counselors' collective self‐esteem mediates job dissatisfaction and client relationships

Given the central role of professional identity (i.e., collective self‐esteem in this study), the authors examined whether collective self‐esteem mediated or moderated relations between job dissatisfaction and client relationships in a sample of 132 professional counselors in the United States. Results indicated that collective self‐esteem partially mediated the relationship between job dissatisfaction and client relationships. Furthermore, job dissatisfaction was negatively related to greater levels of private collective self‐esteem, and greater private collective self‐esteem was positively related to better client relationships.     

Relationship Between Job Characteristics and Attitudes: A Study of Temporary Employees

We examine the relationship between job characteristics and employee attitudes in the context of temporary employees who are assigned to work at the client organizations but are formally employed by a temporary agency. Based on the rationale provided by social exchange and social identity theories, we hypothesized that job characteristics would be related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention in regard to both the client organization and the temporary agency. Results based on data collected from a large temporary agency supported all hypothesized relationships in regard to the client organization, and most hypothesized relationships in regard to the temporary agency. We discuss implications of these findings for research and the practice of managing temporary employee attitudes.     

the use of narratives to contextualize the experiences and needs of unemployed,underemployed, and displaced workers

The author examined the role of narratives used by unemployed, underemployed, and displaced workers seeking job training assistance through a government‐funded One‐Stop Career Center. Interviews with employees of a One‐Stop Career Center provided insight on client rate of disclosure of personal narratives and how client narratives are used to facilitate the job search process. Specifically, data from the interviews suggest that narratives give career center employees insight on job seekers' background, barriers, and reemployment mind‐set. Furthermore, the act of listening was seen as legitimizing job seekers' experiences. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Client supportiveness in contingent employment: The role of relationship quality

Extant literature dealing with nonstandard employment relationships reveals that contingent (“temporary”) workers are influenced by the supportiveness levels of their client organizations. However, the antecedents and consequences of client supportiveness remain underinvestigated. Specifically, the link between client supportiveness and relationship quality (i.e., the relationship between client organizations and temporary help services [THS] firm) has received minimal attention. I proposed that (1) the quality of the relationship between client organizations and the THS firm will influence client supportiveness, (2) client supportiveness will influence contingent workers’ job attitudes, (3) these job attitudes will influence future levels of relationship quality, and (4) relationship quality will predict unit-level profitability. A time-lagged, unit-level test of this model using large samples of worker and client data obtained from 89 business units of a THS firm provided complete support for the first three proposed relationships. Further, the association between relationship quality and profitability was found to be significant for medium-sized and large business units, but not for small business units.     

Temporary Employees as Good Citizens: Factors Influencing Their OCB Performance

Companies utilizing contingent workers face a dilemma between the need to employ a flexible (i.e., low fixed-cost) work force and the need to employ a work force providing performance above and beyond the call of duty. One potential solution to this dilemma is to determine ways to promote the commitment and high performance of temporary employees. To that end, we conducted a study examining factors influencing organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) performance in temporary employees. Our results support or partially support hypotheses proposing that 1) job attitudes held by the temporary employee about the client organization were related to OCB performance in the client organization, 2) job attitudes held by the temporary employee about the staffing agency were related to OCB performance in the client organization, and 3) the employee's motivation for taking an assignment is related to OCB performance. Implications for enhancing OCB performance in temporary employees are discussed.     

high anxiety: counseling the job‐insecure client

In today's workplace, employees are faced with the potential of corporate downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, and job restructuring and relocation. These trends create a sense of job insecurity for the individual. Job insecurity affects the individual's life in a variety of ways, including emotional and psychological consequences, marital and family consequences, and organizational consequences. This article presents an overview of the effects of job insecurity and strategies that counselors can use in working with the job‐insecure client.     

The application of solution‐focused work in employment counseling

The author explores the applicability of a solution‐focused therapy (SFT) model as a comprehensive approach to employment counseling. SFT focuses the client on developing a vision of a preferred future and assumes that the client has the talents and resources that can be accessed in the employment counseling process. The solution‐focused counselor enters the therapeutic relationship from a point of “not knowing” and works with the client in job transition to develop possibilities that evolve from the client's strengths and knowledge. Examples are given of how solution‐focused employment counseling could be practiced.     

