Organizational public value and employee life satisfaction: the mediating roles of work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

Building on Meynhardt’s public value concept, which has been developed to make transparent an organization’s contributions to the common good, we investigate the influence of organizational common good practices in the perceptions of employees (measured as public value) on employees’ work attitudes and life satisfaction. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 1045 Swiss employees taken from the 2015 Swiss Public Value Atlas data-set. Study findings reveal that organizational public value is positively related to employee life satisfaction, and that this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, we show that employee common good orientations strengthen the positive impact of organizational public value on employee work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Results also provide evidence that the indirect effects of organizational public value on employee life satisfaction via work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior are stronger at higher employee common good orientation levels.     

Graduate Recruitment In the Australian Public Sector

ABSTRACT

Service orientation in the HRM system is a lever for public employees to serve the public even beyond their work roles. Our research seeks to understand how work engagement links service-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWSs) to public employees’ service-oriented behaviours. Employees and their managers from public legal service agencies in the Vietnamese context were recruited as participants in our research project. The research results demonstrated the role of employee work engagement in mediating the relationships between service-oriented HPWSs and service-oriented in-role performance as well as service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The interactions were also found between service-oriented HPWSs and HRM system strength, as well as between service-oriented HPWSs and public service motivation in catalysing work engagement.     

Work outcomes of relational demography in Chinese vertical dyads

Relational demography refers to the demographic differences (such as gender, age, race, and tenure) between supervisor and subordinate. This study examines its impact on employees' work outcomes in the setting of a foreign-invested enterprise in China. We hypothesize that dissimilarities on demographic attributes between supervisor and subordinate affect subordinate's leader–member exchange, trust in organization, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behavior. The hypotheses were tested on 239 supervisor–subordinate dyads via a questionnaire survey. The results of regression analysis showed that dissimilarities in gender and organizational tenure had negative effects on the outcome variables. In particular, a female supervisor with male subordinate displayed the lowest level of leader–member exchange and trust in the organization. Implications of these findings on human resource management are discussed.     

Upward influence tactics and their effects on job performance ratings and flexible working arrangements: The mediating roles of mutual recognition respect and mutual appraisal respect

Supervisor's human resources (HR) decisions have a significant impact on the employees they manage but have been found to be subject to bias. The upward influence tactics use by subordinates can play a role in this. We investigated the effects of seven upward influence tactics on supervisor job‐performance ratings and the extent of subordinate flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Supervisors are often responsible for determining whether employees are granted FWAs. We posit an alternative theoretical mechanism by which upward influence tactics bring about their effects, mediated through two distinct types of respect, mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect. We collected data from 389 matched supervisor–subordinate dyads, and found that both mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect mediated relationships between several upward influence tactics and both job‐performance ratings and FWAs. Our findings show that upward influence tactics affect the quality of the relationship between employees and their supervisors, specifically, these two forms of mutual respect. Further, both mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect may explain why supervisors show favoritism to some subordinates over others, in reaching HR decisions in these areas.     

“The Worse You Behave, The More You Seem, to be Rewarded”: Bullying in Nursing as Organizational Corruption

This paper reports findings from the first, qualitative stage of a national sequential, mixed method study of bullying in the Australian nursing workplace. Twenty-six nurses who had experience of workplace bullying were recruited from two Australian public sector health care organizations. Examining the narrative data from the viewpoint of bullying being a corrupt activity we present an alternative perspective on group acts of bullying. By exploring bullying as corrupt behaviour, this paper challenges the assumption that bullying can be principally considered a series of isolated events stemming from interpersonal conflict, organizational pressures, or poor work design. Corruption in organizations has not previously been linked with or compared to bullying. In revealing the manner in which actors can engage in corrupt conduct that includes bullying, the findings from our study offer important implications for the management of workplace bullying as a serious and corrupt activity.     

