Learning and development factors related to perceptions of job content and hierarchical plateauing

This study applied theory from the employee learning and development literature to examine factors related to employees' perceptions of being job content plateaued and hierarchically plateaued. Results indicated that both types of plateauing were related to support from top management, career planning, job involvement, and education level. Furthermore, career exploration, motivation to learn, organizational tenure, and job tenure were related to perceptions of hierarchical plateauing, while supervisor support was related to job content plateauing. Additionally, the two types of plateauing differed in the relative strength of their relationship with the variables studied. Implications and future research suggestions are provided. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Facilitating and inhibiting effects of job control and social support on stress outcomes and role behavior: a contingency model

High levels of job control and social support are often related to effective job performance and coping with work stressors. However, support may have more positive effects on role behavior when job control is low. In addition, despite theoretical expectations, simple demands–control and demands–support interactions are infrequently found to predict health and psychological strain outcomes. The ‘demands–control–support’ model (Johnson and Hall, 1988) of stress coping integrates these ‘stress buffering’ and ‘decision latitude’ models and observes more consistent findings. This model posits that social support buffers the adverse effects of high demand, low control jobs. However, explicit tests of the interaction of these variables suggest that control can have positive or negative effects on strain, depending on the level of social support. In this study, supervisor consideration was positively related to subordinate job performance, extra-role behavior, and in-role prosocial behavior (conscientiousness) among subordinates perceiving low job control. The relationship between consideration and performance and extra-role behavior was negative among high control subordinates. The demands×control×support interaction predicted health symptoms, organizational commitment, supervisor satisfaction, and absence due to illness, but the interaction plots do not support the prevailing perspective that support buffers the effects of ‘high strain’ (i.e. low control, high demand) jobs. Patterns were similar for different demands and different social support loci (i.e. supervisor, co-workers). An alternative theoretical process of the demands–control–support interaction is proffered, and implications for organizational intervention are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the relationships among work characteristics and learning-related behavior: Does age matter?

This 3-wave longitudinal study examined (a) the causal direction of the relationships among psychosocial work characteristics (e.g., job demands, job control, and supervisor support) and indicators of learning-related behavior (e.g., motivation to learn and active problem solving), and (b) whether these relationships differed across age, by comparing the results for young (≤30), middle-aged (31–44) and older (≥45) workers. The results for the total sample revealed significant reciprocal causal relationships among job demands, job control, and learning-related behavior. Furthermore, significant age differences were found in the level of the work characteristics and learning-related behavior, as well as in the cross-lagged relationships among the variables. Compared to earlier—predominantly cross-sectional—results, the present study underlines the importance of taking a dynamic as well as a life-span view on the relationships between work and learning-related behavior. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job engagement,perceived organizational support,high‐performance human resource practices,and cultural value orientations: A cross‐level investigation

Drawing on social exchange theory, we developed and tested a cross‐level model of organizational‐level predictors of job engagement. Specifically, we examined the impact of high‐performance human resource (HR) practices on employee engagement and work outcomes. Based on a sample of 605 employees, their immediate supervisors, and HR managers from 130 companies, our results indicated that high‐performance HR practices were directly related to job engagement as well as indirectly related through employees' perceived organizational support. In turn, job engagement was positively related to in‐role performance and negatively related to intent to quit. Culture was found to act as a critical contextual factor, as our results also revealed that the relationship between HR practices and perceived organizational support was stronger when collectivism was high and when power distance orientation was low. Overall, the findings shed new light on the processes and conditions through which employee work‐related outcomes are enhanced owing to high‐performance HR practices. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents of work–family conflict: A meta‐analytic review

This study provides and meta‐analytically examines an organizing framework and theoretical model of work–family conflict. Results, based on 1080 correlations from 178 samples, indicate that work role stressors (job stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, time demands), work role involvement (job involvement, work interest/centrality), work social support (organizational support, supervisor support, coworker support), work characteristics (task variety, job autonomy, family friendly organization), and personality (internal locus of control, negative affect/neuroticism) are antecedents of work‐to‐family conflict (WFC); while family role stressors (family stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, time demands, parental demands, number of children/dependents), family social support (family support, spousal support), family characteristics (family climate), and personality (internal locus of control, negative affect/neuroticism) are antecedents of family‐to‐work conflict (FWC). In addition to hypothesized results, a revised model based on study findings indicates that work role stressors (job stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload) and work social support (organizational support, supervisor support, coworker support) are predictors of FWC; while family role stressors (family stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload), family involvement (family interest/centrality), family social support (family support, spousal support), and family characteristics (family climate) are predictors of WFC. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occupational stress among health care workers: A test of the job demands-control model

