Relationships between emotional labor, job performance, and turnover

The present study investigates the relationship between the emotional labor strategies surface acting and deep acting and organizational outcomes, specifically, employees' overall job performance and turnover. Call center employees from two large financial service organizations completed an online survey about their use of surface and deep acting. Their responses were matched with supervisors' ratings of overall job performance and organizational turnover records obtained 9 months later. Results indicate that surface acting is directly related to employee turnover and emotional exhaustion and that the relationship between surface acting and job performance is indirect via employee affective delivery. Deep acting was not linked to these outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed from the perspective of emotional labor theories.     

Is “service with a smile” enough? Authenticity of positive displays during service encounters

Service providers use impression management strategies to engender satisfaction and repeat business in customers. Managing emotional expressions is one strategy to meet those goals. We extended research on the “Duchenne Smile” to see if authenticity of employee expressions influenced the impressions formed of the employee’s friendliness and the overall satisfaction with the encounter. Furthermore, we took two other factors into account—task performance and busyness—to examine the conditions under which authenticity would have the greatest impact. In Study 1, we obtained reactions to videotaped simulations that manipulated authenticity of positive displays and task performance during a hotel check-in encounter. ANCOVA results supported that authenticity of the service provider enhanced perceptions of friendliness, but only influenced customer satisfaction when tasks were performed well. In Study 2, hierarchical linear modeling with reactions from 255 customers of 64 restaurant servers showed that perceived display authenticity enhanced the perceived friendliness of the employee when the store was slow, but less so when it was busy. Display authenticity had a direct effect on customer satisfaction, regardless of task performance (which was generally high) and busyness. We conclude that display authenticity is an extra-role behavior for service encounters with an additive effect on encounter satisfaction only when other factors are at optimal levels. We suggest implications for display rule policies and service training.     

Psychological Contract Breach as a Source of Strain for Employees

The present study investigated the role of psychological contract breach in employees' experience of emotional exhaustion and job dissatisfaction. Employees (N = 161) from a large financial corporation completed questionnaires assessing work-related attitudes and behaviors. Fulfillment of organizational obligations predicted both emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction, and job demands predicted only emotional exhaustion. Supervisory support and control did not predict emotional exhaustion or job satisfaction when controlling for fulfillment of organizational obligations and job demands. The results suggest that psychological contract breach contributes to employee experience of job strain.     

Perceived Emotional Demands–Abilities Fit

The purposes of this paper are to introduce the concept of perceived emotional demands–abilities (ED–A) fit and develop theory about how it relates to other fit perceptions as well as employee well‐being and performance outcomes. ED–A fit is defined as the perceived congruence or match between the emotional demands of the job and one's abilities to meet those demands. In two studies using occupationally diverse samples from Western and Eastern cultures, we empirically distinguished perceived ED–A fit from other fit perceptions (i.e. person–organisation, demands–abilities, needs–supplies, person–group, person–supervisor). In addition, across the two studies, we found that perceived ED–A fit accounted for incremental variance in job satisfaction, work tension, felt inauthenticity, burnout, self and supervisor ratings of job performance, and psychological need satisfaction, controlling for the effects of other fit perceptions.     

Placing perceptions of politics in the context of the feedback environment, employee attitudes, and job performance

The authors proposed a model suggesting that organizational environments supporting high levels of informal supervisor and coworker feedback are associated with lower employee perceptions of organizational politics. Furthermore, these lowered perceptions of politics were proposed to result in higher employee morale (as reflected in job satisfaction and affective commitment) and, through morale, to higher levels of task performance and organizational citizenship. The proposed mediational model was supported with empirical results from 150 subordinate-supervisor dyads sampled across a variety of organizations. Higher quality feedback environments were associated with lower perceptions of organizational politics, and morale mediated the relationships between organizational politics and various aspects of work performance. These findings suggest that when employees have greater access to information regarding behaviors that are acceptable and desired at work, perceptions of politics are reduced and work outcomes are enhanced.     

