Communication in the workplace: Defining the conversations of supervisors

Background: Communications plays a central role in promoting the health and wellbeing of workers. Although much literature has shown the positive benefits of safety communication in the workplace, research has yet to explore the nature of these communication practices within supervisor–worker relationships. This study overcomes this gap in the literature through objectively monitoring communication within the daily working lives of work-group supervisors in one organization. Aims: The aims of the research were to: (a) categorize communication in the workplace into three categories, namely task-related communication, relationship-related communication, and safety-related communication; and (b) explore the frequency of these dialogs. Method: We periodically recorded brief snippets of ambient (acoustic) sounds in supervisors' workplace environment by using an Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). The EAR was run on an Apple iPod, with an application downloaded for free on iTunes (i.e., iEAR). The EAR was programmed to record for 30 s every three minutes for eight working hours a day of a five-day working week. Results: A total of 12.38 h of acoustic sounds from five workgroup supervisors was useable for coding. The results found examples of task-related (productivity, efficiency, workflow, and human resources) communication, as well as relationship-related (greetings, personal life discussions, workplace relations), and safety-related communication. We also found that the majority of the communication recorded was task-related communication compared with relationship-related and safety-related communication. Practical applications: This research provides preliminary insights into communication practices in the workplace and avenues for future research.     

Job satisfaction as mediated by the value congruity of supervisors and their subordinates

This study represents an attempt to individualize values and job satisfaction. Using a specifically designed Value Scale and the J.D.I., a sample of 48 supervisors and 337 subordinates in six production organizations was investigated. It was found that those subordinates who indicate high job satisfaction tend to have value structures more similar to their superiors than do subordinates who evidence lower satisfaction. The implications of this value homogeneity within work groups were advanced and further research suggested.     

Younger supervisors,older subordinates: An organizational‐level study of age differences,emotions, and performance

Younger employees are often promoted into supervisory positions in which they then manage older subordinates. Do companies benefit or suffer when supervisors and subordinates have inverse age differences? In this study, we examine how average age differences between younger supervisors and older subordinates are linked to the emotions that prevail in the workforce, and to company performance. We propose that the average age differences determine how frequently older subordinates and their coworkers experience negative emotions, and that these emotion frequency levels in turn relate to company performance. The indirect relationship between age differences and performance occurs only if subordinates express their feelings toward their supervisor, but the association is neutralized if emotions are suppressed. We find consistent evidence for this theoretical model in a study of 61 companies with multiple respondents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supervisor behaviors,role stressors and uncertainty as predictors of personal outcomes for subordinates

Among employees of comparable organizations in the United States and New Zealand, role stressors (ambiguity and conflict), along with effort-to-performance uncertainty, performance-to-outcome uncertainty and doubt about acceptance by one's supervisor, generally predicted job satisfaction, psychological strain and turnover intentions. Path analyses of three alternative theoretical models highlighted the importance of job satisfaction as a mediator of the effects of role stressors and uncertainty on strain and turnover intentions. Role stressors contributed separately and via uncertainty to all three outcome measures, but subordinate perceptions of supervisor behaviors added little independent predictive power, once the role stressors and uncertainty were accounted for. These findings support the hypothesis that supervisors can influence the degree of role stress and uncertainty which their subordinates experience, which in turn may affect levels of satisfaction, strain and turnover intentions.     

Targeted workplace incivility: The roles of belongingness,embarrassment, and power

Research to date has largely been unclear about whether a single perpetrator is sufficient to instigate the well‐documented negative consequences of workplace incivility. In the current research, we examine the extent to which perceived belongingness and embarrassment mediate the relationship between incivility from a single perpetrator and two important outcomes (job insecurity and somatic symptoms), and the extent to which the perpetrator's power moderates these relationships. Across two studies using different methods, we find that incidents of single perpetrator incivility are associated with target feelings of isolation and embarrassment, which in turn relate to targets' perceived job insecurity and somatic symptoms (Studies 1 and 2) both the same day and three days later (Study 2). Moreover, we find that perpetrator power moderates the relationship between incivility and embarrassment, such that targets are more embarrassed when the perpetrator is powerful. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expectations of organizational mobility,workplace social inclusion,and employee job performance

