do supportive perceptions influence safety perceptions?

The current study investigated the relationship between organizational safety climate and perceived organizational support. Additionally, it examined the relationship with job satisfaction, worker compliance with safety management policies, and accident frequency. Safety climate and supportive perceptions were assessed with Hayes, Perander, Smecko, et al. 's (1998) and Eisenberger, Fasolo and LaMastro's (1990) scales respectively. Confirmatory factors analysis confirmed the 5-factor structure of Hayes et al. 's WSS scale. Regression analysis and t-tests indicated that workers with positive perspectives regarding supportive perceptions similarly expressed positive perceptions concerning workplace safety. Furthermore, they expressed greater job satisfaction, were more compliant with safety management policies, and registered lower accident rates. The perceived level of support in an organization is apparently closely associated with workplace safety perception and other organizational and social factors which are important for safety. The results are discussed in light of escalating interest in how organizational factors affect employee safety and supportive perceptions.     

Emergent network structure and initial group performance: The moderating role of pre‐existing relationships

Organization restructurings often put groups of employees into new teams and roles, and it is not unusual for some of these new teammates to have pre‐existing work and friendship relationships. While there has been much theorizing on the impact of existing social network structures on group performance, there has been less research on how pre‐existing relationships help or hinder initial group performance, especially in teams with interdependent roles and tasks. We explore several hypotheses in a competitive management simulation involving 42 teams and find that (1) the density of pre‐existing work and friendship relationships are directly associated with higher initial group performance, and (2) pre‐existing work network density moderates the relationship between emergent work network density and initial group performance. In other words, the degree to which emergent work ties are based on pre‐existing work relationships (i.e., former co‐workers actually work together in their new roles) also contributes to higher initial group productivity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow experiences at work: for high need achievers alone?

Applying Csikszentmihalyi's ( 1990 ) flow theory of optimal experience to the workplace, two studies examined the relationships of employees' perceived skill and challenge at work and need for achievement with their positive mood, intrinsic task interest, and extra‐role performance. Among achievement‐oriented employees only, high skill and challenge was associated with greater positive mood, task interest, and performance than other skill/challenge combinations. Additionally, positive mood mediated the interactive relationship of skill/challenge and need for achievement with performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress‐related aftermaths to workplace politics: the relationships among politics,job distress,and aggressive behavior in organizations

In light of the growing theoretical and practical interest on organizational politics, especially its probable impact on work outcomes, two stress‐related aftermaths of influence and politics in organizations were examined. On the basis of a model by Ferris, Russ, and Fandt ( 1989b ) the idea was pursued that workplace politics may have a long‐range impact on employees' job distress and aggressive behavior in and around organizations. Three samples (n1 = 155, n2 = 184, n3 = 201) were used to examine direct and indirect/mediating relationships among the research variables. Participants were Israeli employees from the private, public, and third sectors. Findings showed that: (1) job distress was an immediate response to organizational politics across the three types of organization, and (2) job distress proved a possible mediator between organizational politics and aggressive behavior as enacted by the employees themselves. Several theoretical and practical implications of the findings that may extend our knowledge on various stress‐related aftermaths of organizational politics are noted. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supervisors' exceedingly difficult goals and abusive supervision: The mediating effects of hindrance stress,anger, and anxiety

This study examined a contextual predictor of abusive supervision. Specifically, we hypothesized that job goals that are judged by supervisors to be exceedingly difficult to attain is a predictor of subordinate‐rated abusive supervisory behavior. Drawing on the cognitive theory of stress, we hypothesized that exceedingly difficult job goals assigned to supervisors predict abusive behavior directed at their subordinates, as mediated by the supervisors' hindrance stress and emotions (e.g., anger and anxiety). We collected data from employees and their immediate supervisors to test this theoretical model (N = 215 matched pairs). The results of this multisource field study provided support for the hypothesized relationships. In particular, assigned job goals that were appraised by supervisors as exceedingly difficult to attain predicted their hindrance stress. Also, hindrance stress was positively related to anger and anxiety, which in turn predicted abusive supervision. Theoretically, these findings contribute to research on goal setting, stress, and abusive supervision. In addition, these findings are practically important in that they provide suggestions on how to minimize abusive supervision in organizations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What does team–member exchange bring to the party? A meta‐analytic review of team and leader social exchange

Both leader–member exchange (LMX) and team–member exchange (TMX) measure the quality of reciprocal exchange among employees in the workplace. Although LMX focuses on supervisor–subordinate relationships while TMX examines the relationships among team members, both have theory‐based and empirically proven relations with workplace outcomes such as job performance, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. However, it is not yet known which has more of an impact on such workplace outcomes—specifically, it is not clear if an employee's time is best spent developing vertical relationships among supervisors and subordinates (LMX) or on the horizontal relationships among team members (TMX). Accordingly, this meta‐analysis explores the incremental validity and relative importance of these two social exchange‐based constructs. The theoretical logic underlying LMX and TMX is clarified, and the parameter estimates between LMX, TMX, and work outcomes are reported. Results demonstrate that TMX shows incremental validity above and beyond LMX for some outcomes (organizational commitment and job satisfaction), but not others (job performance and turnover intentions). Also, LMX shows greater relative importance across all four outcomes. In sum, the clarification of the theoretical and empirical landscape lays a foundation for recommendations for future research. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When do emotionally exhausted employees speak up? Exploring the potential curvilinear relationship between emotional exhaustion and voice

Two studies were conducted to address the potential nonlinear relationship between emotional exhaustion and voice. Study 1 developed and tested a model rooted in conservation of resources theory in which responses to emotional exhaustion are determined by individual‐level and group‐level conditions that influence the perceived safety and efficacy of voice and drive prohibitive voice behaviors by giving rise to either resource‐conservation‐based or resource‐acquisition‐based motivation. Specifically, there was a curvilinear (U‐shaped) relationship between emotional exhaustion and prohibitive voice under conditions of (i) high job security and (ii) high interactional justice climate, but a linearly negative relationship when these resources were low. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings to include an empirical examination of these effects on promotive versus prohibitive voice. Results confirmed the findings of Study 1, provided evidence of differences in the nomological networks of promotive and prohibitive voice, and indicated that prohibitive voice is more salient to the experience of high emotional strain. Implications of the findings and areas for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.