Employee and Supervisor Ratings of Motivation: Main Effects and Discrepancies Associated with Job Satisfaction and Adjustment in a Factory Setting1

Research and theory on employee job satisfaction and well-being has increasingly concentrated on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. According to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). autonomy, relatedness, and competence are three intrinsic psychological needs that, if fulfilled in the workplace, will lead to greater satisfaction, performance, and general well-being. This study examines employee and supervisor perceptions of the employee's autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the workplace, as well as the degree and direction of discrepancies between employee and supervisor reports. Both employee and supervisor ratings of intrinsic motivational factors were significantly related to work satisfaction, psychological health, and self-esteem, after controlling for the extrinsic factors of pay and job status. Results of discrepancy analyses were somewhat supportive of overrating being associated with greater well-being and job satisfaction. Discussion of the results ties this study to relevant research from a self-determination perspective and to the growing literature on discrepancies and self-perception.     

Workplace emotions: the role of supervision and leadership

In this experience sampling study, the authors examined the role of organizational leaders in employees' emotional experiences. Data were collected from health care workers 4 times a day for 2 weeks. Results indicate supervisors were associated with employee emotions in 3 ways: (a) Employees experienced fewer positive emotions when interacting with their supervisors as compared with interactions with coworkers and customers; (b) employees with supervisors high on transformational leadership experienced more positive emotions throughout the workday, including interactions with coworkers and customers; and (c) employees who regulated their emotions experienced decreased job satisfaction and increased stress, but those with supervisors high on transformational leadership were less likely to experience decreased job satisfaction. The results also suggest that the effects of emotional regulation on stress are long lasting (up to 2 hr) and not easily reduced by leadership behaviors.     

In good company? A multi-study,multi-level investigation of the effects of coworker relationships on employee well-being

Two multi-level studies were conducted to examine the effects of attitudes towards coworkers on daily well-being. Study 1 linked daily levels of coworker satisfaction to job satisfaction and life satisfaction and examined the extent to which job satisfaction mediated the relationship between coworker satisfaction and life satisfaction among 33 government employees. Study 2 replicated and extended Study 1 by examining the extent to which agreeableness moderated the relationships between daily levels of coworker satisfaction and job and life satisfaction among an occupationally diverse sample of 79 employees. Results revealed that coworker satisfaction varied significantly from day to day and was positively related to job and life satisfaction. Further, job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between daily coworker satisfaction and life satisfaction. Finally, agreeableness moderated the relationship between coworker satisfaction and job and life satisfaction, such that daily levels of these variables were more contingent on coworker satisfaction for agreeable individuals.     

Understanding Employee Job Satisfaction: The Importance of Procedural and Distributive Justice

The importance of perceived fair treatment and its effect on employee job satisfaction cannot be overlooked. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that structural procedural justice, interpersonal procedural justice, and distributive justice each accounted for significant unique variance in employee job satisfaction. In addition, when job satisfaction was regressed on all three types of organizational justice, all three justice perceptions significantly predicted job satisfaction. However, interpersonal procedural justice and distributive justice were more strongly related to job satisfaction with distributive justice having the strongest relationship of the three fairness perceptions.     

Trans-parency in the workplace: How the experiences of transsexual employees can be improved

Very little research has focused exclusively on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees. Studies that have been done are either qualitative case studies (e.g., Budge, Tebbe, & Howard; 2010; Schilt & Connell, 2007), or aggregate transsexual individuals with lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees (e.g., Irwin, 2002). The current study focuses on this underexamined population and examines general workplace experiences, and both individual and organizational characteristics that influence transsexual employees' job attitudes. Results reveal that organizational supportiveness, transsexual identity centrality, and the degree to which they disclose to individuals outside of work all predict transsexual employees' disclosure behaviors in the workplace. These disclosure behaviors are positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and negatively related to job anxiety. These relations are mediated by coworker reactions. This research expands knowledge about diverse employee populations and offers both theory and some of the first large-scale empirical data collected on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees.     