Models of occupational stress have often failed to make explicit the variable of control over the environment, as well as the role of job socialization in shaping personality characteristics and coping behaviours. This neglect has helped maintain the focus of stress reduction interventions on the individual. A new model of occupational stress developed by Robert Karasek incorporates control and socialization effects and has successfully predicted the development of heart disease and psychological strain. A survey instrument derived from the model was distributed to 771 hospital and nursing home employees in New Jersey, and 289 (37.5 per cent) were returned. Respondents did not significantly differ from non-respondents by age, sex, job tenure, union membership status, job satisfaction, job perceptions and attitude towards employer and union. The results support the hypothesis that reported job strain (job dissatisfaction, depression, psychosomatic symptoms) and burnout is significantly higher in jobs that combine high workload demands with low decision latitude. This association remained significant after controlling for age, sex, education, marital status, children, hours worked per week and shift worked. Other job characteristics (job insecurity, physical exertion, social support, hazard exposure) were also associated with strain and burnout. The survey instrument also identified high strain jobtitles in the surveyed workplaces. The results are discussed in relation to directions for future research, research on stress in nursing, and approaches to stress reduction.     

Thriving at work: Toward its measurement,construct validation,and theoretical refinement

Thriving is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning. We developed and validated a measure of the construct of thriving at work. Additionally, we theoretically refined the construct by linking it to key outcomes, such as job performance, and by examining its contextual embeddedness. In Study 1, we conducted second‐order confirmatory factor analyses in two samples, demonstrating initial support for the two‐dimensional structure of thriving. We provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of thriving in relation to theoretically related constructs, such as positive and negative affects, learning and performance goal orientations, proactive personality, and core self‐evaluations. In Study 2, across two different samples, we further assessed construct validity by establishing a relationship between thriving and career development initiative, burnout, health, and individual job performance, explaining significant variance beyond traditional attitudinal predictors, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Finally, in Study 3, we focused on understanding the contextual embeddedness of thriving. We found differences in reports of thriving across two points in time, when substantial changes are occurring in peoples' work lives and across contexts (i.e., work and non‐work). Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Daily performance at work: feeling recovered in the morning as a predictor of day‐level job performance

This study examined the state of being recovered in the morning (i.e., feeling physically and mentally refreshed) as a predictor of daily job performance and daily compensatory effort at work. Ninety‐nine employees from public service organizations completed a general survey and two daily surveys on pocket computers over the course of one workweek. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that being recovered in the morning was positively related to daily task performance, personal initiative, and organizational citizenship behavior and negatively related to daily compensatory effort at work. Relationships between the state of being recovered and day‐specific job performance were moderated by job control. For persons with a high level of job control, the relationship between being recovered and daily performance was stronger. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does job insecurity threaten who you are? Introducing a social identity perspective to explain well‐being and performance consequences of job insecurity

This paper introduces a social identity perspective to job insecurity research. Worrying about becoming jobless, we argue, is detrimental because it implies an anticipated membership of a negatively evaluated group—the group of unemployed people. Job insecurity hence threatens a person's social identity as an employed person. This in turn will affect well‐being and job performance. A three‐wave survey study amongst 377 British employees supports this perspective. Persons who felt higher levels of job insecurity were more likely to report a weaker social identity as an employed person. This effect was found to be stable over time and also held against a test of reverse causality. Furthermore, social identity as an employed person influenced well‐being and in‐role job performance and mediated the effect of job insecurity on these two variables over time. Different to the expectations, social identity as an employed person and organisational proactivity were not connected. The findings deliver interesting evidence for the role of social identity as an employed person in the relationships between job insecurity and its consequences. Theoretically, this perspective illustrates the individual and group‐related nature of job insecurity and offers a novel way of connecting work situations with individual well‐being, behaviour and attitudes. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Objective job conditions,social support and perceived stress among blue collar workers

