Multiple levels in job demands-resources theory:implications for employee well-being and performance

This chapter uses the most recent version of Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory to explain how working conditions influence employees, and how employees influence their own working conditions. We show how employee self-undermining activates a loss cycle of job demands, strain, and negative behaviors over time, whereas employee job crafting activates a gain cycle of job resources, work engagement, and positive behaviors. Moreover, we argue that employee well-being and organizational behavior is a function of factors located at different levels (i.e. organization, team, individual level), which influence each other within and over time. We propose cross-level interaction effects of organization-level initiatives and leader/employee behaviors on team and individual well-being and performance. Although JD-R theory provides answers to many questions regarding employee well-being and performance, we discuss several issues that deserve research attention. The chapter closes with practical implications. We discuss how managers and supervisors can help employees to avoid health problems and flourish at work

Creativity under task conflict : the role of proactively increasing job resources

Abstract: The present daily diary study among employees from various occupational sectors used conflict and creativity theories to hypothesize that task conflict has an inverted U-shaped relationship with employee creativity (i.e., creativity is higher at moderate than low or high levels of conflict). In addition, we argue that this curvilinear effect is likely to occur when employees proactively increase their job resources. A total of 92 employees filled out a diary survey at the end of five consecutive days. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that, as predicted, task conflict had an inverted U-shaped link with creativity when employees increased their structural job resources. However, when employees increased their social job resources, the link was linear and positive. Our findings also showed that increasing job resources related positively to employee creativity – this effect was found for both increasing structural and social job resources. We discuss the theoretical contributions of these findings and conclude that moderate task conflict has the potential to benefit organizations

Short-term trajectories of workplace bullying and its impact on strain: A latent class growth modeling approach

The aim of this weekly diary study was (a) to identify trajectories of workplace bullying over time and (b) to examine the association of each cluster with strain indicators (i.e., insomnia and anxiety/depression). A sample of 286 employees during 4 weeks of data was used (N occasions = 1,144). Results of latent class growth modeling showed that 3 trajectories could be identified: a nonbullying trajectory, which comprised 90.9% of the sample; an inverted U trajectory; and a delayed increase bullying trajectory; the latter two each had 4.2% of the participants. We found a significant interaction between time and trajectories when predicting insomnia and anxiety/depression, with each strain showing a differential pattern with each trajectory. It seems that the negative effects on insomnia are long-lasting and remain after bullying has already decreased. In the case of anxiety and depression, when bullying decreases strain indicators also decrease. In this study, by examining trajectories of bullying at work over time and their associations with strain, we provide new insights into the temporal dynamics of workplace bullying

Providing social support at work matters and spills over to home:a multi-source diary study

Social support is in its essence a dyadic exchange process – it has important benefits for those who receive and those who provide support. In the present paper, we develop a model integrating insights from mattering and social exchange theories. We propose that self-determined support behaviors satisfy the provider’s feelings of mattering, which have a spillover effect on positive emotions at home. In addition, we hypothesize that positive emotions of the support receiver (co-worker) strengthen this indirect relationship. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 67 dyads of co-workers (N = 280–305 data points). Results show that autonomous support behaviors positively relate to the provider’s positive emotions during the evening via mattering. Furthermore, employees felt that they mattered more and experienced more positive emotions when they supported co-workers with high (vs. low) positive emotions. These findings advance social support, mattering and spillover literatures by showing that brief episodes of helping behavior can satisfy mattering needs at work and help employees experience more positive emotions at home.</p

Accumulative Job Demands and Support for Strength Use: Fine-Tuning the Job Demands-Resources Model Using Conservation of Resources Theory

Absenteeism associated with accumulated job demands is a ubiquitous problem. We build on prior research on the benefits of counteracting job demands with resources by focusing on a still untapped resource for buffering job demands—that of strengths use. We test the idea that employees who are actively encouraged to utilize their personal strengths on the job are better positioned to cope with job demands. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we hypothesized that job demands can accumulate and together have an exacerbating effect on company registered absenteeism. In addition, using job demands-resources theory, we hypothesized that perceived organizational support for strengths use can buffer the impact of separate and combined job demands (workload and emotional demands) on absenteeism. Our sample consisted of 832 employees from 96 departments (response rate = 40.3%) of a Dutch mental health care organization. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that high levels of workload strengthen the positive relationship between emotional demands and absenteeism and that support for strength use interacted with workload and emotional job demands in the predicted way. Moreover, workload, emotional job demands, and strengths use interacted to predict absenteeism. Strengths use support reduced the level of absenteeism of employees who experienced both high workload and high emotional demands. We conclude that providing strengths use support to employees offers organizations a tool to reduce absenteeism, even when it is difficult to redesign job demands

