The Impact of Learning Demands, Work-Related Resources, and Job Stressors on Creative Performance and Health

We propose an integrated model of learning demands, work-related resources, and job stressors that incorporates core assumptions of work design in predicting processes of learning and performance as well as health impairment. The model was tested in a heterogeneous sample of 830 employees using structural equation modeling. Empirical results largely support theoretical assumptions. Learning demands and work-related resources were positively related to intrinsic motivation and creative performance. Job stressors and low work-related resources were predictive for health impairment. The suggested tripartite taxonomy reconciles inconsistent research findings on the impact of work characteristics. The model provides practical guidance for work analysis and design by clarifying relationships between established work characteristics, job performance, and worker health

The effects of improving hospital physicians working conditions on patient care: a prospective, controlled intervention study

Background: Physicians, particularly in hospitals, suffer from adverse working conditions. There is a close link between physicians' psychosocial work environment and the quality of the work they deliver. Our study aimed to explore whether a participatory work-design intervention involving hospital physicians is effective in improving working conditions and quality of patient care. Methods: A prospective, controlled intervention study was conducted in two surgical and two internal departments. Participants were 57 hospital physicians and 1581 inpatients. The intervention was a structured, participatory intervention based on continuous group meetings. Physicians actively analyzed problematic working conditions, developed solutions, and initiated their implementation. Physicians' working conditions and patients' perceived quality of care were outcome criteria. These variables were assessed by standardized questionnaires. Additional data on implementation status were gathered through interviews. Results: Over the course of ten months, several work-related problems were identified, categorized, and ten solutions were implemented. Post-intervention, physicians in the intervention departments reported substantially less conflicting demands and enhanced quality of cooperation with patients' relatives, compared to control group physicians. Moreover, positive changes in enhanced colleague support could be attributed to the intervention. Regarding patient reports of care quality of care, patient ratings of physicians organization of care improved for physicians in the intervention group. Five interviews with involved physicians confirm the plausibility of obtained results, provide information on implementation status and sustainability of the solutions, and highlight process-related factors for re-design interventions to improve hospital physicians work. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that participatory work design for hospital physicians is a promising intervention for improving working conditions and promoting patient quality of care

The effects of improving hospital physicians working conditions on patient care: a prospective, controlled intervention study

Background: Physicians, particularly in hospitals, suffer from adverse working conditions. There is a close link between physicians' psychosocial work environment and the quality of the work they deliver. Our study aimed to explore whether a participatory work-design intervention involving hospital physicians is effective in improving working conditions and quality of patient care. Methods: A prospective, controlled intervention study was conducted in two surgical and two internal departments. Participants were 57 hospital physicians and 1581 inpatients. The intervention was a structured, participatory intervention based on continuous group meetings. Physicians actively analyzed problematic working conditions, developed solutions, and initiated their implementation. Physicians' working conditions and patients' perceived quality of care were outcome criteria. These variables were assessed by standardized questionnaires. Additional data on implementation status were gathered through interviews. Results: Over the course of ten months, several work-related problems were identified, categorized, and ten solutions were implemented. Post-intervention, physicians in the intervention departments reported substantially less conflicting demands and enhanced quality of cooperation with patients' relatives, compared to control group physicians. Moreover, positive changes in enhanced colleague support could be attributed to the intervention. Regarding patient reports of care quality of care, patient ratings of physicians organization of care improved for physicians in the intervention group. Five interviews with involved physicians confirm the plausibility of obtained results, provide information on implementation status and sustainability of the solutions, and highlight process-related factors for re-design interventions to improve hospital physicians work. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that participatory work design for hospital physicians is a promising intervention for improving working conditions and promoting patient quality of care

