Challenge and hindrance demands in relation to self‐reported job performance and the role of restoration, sleep quality, and affective rumination

an article by Michelle Van Laethem (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Debby G. J. Beckers (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Jessica de Bloom (University of Tampere, Finland; University of Groningen, The Netherlands) and Marjaana Sianoja and Ulla Kinnunen (University of Tampere, Finland) published in Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology Volume 92 Issue 2 (June 2019)

Abstract

Longitudinal research on the relationship between job demands and job performance and its underlying mechanisms is scarce.

The aims of this longitudinal three‐wave study among 920 Finnish employees were to ascertain whether

1. challenge job demands (i.e., workload, cognitive demands) and self‐reported job performance are positively related over time,
2. job insecurity (i.e., a hindrance demand) and job performance are negatively related over time,
3. restorative experiences during off‐job time and sleep quality are underlying mechanisms in these relations, and
4. affective rumination mediates the proposed relations of job demands and job insecurity with restoration and sleep quality.

Self‐report data were analysed with structural equation modelling. The results revealed a positive, temporal relationship between challenge job demands and job performance (task and contextual performance) across 1 year, but no temporal relationship between job insecurity and self‐reported job performance.

Moreover, high challenge job demands were positively related to the restorative value of off‐job activities, and favourable restoration was positively related to subsequent task performance.

Finally, affective rumination mediated the relationship of challenge job demands with both restoration and sleep quality. Job insecurity was not longitudinally related to restoration, sleep quality, or affective rumination. The implications of our findings for occupational health psychology are discussed.

Practitioner points

• Provide employees with sufficient job resources (e.g., high autonomy and social support) to adequately deal with high job demands.
• Allow employees sufficient time to recover from high job demands during off‐job time and provide training sessions in recovery, relaxation, meditation, and goal setting.
• Employees may attempt to counteract perseverative thoughts by actively pursuing distracting restoration activities (e.g., exercise, meditation).

Full text (PDF 30pp)

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Educational systems matter: differences across European countries in how young people with secondary education experience job insecurity

an article by Petya Ilieva-Trichkova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Pepka Boyadjieva (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and University of Nottingham, UK) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 31 Issue 7-8 (2018)

Abstract

This article examines the importance of education in creating differences across European countries with regard to how young people experience job insecurity during their transition from school to work.

On a theoretical level, two sets of educational system features which influence job insecurity are identified: institutional (stratification, vocational orientation, standardisation) and structural (expansion of education, development of lifelong learning, education spending).

On an empirical basis, data from the Labour Force Survey (2009), the European Social Survey Round 5 (2010/2011), the official statistics, and previous research are analysed.

The results show that higher vocational prevalence in secondary education is associated with lower levels of early job insecurity. Our findings contrast previous studies which have not yet revealed any effects of standardising input and output on experiencing qualification mismatches.

We found that in countries where the standardisation of the output of educational systems is higher, individuals are less likely to be unemployed. However, the standardisation of input is associated with increased job insecurity. Our analysis also revealed that educational expansion has a negative effect on the likelihood of young people to work part-time jobs and that government expenditure on education is negatively associated with early job insecurity.

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Can job insecurity be managed? Evaluating an organizational-level intervention addressing the negative effects of restructuring

an article by Johan Simonsen Abildgaard (The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark), Karina Nielsen (Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) and Magnus Sverke (Stockholm University, Sweden; North-West University, Potchedstroom, South Africa) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 32 Issue 2

Abstract

Although downsizing and reorganisation are recognised as serious threats to the psychological well-being of employees, intervention strategies for addressing these events are limited.

This study evaluated the effects of a participatory organisational-level intervention in which employees and managers chose to address the psychosocial consequences, specifically job insecurity, of restructuring.

The intervention was conducted among postal service letter carriers in Denmark and was evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative data. Using interviews (N = 24) and observations, the programme theory of the intervention and to what extent the intervention had been implemented were assessed. Using survey data (N = 238), repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for differences in the development of job insecurity between the intervention group and a comparison group.

The results indicate that the intervention group had a significantly smaller increase in one dimension of job insecurity as compared to the comparison group.

Therefore, we conclude that employees’ experiencing of job insecurity, which typically follows in the wake of restructuring, can be addressed by planned efforts at the workplace level.

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Antecedents and outcomes of job insecurity among salespeople

an article by Mona Bouzari (European University of Lefke, Turkey) and Osman M. Karatepe (Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Turkey) published in Marketing Intelligence & Planning Volume 36 Issue 2 (2018)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of job resources, as manifested by selective staffing, training (TR), and career opportunities, on job insecurity and the influence of job insecurity on hope, job satisfaction, and creative performance. By investigating these relationships, the present study also aims to provide the managers the ways by which they can foster job resources, reduce job insecurity, and activate hope and job outcomes of their salespeople.

Design/methodology/approach
Data came from hotel salespeople in Iran. Structural equation modeling was used to test the aforesaid relationships.

