Narratives of Commitment: Looking for Work with a Criminal Record

Unemployment is one of the most often cited barriers to reentry, yet we know little about how understandings of work inform the job‐search strategies of men and women with felon status. How and why do individuals remain committed to the legitimate labor market and continue their search for employment? We categorized interviews from 38 Milwaukee County residents into four narrative typologies that (1) reflected understandings of work and job market challenges and (2) mapped onto reported job‐search strategies. Findings inform discussions about reentry and stigma that have yet to draw on narratives of commitment to the labor market.     

Double trouble: work–family conflict and well-being for second job holders

The purpose of this study was to provide an initial investigation into the work–family conflict (WFC) experiences of individuals who hold a second job. Specifically, we proposed two opposing theoretical arguments regarding the relationship between WFC and four measures of well-being: life satisfaction, physical health, emotional exhaustion, and exercise for individuals who hold two jobs. In a sample of individuals working two jobs, we tested whether the effects of WFC arising from the first job and from the second job exerted an additive or interactive effect on employee well-being. Our results indicated that for emotional exhaustion, physical symptoms, and life satisfaction, the effects of WFC from two jobs are interactive; but that for exercise, the effects of WFC from two jobs are additive. In both cases, the additional WFC experienced as a result of working a second job contributed to the prediction of employee well-being over and above WFC from the first job. Results are discussed within the context of relevant theory, and suggestions are made for future research.     

‘A great job and a family’: work narratives and the work and family interaction

This article investigated how work narratives of dual-earner families are materially and symbolically configured in discourses of reconciliation of work and home life. Following critical studies of the work–family interaction, this research takes into consideration symbolic and social structures and tries to look into the interrelation of factors such as job resources, job satisfaction, levels of autonomy with the self-esteem and sense of ‘self’ which parents derive from their paid work. Hochschild's concept of ‘emotional culture’ is used to explore how parents' experience of work is intertwined to their occupational groups and how it is associated with different narratives of work–family interaction. This study is conducted through qualitative methods, using in-depth semi-structured interviews on a sample of 27 dual-earner families. The data collected are composed of in-depth accounts that are then examined through the method of narrative analysis. The data indicate that, for divergent occupational levels, work generates different material and symbolic resources, which account for divergent narratives of work and home. The sociological analysis of occupational levels with the associated emotional culture of work and family then provides an exploratory model for understanding the links between social class and work–family interaction.     

The Business of Caring: Women's Self‐Employment and the Marketization of Care

Our goal in this article is to contribute to a differentiated analysis of paid caring work by considering whether and how women's experiences of such work is shaped by their employment status (for example, self‐employed versus employee) and the nature of care provided (direct or indirect). Self‐employed care workers have not been widely studied compared with other types of care workers, such as employees providing domestic or childcare in private firms or private homes. Yet their experiences may be quite distinct. Existing research suggests that self‐employed workers earn less than employees and are often excluded from employment protection. Nonetheless, they often report greater autonomy and job satisfaction in their day‐to‐day work. Understanding more about the experiences of self‐employed caregivers is thus important for enriching existing theory, research and policy on the marketization of care. Addressing this gap, our article explores the working conditions, pay and levels of satisfaction of care workers who are self‐employed. We draw on interviews from a small‐scale study of Canadian women engaged in providing direct care (for example, childcare) and indirect care (for example, cleaning).     

Different Pathways from Transformational Leadership to Job Satisfaction

Transformational leaders are known to inspire and motivate their followers, thereby leading to enhanced job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is an intellectual concept regarding individuals’ attitudes toward their jobs. This study asserts that the underlying mechanisms for transformational leadership to affect employee satisfaction are trust in the community, including the leader (that is, organization) and trust in the self, namely self‐efficacy. Leadership is specifically associated with continual transformations in the higher educational context, and collectivist cultures may manifest different processes underlying the transformational leadership–satisfaction relationship. This study investigated the mediating effects of trust and self‐efficacy on the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction. The study sample included academicians from a nonprofit higher education institution in Turkey. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction is fully mediated by both trust and self‐efficacy. The mediator effect of trust was shown to be stronger than self‐efficacy, which is assumed to be the result of the cultural context. The results are discussed in the context of employee satisfaction and cultural determinants of employee satisfaction.     