Ripple Effects of Surface acting: A Diary Study among Dual-earner Couples

This study among 80 dual-earner couples examines the ripple effects of emotional labour – on a daily basis. Specifically, we propose that employees who engage in surface acting at work drain their energetic resources, and undermine their own relationship satisfaction. Drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) theory, we predicted that work-related exhaustion would mediate the relationship between surface acting at work and at home. In addition, we hypothesized that employees’ emotional energy in the evening would mediate the relationship between surface acting at home and (actor and partner) satisfaction with the relationship. Participants filled in a survey and a diary booklet during five consecutive working days (N = 80 couples, N = 160 participants x 5 days, N = 800 occasions). The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using the actor–partner interdependence model. Results showed that daily work-related exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between daily surface acting at work and at home. As hypothesized, daily surface acting at home influenced own and partner’s daily relationship satisfaction through reduced daily emotional energy. These findings offer support for COR theory, and have important implications for organizations that encourage emotion regulation

A two-steps study for the Italian adaptation of the Work-reLated Flow (WOLF) inventory: the I-WOLF

Flow at work is defined as a short-term peak experience characterized by absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation. This study tests the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the WOrk-reLated Flow (I-WOLF) inventory developed by Bakker (2008). In a first step, an exploratory factor analysis (N = 323) and a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (N = 977) were performed. The exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure without cross-loadings, and the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure and the distinction between absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation, in line with the original scale. In the second step, the relationships between the three work-related flow dimensions and other constructs (such as personal and job characteristics, and cognitive/emotional indicators of well-being) were established. These results offer evidence of the validity of the I-WOLF by showing significant relationships with variables that are generally expected to be related with flow at work

Burnout and self-regulation failure : a diary study of self-undermining and job crafting among nurses

Abstract: Aim: The objective was to test how nurse burnout impairs day-to- day adaptive self-regulation strategies that link levels of regulatory resources with employee job performance. Background: Regulatory resources help employees manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours on a daily basis. On days when these resources are low, employees may engage in maladaptive self-regulation: more self-undermining (i.e. creating additional obstacles) and less job crafting (i.e. optimizing job demands and resources), which debilitates their work performance. We expected that self-regulation is impaired especially when individuals exhibit low motivation and low ability to regulate their behaviour, that is, when they experience elevated burnout. Design: This research used a daily diary design. Nurses responded to a general survey and then completed daily diary surveys in three different moments: before, during and after work for 10 consecutive workdays (total reports N = 732). Method: A sample of 81 nurses from Polish hospitals and primary healthcare centres completed self-reported questionnaires between January and March 2018. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel modelling in Mplus. Results: Momentary self-regulatory capacity before work was negatively related to self-undermining and positively related to job crafting, and it indirectly predicted daily job performance. As hypothesized, these indirect relationships were moderated by general, chronic burnout. We found that only for employees with low levels of burnout, daily self-regulation was linked with better functioning via increased job crafting and decreased self-undermining. Conclusion: Chronic burnout disturbs day-to- day behaviour regulation. Individuals with elevated burnout symptoms have difficulty to translate momentary boosts in regulatory resources into adaptive strategies that are linked with higher performance. Impact: Our findings call for better recovery programmes, strategic Human Resource Management practices aimed at reducing factors that deplete daily self-regulatory resources, and finally top-down interventions preventing burnout among employees in the healthcare system

Daily work pressure and task performance: The moderating role of recovery and sleep

Whereas previous research has focused on the link between (mental and physical) workload and task performance, less is known about the intervening mechanisms influencing this relationship. In the present study, we test the moderating roles of daily recovery and total sleep time in the relationship between work pressure and daily task performance. Using performance and recovery theories, we hypothesized that (a) work pressure relates positively to daily task performance, and that both (b) daily recovery in the form of psychological detachment and relaxation, and (c) total sleep time independently enhance this relationship. Our hypotheses were tested in a 30-day diary study with 110 officer cadets on a cross-Atlantic voyage on a Naval sail ship. The results of multilevel modeling lend support to all three hypotheses. Taken together, our findings suggest that recovery and sleep duration between shifts play a key role in the relationship between daily work pressure and task performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the stressor-detachment model