Findings
The empirical data lend support to the overwhelming majority of the relationships. Specifically, job insecurity and hope act as mediators of the impacts of job resources on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction mediates the impacts of job insecurity and hope on creative performance. Contrary to what has been hypothesized, job insecurity positively influences salespeople’s hope. Such salespeople in turn exhibit higher job satisfaction. In addition, job resources do not significantly influence hope via job insecurity.

Practical implications
Management should invest in job resources to reduce job insecurity. Management should also try to hire individuals high on hope since hope is treated as a malleable variable and can be developed via TR interventions. Workshops can be organized to enable junior salespeople to learn senior salespeople’s practices regarding the solutions to new customer requests and problems.

Originality/value
Job insecurity is an endemic problem in many industries and there is a lack of empirical research about the intermediate linkage between job insecurity and employees’ job outcomes. There is also a need for more research to ascertain the factors influencing job insecurity.

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Job insecurity and work outcomes: The role of psychological contract breach and positive psychological capital

an article by Sandra Costa and Pedro Neves (Nova School of Business and Economics, Lisboa, Portugal) published in Work & Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations Volume 31 Issue 4 (2017)

Abstract

Job insecurity has received growing attention from researchers because it poses serious challenges for organisations and for society as a whole. However, there are insufficient studies about the processes through which job insecurity affects outcomes as well as potential ways to reduce its negative impact.

This study focuses on the relationship between job insecurity and individual-level outcomes (in-role performance and organisational deviance) and examines if:

1. job insecurity is positively and/or negatively related to work outcomes,
2. psychological contract breach acts as a mediator of the relationship between job insecurity and work outcomes, and
3. positive psychological capital (PsyCap) buffers the job insecurity–work outcomes relationship via psychological contract breach.

With a sample of 362 employee–supervisor dyads, in which the outcome measures were collected from the supervisors, we found support for our hypotheses. Specifically, we found a moderated mediation effect, whereby PsyCap moderates the negative indirect relationship of job insecurity on outcomes through psychological contract breach.

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Does job insecurity threaten who you are? Introducing a social identity perspective to explain well-being and performance consequences of job insecurity

an article by Eva Selenko (Loughborough University, UK), Anne Mäkikangas (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) and Christopher B. Stride (University of Sheffield, UK) published in Journal of Organizational Behavior Volume 38 Issue 6 (July 2017)

Summary

This paper introduces a social identity perspective to job insecurity research.

Worrying about becoming jobless, we argue, is detrimental because it implies an anticipated membership of a negatively evaluated group – the group of unemployed people. Job insecurity hence threatens a person’s social identity as an employed person. This in turn will affect well-being and job performance.

A three-wave survey study amongst 377 British employees supports this perspective.

Persons who felt higher levels of job insecurity were more likely to report a weaker social identity as an employed person. This effect was found to be stable over time and also held against a test of reverse causality. Furthermore, social identity as an employed person influenced well-being and in-role job performance and mediated the effect of job insecurity on these two variables over time.

Different to the expectations, social identity as an employed person and organisational proactivity were not connected. The findings deliver interesting evidence for the role of social identity as an employed person in the relationships between job insecurity and its consequences. Theoretically, this perspective illustrates the individual and group-related nature of job insecurity and offers a novel way of connecting work situations with individual well-being, behaviour and attitudes.

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The Quality of Work in a Changing Labour Market

an article by Duncan Gallie (Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) published in Social Policy & Administration Volume 52 Number 2 (March 2017)

Abstract

There have been sharply contrasting scenarios of the long-term pattern of change in the quality of work and employment in the advanced societies.

Three broad perspectives have dominated enquiry in the last three decades:

• an optimistic tradition emphasizing progressive improvement in skills and the quality of work;
• a pessimistic tradition underlining emerging threats to employment and job quality; and, lastly,
• an institutional tradition pointing to long-term structural differences between societies.

We start by briefly outlining some of the key contrasts between these scenarios and then review the current state of empirical research with respect to three key aspects of the quality of work and employment: the structure of skills; the intrinsic quality of work in terms of job control and work intensity; and, lastly, job insecurity.

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Workplace bullying as an antecedent to job insecurity and intention to leave: a 6-month prospective study

an article by Mats Glambek, Stig Berge Matthiesen, Jørn Hetland and Ståle Einarsen (University of Bergen)published in Human Resource Management Journal Volume 24 Issue 3 (July 2014)

Abstract

Workplace bullying is a severe problem in contemporary working life, affecting up to 15 per cent of employees. Among the detrimental outcomes of bullying, it is even postulated as a major risk factor for exclusion from work.

In support of this claim, the current study demonstrates that exposure to bullying behaviour predicts an increase in both levels of job insecurity and intention to leave over a 6-month time lag, among a random sample of North Sea workers (n = 734).

The findings suggest that bullied employees are insecure about the permanence and content of their job, and they may be at risk of turnover and exclusion from working life. It is recommended that these outcomes are taken into consideration when incidences of workplace bullying are addressed.