Social Networks and Employment: Outcomes (Part 2)

In this second article, we continue to survey research that addresses work and employment from a social network perspective. Building on a companion article in this volume, which explores in‐depth the main network mechanisms presented in the literature, this article reviews studies addressing how social networks may shape key employment outcomes for both individuals and organizations. Network access and activation may shape individuals' selection into employment opportunities in addition to a variety of post‐hire outcomes including employee performance, promotion, rewards, job satisfaction, and termination. Organizations too may be influenced by their network position and by the activation of certain ties, ultimately affecting key outcomes such as firm performance, innovation, and learning measures. We conclude by discussing promising areas for future research on how social networks interact with employment.     

Demography or respect?: work group demography versus organizational dynamics as determinants of meaning and satisfaction at work*

This article tests two competing models of meaning and satisfaction at work. First, meaning and satisfaction at work can be influenced by the demographic composition of work groups, especially their racial and gender compositions. Second, meaning and satisfaction can be influenced by management behaviour, especially by leadership in maintaining a productive environment and by respect for workers' rights. We evaluate these determinants, along with more traditional determinants that focus on socio-technical characteristics, using a unique data set derived from content analysing the reports provided by book-length organizational ethnographies (N = 108). Work group composition is found to have only a minor and selective influence on meaning at work. In contrast, management leadership and respect for workers' rights are found to have much stronger and more widespread effects. The well established role of socio-technical factors such as job autonomy as foundations for meaning and satisfaction in work is also replicated in the analysis. When contrasted with both work group demography and traditional job and organizational characteristics, a well run organization is found to be the single most important underpinning for a meaningful and satisfying work life. In the concluding section we develop the implication of these findings for organizational analysis.     

Goal specific social capital and job satisfaction: Effects of different types of networks on instrumental and social aspects of work

This paper addresses the question “To what extent can job satisfaction be explained as the revenue of social capital?” By conceiving someone’s social network as social capital we specify conditions under which social ties do lead to job satisfaction. We inquire into the idea of goal specificity of social capital, which implies that a network with a given structure and content will have different impacts on various aspects of job satisfaction. If the content of the ties and the structure of the network at the job engender material well-being or produce social approval, satisfaction with the corresponding job aspects increases. Data were collected in 1993 using written questionnaires in two Dutch governmental agencies, one with 32 and the other with 44 employees. These workers’ networks were charted using nine name-generating questions.Social capital, it turns out, is not an all-purpose good but one that is goal specific, even within a single domain of life such as work. Three effects stand out: First, the structure of the network and the content of the ties do matter. Networks of strategic, work-related ties promote an employee’s satisfaction with instrumental aspects of the job, like income, security, and career opportunities. Second, closed networks of identity-based solidarity ties improve an employee’s satisfaction with social aspects of the job, like the general social climate at work and cooperation with management and colleagues. Third, a network with a bow–tie structure (i.e., where a focal actor is the link between two or more mutually exclusive cliques) generally has strong negative effects on satisfaction with the social side of the job; although a bow–tie type network of trusting ties does increase satisfaction with the social side. This implies that Krackhardt’s hypothesis on the unpleasant feelings produced by bow–tie type networks has to be specified for the content of the ties that constitute such a network. The most important conclusion of our analysis is that goal specificity of social capital has implications for both structure and content of social networks. Achievement of a particular goal, such as satisfaction at work, requires not only networks of a certain structure or ties with a particular content, but specifically structured networks of ties with a particular content.     

Attitudes of Japanese and American Workers: Convergence or Diversity*

Testing an argument of convergence on a sample of employed males in Japan and the United States, this paper compares young: (18–24 years) with older (45–55 years) workers within each country on work-related attitudes, education and employment, mobility, interest in the company, characteristics of superiors, and job satisfaction. Comparisons of these attitudes are also made within age-group cross-nationally. Our general finding, which is upheld when company size, type of job, and educational attainment, are controlled for, is that cultural diversity is (still) a better explanation than convergence when applied to work-related attitudes. Aging per se seems to have some similar effects in both societies, e.g., a positive relationship beween age and work satisfaction. Attitudes affected more by historical changes in work organization, however, exhibit stronger cultural differences than age differences.     

A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Organization, Work Group, and Individual Effectiveness During and After Downsizing

The need for a unified, cross-level(organization, work group, individual employee) model oforganizational downsizing has been suggested by severalauthors (e.g., Kozlowski et al., 1993). The definition of downsizing, in terms applicable only at theorganization level, prevents researchers from developinga more cohesive view of the interactive impact ofdownsizing for the organization, work groups, and individuals. In this paper, we definedownsizing more broadly as a constellation of stressorevents centering around pressures toward work forcereductions which place demands upon the organization,work groups, and individual employees, and requirea process of coping and adaptation. This stress-basedview of downsizing allows researchers to developconcepts to guide research on downsizing that are more broadly applicable across levels of analysis.To show the advantages of this stress-based view ofdownsizing, this paper uses concepts from the stresscoping literature to identify a set of criticaldependent variables that should be studied in downsizingresearch. We argue that these variables are applicablefor organization, group, and individual employee-levelresearch.     