The impact of participative leadership on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: distinguishing between the mediating effects of affective and cognitive trust

This study examines the mediating effects of cognitive trust and affective trust on the relationship between supervisors' participative leadership behavior and subordinate work outcomes, using data obtained from 247 dyads in a manufacturing organization located in mainland China. Structural equation modeling revealed that while affective trust fully mediated the relationships between participative leadership of supervisor and subordinate job performance and organizational citizenship behavior, cognitive trust had non-significant effects. These findings underscore the importance of interpersonal interactions between the supervisor and subordinate for engendering subordinate work outcomes. They also lend support to the exchange (relationship)-based explanation as to how trust enhances the response of subordinates to the participative leadership behavior of their immediate supervisor, given that affective trust involves a process of social exchange between both parties over an extended period of time.     

Religiosity as a source of influence on work engagement: a study of the Malaysian Finance industry

Abstract

The majority of work engagement studies have been conducted using a quantitative approach with limited attention to the institutional and social contexts. Meanwhile, the role of religion in shaping people’s philosophy and behaviour in life and work has been gaining attention from management researchers. Studies have revealed the positive impact of religiosity on a number of human resources and organizational outcomes. However, few studies treat religious belief as a job or personal resource from a HRM perspective. This study fills part of this research gap by focusing on the relevant factors that may affect work engagement in the Malaysian Islamic context. Drawing on data from 41 semi-structured interviews with mid-ranking professionals from the finance sector, this study responds to calls for more focus on contexts and for deeper qualitative investigations into individual dynamics that concern religiosity and work engagement. It provides evidence that religiosity plays an important role in work engagement. Our findings have implications for people management in organizations that have a diverse workforce representing multiple religions.     

Antecedents and outcomes of acceptance of performance appraisal system in Korean non-profit organizations

This study identifies the antecedents of non-profit public service motivation (NPSM) and employee outcomes using Korean non-profit acceptance of performance appraisal system (APAS) survey data. We test an NPSM model and examine the concept through public service motivation (PSM) in the non-profit sector. We then apply findings on work motivation, PSM, and performance appraisal systems to quantitative research and test several hypotheses concerning how (1) the non-profit sector’s APAS affects and uniquely shapes non-profit workers’ motivation, (2) NPSM relates to organizational trust, and (3) organizational characteristics affect Korean non-profit employees. We discuss our findings’ implications for non-profit theory and practice.     

Leader prototypicality moderates the relation between access to flexible work options and employee feelings of respect and leader endorsement

Organizations are increasingly offering flexible work arrangements (FWA), which are associated with a variety of individual and organizational outcomes. Supervisors may support, discourage or prohibit employees’ access to and use of such programs. These actions and decisions can affect employees’ feelings of being respected, and their endorsement of their supervisor – that is, matters that affect employees’ motivation to work in pursuit of group and organizational goals. In the present paper, we take a fresh look at these relationships by proposing, in line with the social identity approach, that they are moderated by leader in-group prototypicality (i.e. the supervisor’s representativeness of group identity). Results from two large sample surveys a year apart at one organization show that employees with supervisors who allow more FWA feel more respected as well as express stronger endorsement of their leaders. Importantly, both of those relationships are moderated by the degree of the supervisor’s in-group prototypicality, but in opposite ways. The association of FWA allowance with respect increases slightly under conditions of higher prototypicality. However, the association of FWA allowance with endorsement of leaders increases more strongly under conditions of lower prototypicality. The discussion considers theoretical, practical and research implications of these findings.     

Loyalty to supervisor and trust in supervisor of workers in Chinese joint ventures: a test of two competing models

This study examines the factors affecting joint venture employees' loyalty to supervisor in the People's Republic of China. The trust framework and justice framework are employed to develop two competing models for studying the antecedents and consequences of loyalty to supervisor in the context of Chinese joint ventures. The direct effect model proposes that there is a direct effect of employees' perception of interactional justice and of trust in supervisor on their loyalty to supervisor, while the mediation model considers trust in supervisor as a mediating variable between interactional justice and loyalty to supervisor. Additionally, the two models suggest that loyalty to supervisor affects the in-role job performance and organizational citizenship behaviour of workers. The results showed that the mediation model was better supported than the direct effect model. It has been found that trust in supervisor mediates the relationships between interactional justice and loyalty to supervisor. In addition, loyalty to supervisor has significant effects on both employees' performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. Practically, the findings of the present study provide considerable implications for managing Chinese workers in joint ventures.     

