Expansion-oriented job crafting and employee performance: A self-empowerment perspective

Taking a self-empowerment perspective, we investigated the mediating impact of psychological empowerment on the relationship between expansion-oriented job crafting behaviors (seeking resources and seeking challenges) and job performance. We also examined the moderating role of perceived overqualification on the proposed mediation model. Data were collected from 519 employees and their direct supervisors who work in 69 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. As the data had a nested structure, we used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze the multi-level data. The results show that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between expansion-oriented job crafting behaviors and job performance. The analyses also provide support for the moderating impact of perceived overqualification. The conditional indirect effect of seeking challenges on job performance is stronger for those employees who feel overqualified for their jobs.     

Validating the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCRQ): A multi-method and multi-sample study

Job crafting presents a set of proactive behaviours in which employees may engage to alter the job content or their relations with others at work. In recent years, several measures have been developed to capture job crafting. In the present study, we test the validity and reliability of an existing Job Crafting Questionnaire (the JCRQ) in four studies: first, we test the scale validity of the JCRQ in a Spanish diary study (Spain, N?=?164, diary occasions 820). Second, we test the scale validity across two Western (Spain, N?=?164 and UK, N?=?109) and two Eastern cultures (China, N?=?170 and Taiwan, N?=?165). Third, we test the test–retest reliability in a Spanish three-wave longitudinal sample (N?=?191). Finally, we test the criterion validity using data from the four countries. Results confirm the presence of five independent job crafting dimensions: increasing challenging demands, decreasing social job demands, increasing social job resources, increasing quantitative demands and decreasing hindrance job demands. The JCRQ shows acceptable test–retest reliability, scale and criterion validity across the four studies.     

Daily transformational leadership and employee job crafting: The role of promotion focus

Transformational leaders are expected to challenge their followers to take greater ownership of their work, allowing the leader to align followers with tasks that enhance their performance. In the present study, we hypothesize that transformational leadership is positively related to followers' job-crafting behaviour – proactive behaviour aimed at optimizing job demands and job resources. Moreover, we argue that followers' promotion focus (i.e. being driven by growth and development needs) positively moderates this relationship. Data were collected from 107 employees from Norwegian knowledge-based organizations (response?=?93.2%). Participants responded to a general questionnaire and five daily diary questionnaires (total N?=?535 occasions). The results of multilevel analyses revealed partial support for our hypotheses. Followers' day-level perception of their leader's transformational behaviour was positively related to followers' day-level job crafting in the form of increasing structural and social resources. Moreover, daily transformational leadership was particularly beneficial for job crafting when followers scored high (vs. low) on the trait promotion focus. We conclude that transformational leaders can encourage their followers' use of job crafting, and that employees' promotion focus facilitates this effect.     

Work-home interaction from a work psychological perspective: Development and validation of a new questionnaire,the SWING

Abstract

This paper reports upon an investigative study of stress in the Ambulance Service. The aims of the research were in part methodological and in part substantive. Methodologically, the study sought to validate as measurable constructs the perceptions of sources of stress reported by ambulance staff in response to questionnaire items. Substantively, it sought to identify these possible sources of stress and to measure the relationship between their perceived importance and such moderating variables as personality characteristics, length of service, and urban or rural location of operation and rank. Both aspects of the study are reported.     

Work-home interaction from a work psychological perspective: Development and validation of a new questionnaire, the SWING

This paper reports on the stepwise development of a new questionnaire for measuring work-home interaction, i.e. the Survey Work-home Interaction—NijmeGen, the SWING). Inspired by insights from work psychology, more specifically from Effort-Recovery Theory (Meijman & Mulder, 1998), we defined work-home interaction by differentiating between the direction and quality of influence. Four types of work-home interaction were distinguished and measured by using 22 (including 13 self-developed) items. By using data from five independent samples (total N=2472), validity evidence was provided based on the internal structure of the questionnaire. The results showed that the questionnaire reliably measured four empirically distinct types of work-home interaction, and that this four-dimensional structure was largely invariant across the five samples as well as across relevant subgroups. Validity evidence was also provided based on the relations with external (theoretically relevant) variables (i.e. job characteristics, home characteristics, and indicators of health and well-being). The results generally supported the hypothesized relationships of these external variables with negative work-home interaction. Less support was found, however, for the hypothesized relationships with positive work-home interaction. This contributes to current literature as it employs a relatively broad conceptualization of work-home interaction and offers a promising tool that measures its multiple components across a wide variety of workers.     