Paradigm shift of employee communication: The effect of management communication on trusting relationships

Even though normative contention suggests that a favorable organizational climate leads to efficient job performance, empirical research has not addressed the trusting relationship as a variable mediating organizational climate and job satisfaction or performance.Supportive oral communication relates positively to individuals’ perceptions of management's supportiveness and friendliness. Perceived support creates trust that the organization will fulfill its exchange obligations by rewarding employee efforts. The survey results indicated that trusting relationship was positively related to measures of communication management, suggesting that those employees receiving positive communication are more likely to be motivated to form trusting relationships with the management level.     

Social firms: Sustainable employment for people with mental illness

Objective: Social firms or enterprises aim to offer sustainable employment in supportive workplaces for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Therefore, this study sought to explore employees' views in one social firm about the features of their workplace that they found supportive.Participants: Seven employees were recruited, all of whom experienced persistent mental illness, and had worked in this social firm for between eleven months and six years. Methods: A semi-structured interview, the Work Environment Impact Scale (version 2.0), was used to explore participants' views of their workplace and to rate how its physical and social characteristics impacted them. Participants also rated their job satisfaction with a modified Indiana Job Satisfaction Scale. Results: Features of the social firm workplace identified by these employees as contributing to their sustained employment and satisfaction were the rewards, task demands, work schedule, and workplace interactions with supervisors and other co-workers. From their views, guiding principles for the development of supportive workplaces and evaluation of their capacity to afford sustainable employment were derived. Conclusions: This study adds to current knowledge about workplace supports from an employee perspective, and is of relevance for informing future social firm development, workplace design and evaluation.     

Work organization, well-being and health in geriatric care

The objective of the present study was to explore the connection between the organization of work in geriatric care and factors which have been connected to job stress and burnout, i.e. exhaustion, mental workload, job satisfaction and communication. We also analyzed how these factors were related to employee visits to doctors during the previous 12 months due to various medical conditions. The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire distributed to all employees within nursing homes and geriatric hospital wards with 10 employees or more throughout Iceland. The total response rate was 80%. The majority of respondents, or 96%, were women (n = 1432), and the results are based on their answers. Our data show that there is a high correlation between mental exhaustion and the unsatisfactory organization of work. Mental exhaustion upon completing work shifts was more closely connected to the health outcomes studied than were the other work-related factors studied. This is especially true for chronic fatigue, depression and sleeping disorders. It is important that employers and managers notice the mismatches between work and workers that this study manifests. Employers and managers must also consider the organizational factors that are influential.     

The Influence of Family and Work Characteristics on the Sustained Employment of College-Educated Wives

Abstract

Three categories of work characteristics — employment expectations, job satisfaction, and job experiences — in addition to commonly considered family variables, are examined as influences on sustained employment between 1964 through 1968 for a national sample of college-educated wives, class of 1961. Number of children and husband's income have the strongest, and negative, effects on sustained employment. Additionally, two work characteristics, one work orientation measure (expectation of being employed during the preschool child stage), and one job satisfaction measure (overall job satisfaction) are significant, and positive, influences. No other variable pertaining to wives' work characteristics is significantly related to sustained employment Because the responses in the data set were collected in the 1960s, the data in this article can serve as a comparison point for subsequent studies.     

Exploring patterns of employee psychosocial outcomes among child welfare workers

Child welfare workers continue to suffer from increased levels of job stress and burnout, often resulting in an intention to leave. Although the literature on these psychosocial employee outcomes is extensive, much of it is limited in that it has failed to determine if variability exists across these constructs in a way that can be systematically categorized. This cross sectional exploratory study utilized a statewide purposive sample of respondents (N = 209) from a public child welfare organization in a Northeastern state. Two complementary cluster methods and discriminant function analysis were used to determine if subtypes of job stress, burnout, well-being, job satisfaction and intent to leave exist among public child welfare workers. Since the results yielded three different clusters of workers, an Analysis of Variance was used to identify significant group differences, while Scheffé post hoc tests were examined to determine which groups differed. Findings show that the all three clusters significantly vary from one another in terms of the adverse employee psychosocial outcomes. Our findings suggest that child welfare workers represent a heterogeneous group with dissimilar psychosocial needs. To meet those employee needs and maximize their work output, child welfare administrators should make a concerted effort to better understand the unique needs of this strained workforce.     