Structural plasticity of the living kinetochore

The kinetochore is a large, evolutionarily conserved protein structure that connects chromosomes with microtubules. During chromosome segregation, outer kinetochore components track depolymerizing ends of microtubules to facilitate the separation of chromosomes into two cells. In budding yeast, each chromosome has a point centromere upon which a single kinetochore is built, which attaches to a single microtubule. This defined architecture facilitates quantitative examination of kinetochores during the cell cycle. Using three independent measures-calibrated imaging, FRAP, and photoconversion-we find that the Dam1 submodule is unchanged during anaphase, whereas MIND and Ndc80 submodules add copies to form an "anaphase configuration" kinetochore. Microtubule depolymerization and kinesin-related motors contribute to copy addition. Mathematical simulations indicate that the addition of microtubule attachments could facilitate tracking during rapid microtubule depolymerization. We speculate that the minimal kinetochore configuration, which exists from G1 through metaphase, allows for correction of misattachments. Our study provides insight into dynamics and plasticity of the kinetochore structure during chromosome segregation in living cells

Manifesto for the future of work and organizational psychology

This manifesto presents 10 recommendations for a sustainable future for the field of Work and Organizational Psychology. The manifesto is the result of an emerging movement around the Future of WOP (seewww.futureofwop.com), which aims to bring together WOP-scholars committed to actively contribute to building a better future for our field. Our recommendations are intended to support both individuals and collectives to become actively engaged in co-creating the future of WOP together with us. Therefore, this manifesto is openand never“finished.”It should continuously evolve, based on an ongoing debate around our professional values and behavior. This manifesto is meant, first of all, for ourselves as an academic community. Furthermore, it is also important for managers, decision makers, and other stakeholders and interested parties,such as students, governments and organizations, as we envision what the future of WOP could look like, and it is only through our collective efforts that we will be able to realize a sustainable future for all of us

Creating Positive Work Experiences Through Task Self-Redesign

Complementing the traditional focus in work design on “top-down” organizational interventions, research into proactive work behavior suggests that “bottom-up” processes, based on the “micro-emancipatory” actions employees engage in, create more rewarding and meaningful work experiences. Based on current theorizing, this study tests a tripartite model of task self-redesign and positive work-related states of meaning, affective commitment, and work–home enrichment. The interactive effects of three modes of task influence are postulated: (a) the active use of existing potentials for task autonomy; (b) job crafting, as unauthorized and self-organized modifications of task features; (c) the individual renegotiation of tasks through idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) with superiors. Survey data from an occupationally heterogeneous convenience sample of N = 279 German-speaking employees were analyzed, using confirmatory factor analysis and moderated linear regression. The regression results confirmed that task i-deals consistently related to positive experiences, whereas autonomy only related to one, and task crafting had no significant main effect. A significant two-way interaction between i-deals and crafting was found only in relation to affective commitment. Supporting the suggested tripartite model, significant (synergistic) three-way interactions explained the additional variance in all three examined outcomes. These results offer some preliminary insights into the interplay of organizationally designed, individually crafted, and interpersonally negotiated work activities. Task autonomy, task-directed job crafting, and task i-deals appear to fulfill complementary roles in the self-directed creation of positive work experiences. Methodological limitations and further research needs are discussed

Crafting Task and Cognitive Job Boundaries to Enhance Self-Determination, Impact, Meaning and Competence at Work

Job crafting refers to physical and cognitive changes in task or relational work boundaries, enacted by individuals to recreate their work experience in a more motivating and rewarding way, and to realize self-actualization, growth, and meaning at work. This study tests a model of individual, interpersonal, and organizational antecedents and motivational outcomes of situation-directed task and self-directed cognitive job crafting. Employee survey data (N = 1196) from a Chinese telecommunications company permitted confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Antecedents were each measured with three-item versions of established scales, a two-dimensional scale on task and cognitive job crafting was newly developed, and a four-dimensional model of psychological empowerment captured motivational effects. Structural modeling confirmed a partial mediating role of job crafting between antecedents and empowerment. Individual growth requires strength and intellectual stimulation from one’s leader that is positively related to both tasks and cognitive crafting, while exposure to organizational constraints triggered task crafting only. Confirming differential motivational effects, task crafting predicted control-oriented empowerment dimensions of self-determination and impact, whereas cognitive crafting affected person-oriented dimensions of meaning and competence. Interpreted as a micro-emancipatory form of self-management, job crafting offers some new insights into leadership, coping, work design, work orientations, and motivation. Practical and research implications of this are discussed

