Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employees in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. The happy worker–productive worker thesis suggests that workers who experience high levels of well-being also perform well and vice versa; however, organisations need to know how to ensure such happy and productive workers. The present review and meta-analysis identifies workplace resources at the individual, the group, the leader, and the organisational levels that are related to both employee well-being and organisational performance. We examine which types of resources are most important in predicting both employee well-being and performance. We identified 84 quantitative studies published in print and online from 2003 to November 2015. Resources at either of the four levels were related to both employee well-being and performance. We found no significant differences in employee well-being and organisational performance between the four levels of workplace resources, suggesting that interventions may focus on any of these levels. Cross-sectional studies showed stronger relationships with well-being and performance than longitudinal studies. Studies using objective performance ratings provided weaker relationships between resources and performance than self-rated and leader/third-party-rated studies.     

Does positivity enhance work performance?: Why,when, and what we don’t know

There is evidence, spanning many decades of research, that the subjective well-being (SWB) of workers, including life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and positive affect, positively correlates with the performance of workers and organizations. However, the size of the relationships is typically small to moderate. In this review we address the question of why the relationships are not stronger. We first review evidence of a relationship moving from well-being to performance through various pathways. Workers who are high in SWB are now understood to have: 1. better health, 2. lower absenteeism, 3. greater self-regulation, 4. stronger motivation, 5. enhanced creativity, 6. positive relationships, and 7. lower turnover. Each of these variables can predict individual and organizational performance. However, the sheer number of known and possible pathways means the relationships are bound to be complex, and there are mitigating conditions at every turn. Thus, second, we review the evidence of moderators of these mediators, hypothesizing when a happier workforce is a more productive one, and when not. Future research is needed to firmly establish the pathways from different types of SWB through the mediators to metrics of performance, to further establish the moderating conditions in which these relations are most likely to occur, and to evaluate how much SWB is needed to maximize effectiveness. We end by urging scholars to conduct this future research using the highest standards of scientific integrity.     

The Job Demands-Resources Model in emergency service volunteers: Examining the mediating roles of exhaustion,work engagement and organizational connectedness

Using a sample of 887 volunteer emergency service workers in South Australia, we conducted a study based on the JD-R framework to examine the roles of three mediators in the relationship between job characteristics and volunteer well-being. These were (i) exhaustion as a mediator in the relationships between job demands and both poor mental health and turnover intentions; and (ii) work engagement and organizational connectedness as mediators in the relationships of job resources (training and organizational support) with happiness and turnover intentions. Organizational connectedness, a relatively new construct, is a positive state of well-being that involves an emotional connection with other workers, with service recipients and with aspects of the task and the organization's values. Results indicated that all three mediators were important in explaining volunteer well-being. Specifically, job demands were positively related to exhaustion, which, in turn, was linked to ill-health and turnover intentions. Job resources were positively related to work engagement and organizational connectedness, which were, in turn, negatively related to turnover intentions. However, while organizational connectedness mediated the relationship between job resources and happiness, this was not the case for work engagement. The roles of these variables in future research in paid and voluntary work are discussed.     

Beyond demand and control: The contribution of organizational risk factors in assessing the psychological well-being of health care employees

Abstract

The job demand–control(–support) model is frequently used as a theoretical framework in studies on determinants of psychological well-being. Consequently, these studies are confined to the impact of job characteristics on worker outcomes. In the present study the relation between work conditions and outcomes (job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, psychological distress, and somatic complaints) is examined from a broader organizational perspective. This paper reports on an analysis that examines both the unique and the additional contribution of organizational characteristics to well-being indicators, beyond those attributed to job characteristics. A total of 706 care staff from three public residential institutions for people with mental or physical disabilities in the Netherlands took part in this research. To assess organizational risk factors a measurement instrument was developed, the organizational Risk Factors Questionnaire (ORFQ), based on the safety-critical factors of the Tripod accident causation model. Factor analyses and reliability testing resulted in a 52-item scale consisting of six reliable sub-scales: staffing resources, communication, social hindrance, training opportunities, job skills, and material resources. These organizational risk factors explained important parts of the variance in each of the outcome measures, beyond that accounted for by demographic variables and job demand–control–support (JDCS) measures. Communication and training opportunities were of central importance to carers’ job satisfaction. Social hindrance, job skills, and material resources explained a substantial amount of unique variance on the negative outcomes investigated.     

