Gedrag & Organisatie - Volume 21, Issue 2, 2008

Job insecurity during a restructuring: associations with engagement and emotional exhaustion

N. De Cuyper, Y. Handaja & H. De Witte, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, June 2008, nr. 2, pp. 97-112

The present study aims to investigate subjective and objective job insecurity in relation to well-being (engagement and emotional exhaustion). Subjective job insecurity concerns employees' perceptions of uncertainty with regard to the future of one's present job. Objective job insecurity relates to one's position in the downsizing process: workers are objectively secure when they are informed about dismissal ('victims') or guaranteed a position in the company ('survivors'). They are objectively insecure when the decision about possible dismissal is pending. We hypothesize that subjective and objective job insecurity are positively related, and that both forms of job insecurity are negatively related to well-being. Furthermore, we explore interactions between subjective and objective job insecurity in relation to well-being. Hypotheses are tested among 129 employees who are employed in a Belgian service organization that was in the midst of a downsizing process. The results show no clear relationship between subjective and objective job insecurity. Subjective job insecurity is related to poor well-being, but objective job insecurity is not. Finally, we find a significant interaction effect for emotional exhaustion: subjective job insecurity was particularly harmful for survivors, while it did not seem to affect the other groups.

From conflict escalation to workplace bullying: an analysis with the conflict management styles of the Dual Concern Theory

E. Baillien, I. Neyens, H. De Witte & G. Notelaers, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, June 2008, nr. 2, pp. 113-136

Various studies report a relationship between conflicts and conflict escalation and workplace bullying. This study examines whether conflict management styles of team members explain the escalation of conflicts into workplace bullying. Inspired by the Dual Concern Theory, we assume that conflict escalation will lead to bullying when the team scores high on 'forcing' and 'avoiding'. When 'problem solving' and 'yielding' are dominant, workplace bullying will decrease. Hypotheses are tested within 5420 respondents. The results show a significant contribution from the interactions 'conflict frequency – forcing', 'conflict frequency – problem solving', and 'conflict frequency – avoiding'. This, however, is not the case for the interaction between conflict frequency and yielding. Further analyses confirm the hypotheses: the number of conflicts is more strongly related to bullying in case of a high score on forcing or a high score on avoidance. Besides, conflict frequency is more weakly related to bullying in case of high problem solving.

Summary

This study analysed whether, amongst health care providers in a nursing homes setting, there is a relationship between, on the hand, work demands, autonomy, lack of social support and emotional labor; and on the other hand, symptoms of burnout. It also analysed whether the concept of emotional labor was an additional factor that helped explain variance in burnout over and above the concepts found in the Demand-Control-Support model. The study was based on 130 health care providers (response rate of 75%). Participants filled in a questionnaire that measured the Demand-Control-Support concepts of autonomy, lack of social support and work demands, as well as four dimensions of emotional labor. It assessed burnout in three dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. The results showed a relationship between work demands, social support, several aspects of emotional labor and burnout, whereas no relationship was found between autonomy and burnout. The various concepts, taken together, explained 28 to 30% of the variance in burnout. Emotional labor appeared to be a distinct additional factor in relation to burnout, supplementing the elements found in the Demand-Control-Support model. These results confirm the findings from previous studies in other professions. They demonstrate that, in professions involving a lot of contact with patients, emotional labor may represent a potentially important factor related to health.

Samenvatting

In dit onderzoek werd nagegaan of er een verband bestaat tussen enerzijds werkeisen, autonomie, gebrek aan sociale steun en emotieregulatie en anderzijds verschijnselen van burnout bij ziekenverzorgenden. Daarnaast werd onderzocht of de dimensies van emotieregulatie (emotional labor) meerwaarde hebben in het verklaren van variantie van dimensies van burnout ten opzichte van de concepten van het Demand-Control-Support-model. Het onderzoek vond plaats onder 130 ziekenverzorgenden (respons 75%). De verzorgenden vulden een schriftelijke vragenlijst in waarin de Demand-Control-Support-concepten autonomie, gebrek aan sociale steun en werkeisen en vier dimensies van emotieregulatie werden gemeten. Burnout werd gemeten in drie dimensies, te weten emotionele uitputting, depersonalisatie en persoonlijke bekwaamheid. De resultaten toonden een samenhang tussen werkeisen, sociale steun, meerdere emotieregulatieaspecten en burnout, terwijl er tussen autonomie en burnout geen samenhang gevonden werd. De verschillende concepten konden gezamenlijk 28 tot 30% van de variantie in burnout verklaren. Ook bleek dat emotieregulatie een duidelijke toegevoegde waarde had in de samenhang met burnout, in aanvulling op de elementen van het Demand-Control-Support-model. De resultaten bevestigen hiermee gedeeltelijk de uitkomsten uit eerder onderzoek bij andere beroepsgroepen en laten zien dat zeker bij beroepen waarbij er veel contact plaatsvindt met patiënten, emotieregulatie een potentieel belangrijke, aan gezondheid gerelateerde factor kan vormen.

The selector, the applicant, society and the expert: motives in the selection of people

M. Ph. Born, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, June 2008, nr. 2, pp. 150-169

It is argued that the behavior of protagonists in personnel selection is influenced by a series of motivational and emotional factors. The recruiter, the applicant, society and the selection expert are discussed respectively. The unstructured interview in particular is vulnerable to the effects of unwanted influences, such as irrelevant applicant information and applicant tactics. A simple but not always well-liked remedy is a better structured interview.

The relationship between expertise diversity and team innovation: the moderating effect of task interdependence and task flexibility

G.S. van der Vegt, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, June 2008, nr. 2, pp. 170-183

In this article we examine the joint effects of expertise diversity, task interdependence, and task flexibility on team innovation. We argue that expertise diversity will be unrelated to team innovation when task interdependence is low. When task interdependence is high, the direction of the relationship – positive or negative – is argued to depend on the degree of task flexibility. We tested this expectation using survey and archival data from 57 teams working in the oil and gas industry. Results strongly support the expectations.

Diversity and team learning: the effect of faultlines and psychological safety

J. Rupert & K.A. Jehn, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 21, June 2008, nr. 2, pp. 184-206

In this field study on 186 members in 70 management teams, we tested the relationship between perceived faultlines and different types of team learning: task, process, and social learning. The results showed that when team members perceived faultlines, low levels of task learning were reported in the team. This relationship was mediated by psychological safety. Overall, this study extends the literature on team learning by showing that diversity faultlines are related to team learning in different ways, depending on what the subject of learning is about. In addition, psychological safety appears to be an important underlying process in the relationship between perceived faultlines and team learning.