Lending a helping hand:Provision of helping behaviors beyond professional career responsibilities

<b>Abstract</b> Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate if gender and altruism evidence similar relationships with the different types of helping behaviors (e.g. organizational citizenship behaviors, OCBs; volunteering, vol; and helping kin, HK). Design/methodology/approach – Data from websurveys of 178 professional employees are analyzed using Zellner’s seemingly unrelated regression (SURE). Findings – Results indicate women engage in HK to a greater extent than men, however this difference between men and women in helping behaviors disappears when the other variables are entered in the model. Gender and altruism interacted to influence OCBs, such that the relationship was stronger for women than for men. Practical implications – An important implication of these results is that by knowing the motives that are most important to people, organizations may tailor their appeals to potential volunteers. Targeting potential volunteers is most effective when it matches people’s reasons for volunteering. Originality/value – The unique contribution of this study is that it simultaneously examined the relationship between altruism and the three types of helping behavior in a single study

Mismatch in working hours and affective commitment : Differential relationships for distinct employee groups

Purpose – This study examined the relationship between two types of mismatch (i.e. non-correspondence between preferred and actual number of hours), and affective commitment. It was argued that specific groups of employees, i.e. women and part-time working employees, attach more importance to their working hours and, therefore, are less likely to show affective commitment when they experience a mismatch. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from 222 employees of a Dutch Ministry, hypotheses were tested using regression analyses. Findings – It was shown that a mismatch of working more hours was differentially related to the affective commitment of employees who wanted to work more and who wanted to work fewer hours. Moreover, gender and full-time status were found to moderate the negative relationship between a mismatch and the affective commitment of employees who wants to work less. Research limitations/implications – The focus is on affective commitment; however, it is possible that other types of commitment are also associated with perceptions of psychological contract breach. Practical implications – Tailored HRM is needed: assisting employees with a mismatch wanting to work fewer hours can be achieved by allowing them more flexibility in their working schedules. Employees with a mismatch of wanting to work more hours can be assisted with additional support, e.g. shopping services. Originality/value – HRM practices can be tailored to different preferences: the value of this paper is the examination of different types of mismatch for different group of employees.

Lending a helping hand : Provision of helping behaviors beyond professional career responsibilities

<b>Abstract</b> Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate if gender and altruism evidence similar relationships with the different types of helping behaviors (e.g. organizational citizenship behaviors, OCBs; volunteering, vol; and helping kin, HK). Design/methodology/approach – Data from websurveys of 178 professional employees are analyzed using Zellner’s seemingly unrelated regression (SURE). Findings – Results indicate women engage in HK to a greater extent than men, however this difference between men and women in helping behaviors disappears when the other variables are entered in the model. Gender and altruism interacted to influence OCBs, such that the relationship was stronger for women than for men. Practical implications – An important implication of these results is that by knowing the motives that are most important to people, organizations may tailor their appeals to potential volunteers. Targeting potential volunteers is most effective when it matches people’s reasons for volunteering. Originality/value – The unique contribution of this study is that it simultaneously examined the relationship between altruism and the three types of helping behavior in a single study.