The Link Between the Quality of the Supervisor–Employee Relationship and the Level of the Employee's Job Satisfaction

This study explores Leader–Member Exchange Theory (LMX Theory), which theorizes when leaders and followers have good exchanges or high quality effective LMX relationships, they share mutual trust, feel better, accomplish more, and the overall unit performance within organization is enhanced. The specific focus of this study is on whether high-quality leader member exchange is positively related to job satisfaction, which can lead to positive outcomes for organizations and ultimately provide organizations the solution to remaining competitive in this new economy. The findings were discussed from the perspective of the advantages available to organizations relative to the many positive organizational outcomes that result from high-quality effective LMX and individual job satisfaction for employees.     

Organizational change,health, and sick leave among health care employees: A longitudinal study measuring stress markers,individual, and work site factors

Abstract

This controlled longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effects of organizational change on employees’ self-reported health, work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, stress, and sick leave. The population consisted of 226 employees at T1 and 198 at T2, divided into a study group affected by organizational changes, and a reference group not affected by them. Group differences for the outcome measures self-rated health (SRH), work satisfaction, work-related exhaustion, and hormones associated with stress were analysed using a two-factor ANOVA design for repeated measurements. Our findings showed no significant differences, either across time or between groups for SRH, work satisfaction, and work-related exhaustion. However, we did find significant change across time and between groups for the recovery hormone DHEA-S. Days of sick leave increased by 7% for employees in the study group and by 2% in the reference group. Serum cortisol showed significantly decreased levels across time but not between groups. The decreased recovery potential in the study group might have long-term health implications. The study points to the importance of looking at the impact of organizational change on employee well-being from a number of perspectives, such as self-reported health parameters, registered sick-leave data, and biological stress markers.     

Testing an organizational innovativeness integrative model across cultures

Most previous within-discipline research on innovativeness as an organizational trait does not account for cross-disciplinary perspectives, leading to incomplete findings. This paper develops an integrative model of organizational innovativeness, based on research in several disciplines to identify antecedents to, characteristics of, and outcomes of organizational innovativeness. Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based data from Israeli, Lithuanian, and Slovakian public organizations were used to test the model. Market and learning orientation enhanced organizational innovativeness, whereas internal politics and centralization reduced it. Organizational innovativeness enhanced two individual-level outcomes (satisfaction and commitment), as well as innovation performance, which, in turn, improved overall organizational performance.     

Past,Present and Future Research on Multiple Identities: Toward an Intrapersonal Network Approach

Abstract

Psychologists, sociologists, and philosophers have long recognized that people have multiple identities—based on attributes such as organizational membership, profession, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and family role(s)—and that these multiple identities shape people's actions in organizations. The current organizational literature on multiple identities, however, is sparse and scattered and has yet to fully capture this foundational idea. I review and organize the literature on multiple identities into five different theoretical perspectives: social psychological; microsociological; psychodynamic and developmental; critical; and intersectional. I then propose a way to take research on multiple identities forward using an intrapersonal identity network approach. Moving to an identity network approach offers two advantages: first, it enables scholars to consider more than two identities simultaneously, and second, it helps scholars examine relationships among identities in greater detail. This is important because preliminary evidence suggests that multiple identities shape important outcomes in organizations, such as individual stress and well-being, intergroup conflict, performance, and change. By providing a way to investigate patterns of relationships among multiple identities, the identity network approach can help scholars deepen their understanding of the consequences of multiple identities in organizations and spark novel research questions in the organizational literature.     

