Linking Organizational Resources and Work Engagement to Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty: The Mediation of Service Climate

Measuring work engagement in Thailand: development and validation testing of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Thai version (UWES-TH)

This study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of a Thai-language version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). The 17-item version of UWES was translated into Thai and a survey was conducted with 507 registered nurses at a public regional hospital in Thailand. Results showed that the alpha and omega total coefficients for the vigor, dedication, and absorption subscales were acceptable. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) indicated that the three-factor model performed the best for both versions of UWES-17-TH and UWES-9-TH. Both versions correlated positively with job resources and negatively with cognitive, emotional, and physical job demands, and with emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms. They were found to have acceptable reliability and validity and can be used to study work engagement in Thai contexts. For practical reasons, UWES-9-TH might be preferred since it is shorter than the full version. Further studies should include different occupational groups and more male participants.

Social media use in the workplace: The role of social comparison in negative behaviors

The pervasive use of social media in professional environments has become a focal point of contemporary research. Particularly, the routine engagement of employees with platforms like Facebook and WeChat during work hours exposes them to peers' achievements, potentially triggering upward social comparisons. This study investigates the often-overlooked psychological and behavioral consequences of such comparisons among employees in workplace settings. Specifically, we address a significant research gap by examining how upward social comparisons on social media influence employees' emotions and subsequent workplace behaviors. Utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis, this research analyzes responses from 477 high-tech employees in China. Our findings reveal that upward social comparisons can engender feelings of workplace envy and ego depletion. These emotional states, in turn, adversely impact employee behavior, manifesting in diminished job performance, increased tendency towards knowledge hiding, and heightened engagement in cyber loafing. This study contributes to the broader understanding of social media's impact on employee psychology and behavior, offering valuable insights for both academic research and practical management within the context of technology-enhanced workplace environments.

The Effect of Transformational, Transactional, and Laissez-Faire Leadership Styles on Employees' Level of Performance: The Case of Hospital in Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Purpose

Poor performance of health service providers has a negative impact on the ability of health systems to produce desired outcomes. Lack of suitable and impactful leadership hinders employee performance in terms of providing a high standard of care. There is a paucity of evidence on the effect of leadership style on employee performance in the current study setting. Hence, this study sought to assess the effect of leadership styles on employee performance in hospitals in the Oromia region, Ethiopia, from August 1 to October, 30, 2021.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a sample of 41 hospitals and 412 employees, selected by stratified sampling from hospitals in the Oromia region. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. They were then coded and entered into the Epi-Info-7.2. software, and exported to SPSS-20 for analysis. The participants' characteristics were analyzed and summarized using descriptive statistics. Employee performance was rated as low, average or high, and estimated by proportion along with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The association between leadership styles and the level of employee performance was modelled using ordinal logistic regression. The magnitude of association was estimated by odds ratio with a 95% CI. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results

Employees had an increased odds of being a high performer when they experienced the following leadership styles: transformational with idealized influence (AOR=1.70; 95% CI: 1.12, 2.64), intellectual stimulation (AOR=1.60; 95% CI: 1.04, 2.48), laissez-faire approach (AOR=2.49; 95% CI: 1.71,3.62), effectiveness in terms of frequently fulfilling employees' job-related needs (AOR=2.09; 95% CI: 1.20,3.63), and the exertion of extra effort in motivating them (AOR=2.11; 95% CI: 1.22, 3.68).

Conclusion

Among leadership styles, transformational with idealized influence and intellectual stimulation, laissez-faire approaches were significantly associated with employee performance. However, transactional leadership was not significantly associated with employee performance.

Moderating Effects of Individual Traits on the Association Between Nature and Patient Wait Experiences

OBJECTIVES

We empirically investigated to what extent plants in the emergency department (ED) waiting areas influence patient wait experiences (i.e., anxiety, perceived service quality, and perception of wait time) depending on individual differences in cognitive thinking styles and one's bonds with the natural world.