Ethical climate influences on employee commitment through job satisfaction in a transport sector industry

This study examined the extent to which an ethical climate moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and perceptions of organisational commitment. The study sample consisted of 839 employees of a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (women = 32%). Perceptions of the organisation’s ethical climate were measured using the Ethical Climate Questionnaire (Victor & Cullen, 1998), job satisfaction was measured using the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Lock, 1976), and organisational commitment was measured using the Organisational Commitment Scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Data were analysed by applying hierarchical moderator regression analysis to predict employee commitment from job satisfaction, in interaction with the ethical climate. The findings indicated that the ethical climate dimensions of caring, law and code, rule, independence, and instrumental predicted 72% of the variance in job satisfaction and 73% of the variance in employee commitment. Positive perceptions of an ethical work atmosphere and clear code of conduct would enhance employees’ levels of dedication, loyalty, and commitment to the organisation.     

Moderating effects of harasser status and target gender on the relationship between unwanted sexual attention and overall job satisfaction

Despite a vast body of literature evidencing the negative effects of workplace sexual harassment it remains unclear whether sexual harassment experienced by the target is worse when the harasser is a supervisor, rather than a coworker. With a scenario‐based experimental study we examined whether targets harassed by their supervisor would experience greater decreases in overall job satisfaction than those targeted by a coworker. Results suggested that harasser status moderated the effects of sexual harassment on overall job satisfaction but only for female targets. Further, the effect of supervisor harassment on job satisfaction was mediated by interpersonal justice perceptions.     

A Compositional Analysis of the Organizational Climate-Performance Relation: Public Schools as Organizations

The present study examined specific aspects of organizational climate related to job satisfaction, employee turnover, and organizational performance in public elementary schools. Survey data were obtained from school staff and students and from school district archives. Hypotheses tested included: (1) Employee perceptions of organizational climate and job satisfaction, when aggregated to an organizational level, would represent group-level constructs; (2) Employee perceptions of positive organizational climate would be associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational performance and with lower levels of employee turnover; (3) Relations of organizational climate to organizational performance and to employee turnover would be mediated by employee job satisfaction; and (4) Employee perceptions of positive organizational climate and job satisfaction would be associated with less achievement disparity between minority and non-minority students. Study results supported all but one hypothesis. There was no evidence for the mediating effects of job satisfaction on relations of organizational climate to organizational performance and to employee turnover. Results were consistent with the broader organizational literature, which has shown the importance of orderly work environments, collegial relations, and supportive leaders for effectively functioning groups and organizations.     

The role of job security in understanding the relationship between employees' perceptions of temporary workers and employees' performance

On the basis of psychological contract and social cognition theories, the authors explored the role of full-time employees' perceived job security in explaining their reactions to the use of temporary workers by using a sample of 149 full-time employees who worked with temporaries. As hypothesized, employees' perceived job security negatively related to their perceptions that temporaries pose a threat to their jobs, but it did not relate to their perceptions that temporaries are beneficial. Furthermore, employees' job security moderated the relationships between benefit and threat perceptions and supervisor ratings of job performance. For those with high job security, there was a positive relationship between benefit perceptions and performance. For those with low job security, there was a negative relationship between threat perceptions and performance.     

Stressful demands or helpful guidance? The role of display rules in Indian call centers

This paper utilizes conservation of resources (COR) theory and two of Hofstede's (1980) dimensions of culture (individualism and power distance) to examine the impact of display rules on job satisfaction and performance in an Indian call center sample. Contrary to findings in an American sample (Wilk & Moynihan, 2005), we proposed that due to cultural differences as well as differences in the nature of the job among representatives in an Indian call center, supervisory focus on display rules would reduce emotional exhaustion, and in turn, have positive consequences for employee performance and job satisfaction. Using multi-source data in a sample of 137 Indian call center representatives, results confirmed the hypothesized mediating effects of emotional exhaustion on performance and job satisfaction. Implications of these results for future cross-cultural research are presented.     

