Is working from home a blessing or a burden? Home demands as a mediator of the relationship between work engagement and work-life balance

As COVID-19 pandemic made its incursion into the world of work in early 2020, many employees were compelled to work from home to slow down the transmission of the disease. Since then, it has been asked whether working from home is a blessing or a burden. We respond to this question by building on the Affective Events Theory to examine whether work engagement is related to work-life balance (WLB), and whether home demands mediate this relationship, using data from 219 knowledge workers drawn from universities in the South-eastern region of Nigeria primarily working from home when they were surveyed. Results of regression analysis using PROCESS macro showed that work engagement related positively to home demands; in turn, home demands related negatively to WLB. The results further revealed that work engagement related negatively to WLB and that home demands mediated the negative work engagement-WLB connection. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the study are discussed, limitations are highlighted, and suggestions for future research are outlined

Interplay of organizational constraints and workplace status in intent to stay of frontline nurses caring for patients with COVID-19

This study examined workplace status as a moderator of the relationship between organizational constraints and frontline nurses' intent to stay in their profession. Data were collected from 265 nurses working in hospitals designated for caring for patients with COVID-19 across Nigeria. The measurement and structural models were assessed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed a negative relationship between organizational constraints and intent to stay, whereas workplace status was positively related to intent to stay. Further, the relationship between organizational constraints and intent to stay was moderated by workplace status such that it was more positive when workplace status was high rather than low. The results provide evidence for keeping frontline nurses in their profession by reducing the organizational constraints they encounter and elevating their status in their workplace

Nursesâ burnout and counterproductive work behavior in a Nigerian sample: The moderating role of emotional intelligence

This study examined the moderating role of EI in the relationship between burnout and CWB among 401 nurses drawn from various hospitals within South-eastern Nigeria. Three instruments were used for the collection of data, namely: Counterproductive Work Behaviour Checklist, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Brief Emotional Intelligence scale. Moderated multiple regression results showed that emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment, positively predicted CWB. In addition, EI significantly and negatively predicted CWB. Results also showed that EI moderated the positive relationship between emotional exhaustion and CWB and between depersonalization and CWB such that the positive relationship between these two dimensions of burnout and CWB was stronger for nurses with low EI compared to those with high EI. The implications of the findings and limitations of the study were discussed. Keywords: Nurses, Burnout, Counterproductive work behaviour, Emotional intelligenc

Business-life balance and wellbeing: Exploring the lived experiences of women in a low-to-middle income country

Aim: With most studies on work-life balance focused on employees, this study sets out to explore the everyday living of business women who trade on petty goods and earn very little in a low-to-middle income country (LMIC). We explore their conceptions of balance, how they manage intersecting roles, and how they cope with daily hassles and stress to maintain wellbeing. Background: With the proportion of self-employed to employed people in Sub-Saharan LMICs being an inverse of the situation in Euro-American countries, there is a need to explore what balance could mean for the people in LMICs. Most studies in the work-life literature have explored how employees pursue balance and the various strategies that work for a specific group of people. Perhaps because work-life balance literature has largely sprung from advanced economies, little focus has been placed on how other societies, especially people in LMICs, navigate balance, given their unique milieu. Design: Adopting the reflective life-world approach, we inquire into the daily lives of women in very small businesses. Method: Twenty women who trade on a range of items and earn very little (gross daily sales of $0.41 to$62.98) were interviewed using a semi-structured guideline. Analysis was conducted using interpretative phenomenology. Result: Conceptions of balance for the women incorporated the notions of satisfactory progress across roles, proper time apportionment to roles, conditional balance as well as harmony and/or synchrony across roles—a slight difference from the popular understandings. Their conception of business life roles was deemed much more integral. Negative physical and psychological experiences impacting health and wellbeing, identified as culminating as a result of both roles, were commonplace but were typically considered a normal part of living. Engagements in extra-social roles appeared to have a double-edged effect. Placing the family first, time management, and prioritizing were some of the important measures of ensuring balance and wellbeing. Financial gains and personal satisfaction were top motivational reasons that kept the women committed to pursuing simultaneous roles. Conclusion: There is a strong overlap between what balance means for petty trading women and employees. However, the unique social platform offers a more communal perspective of issues in pursuing balance

Expanded-multidimensional turnover intentions: scale development and validation

Abstract Background This study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a more elaborate instrument to measure turnover intentions based on the planned behaviour theory model. The questionnaire assesses 5 distinct aspects of turnover intentions (i.e., subjective social status, organisational culture, personal orientation, expectations, and career growth). Methods In this cross-sectional study (comprise of 2 studies in one) a wave survey design was applied to a large diversity of workers drawn from the staff of universities, banks, hospitals, factories, and telecommunication companies. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied the identify the sub-dimensions and Cronbach’s alpha to assess the reliability of the first study. In the second study, for the Confirmatory factor analysis to establishing structural model of the dimensions. Results We demonstrate the reliability, factor structure, and validity evidence based on internal structure and relationship with other variables of the new measure among two samples (N1 = 622; N2 = 433). Twenty-five items with 5 factors were extracted to represent a broader perspective of turnover intention scale. Conclusions In total, the study indicates that the assessment can be used to reliably assess several major indicators of turnover intentions. Therefore, improved employees’ evaluations and reduced loss of valuable staff as a result of avoidable measures in considering the interests of workers