The reliability, validity, and accuracy of self-reported absenteeism from work: a meta-analysis

Because of a variety of access limitations, self-reported absenteeism from work is often employed in research concerning health, organizational behavior, and economics, and it is ubiquitous in large scale population surveys in these domains. Several well established cognitive and social-motivational biases suggest that self-reports of absence will exhibit convergent validity with records-based measures but that people will tend to underreport the behavior. We used meta-analysis to summarize the reliability, validity, and accuracy of absence self-reports. The results suggested that self-reports of absenteeism offer adequate test–retest reliability and that they exhibit reasonably good rank order convergence with organizational records. However, people have a decided tendency to underreport their absenteeism, although such underreporting has decreased over time. Also, self-reports were more accurate when sickness absence rather than absence for any reason was probed. It is concluded that self-reported absenteeism might serve as a valid measure in some correlational research designs. However, when accurate knowledge of absolute absenteeism levels is essential, the tendency to underreport could result in flawed policy decisions

Going to work ill: a meta-analysis of the correlates of presenteeism and a dual-path model

Interest in presenteeism, attending work while ill, has flourished in light of its consequences for individual well-being and organizational productivity. Our goal was to identify its most significant causes and correlates by quantitatively summarizing the extant research. Additionally, we built an empirical model of some key correlates and compared the etiology of presenteeism versus absenteeism. We used meta-analysis (in total, K = 109 samples, N = 175,965) to investigate the correlates of presenteeism and meta-analytic structural equation modeling to test the empirical model. Salient correlates of working while ill included general ill health, constraints on absenteeism (e.g., strict absence policies, job insecurity), elevated job demands and felt stress, lack of job and personal resources (e.g., low support and low optimism), negative relational experiences (e.g., perceived discrimination), and positive attitudes (satisfaction, engagement, and commitment). Moreover, our dual process model clarified how job demands and job and personal resources elicit presenteeism via both health impairment and motivational paths, and they explained more variation in presenteeism than absenteeism. The study sheds light on the controversial act of presenteeism, uncovering both positive and negative underlying mechanisms. The greater variance explained in presenteeism as opposed to absenteeism underlines the opportunities for researchers to meaningfully investigate the behavior and for organizations to manage it

Should I stay (at home) or should I go (to work): individual and contextual antecedents of absenteeism and presenteeism. Evidence from a privatized Italian organization.

The present work contributes to the study of attendance behaviors by analyzing the agentic and proactive components of individual behaviors, strongly required in the today’s work situation in order to facilitate people in handling competition, actively shaping changes and taking advantages from it. In fact, rooted in the social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), the current work stresses the role of self-efficacy in directly and indirectly impacting the decision to take a day-off or to attend work despite unhealthy medical conditions. Additionally, in line with the importance of adopting a longitudinal approach (Mason & Griffin, 2003) and including social dynamics (Johns, 1997) in the study of absenteeism, the current work explores temporal variations in absences and tests how social context can explain changes across time. For this latter purpose, social context has been conceptualized through the perceptions of social context (PoSC; Borgogni, Dello Russo, Di Tecco, Alessandri, & Vecchione, 2011), operationalized as the individuals’ perceptions of the most relevant social constituencies of the organization (i.e., immediate supervisor, colleagues and top management) and of their behaviors. Finally, according to a psychological view of presenteeism (Johns, 2011), the present work investigates whether and how self-initiated change behaviors model the tendency to work if ill, measuring a relatively new construct, job crafting, which designs the physical, cognitive and relational changes that people make in some aspects of their work (Tims, Bakker, & Derks, 2012; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Specifically, three studies were designed, presented as follows. The first study, consistent with social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), aimed to deepen the concurrent role of self-efficacy and job satisfaction in predicting absenteeism, testing both a direct and indirect relation in two different groups of employees, based on their length of service within the organization. The second contribution intended to study the dynamic and accrual over time of absence behaviors. It analyzed different absenteeism trajectories over four years of employees who differed in years of organizational tenure. Moreover, it investigated the impact of social influence on these changes, testing the effect of perceptions of social context (i.e., perceptions of colleagues, immediate supervisor and top management) on absenteeism trajectories. Finally, the third study focused on presenteeism. It explored the role of self-efficacy and job crafting in shaping the phenomenon and it investigated its consequences on job performance, as rated by supervisors. Moreover, as job crafting is a rather new construct, it explored the relation between efficacy beliefs and crafting behaviors

Trajectory classes of job performance:The role of self-efficacy and organizational tenure

Purpose – Previous literature has recognized the variability of job performance, calling attention to the inter-individual differences in performance change. Building on Murphy’s (1989) theoretical model of performance, the purpose of this paper is to verify the existence of two distinct classes of performance, reflecting stable and increasing trends, and to investigate which personal conditions prompt the inclusion of individuals in one class rather than the other. Design/methodology/approach – Overall job performance was obtained from supervisory ratings for four consecutive years for 410 professionals of a large Italian company going through significant reorganization. Objective data were merged with employees’ organizational tenure and self-efficacy. Growth Mixture Modeling was used. Findings – Two main groups were identified: the first one started at higher levels of performance and showed a stable trajectory over time (stable class); the second group started at lower levels and reported an increasing trajectory (increasing class). Employees’ with stronger efficacy beliefs and lower tenure were more likely to belong to the stable class. Originality/value – Through a powerful longitudinal database, the nature, the structure and the inter-individual differences in job performance over time are clarified. The study extends Murphy’s (1989) model, showing how transition stages in job performance may occur also as a result of organizational transformation. Moreover, it demonstrates the essential role of self-efficacy in maintaining high performance levels over time

The Social and Relational Dynamics of Absenteeism from Work: A Multi-Level Review and Integration