Predictors of Client Satisfaction in Executive Outplacement: Implications for Service Delivery

This study examined various program components of professional outplacement relative to client satisfaction using a sample that comprised a majority of former executives seeking jobs. Results from a pencil-and -paper client survey suggest that outplacement content components (job search training, preparation) and process components (consultant relationship, clarity of expectations, assistance in maintaining focus) were better predictors of client satisfaction when compared with contextual components (library, software, administrative support). Findings from this study suggest that issues of self-efficacy may make a key contribution not only to client satisfaction, but to the design and the administration of outplacement services.     

Job Development from a Counselor's Perspective: A Training Workshop

An inservice training workshop for employment counselors on the skill of job development is reviewed. Evaluations proved there is a need for additional inservice training on job development skills, including follow-up, marketing, using outside resources, matching employer needs with client capabilities, speaking before groups, effective verbal communication with employers, and overcoming objections.     

Predicting burnout and job satisfaction in workplace counselors: the influence of role stressors,job challenge,and organizational knowledge

The present study examines the antecedents of burnout and job satisfaction among counselors employed in workplace settings. Workplace counselors face the unique demands of managing dual client relationships (individual and organization) within the counseling setting. Antecedents of the job‐related outcomes of burnout and satisfaction are likely to vary from other counseling settings as a function of these unique demands. Survey results from 82 workplace counselors indicated that role conflict was a significant predictor of the experience of burnout and that intrinsic job satisfaction was significantly predicted by the counselors' perceptions of job challenge, as well as by the level of organizational knowledge.     

The Pastor's role with job-related problems

Summary In the vocational realm a pastor can help a client resolve his problems in a variety of ways. Realizing he has a sympathetic and understanding listener, the client can get a feeling of relief by talking out his problems and expressing his feelings about them. As a less biased observer, the pastor shows him the reality of his situation, and suggests other resources or new plans of possible action. The pastoral counselor might also suggest appropriate religious principles that should improve attitudes and help make smoother relationships with people on his job and elsewhere. Through this kind of counseling help, the client might be led to see his own solution.     

Termination of information evaluation in auditing

A screening decision is about whether a candidate fails to meet a decision maker's criteria and must be rejected, or whether it meets the criteria and can be accepted. Image theory contends that screening decisions are based on a simple, noncompensatory process that focuses solely upon the candidate's negative attributes. This contention has received empirical support in a job screening context in which students role-played a hypothetical person seeking a job. But how robust is image theory's prediction? The present work was done in the context of professional auditors screening prospective clients. The client screening context is a particularly interesting setting to test the implications of image theory. If auditors reject clients with negative attributes, as predicted by image theory, this will indicate that some clients are being denied access to a socially useful service. Further, auditors can accept prospective clients with negative attributes and simply adjust the audit plan and fees to compensate for the client's riskiness. Thus, it is not clear that the preliminary findings obtained in a job screening context will generalize to the audit context. On the other hand, results consistent with the image theory prediction would suggest a robust theory. Even in the client screening context, where auditors used their own criteria to screen prospective clients, we found overwhelming support for image theory's view of screening. The results indicate the potential payoffs of image theory as a robust framework to address audit and other substantive problems. Implications of a noncompensatory, negative oriented, client screening strategy are discussed.     

The Deaf in the World of Work

Deaf persons form a distinct minority in the world of work. Many deaf persons are underemployed and face bleak vocational futures. Many actions can be taken to change the status of deaf employees. Professionals working with the deaf should be aware of the current vocational functioning of their clients. Deaf clients need specific job information, their social and communication skills may need improvement, and they may need basic skills in applying for a job. Comprehensive vocational counseling for the deaf is an obvious need. Also, employees must be encouraged to reduce job discrimination against the deaf. Employer attitudes preclude the deaf for appropriate job trials. If the counselor, client, and the employer work closely together, the occupational picture of deaf workers can be greatly upgraded.     

The transition from therapist to executive coach

A growing number of clinicians are making the transition from therapist to executive coach. High-powered executives are exceptionally receptive to the very straightforward and pragmatic approach of REBT. However, to be successful, even a REBT trained clinician had best adapt his approach to the executive client. The primary focus needs to be on more effective and efficient job performance, not on helping the client feel better. Although these executives believe many of the same irrational beliefs as one’s clinical clients, the REBT coach can effectively illustrate how each of these beliefs contributes to specific job related problems which the executive had best resolve. Teaching executives to challenge their ideas, then assigning work-related action plans, usually results in enhanced performance, which convinces even skeptical executives that coaching is a useful endeavor. Coaching has an advantage over therapy in that the coach can observe their client in numerous work situations (meetings, presentations, performance reviews) and give constructive feedback, and actually monitor additional progress. It is an exciting field that many clinicians find extremely challenging and stimulating. Dr. William D. Criddle, MBA is a managerial psychologist and executive coach in independent practice, based in Seattle, WA, USA. He is a Fellow of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York City.     

