Job crafting for lean engagement: The interplay of day and job-level characteristics

The quality of working life under the production system known as lean manufacturing (LM) is a heavily debated topic. Little is known about the engagement level of employees under this system. Our study is concerned with how employees in this context craft their jobs to enhance their own engagement, and we specifically consider how daily skill utilization triggers this process. Using a cross-level perspective, we further consider whether job-level characteristics relevant to the lean context, namely task interdependence and boundary control, restrict or facilitate the effects of daily skill utilization. A daily diary study was conducted over 4 working days with 64 employees in a large company utilizing LM. The results of multilevel structural equation modelling demonstrated that on a given day, skill utilization was associated with seeking resources, and this relationship was stronger when employees had high boundary control and low task interdependence in their general job roles. Results further demonstrated that employees experienced higher work engagement on days when they sought resources and challenges. Our findings illustrate the motivational potential of job crafting under LM and how crafting activities can be facilitated by the design of jobs and allocation of daily tasks.     

Accounting for job satisfaction: Examining the interplay of person and situation

In the present study, we investigate the interplay of personality traits (i.e., person) in frontline care staff in nursing homes and the way they relate to the residents (i.e., situation) to account for their job satisfaction. Participants completed a survey including Mini‐IPIP tapping the five‐factor model of personality, Individualized Care Inventory tapping four aspects of person‐centered care and job satisfaction. The results revealed that staff scoring high on neuroticism experienced less job satisfaction. This relationship was partly accounted for by resident autonomy, suggesting that part of the adverse influence of neuroticism on job satisfaction may be mitigated by organizations providing a supportive care environment. In contrast, staff scoring high on agreeableness experienced higher job satisfaction. This relationship was accounted for by another aspect of person‐centered care, that is, knowing the person. This suggests that agreeableness in a sense facilitated adjustment of acts of care toward the unique needs and preferences of residents and this partly explained why the more agreeable the staff was the more they felt satisfied at work. In sum, effects of personality traits on job satisfaction in care staff are partially mediated by the perception of working conditions and care policy and to the extent that a certain personality trait affects whether the staff have a positive or negative perception of the way they relate to the residents, they will experience, respectively, higher or a lower job satisfaction. This finding has implications for how to combine a focus on delivering person‐centered care with improving personal job satisfaction.     

Predictors and outcomes of job search behavior: The moderating effects of gender and family situation

This study explored differences in the antecedents and consequences of job search behavior depending on gender and family situation in a large, nationwide sample of the Dutch population. Using Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), we found no gender differences in the antecedents of job seeking. However, family situation did affect the relations in the TPB, such that personal attitude was a slightly weaker, and perceived social pressure a stronger predictor of job seeking for individuals with families than for singles. Concerning the consequences, job search behavior significantly predicted the chances of finding (new) employment, but not job satisfaction in the new job and the level of agreement between the obtained and wanted job.     

Nonlinearity in the relationship between political skill and work outcomes: Convergent evidence from three studies

The current investigation examined the form and magnitude of the relationship between political skill and two intrapersonal worker reactions—job satisfaction and job tension. Political skill was hypothesized to demonstrate an inverted U-shaped nonlinear relationship with job satisfaction and a U-shaped relationship with job tension. Data from three separate studies supported the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, moderate levels of political skill were associated with higher levels of job satisfaction (Studies 1-3) and lower levels of job tension (Studies 1 and 2). Conversely, in comparison to more moderate levels, higher and lower levels of political skill were adversely related to these outcomes. Implications, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Work–family interpersonal capitalization: Sharing positive work events at home

In a 3-week experience-sampling study of 52 full-time employees, the authors investigated the within-individual relationships among positive work events, affective states, and job satisfaction. They also examined the influence of work–family interpersonal capitalization (sharing work events with one’s spouse or partner at home) on employees’ job and relationship satisfaction. Results revealed that positive events influenced job satisfaction through positive affect, and work–family interpersonal capitalization on the most positive work event of the day positively impacted job satisfaction over and above the effects of the event’s pleasantness and of the number of other positive work events experienced that day.     

变革型领导如何影响员工的工作结果：一个有中介的调节作用分析

本文通过对426名在职人员的调查,探讨了变革型领导对工作绩效与满意度的影响机制。最后采用SPSS 13.0和Lisrel 8.7 对数据进行多层级线性回归分析,并依据温忠麟等（2006）的统计步骤分析了有中介的调节作用,得到如下结果：（1）在控制了年龄、性别与任职年限之后,自我效能在变革型领导与工作绩效、工作满意度之间都起部分中介作用;（2）核心工作特征在变革型领导与工作绩效之间起调节作用,调节作用需要通过自我效能作为中介变量。文章最后讨论了本研究的理论和实践意义。     

Extending the challenge-hindrance model of occupational stress: The role of appraisal

Interest regarding the challenge-hindrance occupational stress model has increased in recent years, however its theoretical foundation has not been tested. Drawing from the transactional theory of stress, this study tests the assumptions made in past research (1) that workload and responsibility are appraised as challenges and role ambiguity and role conflict are appraised as hindrances, and (2) that these appraisals mediate the relationship between these stressors and outcomes (i.e., strains, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions). For a sample of 479 employees, we found that although workload, role ambiguity, and role conflict could be appraised primarily as challenges or hindrances, they could also simultaneously be perceived as being both to varying degrees. Support was also found for a model in which primary appraisal partially mediated the stressor-outcome relationship.     

Linking the fits, fitting the links: Connecting different types of PO fit to attitudinal outcomes

In this paper we explore the linkages among various types of person-organization (PO) fit and their effects on employee attitudinal outcomes. We propose and test a conceptual model which links various types of fits—objective fit, perceived fit and subjective fit—in a hierarchical order of cognitive information processing and relate them to employee organizational commitment and job satisfaction. By unveiling how the different types of fit relate to each other in influencing individual outcomes, we address some of the theoretical and methodological concerns in the use of different methods in measuring PO fit.     

Job level, demands, and resources as antecedents of work–family conflict

Although substantial research has examined the conflict that employees experience between their work and family roles, the literature has not investigated the prevalence and antecedents of work–family conflict for individuals who work at different levels of an organization. This study examines differences in work–family conflict (work interference with family and family interference with work) for lower-level and higher-level employees, the factors that might explain these differences, and the differential effect of resources on conflict across job levels. Results indicate that higher-level workers experience greater conflict in both directions than lower-level workers, and that work- and home-based resources are differentially related to the conflict experienced by employees who hold lower-level and higher-level jobs.