Understanding the Antecedents of Effective Knowledge Management: The Importance of a Knowledge‐Centered Culture*

Within the context of knowledge management, little research has been conducted that identifies the antecedents of a knowledge‐centered culture—those organizational qualities that encourage knowledge creation and dissemination. In this study, the existing literature on organizational climate, job characteristics, and organizational learning (in the form of cooperative learning theory) are linked with the current thinking and research findings related to knowledge management to develop a theoretical model explaining the relationships among organizational climate, the level of cooperative learning that takes place between knowledge workers, and the resulting level of knowledge created and disseminated as measured by team performance and individual satisfaction levels. The study goes on to empirically test the proposed research model by investigating the climate of organizations, and seeks to understand the linkage between a set of organizational and individual characteristics and knowledge‐related activities found in cooperative learning groups and the resulting work outcomes. The hypothesized research model is tested using LISREL with data collected from 203 information systems (IS) professionals engaged in systems development activities. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications the results have for future research and managerial practice.     

Leader–member exchange and organizational dehumanization: The role of supervisor’s organizational embodiment

This research examined the negative relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and organizational dehumanization (i.e., employees’ perceptions that their organization treats them like tools), and specifically the consequences of this LMX–dehumanization relationship on employees’ emotional exhaustion, affective commitment, and voice behaviors. Further, given that supervisors act as representatives of the organization, we argued that these relationships would be stronger for employees identifying their supervisor with the organization (i.e., high supervisor’s organizational embodiment). Across two samples, results showed that high-quality LMX was negatively associated with organizational dehumanization. Further, organizational dehumanization was found to mediate the relationships between LMX and outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, affective commitment, and voice behaviors). Finally, the mediation model was moderated by supervisor’s organizational embodiment. More specifically, the negative effects of LMX on organizational dehumanization and its subsequent outcomes were stronger when leaders were perceived as sharing many characteristics with their organization. This research expands the recent and scarce knowledge on the determinants, boundary conditions and outcomes of organizational dehumanization. Our findings suggest that interpersonal relationships at work and, in particular, very common supervisor-related perceptions should be considered when examining organizational dehumanization.     

Only Time Can Tell: Whether and When the Improvement in Career Development Opportunities Alleviates Knowledge Workers’ Emotional Exhaustion in the Chinese Context

Through extending the resource perspective, drawing on the temporal comparison theory, this study examines career development opportunities (CDOs), focusing on knowledge workers and considering the relative changes in CDOs before and after their job change in the Chinese context. Findings from a survey of 379 Chinese knowledge workers who have transferred their jobs at least once reveal that the improvement of CDOs can have a double‐edged‐sword effect on knowledge workers’ well‐being, shown as emotional exhaustion in this study. Although the improvement of CDOs negatively predicts knowledge workers’ emotional exhaustion in general, findings of a three‐way interaction reveal that offering more high‐quality CDOs can aggravate emotional exhaustion when knowledge workers have been working in their present position for a relatively long period, but have not received a pay rise. This study makes a theoretical contribution by introducing boundary conditions and testing their interactive influence. It helps broaden understanding of how CDOs can affect knowledge workers’ emotional exhaustion. It also has implications for enhancing the well‐being of knowledge workers, particularly in national and organizational contexts where there are significant skill shortages and retention problems.     

Specific relationships between psychosocial job conditions and job-related stress: A three-level analytic approach

This cross-sectional questionnaire study presents a multi-level analysis on 2565 workers in 188 departments in 36 organizations in the Netherlands. A three-level model is used in which individual workers are nested within departments, which in turn are nested within organizations. Research questions concern (1) the amount and distribution of variance in job-related stress explained for the three levels in the study (individuals, departments, organizations), and (2) the specificity of relationships between psychosocial job demands and job-related stress in the three-level model. Well-being showed slightly more raw variance to be explained at supra-individual levels than strain. The full regression model explained about 35% of the total variance in both work-related strain and well-being. Psychosocial job conditions did not exceed the expected amount of 10 to 15% contribution to this explained variance. These results do not differ from comparable studies that do not use multi-level analysis. The variance distribution in the full model, however, showed unexplained variance to be located at the individual level for both strain and well-being, and at the departmental level only for well-being. This last finding shows a direction for possible improvement of work stress models. Specificity of relationships was also shown: psychological job demands were more strongly related to strain, whereas job content variables (i.e. job variety, job control) were more strongly related to well-being. Results also suggested that social support was more strongly associated with well-being than with strain. Well-being appeared to have a more widely varying range of predictors than strain.     