Dual commitment profiles and job satisfaction among temporary agency workers

Temporary agency workers (TAWs) are an ever-increasing type of employees which establish a double work relationship with both the agency and the client organization. Within this context, the concept of dual commitment has received considerable attention in the last years. The present contribution integrates dual commitment line of research with the one adopting a person-centered approach to the study of commitment configurations, to investigate commitment profiles on a large sample of TAWs. According to Sinclair et al.'s framework, we aimed to identify TAWs' commitment profiles based on their levels of dual affective commitment (to the agency and to the client organization) and on their general continuance commitment and to investigate differences in job satisfaction among profiles. Latent profile analyses on 7225 TAWs revealed 5 distinct profiles, namely Dually Free Agents, Dually Involved, Dually Allied, (Unilaterally) Client Allied and (Unilaterally) Agency Invested. The Dually Involved profile, followed by the Dually Allied profile, had the highest level of job satisfaction, whereas the Dually Free Agent profile and the (Unilaterally) Agency Invested had the lowest. Furthermore, the (Unilaterally) Client Allied group had a higher level of job satisfaction as compared to the (Unilaterally) Agency Invested profile. Implications are discussed.     

Staying in the Race: Counselor Visits and Job Search Confidence Among People With Disabilities

Support that helps job seekers maintain confidence might decrease unemployment rates among people with disabilities. In this study, clients described their employment barriers (disability, education, and work history) and then reported their job search confidence 3 times at 6‐month intervals. Their employment support agency provided information about the support (counseling visits, support hours, and financial resources) it delivered. Clients with more disabilities and education barriers experienced declines in job search confidence unless they received intensive levels of employment counseling. Three visits to a counselor maintained client confidence, and confidence improved only after 18 visits. Other service intensity indicators (support hours and financial resources) did not halt confidence declines.     

Hiring Discrimination Against Arab Minorities: Interactions Between Prejudice and Job Characteristics

Individuals of Arab descent have increasingly experienced prejudice and employment discrimination. This study used the social identity paradigm to investigate whether greater Arab identification of applicants led to hiring discrimination and whether job characteristics and raters' prejudice moderated this effect. One hundred forty-one American and 153 Dutch participants rated résumés on job suitability. Résumés with Arab name and affiliations negatively influenced job suitability ratings, but only when job cognitive demands and external client contact were limited. Within the Dutch sample job suitability rating of Arab applicants was lowest when Dutch raters' implicit prejudice was high. As expected, no effects of explicit prejudice were found: discrimination may operate in subtle ways, depending on the combined effect of applicant, job, and rater characteristics. Further research and implications for employment-related decision making, such as anonymous résumé-sifting, are discussed.     

When the customer shouldn't be king: antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment by clients and customers

Much of the work in today's service industries requires women to deal with people outside of their organizations, namely, customers and clients, yet research on sexual harassment has focused almost exclusively on sexual harassment within organizations. Because the threat of harassment also operates at the boundaries of organizations, our existing models based solely on harassment inside organizations may be too restricted to adequately explain the harassment experiences of women in today's economy. To address this, the authors introduce a theoretical model of the antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment by clients and customers (CSH) and describe 2 field studies conducted to test components of the model. In Study 1, they developed a model of antecedents and consequences of CSH and illustrated that certain contextual factors (client power and gender composition of the client base) affect levels of CSH and that CSH is related to a number of job and psychological outcomes among professional women. Study 2 revealed that CSH is related to lower job satisfaction among nonprofessional women, above and beyond that which is accounted for by internal sexual harassment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The Employment Support Network—An Intervention to Assist Displaced Workers

The Employment Support Network, described in this article, was designed by the Department of Human Resources for use with displaced workers. As our clients move into and maneuver in the new economy the familiar job search model has changed. An important emphasis now is on renewing hope and building confidence in the client.     

Vocational Rehabilitation Day-Care Services for a Drug-Dependent Population

The philosophy, history, and operations of the Vocational Opportunities Center (VOC) are described. The functions of VOC include intake and evaluation, vocational and educational training, job development, child care, a women's vocational group, legal services, and cultural activities. The VOC is offered as a model of employability service to a specific client group and part of a more comprehensive multimodality drug program.