The hypothesis that perceived supportive relations mediate the association between extra-individual (objective) job conditions and perceptions of occupational stress is tested in a population of blue collar workers. Responses to a mailed questionnaire (N = 1830) include measures of social support from four sources (supervisor, coworkers, spouse, friends/relatives) and measures of perceived stress (five job pressures and four need deprivations). In addition, company records and expert ratings by company, union and study personnel provide measures of objective job conditions which are commensurate with the subjective reports. Associations between objective job conditions and perceived stress are significant but modest in size. Controls for age, education, exposure to noxious agents and physical effort on the job do not alter associations between objective conditions and perceived stress. For five of the nine indicators of perceived stress, social support and objective conditions interact in determining perceptions. This is interpreted as a buffering effect in which social support provides a context that significantly alters perceptions of job conditions. The effect of supervisor support is especially important in regard to buffering. It is suggested that research on the quality of work should be especially aware of the conditional nature of the relationship between objective job conditions and perceptions.     

Where intrinsic job satisfaction fails to work: national moderators of intrinsic motivation

This study sought for national characteristics that moderate the individual‐level relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. Data from two distinct questionnaire surveys administered to 107,292 employees in 49 countries was analyzed by employing multilevel modeling. Results showed that the link between intrinsic job characteristics and job satisfaction is stronger in richer countries, countries with better governmental social welfare programs, more individualistic countries, and smaller power distance countries. By contrast, extrinsic job characteristics are strongly and positively related to job satisfaction in all countries. In addition, we found that intrinsic job characteristics tend to produce motivating satisfaction in countries with good governmental social welfare programs irrespective of the degree of power distance, while they do not tend to work so in countries with poor governmental social welfare programs as well as a large power distance culture. Socio‐economic and cultural approaches to explaining cross‐national variation in work motivation are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic effects of personal initiative on engagement and exhaustion: The role of mood,autonomy, and support

Researchers have neglected dynamic effects of proactive behavior on occupational well‐being. We investigated effects of change in personal initiative over 6 months on changes in emotional engagement and exhaustion over the following 6 months. On the basis of the control‐process theory on affect, we hypothesized that changes in positive and negative moods mediate these effects conditional upon employees' level of perceived organizational support. On the basis of action regulation theory, we assumed that change in job autonomy also acts as a mediator. Data came from 297 employees who responded to 3 surveys separated by 6‐month intervals. Results of latent change score modeling showed that change in personal initiative negatively predicted change in positive mood and, when perceived organizational support was low, positively predicted change in negative mood. In addition, change in personal initiative positively predicted change in job autonomy. Change in personal initiative had negative indirect effects on change in emotional engagement, and positive indirect effects on change in emotional exhaustion through changes in positive and negative moods (but not through change in job autonomy). A reverse causal model did not yield significant indirect effects. Overall, these findings suggest that an increase in proactive behavior can have detrimental effects on occupational well‐being.     

Work stressors and coworker support as predictors of individual strain and job performance

This study examined job stressors and coworker social support in relation to both psychological strains and performance. One hundred and ninety‐eight door‐to‐door bookdealers, employed on a seasonal basis, completed self‐report measures of job stressors, psychological strains, coworker social support, and job performance. Performance data were also obtained from company records. Results indicated that stressors predicted both psychological strains and one of the two measures of performance. The strongest predictor was a job‐specific measure of chronic stressors. Social support predicted psychological strains, although it was only weakly related to performance. There was no evidence that social support moderated the effects of any of the stressors. Implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparison of motorcycle instructor candidate selection practices in the United States

Introduction: An essential aspect of motorcycle rider education is how the instructor selection process impacts student learning, sometimes referred to as the human element, as it is a significant factor influencing curriculum success. Student and program achievements are partially contingent on instructors who understand the curriculum and facilitate student learning during instruction. Previous research on motorcycle rider education has emphasized a need for the examination of instructor selection and development, stating that quality education is reliant on instructors who are competent and qualified. Method: By applying an exploratory study method, state and military Motorcycle Safety Education Program Managers and Instructor Trainers were examined and compared through telephonic interviews to develop a greater understanding of instructor candidate selection criteria and vetting processes. Results: The results suggest that changes in instructor candidate selection systems may improve decisions about a candidate's job and organizational fit. Conclusions: Study conclusions indicate that use of multiple and thorough assessments to determine a candidate’s motivation, social disposition, and emotional intelligence before preparation courses may better identify candidates and align potential job and organization fit within the discipline. Practical Application: Applications of the findings would include a standardized selection process with improved interviews and pre-course auditing, and candidate expectation management before the selection to attend preparation or certification courses. The efforts potentially decrease long-term costs and deficiencies when candidates have an inconsistent job or organizational fit, departing from organizations after short periods or by not providing consistent quality instruction to students. The study recommendations, when implemented, can improve most educational disciplines where instructors are selected for technical instructional positions where students risk injury or harm.     