Personality and organizational health: the role of conscientiousness

Organizational health research identifies processes through which the work environment and individual differences combine to influence both individual and organizational outcomes. This study investigated the contribution of conscientiousness to organizational health. Research in the areas of occupational stress, work performance, and organizational climate was used to develop a framework for integrating different elements of organizational health. Within this framework, the work environment was assessed by perceptions of workload and role clarity ; individual well-being was assessed by psychological distress and job satisfaction ; and behaviour important for organizational success was assessed by contextual performance. Conscientiousness was investigated within the framework using self-reports from a sample of 104 Australian employees. Conscientiousness directly influenced contextual performance but did not influence well-being or perceptions of the work environment. Conscientiousness also reduced the impact of role clarity on both psychological distress and job satisfaction. The role of conscientiousness in a comprehensive model of organizational health is discussed.     

Organizational climate and burnout in a New Zealand social service agency

Abstract

A two-phase study was conducted on the relationship between organizational climate variables and burnout among personnel in a multifunction community service agency. Initial interviews with a small pilot sample identified major sources of stress, which were then incorporated into a second-phase questionnaire to all staff. Multiple regression analyses illustrated that perceived interactions between head office administrators and sections of the agency contributed significantly to emotional exhaustion, whereas perceptions of within-section interactions and involvement in decision-making had a positive impact on personal accomplishment. Perceived communication levels, however, were negatively related to personal accomplishment. The findings suggest the importance of organizational variables and highlight strategies for burnout reduction and effective stress management in human service organizations.     

How high-commitment HRM relates to PC violation and outcomes: The mediating role of supervisor support and PC fulfilment at individual and organizational levels

Psychological contract (PC) constitutes a theoretical framework for; explaining labor relationships, and it has been considered as a; mediation step between structural variables and processes and work and; organizational outcomes. Whereas PC (un)fulfillment; showed consistent relationships with variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, or absenteeism, the effects of PC; violation (emotional answers that develop after perceptions of PC; breach) have been less investigated. In addition, structural antecedents; of PC constructs had included Human Resources (HR) practices. This paper aims to extend; research on PC and its role as a mediator between HR practices and work; outcomes, both at individual and organizational levels. Specifically, we; examined the impact of human resource practices on employee performance; and sickness absences through a sequence of supervisor support, PC; fulfillment and PC violation. In a sample of 4648 employees from 214; companies of seven different countries, our results indicate that high-commitment; human resource practices were significantly and negatively; related to PC violation through supervisor support and positively to PC; fulfillment; in turn, PC violation was negatively related to employee; performance and positively to sick leave. These relationships at the; individual level were partially replicated at the organizational level, developing partial homologous models and showing that shared perceptions; about HR practices lead to shared perceptions on PC affecting collective; outcomes. Therefore, the findings shed new light on PC theory, regarding; the mediating role of PC constructs and negative emotions in the; relationships between HR practices and support from supervisors and performance at individual and organizational levels.     

High Performance Work Systems and Organizational Performance: An Empirical Study on Manufacturing and Service Organizations in Pakistan

A two level analysis was conducted to examine the impact of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) on organizational performance by investigating four most prevailing theories in HPWS literature i.e., human capital (Resource based view), social exchange, relational coordination, employee attitudes and behaviours. It was proposed that HPWS predicts improved organizational performance and this relationship can be strengthened through intervention of human capital development, degree of social exchange among organizations and its members and productive relationships among employees. It was further argued that HPWS results into employee motivation, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviours, which ultimately results into better organizational performance. Results from 17 manufacturing and service organizations confirmed the significance of association of implemented and perceived HPWS with managerial and employee rated organizational performance. Mediation analysis confirmed the contribution of human capital, social exchange, relational coordination and OCB towards organizational performance but no influence was found for employee attitudes on HPWS-performance linkage.     