Job crafting and well-being among school principals: The role of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration

This study investigates the associations between school principals’ job crafting and well-being. Drawing on the job demands-resources approach of the job crafting model and self-determination theory, we hypothesized that need satisfaction and need frustration act as likely mechanisms between the positive and negative effects of job crafting behaviors and work-related well-being (work engagement and burnout). Using cross-sectional data collected from a sample of Finnish school principals (n = 518), our structural equation model revealed that crafting structural job resources was positively associated with need satisfaction and negatively with need frustration. Increasing challenge job demands was positively associated with need satisfaction, which, in turn, was associated with higher work-related well-being. In addition, crafting structural job resources was directly positively linked to burnout as well as work engagement. Moreover, we found that decreasing hindrance demands was positively associated with burnout and negatively associated with work engagement via need frustration. No associations were found between crafting social resources, indicators of basic psychological needs, or work-related well-being. These findings provide insights into how principals determine their own basic psychological needs via job crafting, and how this is reflected in their work-related well-being. The study advances job crafting theory and self-determination theory, with important implications for practice and future research.     

Entrepreneurial openness: Concept development and measure validation

This study introduces entrepreneurial openness as a construct that helps understanding the impact of entrepreneur's personality on small firm's performance. We draw from the entrepreneurship and positive psychology literature to conceptualize entrepreneurial openness as an individual-level positive personal cognitive strength that has three subdimensions: engaging in learning, searching for novelty, and seeking feedback. We validated the construct's structure in three consecutive studies: Study 1 provided initial empirical evidence in support of the proposed scale with a pilot sample of Slovenian business owners; Study 2 assessed the reliability and validity of the scale with a cross-cultural study in Canada, Slovenia, and USA; and Study 3 tested the scale for its impact on business performance and job satisfaction. Findings from our empirical studies demonstrate the utility of entrepreneurial openness in explaining firm's performance by showing strong reliability, appropriate dimensionality, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity.     

An investigation of career development programs,job satisfaction,professional development and productivity: the case of Taiwan

This study attempts to develop career development programs capable of responding to career needs at different career stages. The current implementation status of these career development programs in Taiwanese businesses is then examined, along with the level of satisfaction of R&D personnel with available career development programs. The relationship between the career development programs and job satisfaction, professional development and productivity is then examined, revealing an association between high satisfaction of R&D personnel with career development programs and high job satisfaction, professional development and productivity.     

The moderating role of personality characteristics on the relationship between job insecurity and strain

The experience of job insecurity has been linked to several different outcomes, such as negative attitudes towards work and the organization, turnover intention, as well as health complaints. However, since the strength of these effects have been found to vary across studies, it is vital to identify factors that could influence the relationships. The present study examines the moderating role of three personality characteristics (negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and external locus of control) on the relation between job insecurity and outcomes (mental health complaints, job dissatisfaction, and job-induced tension). Data from 400 nurses at a Swedish acute care hospital (response rate 71%; 91% women, aged 20-68 years) showed that both job insecurity and personality were related to strain. Also, the data indicated some buffering effect of personality. Despite the gender bias of the sample, the study provides additional support for the notion that job insecurity affects strain even after controlling for individual characteristics. The study also expands the literature on job insecurity by pointing out the influence of personality characteristics on the relationship between stressors and strain.     

Interactive effects of perceived control and job stressors on affective reactions and health outcomes for clerical workers

Karasek's (1979) hypothesis that perceived control interacts with various job stressors in affecting employee satisfaction and health was tested. It was proposed that high levels of perceived stress would only be associated with poor health and negative affect in the presence of low control. One hundred and thirty-six clerical workers at a major US university completed questionnaries containing the measures of interest. The results of regression analyses failed to support the interaction hypothesis. However, measures related to both control and job stressors were found to correlate with satisfaction and health outcomes, as has been found in prior research. Limitations of the self-report and correlational methodology are discussed.     

Employee demographics and job training satisfaction: the relationship between dimensions of diversity and satisfaction with job training

Human resource development professionals serve many diverse populations of learners in the workplace. They do so with limited resources which leads to a dilemma: How to most effectively and efficiently meet the needs of all learners in the workplace, given the different job duties, backgrounds, skills and abilities of each learner. This empirical study examines job training satisfaction among customer and technical service employees in nine different organizations in the US and Canada. The study concluded that there were no differences in job training satisfaction when examined with dimensions of diversity such as age groups, gender and race/ethnicity. There were differences in job training satisfaction, however, when examined with job type, job status, and job tenure.     

Job insecurity in temporary versus permanent workers: Associations with attitudes, well-being, and behaviour

Recent research suggests that the relationship between job insecurity and psychological outcomes is more negative among permanent compared with temporary workers. We investigate possible interaction effects between job insecurity and type of contract (temporary versus permanent) for various psychological outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self-rated performance), some of which have received little attention. We aim to explain these interaction effects, while taking into account the heterogeneous nature of temporary workers in terms of tenure, employment prospects, and wish to do temporary employment. We argue that permanent workers expect higher levels of job security; job insecurity breaches permanent workers' but not temporary workers' expectations. This may relate to unfavourable outcomes. Similarly, the heterogeneous nature of temporary workers may relate to job security expectations and thus to reactions to job insecurity. This study was conducted on a sample of 477 temporary and permanent workers from various occupational sectors in Belgium. The results suggested that the interaction effect between job insecurity and contract type may be limited to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, permanent workers had higher expectations about job security. Breach of these expectations furthermore mediated the relationship between job insecurity and all outcomes, except for self-rated performance. However, the heterogeneity indicators were found to be unrelated to job security expectations.     