The Effects Of Organizational Context And Teamworking Activities On Performance Outcomes

Abstract

This article seeks to evaluate the effects of organizational context and teamworking activities on the performance outcomes of public sector workers. Ability, Motivation and Opportunity (AMO) theory is used as the basis of this study in which it is predicted that employees' ability, motivation and opportunities to participate will affect organizational performance. Procter and Mueller's (2000) framework is used to identify relevant HR contextual features, namely discretionary rewards, appraisal, training and development, industrial relations and organizational culture. Data based on the 2003 Local Government Workplace Survey (N = 3,165) were used to test six research hypotheses and related sub-hypotheses. The findings show that individually, the effects of organizational context and teamworking activities were as hypothesized and consistent with AMO theory. However, the interaction effects were far less pronounced in that they were either non-significant or negative, with the exception of the interaction term teamworking X appraisal, which positively predicted organizational commitment. However, the teamworking X appraisal interaction also led to increased stress, something we consider to be a ‘sting in the tail’ for workers. Thus we argue that even though the interaction effects of teamworking and organizational context are minimal, the individual effects contribute to enhanced worker attitudes and perceived organizational performance.     

Leader–Member Exchange and Relational Quality in a Singapore Public Sector Organization

An objective of Singapore’s ongoing public sector reform (PS21) requires agencies to focus on getting the best out of its employees. One way of doing this is by creating a positive leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship, enabling supervisors to motivate their subordinates towards the development of organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). This article reports the extent of LMX and relational quality in a public sector agency experiencing PS21 reform and high staff turnover. In addition, we examined the effects of organizational justice perceptions and job satisfaction towards a subordinates’ OCB. A path model was developed to examine the relationships between LMX, organizational justice, job satisfaction, and OCB and tested by applying LMX theory. The path analysis results showed that LMX mediates the relationship between organizational justice perceptions and OCB. The results also showed that one’s job satisfaction led to higher level of OCB. The study findings have implications for theory and practice which have been presented in the discussion section.     

Responses to public sector reform policy

Abstract

The article compares the ways in which different public sector organizations respond to similar federal government demands for public sector reform. The empirical basis of the article is a comparison of public sector reform in three agencies managing road systems in three Australian states. There are two constants in the research; namely, the nature of the responsibilities of the agencies with respect to the road network, and the demands of federal government policy for road reform throughout Australia. Yet within the ambit of these two constants, there is a distinctive contrast in the way the agencies have approached and implemented both policy and reforms. The article uses Hood's framework for viable organizational design options for variables relating to grid and group as an explanatory model for the results obtained from the research. Furthermore, it examines the utility of Hood's four styles of public sector organizations in order to explain different change outcomes in the three agencies studied.     

Build Coalitions to Fit: Autonomy Expectations,Competence Mobilization,and Job Crafting

Job crafting offers several beneficial organizational outcomes, yet little is known about what makes employees engage in it. In particular, the role of leaders in influencing their subordinates to engage in job crafting has been insufficiently studied. Drawing on role theory, we suggest that the congruence of leader‐subordinate autonomy expectations nurtures subordinates’ experiences of having their competences adequately utilized in their jobs. This experience, which involves the competence mobilization of their work roles, subsequently fosters subordinates’ engagement in job‐crafting behavior. A two‐stage field study of 145 leader‐subordinate dyads using cross‐level polynomial regression and response surface analysis supported the (in)congruence hypotheses. The results also demonstrated that subordinates’ perceived competence mobilization mediates the relationship between autonomy expectation (in)congruence and job crafting. In addition, leader coalition as a moderator strengthens the effect of perceived competence mobilization as a psychological condition for job crafting. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Climate for conflict management,exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated mediation analysis