Work-related stress,coping resources,and heavy drinking in the restaurant business

Abstract

This study aimed to test whether curvilinearity would add explanatory power to the long-term relationships between job characteristics and mental well-being. The study was based on cross-sectional and longitudinal data from phases 3 and 5 of the Whitehall II sample (N=4154 for job satisfaction and 6000 for context-free mental well-being, mean follow-up 5.8 years). The curvilinear components of the job characteristics were introduced after controlling for the baseline outcome measure, demographic factors, and the linear measures of the job characteristics. The cross-sectional analyses showed only a curvilinear association with the expected U-shape between job demands and context-free mental well-being. The longitudinal analyses showed no curvilinear relationships between the job characteristics and context-free mental well-being. While small non-linear relationships were found between social support and decision latitude and job-related mental well-being, the shape of these relationships was the reverse of that expected. Post hoc analyses revealed that only the positive segment of the relationship between decision latitude and job satisfaction was significant, while both segments of the relationship between social support and job satisfaction were significant. The findings from this study, based on a large sample with high variety in working conditions, provide little support for the assumption of curvilinearity in the long-term relationship between psychosocial working conditions and mental well-being. This has practical implications, as if associations are linear this would indicate that it would be reasonable to take a population (rather than individually targeted) approach to stress management interventions.     

The mediating role of distributive justice perceptions in the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion in healthcare workers

This research proposes that the use of emotion regulation strategies by employees in the service professions determines their perceptions of fairness in interactions with clients, which in turn influences their emotional exhaustion. Based on social exchange theory and models of self-control, the investigation tested whether: (1) the type of emotion regulation strategy that employees use to meet the emotional demands of their job role partially influences their perceptions of distributive justice (i.e. that clients respond to their efforts), and (2) these perceptions mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion. To test this, a longitudinal field survey study of a sample of primary care workers in Spain (general practitioners and nurses; N?=?233) was conducted. Findings showed that the relationship between emotion regulation and emotional exhaustion was mediated by perceptions of distributive justice. A bootstrapping mediational analysis showed a significant indirect effect of surface acting on emotional exhaustion through distributive justice when inter-individual differences at T1 and when intra-individual changes between T1 and T2 were considered. Deep acting indirect effects were not significant for intra-individual changes. The findings indicate that employees’ perception of distributive justice has implications for understanding the impact of emotion regulation on well-being.     

The role of sense of coherence in well-being at work: Analysis of main and moderator effects

Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the role of the sense of coherence (SOC) as a main effect on well-being and also its possible moderating role in the relationship between work characteristics and well-being in a sample of Finnish technical designers (n = 989). MANOVA/MANCOVA analysis with hierarchical decomposition was used so that the demographic variables (age, occupation gender) were controlled throughout. The results offered strong support for a main effect model of SOC: the stronger the SOC, the lower the level of psychosomatic symptoms and emotional exhaustion. Also, some support for a moderating role of SOC on the relationships between perceived work characteristics and well-being was found. However, these relationships explained only a small proportion of the variance of well-being was found. However, these relationships explained only a small proportion of the variance of well-being indicators. These results showed that the strong SOC subjects seemed to be better protected from the adverse effects of certain work characteristics (e.g. pressure of time). Furthermore, good social relations at work emphasized well-being among subjects with a very weak SOC, whereas these relations matered less in determining well-being outcomes in subjects with a stronger SOC. Finally, some work characteristics seemed to have salutary effects on well-being when accompained by a strong SOC and, on the contrary, pathogenic effects when accompained by a weak SOC.     

Unravelling the relationship between role overload and organizational citizenship behaviour: A test of mediating and moderating effects

Building on the conservation of resources theory and self-determination theory, the present study develops and tests a moderated mediation model of organizational citizenship behaviour, in which a) emotional exhaustion serves as a mediating mechanism linking role overload with organizational citizenship behaviour, and b) supervisor autonomy support moderates the relationship between role overload and organizational citizenship behaviour through emotional exhaustion. Results of a time-lagged study of 144 workers from various Canadian organizations provided support for the hypothesized model: supervisor autonomy support buffered a negative effect of role overload on emotional exhaustion and, indirectly, organizational citizenship behaviour. This research sheds light on the intervening variables that may explain the relationship between challenge stressors and extra-role behaviours. It also provides information on managerial practices that may protect employees’ optimal functioning against an excessive workload.