Why resilient workers perform better : the roles of job satisfaction and work engagement

Previous studies have confirmed correlations between resilience and job performance, but surprisingly little is known about the nature of this relationship. This study sheds light on the roles of two important positive dimensions of work-related well-being: job satisfaction and work engagement. Data were collected from 360 Czech workers in helping professions using an online survey. Levels of resilience and perceived job performance were indeed positively associated. Using structural equation modeling, the best-fitting model showed partial mediation by work engagement; conversely, job satisfaction was not found to be a mediator of this relationship. Additionally, the finding that job performance is related more strongly to work engagement than to job satisfaction contributes to the debate about the concurrent validity of job attitudes

Measurement invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) across seven cross-national representative samples

The aim of this study was to investigate the measurement invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) across seven cross-national representative samples. In this study, burnout was modeled as a second-order factor in line with the conceptual definition as a syndrome. The combined sample consisted of 10,138 participants from countries in Europe and Japan. The data were treated as ordered categorical in nature and a series of models were tested to find evidence for invariance. Specifically, theta parameterization was used in conjunction with the weighted least squares (mean- and variance adjusted) estimation method. The results showed supportive evidence that BAT-assessed burnout was invariant across the samples, so that cross-country comparison would be justifiable. Comparison of effect sizes of the latent means between countries showed that Japan had a significantly higher score on overall burnout and all the first-order factors compared to the European countries. The European countries all scored similarly on overall burnout with no significant difference but for some minor differences in first-order factors between some of the European countries. All in all, the analyses of the data provided evidence that the BAT is invariant across the countries for meaningful comparisons of burnout scores

The impact of engaging leadership on employee engagement and team effectiveness: A longitudinal, multi-level study on the mediating role of personal- and team resources

Most research on the effect of leadership behavior on employees’ well-being and organizational outcomes is based on leadership frameworks that are not rooted in sound psychological theories of motivation and are limited to either an individual or organizational levels of analysis. The current paper investigates whether individual and team resources explain the impact of engaging leadership on work engagement and team effectiveness, respectively. Data were collected at two time points on N = 1,048 employees nested within 90 work teams. The Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling results revealed that personal resources (i.e., optimism, resiliency, self-efficacy, and flexibility) partially mediated the impact of T1 individual perceptions of engaging leadership on T2 work engagement. Furthermore, joint perceptions of engaging leadership among team members at T1 resulted in greater team effectiveness at T2. This association was fully mediated by team resources (i.e., performance feedback, trust in management, communication, and participation in decision-making). Moreover, team resources had a significant cross-level effect on individual levels of engagement. In practical terms, training and supporting leaders who inspire, strengthen, and connect their subordinates could significantly improve employees’ motivation and involvement and enable teams to pursue their common goals successfully

Van burn-out tot bevlogenheid: WERK EN WELBEVINDEN IN NEDERLAND

Dit artikel1 doet verslag van een onderzoek naar werk en welbevinden bij een representatieve steekproef uit de Nederlandse beroepsbevolking (n = 1213). Het blijkt dat 14 procent van de werknemers als bevlogen kan worden aangemerkt. Een evengroot percentage komt terecht in het tegenovergestelde deel van het spectrum en heeft last van burn-outklachten. Daarnaast is onderzocht hoe het staat met energiebronnen en stressoren op het werk, als mogelijke oorzaken van welbevinden op de werkvloer of juist een gebrek daaraan. Het blijkt dat eerstgenoemde vaker voorkomen dan laatstgenoemde. Het gaat daarbij vooral om sociale energiebronnen (zoals een goede sfeer in het team), terwijl stressoren vooral te maken hebben met veranderingen op het werk. Overigens wordt arbeidsbelasting maar door een heel kleine minderheid als problematisch ervaren. Al met al ziet het er met de werkbeleving van Nederlandse werknemers redelijk goed uit. Ten slotte is er (met succes) een model getoetst, het Job Demands-Resources model, dat ervan uitgaat dat werkkenmerken (energiebronnen en stressoren) via het welbevinden van werknemers (bevlogenheid en burn-out) gerelateerd zijn aan uitkomstmaten zoals inzetbaarheid, arbeidsprestatie en organisatiebetrokkenheid. De implicatie van het model is dat welbevinden vooral bevorderd kan worden door het vergroten van energiebronnen. Bovendien illustreert het model de centrale rol van het psychologische kapitaal van werknemers en van ‘bevlogen’ leiderschap