Learning from errors: The role of context,emotion, and personality

This research focused on the relationship between negative emotionality and learning from errors. Specifically, negative emotionality was expected to impair learning from errors by decreasing motivation to learn. Perceived managerial intolerance of errors was hypothesized to increase negative emotionality, whereas emotional stability was proposed to decrease negative emotionality. All the hypotheses were tested in a laboratory simulation. Contrary to the prediction, a positive association was found between negative emotionality and motivation to learn. The effects of perceived managerial intolerance of errors and emotional stability on negative emotionality were as predicted. Moreover, exploratory data analyses were conducted at the level of specific negative emotions and revealed differentiated effects of specific negative emotions on learning from errors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic alignment with organizational priorities and work engagement: A multi‐wave analysis

This study advances the limited research on work alignment and work engagement by investigating how perceived alignment of job tasks and organizational strategic priorities (strategic alignment) influences work engagement. Measures of job control and work social support were also included to enable comparisons between strategic alignment and other well‐established job resources. A total of 1011 employees of an Australian state police service responded to three electronic, self‐report surveys. A reciprocal model was assessed over three waves of data, with varying time lags: 18 (Time 1 to Time 2), 12 (Time 2 to Time 3), and 30 months (Time 1 to Time 3). Longitudinal, reciprocal relationships were observed for work engagement and job control, strategic alignment, and colleague support. Work engagement also predicted supervisor support over time (reverse effect). This study demonstrated that, in addition to job resources, perceived alignment of job tasks and organizational priorities plays an important role in maintaining high levels of work engagement over time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A longitudinal study of determinants of perceived employability

Employability is highly important to individuals in coping with job insecurity. Although many employability models have been developed, few studies have tested determinants of employability empirically. This longitudinal study aims to analyze core determinants of perceived employability. These were tested using a sample of 465 employees (time 1) taken from four companies in Switzerland and surveyed at three points in time. In order to include data from all participants, we used multilevel analysis (level 1: time, level 2: person). Results showed that education, support for career and skill development, current level of job‐related skills, and willingness to change jobs were significant predictors of perceived employability. Contrary to our hypotheses, willingness to develop new competencies, opportunity awareness, and self‐presentation skill failed to predict perceived employability. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social alienation and employment status in young adults

Cross-sectional and longitudinal observations are reported from a questionnaire survey of more than 3000 South Australian school leavers. Questionnaires were administered before the participants had left school and again four years later when they had all left. We were interested in whether there is evidence of a causal connection between unsatisfactory workforce experience and social alienation. On a range of measures related to alienation, we found that those engaged in unsatisfactory jobs and the unemployed responded very differently from those engaged in satisfactory jobs and those who were full-time tertiary students. However, the dissatisfied employed, but not the unemployed, also displayed greater alienation while they were still at school. We conclude that in young people increased social alienation is a consequence of unemployment, rather than a predisposition towards it, but that high social alienation at school leads to later job dissatisfaction.     

The interactive effects of conscientiousness,openness to experience,and political skill on job performance in complex jobs: The importance of context

Caveats concerning the ability of personality to predict job performance have been raised because of seemingly modest criterion‐related validity. The goal of the present research was to test whether narrowing the context via the type of job (i.e., jobs with complex task demands) and adding a social skill‐related moderator (i.e., political skill) would improve performance prediction. Further, along with political skill, the broad factor of personality demonstrated in prior research to have the strongest criterion validity (i.e., conscientiousness) was joined with a narrow construct closely related to openness to experience (i.e., learning approach) in a three‐way interactive prediction of supervisor‐rated task performance. With the employee–supervisor dyads among professionals, but not with the control group of non‐professional employees, task performance was predicted by the three‐way interaction, such that those high on all three received the highest performance ratings. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.