Changes in the association between job decision latitude and work engagement at different levels of work experience: A 10-year longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

This study set out to explore the effects of accumulating work experience on the association between job decision latitude and its interaction with job demands and work engagement. Our ten-year longitudinal study followed 333 junior physicians in postgraduate training at baseline. We used self-report measures in four assessment waves, and we conducted path analyses to investigate linear and curvilinear regression effects. Results show that high job decision latitude was associated with high work engagement at all levels of work experience, with strongest associations at baseline and after ten years. Only for novices did job decision latitude buffer the negative association between job demands and work engagement. At the stage of high work experience, low levels of job decision latitude were weakly associated with work engagement, whereas with higher levels of job decision latitude, the positive association seemed to strengthen. Our findings indicate that job decision latitude is a key job resource at all stages of work experience, with stronger effects among novices and experts. Organisations’ work design efforts should include job decision latitude to promote work engagement across employees’ different career stages, with consideration to job entrants and experts in order to tailor specific work design solutions.     

The effects of new dimensions of psychological job demands and job control on active learning and occupational health

Abstract

Recent changes in job content may have led to changes in job demands and control, and earlier operationalizations of the demand concept may be too general (MT). The aim of this paper is to show how new dimensions of psychological job demands are related to two sets of outcome variables, employee health and active learning, and how these relationships are modified or interact with social support and types of job control. The study was carried out as a survey among employees of 13 electric companies in Norway, N=2435. Lisrel was used to assess the fit of the proposed models. Compared to the traditional demands control model, an extended version used in this study increased the explained variance on an average by 4% on various occupational health variables. It was found that various dimensions of demands were differentially related to the outcome variables. Skill discretion uniformly reduced the effect of the demands: for groups low in skill discretion there was a stronger relationship between demands and outcomes than for groups high in skill discretion. The interaction pattern for the remaining control and support variables was however more complicated and warrants further study. The practical implications are that employers should carefully consider the quality of work. Special attention should be given to the quantitative demands of the jobs, since there seems to be few moderators for the relationship between those demands and job stress and subjective health complaints.     

The effects of new dimensions of psychological job demands and job control on active learning and occupational health

Recent changes in job content may have led to changes in job demands and control, and earlier operationalizations of the demand concept may be too general (MT). The aim of this paper is to show how new dimensions of psychological job demands are related to two sets of outcome variables, employee health and active learning, and how these relationships are modified or interact with social support and types of job control. The study was carried out as a survey among employees of 13 electric companies in Norway, N=2435. Lisrel was used to assess the fit of the proposed models. Compared to the traditional demands control model, an extended version used in this study increased the explained variance on an average by 4% on various occupational health variables. It was found that various dimensions of demands were differentially related to the outcome variables. Skill discretion uniformly reduced the effect of the demands: for groups low in skill discretion there was a stronger relationship between demands and outcomes than for groups high in skill discretion. The interaction pattern for the remaining control and support variables was however more complicated and warrants further study. The practical implications are that employers should carefully consider the quality of work. Special attention should be given to the quantitative demands of the jobs, since there seems to be few moderators for the relationship between those demands and job stress and subjective health complaints.     

Signs of struggle (SOS): The development and validation of a behavioural mental health checklist for the workplace

ABSTRACT

For managers to successfully support employee access to mental health resources, they must first be able to recognise if and when an employee may need help. To manage employees effectively, managers must be able to recognise changes in employees’ work behaviour that may indicate when an employee is struggling at work. In study 1, we develop and establish the structure of the 20-item Signs of Struggle (SOS) checklist as comprising five factors that describe the warning signs of health impairment at work (i.e. distress, withdrawal, reduced attendance, degradations in performance, extreme behaviours). In study 2, we show that manager-rated signs of struggle correlated substantially (r?=?.72) with participant-reported strain. The SOS tool provides managers a way to recognise when employees may be struggling and could benefit from workplace resources. We recommend that for maximal benefit, managers also receive training on how to use the SOS, and also on how to approach and assist employees who are displaying warning signs.     

雇员工作绩效结构模型构建与实证研究

雇员工作绩效在概念和评估上有不同的方法,但由于多元化概念和评估方法使得对其累积的研究效应的解释变得困难.先前的工作绩效研究还没有证实工作绩效能够被区分为四种成分.本研究超越于现存的工作绩效文献,通过施测,1453份调查数据的因素分析方法显示,工作绩效被显著地划分为四个分离的结构:(1)技术核心(任务绩效);(2)公民气候(关系绩效);(3)学习过程(学习绩效);(4)创新行为(创新绩效).本研究的目的就是提出并证实雇员工作绩效的四维结构模型.