Workplace accommodations: evidence based outcomes

One central component to meaningful employment for people with disabilities is the ADA's workplace accommodation provision that allows qualified individuals to perform essential job functions. Little empirical evidence is available to evaluate the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of accommodations. Previous research has focused on direct costs. This article advocates an inclusive accommodation cost/benefit analysis to include direct and indirect costs and benefits and to differentiate disability-related accommodation costs from typical employee costs. The inclusive cost/benefit analysis is applied to preliminary data from interviews with employers who contacted the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Results suggest that accommodations are low cost, beneficial and effective.     

Understanding Career Plateauing: Implications for Counseling

The pyramidal shape of most organizations dictates that virtually all careers will level out before an employee reaches the top of the institution, agency, or corporation. How to maintain or enhance worker productivity and job satisfaction when an employee remains at a career level that discourages one's aspirations are concerns for career counselors, their clients, and organizational executives. This article defines career plateauing, explains types and sources of plateauing, and suggests counseling interventions that can help individuals to recognize and adjust to plateauing. In addition, we recommend proactive measures that will perpetuate the work motivation of effectively-performing plateaued workers as well as remediate the work behavior of the ineffective, plateaued worker. One of life's maxims is that all careers reach a level after which no higher achievement can be expected. From night watchguard to chief executive officer, each person's career has its apex. Thus, career plateauing is inevitable for all who strive and struggle in the work world (Bardwick, 1986). The point in time when an individual will experience, if not recognize, career plateauing is difficult to predict as is the extent to which that person can influence the timing or impact of this phenomenon.     

Developmental job patterns of working-class women

Employment histories culled through in-depth structured interviews with 40 working-class women are analyzed according to a developmental framework that challenges the objectively focused male definition of job/career advancement. In conjunction with institutional criteria for employee mobility, paid work is viewed as a developmental life task. Based on the “morphogenesis” concept, which emphasizes sequential familial adjustment to individual role expansion, a subjective career path describes how respondents negotiate dual roles and subsequently instill order into generally chaotic employment patterns. This article discusses stage-specific personal, domestic, and occupational concerns pertinent to maximizing paid work potential.     

Making people feel good: Workers' constructions of meaning in interactive service jobs

This paper analyses the experiences of women who work in residential real estate sales, to identify the factors that lead women to choose and keep this occupation. In-depth interviews provide the data for a case study of the importance of various job traits in determining job satisfaction for a specific category of workers. The more general question concerns workers' constructions of the emotional labor involved in interactive service work. Within a general queueing model, this paper focuses on job queues. Specifically, I examine workers' preferences for jobs and the factors that contribute to positive ranking of the job after workers' initial experiences with it. Findings show that although the women's experiences on the job have disappointed their expectations, most remain satisfied with their work and plan to stay in the field. The reasons for this high level of satisfaction are related to characteristics of the workers—the women's educational and skill levels, and the limited alternatives that they perceive for themselves, and characteristics of the job—its autonomous nature and the emotional labor it entails.     

Ungrateful slaves? An examination of job quality and job satisfaction for male part-time workers in the UK

Research on part-time work has concentrated over many decades on the experiences of women but male part-time employment is growing in the UK. This article addresses two sizable gaps in knowledge concerning male part-timers: are men's part-time jobs of lower quality than men's full-time jobs? Are male part-timers more or less job-satisfied compared to their full-time peers? A fundamental part of both interrogations is whether men's part-time employment varies by occupational class. The article is motivated by the large body of work on female part-timers. Its theoretical framework is rooted in one of the most controversial discussions in the sociology of women workers: the “grateful slave” debate that emerged in the 1990s when researchers sought to explain why so many women expressed job satisfaction with low-quality part-time jobs. Innovatively, this article draws upon those contentious ideas to provide new insights into male, rather than female, part-time employment. Based upon analysis of a large quantitative data set, the results provide clear evidence of low-quality male part-time employment in the UK, when compared with men's full-time jobs. Men working part-time also express deteriorating satisfaction with jobs overall and in several specific dimensions of their jobs. Male part-timers in lower occupational class positions retain a clear “lead” both in bad job quality and low satisfaction. The article asks whether decreasingly satisfied male part-time workers should be termed “ungrateful slaves?” It unpacks the “grateful slave” metaphor and, after doing so, rejects its value for the ongoing analysis of part-time jobs in the formal labor market.