Absenteeism from work is disruptive and expensive for organizations and may be indicative of poor work adjustment for employees. It is therefore important to understand the causes of absenteeism. However, traditional individual-centric explanations for absence are inadequate, particularly given the rise of contemporary relational, team-focused, and customer-driven work designs and in growing recognition of the permeable boundary between work and nonwork. Although there has been considerable, if fragmented, research interest in the social and relational causation of absenteeism, limited effort has been spent systematizing the evidence and formulating an overall model of the social dynamics of the behavior. Our review integrates this multidisciplinary body of research, explicating the social and relational determinants of absenteeism. We propose a multi-level model that identifies the social factors shaping absence that stem from the work (organization, occupation) and non-work (family, community, nation/society) domains. The model establishes six primary paths and related theories through which these social factors operate, including normative influence, social exchange, job resources, work attitudes, emotions, and ethics. The review offers extensive evidence for the influence of the social context and provides insights concerning how team dynamics, occupational norms, gender composition, family demands, community forces, and cultural context affect absenteeism. We conclude with future research directions and social implications for attendance management, bridging the absenteeism and presenteeism literatures

Mental health at work: A review of interventions in organizations

The purpose of the review was to identify and critically analyse the organizational interventions aimed at improving employees’ mental health, in order to detect best practices across organizations and to uncover possible gaps. Through electronic and manual searches, 7,995 articles were initially found. Inclusion criteria were set to select those studies describing interventions conducted in the organizational context and focused on employee mental health. By examining titles, abstracts and full texts, 14 papers were included. These studies covered a variety of interventions and approaches, such as group therapy, work-life balance programs, and manager-level interventions. Additionally, three studies assessed the effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) aimed at enhancing individuals’ mental health via counselling. Overall, two different intervention types emerged, namely individual-level interventions, focusing on the single employee, and organizational-level interventions, targeting organizational or work conditions. The interventions are described in details and, drawing upon the realist evaluation approach, the mechanisms responsible for their success (or failure) are identified. The main mechanisms pertain to changes in employee cognitive models, job attitudes or lifestyle habits, modifications in working conditions, and the active involvement and participation of employees and management in the intervention. Best practices for the design of future initiatives are offered, and some of the main limitations and gaps in the literature are discussed, such as the predominant focus on the results of the intervention rather than on the process, and the prevalence of short-term individualistic approaches that minimizing the role of organizations in creating or exacerbating employees’ mental health conditions

What’s the narrative for practice? A review of recommendations on feedback and a guide to writing impactful practical implications

Research on supervisory feedback has burgeoned over the past 20 years. We ask, what does it have to offer to management practitioners, and is this knowledge conveyed in a constructive way? To answer these questions, we conducted a systematic literature review of the practical implications contained in feedback studies. Based on our retained articles (N = 120) and using the W-H questions as our guiding framework, we critically discuss: Why recommendations are offered, What recommendations are endorsed, When and Where the recommendations are presented as most applicable, to Whom those are addressed, and How they are framed by researchers. In so doing, we summarise the indications that scientific research has offered to practitioners; moreover, following the same framework and the insights collected via a follow-up survey of academics (N = 61), we provide recommendations to researchers across the management and psychology disciplines on how to craft their practical implications sections in a way that may help bridge the gap between research and practice.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Italian version of the Job Crafting Scale (JCS)

Job crafting refers to actions carried out by workers in order to bring their job demands and job resources at a preferred level. Crafting behaviors are measured by the Dutch Job Crafting Scale (JCS). The Italian version of the JCS includes the following three positive factors: increasing structural job resources, social job resources and challenging job demands. To assess the factorial validity of the scale, an exploratory factor analysis (N=311) and confirmatory factor analyses (N=410) were performed. Convergent and criterion validity were investigated through correlations with other variables. Factor analyses showed a good three-factor structure, in line with the literature. Moreover, as expected, job crafting behaviors were correlated with work self-efficacy, work engagement and job performance. Results suggest that the Italian version of the JCS can be reliably used to measure job crafting

Sickness Presenteeism in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Is Presenteeism Remote-Work Behavior the New (Ab)normal?

Due to the confinement imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic situation, companies adopted remote work more than ever. The rapid rise of remote work also affected local life and many employers introduced or extended their telework activities because of the associated advantages. However, despite the evident positive benefits, some employees were pressured to work remotely while ill. This evidence brought new challenges to the presenteeism literature. This article investigates how individual, economic/societal, and organizational/sectorial/supervisory-related variables can moderate the role of a contagious disease, such as the COVID-19, in explaining presenteeism behavior. Moreover, the current research presents a multi-level conceptual model (i.e., organizational, individual, supervisory factors) to describe how a new construct of remote-work presenteeism behavior mediates the relationship between different post pandemic health conditions (e.g., allergies, back pain, depression, anxiety) and future cumulative negative consequences. The authors suggested that the widespread pervasive adoption of remote work because of COVID-19 has important implications for the presenteeism literature and opens avenues for further research

From social context and resilience to performance through job satisfaction: A multilevel study over time

Giving the crucial role of organizational context in shaping individual attitudes and behaviors at work, in this research we studied the effects of collective work-unit Perceptions of Social Context (PoSC) on individual work resilience and two key individual outcomes: job satisfaction and job performance as rated by the supervisor. We theorized that collective PoSC act as antecedents of individual variables, and that individual job satisfaction mediates the relationship between collective PoSC and job performance, and between work resilience and job performance over time. A sample of 305 white-collar employees, clustered in 67 work-units, participated in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling highlighted that collective PoSC are significant related to individual work resilience. Moreover, results showed that individual job satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between collective PoSC and individual job performance and the relationship between individual work resilience and individual job performance. At a practical level, results suggest that interventions on collective PoSC may increase work resilience, job satisfaction and job performance over time at the individual level