Two new concepts, employees' Expectations of Organizational Mobility (EOM) and Workplace Social Inclusion (WSI), were developed in part from the burgeoning literature on social capital. Two independent tests of the hypotheses in two different organizations found that the greater employees' EOM, the lower their WSI, which in turn was associated with lower employee job performance ratings. Further, the mediating role of WSI was confirmed. Our findings support the arguments of those who have warned that employees' EOM, and implicitly the human resources philosophy of ‘employability’ that encourages such expectations, is associated with comparatively worse individual job performance via lower levels of employee WSI. The value of these concepts for current employability debates, for the use of subjective supervisory judgments in performance appraisal ratings and for researchers interested in organization‐based communal social capital, is discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting safety culture: the roles of employer, operations manager and safety professional

Introduction: This study explores predictive factors in safety culture. Method: In 2008, a sample 939 employees was drawn from 22 departments of a telecoms firm in five regions in central Taiwan. The sample completed a questionnaire containing four scales: the employer safety leadership scale, the operations manager safety leadership scale, the safety professional safety leadership scale, and the safety culture scale. The sample was then randomly split into two subsamples. One subsample was used for measures development, one for the empirical study. Results: A stepwise regression analysis found four factors with a significant impact on safety culture (R² = 0.337): safety informing by operations managers; safety caring by employers; and safety coordination and safety regulation by safety professionals. Safety informing by operations managers (ß = 0.213) was by far the most significant predictive factor. Impact on industry: The findings of this study provide a framework for promoting a positive safety culture at the group level.     

Examining the effects of feeling trusted by supervisors in the workplace: A self‐evaluative perspective

Trusting and feeling trusted are related but unique components of a trusting relationship. However, we understand relatively little about the effects of felt trust on work performance and organizational citizenship behavior. From a self‐evaluative perspective, this study argued that when employees perceive that their supervisors trust them, their organization‐based self‐esteem is enhanced, leading them to perform better in the workplace. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 497 teachers using two trust measures, that is, reliance and disclosure, and found support for them on the basis of the reliance (but not the disclosure) measure. The effect of felt trust especially reliance on the employees' work performances were mediated by their organization‐based self‐esteem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Episodes of incivility between subordinates and supervisors: examining the role of self‐control and time with an interaction‐record diary study

Scholars have hypothesized that experiencing incivility not only negatively affects well‐being, but may even trigger further antisocial behavior. Previous research, however, has focused mainly on the relation between incivility and well‐being. Thus, little is known about the behavioral consequences of incivility. With this in mind, we conducted an interaction‐record diary study to examine whether supervisor incivility causes retaliatory incivility against the supervisor. Using the self‐control strength model as a framework, we further examined whether the target's trait (trait self‐control) and state (exhaustion) self‐regulatory capacities moderate this effect. In addition, we examined the role of time by testing the duration of the effect. When we analyzed the full data set, we found no support for our hypotheses. However, using a subset of the data in which the subsequent interaction happened on the same day as the prior interaction, our results showed that experiencing incivility predicted incivility in the subsequent interaction, but only when the time lag between the two interactions was short. Furthermore, in line with the assumption that self‐regulatory capacities are required to restrain a target from retaliatory responses, the effect was stronger when individuals were exhausted. In contrast to our assumption, trait self‐control had no effect on instigated incivility. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting collective climates: assessing the role of shared work values,needs, employee interaction and work group membership

Previous research has debated whether the collective climates, produced through cluster analysis of psychological climate perceptions, are representative of meaningful organizational collectives or simply statistical artifacts. In this study we examined the extent to which collective climates are comprised of individuals with similar interpretive schemata such as work values and need strength or consist of individuals who share work group or interaction group membership. Measures of psychological climate, work values, need strength, and employee interaction patterns were collected from the management and administrative staff of a manufacturing organization. Results supported the symbolic interactionist perspective to the formation of collective climates. We found clear evidence that collective climates are related to employee interaction groups. Employee interaction based on sensemaking and information seeking activities was most strongly related to shared climate perceptions. There was also some evidence that individuals with similar levels of need strength share collective climate membership. Implications of these results on the debate over the use of collective climates are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The indirect relations of workplace incivility with emotional exhaustion and supportive behaviors via self‐blame: The moderating roles of observed incivility and trait emotional control