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Does job insecurity deteriorate health? A causal approach for Europe.

a working paper (number 2013-01) by Eve Caroli (University Paris-Dauphine, LEDa-LEGOS, Paris School of Economics and IZA) and Mathilde Godard (CREST and University Paris-Dauphine, LEDa-LEGOS) published by the Paris School of Economics (February 2013)

Abstract

This paper estimates the causal effect of job insecurity on health in a sample of 22 European countries.

We rely on an original instrumental variable approach based on evidence that workers feel more insecure with respect to their job if employed in sectors with a high natural rate of layoff, but relatively less so if they live in a country where employment is strongly protected by the law. Using cross-country data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey, we show that when the potential endogeneity of job insecurity is not accounted for, the latter appears to deteriorate almost all health outcomes.

When tackling the endogeneity issue, the health-damaging effect of job insecurity is confirmed for a subgroup of health outcomes, namely self-rated health, being sick in the past 12 month, suffering from headaches or eyestrain and depression or anxiety.

As for other health variables, the impact of job insecurity appears to be insignicant at conventional levels.

JEL classification: I19, J28, J63

Full text (PDF 30pp)

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Differentiating cognitive and affective job insecurity: Antecedents and outcomes

an article by Guo-hua Huang (Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon), Xiongying Niu (University of International Business & Economics, Beijing), Cynthia Lee (Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon and Northeastern University, Boston, U.S.A.) and Susan J. Ashford (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, U.S.A.) published in Journal of Organizational Behavior (Special Issue: Coping with Economic Stress) Volume 33 Issue 6 (August 2012)

Summary

To test a proposed model of the job insecurity (JI) process that treats cognitive JI and affective JI as separate constructs, this study investigates organizational-level employee involvement and communication practices that influence the level of cognitive JI; increasing levels of cognitive JI in turn can create an affective reaction (i.e., affective JI).

This affective reaction then influences individual psychological and behavioral outcomes. With two waves of data from three large Chinese organizations, the model test results show that employee involvement decreases cognitive JI perceptions. This reduction then leads to lower affective JI. Affective JI in turn relates negatively to employee psychological well-being but positively to both supervisor-rated job performance and affective JI six months later.

The effect of cognitive JI on employee outcomes is partially through affective JI. Cognitive JI has a direct impact on psychological well-being but not on job performance. These findings offer key theoretical and practical implications.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Cross-lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion: …

Testing gain and loss spirals according to the Conservation of Resources Theory

 an article by Nele De Cuyper (Organizational and Personnel Psychology, K.U. Leuven, Belgium), Anne Mäkikangas and Saija Mauno (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), Ulla Kinnunen (University of Tampere, Finland) and Hans De Witte (Organizational and Personnel Psychology, K.U. Leuven, Belgium and North-West University, South-Africa) published in Journal of Organizational Behavior (Special Issue: Coping with Economic Stress) Volume 33 Issue 6 (August 2012)

Abstract

This study investigates perceived external employability (PEE) as a personal resource in relation to job insecurity and exhaustion. We advance the idea that PEE may reduce feelings of job insecurity and, through felt job insecurity, also exhaustion. That is, we probe the paths from PEE to job insecurity and from job insecurity to exhaustion. We furthermore account for possible reversed causality, so that exhaustion → felt job insecurity and felt job insecurity → PEE.

This aligns with insights from the Conservation of Resources Theory, which is built on the assumption of resource caravans passageways and associated gain and loss spirals. We based the results on a sample of 1,314 workers from two Finnish universities. Respondents participated twice in the study with a time lag of one year. We found that PEE related negatively to felt job insecurity and vice versa. Similarly, there was a reciprocal positive relationship between felt job insecurity and exhaustion.

We conclude that PEE may prevent feelings of insecurity and, through reduced job insecurity, also exhaustion.
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The long arm of job insecurity: Its impact on career-specific parenting behaviors and youths’ career self-efficacy

an article by Xiuxi Zhao (Center for Creative Leadership, USA) and Vivien K.G. Lim and Thompson S.H. Teo (National University of Singapore) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 80 Issue 3 (June 2012)

Abstract

Applying a multiple-mediator model, we examine the mediating effect of three types of career-specific parenting behaviors: lack of engagement, support, and interference, on the relationship between paternal job insecurity and youths’ career self-efficacy.

Data were collected from a sample of undergraduate students and their fathers. Results of the full sample analysis showed that paternal job insecurity was positively related to lack of engagement and negatively related to support. The relationship between paternal job insecurity and interference was not significant. Sub sample analysis showed that the relationship between paternal job insecurity and career self-efficacy was mediated by lack of engagement for sons and mediated by support for daughters.

Highlights

• Paternal job insecurity is positively related to lack of engagement and negatively related to support.
• The relationship between paternal job insecurity and career self-efficacy is mediated by lack of engagement for sons.
• The relationship between paternal job insecurity and career self-efficacy is mediated by support for daughters.

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