Research on Neoliberal Ideology – Research as Neoliberal Ideology: Assembling a Reflexive Perspective

This online paper session aims to bring together, inform and engage work and organizational psychology (WOP) scholars who share an interest in the emerging topic of neoliberal ideology in contemporary workplace practices and academic research. As indicated by the session title, and following the seminal contribution by Bal and Dóci (2018), the assembled set of presentations addresses and integrates two distinct yet complementary perspectives, namely: a) research on neoliberal ideology addressing the pervasive interest-driven force influencing societal institutions and organizational structures, thereby shaping the belief systems and identities of individuals in contemporary workplaces; and b) research as neoliberal ideology, problematizing, exposing, and deconstructing the role of interest-guided economicstic logics in shaping theories, constructs, methods, and processes of WOP as an academic field. The session includes five contributions by researchers from altogether five universities from four countries (Austria, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom). All of them transcend the conventional normative or functionalist paradigms of mainstream research. Employing different theoretical and epistemological approaches, ranging from radical humanism and radical structuralism to postmodern deconstructionist and post-structuralist, the five presentations incorporate the first perspective of psychological research on ideologies. However, simultaneously, they also reflect on the second perspective, that is, focusing on the biasing influences of neoliberal ideology on the research process in WOP. Specifically, the first talk will draw on the tradition of radical humanism in seeking to expand theorizing on manifestations of neoliberal ideology in societies, organizations, and individuals (presentation#1 by Hornung et al.). The second presentation adopts more of a structuralist theoretical approach and will propose a new quantitative operationalization assessing internalized neoliberal beliefs of instrumentality, competition, and individualism of employees, based on quantitative methodology (presentation#2 by Höge et al.). The third presentation draws on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with hospital workers to discuss the neoliberal institutional, legal, economic, and ideological underpinnings of the employment-health dilemma in the context of the COVID crisis and beyond (presentation#3 by Kößler). While the third presentation may broadly be called structuralist, the fourth contribution marks the transition to more post-structural and deconstructionist critical perspectives on neoliberal ideology. Specifically, this fourth presentation uses observations and qualitative data obtained in interviews with school teachers to interpretatively analyze dysfunctional societal developments associated with the governmentality of neoliberal ideology, combined with acceleration and ubiquitous technology use, presenting a critical intervention to induce teacher resistance and positive change (presentation#4 by Degen). Finally, the fifth and final presentation is aimed at debunking and deconstructing neoliberal ideology in the one-sided, interest-guided and performative conception of influential research constructs in WOP, such as work engagement and job crafting (presentation#5 by Tommasi et al.). Using fiction analysis as an alternative critical methodology, this contribution also reflects more of a post-modern and deconstructionist approach with a stronger emphasis on the impact of neoliberal ideology on the research process itself. The self-reflexive integration of the two broader perspectives of research on ideology and research as ideology constitutes a cross-cutting theme of the compiled presentations. Reflecting on this issue reveals an epistemological dilemma or even paradox, stemming from the pervasiveness and hegemonic tendencies of neoliberal ideology. Precisely, how can a research process, which is ideologically flawed, be reoriented to conduct a meaningful research program on the very influences assumed to be responsible for its biases and blind spots? By suggesting to capitalize on alternative research methodologies and processes, the compiled presentations provide valuable hints in this direction across different scientific paradigms. Moreover, the critique of ideology has a long tradition in the social science, offering additional pathways to theoretically approach this epistemological conundrum. The session will conclude with an open debate on these and related issues. Specifically, participants and presenters will engage in debates on the substantive and practical complications facing researchers that subvert the status quo in WOP by problematizing ideology to varying degrees, in different forums, diverging research paradigms and areas of scholarship, and at different stages of their academic careers