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)

The most popular instrument to measure burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Recently, to overcome some of the limitations of the MBI, a new instrument has been proposed, namely the Burnout Assessment Tool. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the BAT. This tool is comprised of a set of four core dimensions (BAT-C; i.e., exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and emotional impairment) and two secondary symptom dimensions (BAT-S; i.e., psychological and psychosomatic complaints). Data were collected on a sample of 738 participants from heterogeneous sectors and professional roles. In the sample women were slightly overrepresented (52.9%), the participants had a mean age of 41.57 years (SD = 10.51) and a mean organizational tenure of 9.65 years (SD = 8.50). The reliability and factorial structure of the BAT-C and BAT-S, together with the convergent and discriminant validity of BAT-C and MBI were explored, as well as the incremental validity to the BAT-C, over and beyond the MBI. Our results confirmed the factorial validity of a two-factor second-order factor model (BAT-C and BAT-S) represented by 4 first-order factors in the case of BAT-C and 2 first-order factors for BAT-S. Results also attested that BAT-C explains additional variance of the BAT-S, above and beyond what is explained by the MBI-GS. All in all, this study provided evidence that the Italian version of BAT represents a reliable and valid tool for measuring burnout in the work context

Heavy work investment, personality and organizational climate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative importance of personality and organizational climate for two forms of heavy work investment; workaholism, a “bad” and work engagement, which represents a “good” kind of heavy work investment. More specifically, it is hypothesized that workaholism is positively related to neuroticism (H1) and that work engagement is negatively related to neuroticism and positively to the remaining Big Five personality traits (H2). In addition it is hypothesized that workaholism is positively related to an overwork climate (H3), whereas work engagement is positively related to an employee growth climate (H4). Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted among a sample of the Dutch workforce (n=1,973) and the research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – It appeared that, in accordance to H1 and H2, particularly neuroticism is related to workaholism, while all personality traits are related to work engagement (predominantly openness to experience and neuroticism). Moreover, and also in accordance with the hypotheses, workaholism is exclusively related to an overwork climate (and not to a growth climate), whereas work engagement is exclusively related to an employee growth climate (and not to an overwork climate). Originality/value – For the first time the simultaneous impact of personality and organizational climate on two different forms of heavy work investment is investigated. Since no interaction effects have been observed it means that of personality and organizational climate have an independent but also specific impact on both forms of heavy work investment

Same Involvement, Different Reasons: How Personality Factors and Organizations Contribute to Heavy Work Investment

The academic literature has drawn a clear distinction between a positive form (i.e., work engagement) and a negative form (i.e., workaholism) of heavy work investment (HWI). Nevertheless, the different weight of individual and situational factors contributing to their development was not thoroughly explored. This study aims to investigate the role of individual variables (i.e., obsessive-compulsive traits, achievement orientation, perfectionism, and conscientiousness) and situational factors (i.e., job demands and overwork climate) regarding engagement and workaholism simultaneously. Hypotheses were tested using a sample of 523 Italian employees. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that overwork climate and job demands were conversely related to engagement and workaholism, with job demand reporting the strongest association with workaholism. Furthermore, fear of failure was the only individual factor showing a significant and opposite relationship with workaholism and engagement. In contrast, perfectionism was positively associated with both forms of HWI. These results shed light on the potential effectiveness of intervention strategies focused on the employees and organizations in preventing workaholism and promoting engagement

General Engagement: Conceptualization and Measurement with the Utrecht General Engagement Scale (UGES)

There is no compelling psychological reason why psychological engagement should be restricted to employees. For instance, sports, volunteering, hobbies, leisure activities, and education can also be pursued with energy and determination. Hence, the current study introduced the concept of general engagement and its measurement with the Utrecht General Engagement Scale (UGES) - the general version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Using a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 3970) the discriminant validity of the UGES (and the UWES) vis-à-vis positive and negative affectivity as well as life satisfaction was demonstrated. Like work engagement, the overlap of general engagement with Big-5 personality factors is less than 10%. Mean scores on the UGES for employees and volunteers are highest, whereas scores for the work incapacitated or unemployed are lowest. It is concluded that the UGES can be used in future research on engagement in daily, non-work activities