Stressful demands or helpful guidance? The role of display rules in Indian call centers

This paper utilizes conservation of resources (COR) theory and two of Hofstede's (1980) dimensions of culture (individualism and power distance) to examine the impact of display rules on job satisfaction and performance in an Indian call center sample. Contrary to findings in an American sample (Wilk & Moynihan, 2005), we proposed that due to cultural differences as well as differences in the nature of the job among representatives in an Indian call center, supervisory focus on display rules would reduce emotional exhaustion, and in turn, have positive consequences for employee performance and job satisfaction. Using multi-source data in a sample of 137 Indian call center representatives, results confirmed the hypothesized mediating effects of emotional exhaustion on performance and job satisfaction. Implications of these results for future cross-cultural research are presented.     

Antecedents and outcomes of organizational support for development: the critical role of career opportunities

This study examines antecedents and behavioral outcomes of employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We first propose that employees' past participation in formal developmental activities and experience with developmental relationships positively relate to their perceptions of organizational support for development. We then propose that perceived career opportunity within the organization moderates the relationship between organizational support for development and employee performance and turnover. Using a sample of 264 exempt-level employees and their supervisors, we found that participation in training classes, leader-member exchange, and career mentoring were each positively related to employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We also found support for the moderator hypotheses. Specifically, development support positively related to job performance, but only when perceived career opportunity within the organization was high. Further, development support was associated with reduced voluntary turnover when perceived career opportunity was high, but it was associated with increased turnover when perceived career opportunity was low. Our study demonstrates that social exchange and career motivation theory work together to explain when and how employees' perceptions of organizational support for development relate to turnover and job performance.     

Employee adjustment to stress: The role of coping resources, situational factors, and coping responses

Abstract The present study was designed to examine further the stress-adjustment relationship in employees. Specifically, the relations among employees' coping resources (self-esteem, generalized control beliefs, neuroticism, and social support), their appraisals of a recent stressful event experienced at work (appraised stress, self-efficacy, and situational control beliefs), the coping strategies (problem- and emotion-focused coping) used to deal with the event, and levels of employee adjustment (psychological well-being and job satisfaction) were examined. Data were collected from 153 male and female employees in a public sector department, employed in a range of middle-management administrative activities. The data provided support for a modified version of a model that proposed that both situational appraisals and coping strategies are mediating processes in the stress-adjustment relationship. There was evidence that employees' coping responses to the recent stressful event experienced at work were related to concurrent levels of adjustment. As predicted, the use of problem-focused coping, in general, had positive relationships with the measures of adjustment, whereas the effects of emotion-focused coping were generally negative (there was, however, some evidence that the effects of coping were dependent on event controllability). There was also evidence that coping resources had both direct and indirect effects (via coping and via situational appraisals) on employee adjustment. The latter effects were most marked for generalized control beliefs and self-esteem. Situational appraisals (in particular, efficacy expectancies) also had indirect effects on employee adjustment, through their effects on coping responses.     

情绪劳动策略对主动破坏行为的影响

如何开展员工情绪劳动管理,避免负面行为结果,是服务行业面对的重要问题。以788名呼叫中心员工为研究对象,本文获得的结果表明:1)表层动作显著促进主动破坏行为,而深层动作的影响不显著。2)政策强度感知显著调节表层动作与主动破坏行为间关系;当政策强度感知较低时,表层动作对主动破坏行为的正向影响更为显著。3)情感社会分享显著调节深层动作与主动破坏行为间关系;当情感社会分享水平较高时,深层动作对主动破坏行为的负向影响更为显著。本研究从资源保存视角提出工作场所开展情绪劳动管理的有效策略。     

General Factors of Affective Temperament and Their Relation to Job Satisfaction over Time

This study investigated the extent to which employee satisfaction is related to two broad emotional traits, Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). Eighty-two employees at Southern Methodist University completed trait NA and PA scales as part of their participation in a comprehensive health and fitness project. From 9 to 39 months later (mean interval = 27 months), subjects were retested on these temperament scales and also completed job change and satisfaction measures. Trait PA and NA were not only significantly correlated with several aspects of concurrent employee satisfaction, but also predicted some facets of job satisfaction that were assessed an average of over 2 years later. Finally, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that emotional temperament, major job changes, and occupational quality variables each made independent contributions to the prediction of job satisfaction. These data, together with those from previous studies, demonstrate that job satisfaction can be usefully viewed in the context of the more general emotional lives of employees.