Drawing from the social cognitive theory of self‐regulation, we develop a model linking experienced incivility to emotional exhaustion and supportive behaviors via self‐blame, with observed incivility experienced by coworkers as a first‐stage moderator and trait emotional control as a second‐stage moderator. We contend that employees will experience self‐blame if they perceive themselves to be distinct targets of incivility (i.e., observed incivility experienced by others is low). Self‐blame can potentially trigger prosocial responses for improving the situation, but self‐blaming targets rarely respond in a prosocial manner because rational attempts to do so are thwarted by deleterious negative emotions accompanying self‐blame. We argue that trait emotional control provides resources for managing these negative emotions to unleash a bright side of self‐blame, such that the relation of self‐blame with prosocial responses (i.e., being supportive to coworkers) will be more positive and the relation of self‐blame with emotional exhaustion will be less positive for individuals with high (vs. low) trait emotional control. Multiwave data collected from a sample of 220 police officers largely support our hypotheses, indicating that the indirect relation of experienced incivility with supportive behaviors via self‐blame is strongest at lower levels of observed incivility and higher levels of emotional control.     

Emotion as mediators of the relations between perceived supervisor support and psychological hardiness on employee cynicism

In this study we explore whether emotion experienced at work mediates the relationships between perceived supervisor support, psychological hardiness, and employee cynicism. Data were collected from employees working at a medical technology company located in Switzerland. Mediational analyses showed that employees' positive and negative emotions experienced amidst an organizational crisis fully accounted for the relations between perceived supervisor support and cynicism and psychological hardiness and cynicism. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Business ideologies and perceived breach of contract during downsizing: the role of the ideology of employee self‐reliance

This paper represents an initial effort to explore the empirical relationship between business ideologies and perceptions of organizational downsizing. The results of four studies, two conducted in the US and one each in Singapore and Korea, suggest that respondents' belief in the ideology of employee self‐reliance reduces the degree to which they perceive layoffs as a breach of the psychological contract. This finding appears to generalize to respondents' perceptions of their own layoffs and also to respondents' perceptions of layoffs happening to others. We spell out the implications of these results for the evolving theory of the ideological foundations of perceptions of downsizing. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overview of the relationship between organizational and workplace factors and injury rates

This paper summarizes data from ten studies examining the relationship between organizational and workplace factors and injury rates. The studies were identified from a systematic literature search, as well as from other sources, and were included if they reported comparisons among at least 20 workplaces. Factors that were examined in at least two studies were identified. Their relationship with injury rates was determined. It was not possible to make quantitative comparisons between studies. We looked for ‘consistency’ or ‘contradiction’ in the relationships. Among the variables ‘consistency’ associated with lower injury rates were: empowerment of the workforce (in general matters); delegation of safety activities; and an active role (in health and safety) of top management. Among the ‘contradictory’ variables were the level and use of discipline for safety violations; and several others that were contradictory only in subgroups of the same study. We discuss the limitations of synthesizing results from the diverse studies.     

A process model of employee engagement: The learning climate and its relationship with extra‐role performance behaviors

Employee engagement has recently been introduced as a concept advantageous to organizations. However, little is known about the value of employee engagement in explaining work performance behaviors compared with similar concepts. The learning climate, defined as the organization's beneficial activities in helping employees create, acquire, and transfer knowledge, has also been proposed as an antecedent of employee engagement. Using data from a sample of 625 employees and their supervisors in various occupations and organizations throughout Israel, we investigated employee engagement as a key mechanism for explaining the relationship between perceptions of the organization's learning climate and employees' proactivity, knowledge sharing, creativity, and adaptivity. We also tested whether employee engagement explained the relationship more thoroughly than similar concepts such as job satisfaction and job involvement. Multilevel regression analyses supported our hypotheses that employee engagement mediates the relationship between the perceived learning climate and these extra‐role behaviors. Moreover, engagement provides a more thorough explanation than job satisfaction or job involvement for these relationships. The implications for organizational theory, research, and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multifoci effects of injustice on counterproductive work behaviors and the moderating roles of symbolization and victim sensitivity

Past research suggests that employees, in response to workplace experiences, selectively engage in targeted counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Taking a retributive justice and target similarity perspective, we predict that employee perceptions of unfairness from the organization uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the organization whereas employee perceptions of supervisory unfairness uniquely predict CWB specifically targeted at the supervisor. We further hypothesized that moral identity‐symbolization would strengthen these target‐similar relationships. Finally, drawing from the sensitivity to mean intentions model, we hypothesized that victim sensitivity would not only strengthen these target‐similar relationships but also lead to cross‐foci effects of multifoci fairness perceptions on targets of CWB. Results from 3 field studies of full‐time employees provided support for most of our hypothesized relationships.     