The present study investigates a potential preventive factor in relation to workplace bullying. Specifically, we examine how climate for conflict management (CCM) may be related to less bullying, increased work engagement, as well as whether CCM is a moderator in the bullying engagement relationship. The study was based on a cross-sectional survey among employees in a transport company (N = 312). Hypotheses were tested simultaneously in a moderated mediation analysis which showed that bullying and job engagement were related (H1), CCM was related to less reports of bullying (H2), CCM was related to work engagement (H3) and that CCM was indirectly related to job engagement through bullying (H4), but only when CCM was weak (H5). That is, CCM moderated the relationship between bullying and work engagement in that this relationship only existed when CCM was low. The present study contributes to theory within this research field by showing that organizational measures may not only prevent bullying, but may also affect how employees react when subjected to bullying. Furthermore, the effect of climate in relation to bullying may be down to the narrow bandwidth facet of CCM. The study informs employers how they may act to prevent bullying while also reducing the potential negative outcomes of those cases of bullying that inevitably will show up from time to time.     

The effects of internal and external sources of justice on employee turnover intention and organizational citizenship behavior toward clients and workgroup members

Abstract

Organizational justice research tends to focus on the effects of fair treatment from organizations or supervisors on employee attitudes and behaviors. Thus, there is a dearth of research on the effects of fair treatment attributable to other parties that employees interact with at work such as coworkers and clients. Controlling for organization-focused and supervisor-focused justice, results from our field study of employees working in a healthcare organization demonstrate that perceptions of client-focused fairness uniquely predicts supervisor ratings of employees organizational citizenship behavior toward clients and that perceptions of workgroup-focused justice uniquely predicts organizational citizenship behavior toward workgroups. Further, we find that client-focused justice perceptions uniquely predict employee turnover intention.     

The Comparative Influences of Transformational Leadership and Leader–Member Exchange on Follower Engagement

Scholars of transformational leadership and leader–member exchange (LMX) have argued that leaders are able to positively influence the job attitudes and behaviors of followers by different means. Whereas transformational leadership focuses on the leaders’ ability to transform followers through a global inspiring vision that encourages positive change among all employees, LMX highlights the importance of the leaders’ unique relationships with followers as the driver of positive attitudes and behaviors. Using field data gathered from 280 full‐time employees, the current research compared the influence of these two leadership styles on follower engagement. The results suggested that rather than the influence derived from inspirational leadership behaviors, it is employees’ unique relationship with their leader that creates follower engagement. Additionally, the results indicated that follower engagement mediates the relationship between leadership and key employee outcomes (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior [OCB] and employee turnover intentions). Implications to theory and practice are discussed.     

Competency Models at Work: The Value of Perceived Relevance and Fair Rewards for Employee Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to generate empirical knowledge on how employees perceive and respond to competency models at work. A cross‐sectional survey of 278 employees in four Norwegian organizations showed that competency models perceived as strategically and personally relevant and fairly rewarded were positively related to supervisor‐rated work effort and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and self‐rated “employability” outcomes. Exchange relationships mediated the link between competency model perceptions and work effort and OCB. Social exchange relationships marginally mediated the link between competency model perceptions and employees' openness to job‐related changes and engagement in activities aimed at improving one's employability. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Credit Where Credit is Due: A Field Survey of the Interactive Effects of Credit Expectations and Leaders’ Credit Allocation on Employee Turnover

Today's human resource management community has a strong interest in the issue of how HR practice is implemented by managers and leaders in the workplace. In this article, we investigate how one specific practice, leaders’ public recognition of a job well done (i.e., credit allocation), impacts employee turnover. Based on expectancy violations, psychological contracts, and turnover research, we predicted that subordinates would be more likely to leave an organization if their leader took credit for their work, but only if the credit taking violated subordinates’ expectations. In a field survey of organizational employees, we found that the effects of credit taking on turnover were negated when subordinates’ expectations and leaders’ credit allocation behavior were aligned. However, when leaders’ credit behavior came as a surprise, participants responded negatively when expectations were not met and positively when expectations were exceeded. We discuss the implications of these results for both theory and practice. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility practices on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: evidence from the Chinese private sector

This paper examines the impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on their job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Hierarchical regression analysis on two-wave data from 184 supervisor/subordinate dyads from three organizations located in Zhejiang Province, South-East China, revealed that employee perceptions of CSR toward social and non-social stakeholders strongly influenced their OCB. However, employee perceptions of CSR toward employees, customers and government influenced neither their job performance nor OCB.