Supervisors' emotional exhaustion and abusive supervision: The moderating roles of perceived subordinate performance and supervisor self‐monitoring

Drawing from conservation of resources theory, this study aims to create new knowledge on the antecedents of abusive supervision. Results across 2 independent field studies within a manufacturing context (Study 1) and a customer service context (Study 2) consistently demonstrated a 3‐way interaction pattern, such that supervisors' experiences of emotional exhaustion, perceived subordinate performance, and self‐monitoring were jointly associated with subordinates' abusive supervision perceptions. A supplementary scenario experiment further corroborated this pattern. Together, the present studies illustrate a contingency model of abusive supervision's origins, highlighting emotional exhaustion as an important risk factor that is particularly likely to trigger abusive behavior among supervisors with lower (rather than higher) self‐monitoring who are faced with a relatively underperforming subordinate. As such, this research advances the abusive supervision literature by offering new insights into the complex resource conservation processes that may give rise to subordinates' abuse perceptions.     

Thought self-leadership: the impact of mental strategies training on employee cognition,behavior, and affect

Thought self-leadership involves employee self-influence through cognitive strategies that focus on individual self-dialogue, mental imagery, beliefs and assumptions, and thought patterns. A training intervention-based field study with a control group was undertaken to empirically examine the applicability of thought self-leadership in an organizational setting (of bankruptcy financial status), and the potential for cognitions to be self-controlled. Results suggested that individuals who received the thought self-leadership training experienced increased mental performance, positive affect (enthusiasm), job satisfaction, and decreased negative affect (nervousness) relative to those not receiving the training. Additionally, the trainees reported a strong and positive reaction to the training. Finally, those who received the training experienced enhanced perceptions of self-efficacy and more optimistic perceptions of the organization's bankruptcy condition than those not receiving the training.     

Knowledge,attitudes, and behaviors related to child safety restraint in citizens of Shenzhen Municipality,China, and the associations between these factors

Objective: A child safety restraint (CSR) is an effective measure to reduce the risk of child injury from traffic collisions. This study aims to explore knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding CSRs in a Chinese population.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey regarding CSR use was conducted from April to May 2014 in Shenzhen municipality. Respondents were parents who had at least one child 0 to 6 years of age and owned a car. These parents provided a self-report of demographic characteristics as well as information about their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward CSR use.

Results: Most respondents had a fair level of knowledge about CSRs, with higher mean knowledge scores demonstrated among the respondents who were male, had an advanced degree, had a higher income, owned an expensive car, had an older child, drove frequently with children, and routinely drove greater distances with children. In addition, most respondents had a more positive attitude toward CSR use, with a higher mean attitude score among those who had an advanced degree, owned an expensive car, drove frequently with children, and routinely drove greater distances with children. However, some myths regarding CSR use also existed (e.g., parents can effectively protect their children in a car collision by holding them, they are not required to purchase the CSR for child safety if there is no mandatory provision by law, among others). Among 3,768 respondents who had at least one child and a car, 27.8% (1,047) had a CSR and 22.9% (864) used the CSR. A logistic regression model showed the likelihood of CSR ownership to be higher if respondents drove frequently or greater distances and was dependent on both the education level of the respondents and the age of the children. The frequency of CSR use increased as the age of children decreased (P = .0274). Respondents who owned a CSR and those who frequently used CSRs had higher mean knowledge and mean attitude scores.

Conclusions: This observational study found that although the majority of respondents had fair levels of knowledge and positive attitudes, they had lower rates of CSR ownership and use. Therefore, efforts at developing opportunities to expand public awareness of CSR use should be made to improve child passenger safety practices and eliminate child injury caused by traffic collisions.