BACKGROUND

Positive effects of nature on patient experiences in healthcare environments are well established by empirical research findings. However, evidence is scarce on the impact of nature on patient wait experiences and the roles of patient traits often related to their backgrounds.

METHODS

A within-subjects study was conducted (N = 116) with two virtually built ED waiting rooms: with versus without indoor and outdoor plants.

RESULTS

Findings confirmed that plants lower anxiety and improve perceptions of service quality and wait time. Cognitive thinking style significantly moderated how plants affected patient wait experiences. Although participants with higher connectedness to nature showed more positive responses to the nature condition, connectedness to nature did not significantly affect the association between nature and wait experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on nature's effects in healthcare environments by examining the roles of individual differences in patients' and visitors' cognitive styles and connectedness to nature. Results highlighted the impact of these differences in patient experiences for effective implications of nature in waiting areas of healthcare facilities.

The first year of private practice - new graduate physiotherapists are highly engaged and satisfied but edging toward burnout

BACKGROUND

A greater understanding of physiotherapists' work-life during their first year of work in private practice, and whether their experiences are mediated by personal traits, may provide valuable information to support their transition and retention.

OBJECTIVES

Describe the first year of practice for graduate physiotherapists in terms of employee engagement, job satisfaction, performance, and burnout, and evaluate the relationship between these measures and personal traits (resilience, grit, mind-set).

DESIGN

One-year longitudinal mixed-methods study.

METHODS

Twenty new graduate physiotherapists completed questionnaires evaluating resilience, grit, and mind-set within 1-week of commencing employment. Engagement and job satisfaction were evaluated at 3, 6 and 12-months, and burnout evaluated at 12-months. Performance data (number of patients seen, revenue) were collected throughout the year. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted at baseline, 3, 9 and 12-months.

RESULTS

Engagement and satisfaction were high at all time points. At 12-months, burnout was at a medium level. Resilience was positively associated with job satisfaction at 6 (ρ = 0.56, p = .019) and 12-months (ρ = 0.54, p = .027). Engagement (ρ = -0.57, p = .04) and job satisfaction (ρ = -0.56, p = .03) were negatively associated with burnout at 12-months. All participants remained passionate about their work although increasing administrative burden and patient complexity contributed to feelings of burnout.

CONCLUSIONS

Resilience was positively associated with job satisfaction suggesting those with capacity to 'bounce back' were more satisfied and engaged with their job. Although moderate levels of burnout were reported at 12-months, those with higher job satisfaction and employee engagement had lower levels of burnout. Participants proposed practical strategies to help mitigate burnout.

First, Be a Good Citizen: Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Well-Being at Work and the Moderating Role of Leadership Styles

The study investigates the effect of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on well-being at work. The study further examines the moderating role of people and task-focused leadership styles between OCB on well-being at work. Individual-directed organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBI) and organizational-directed organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBO) will also be analyzed. A quantitative study was conducted and convenient sampling was adopted in selecting respondent workers (n = 200) in different Portuguese organizations. The results show that OCBs positively and significantly influence well-being at work. The strength of individual-directed organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBI) on well-being at work is stronger than that of organization-directed organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBO). Contrary to expectations, the relationship between leadership styles and well-being was not statistically significant, offering possibilities for discussion regarding the central importance usually attributed to leadership in the organizational context. However, leadership styles have a moderating effect between OCB and well-being at work, except when the employee adopts OCBO and the leadership style is people-oriented. The present study is innovative because it positions OCB as an antecedent in the relationship with well-being at work and investigates the moderating role of leadership styles in the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and well-being.

Resilience and stress as predictors of work engagement: the mediating role of self-efficacy in nurses

Background

Nurses face high levels of stress and work demands, which can affect their work engagement and psychological well-being. Resilience and self-efficacy have been identified as important resources to improve nurses' adaptation and work engagement.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between resilience and stress on work engagement in Peruvian nurses.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was used, and data were collected from a sample of 459 nurses. Self-report questionnaires were administered to measure self-efficacy, resilience, stress, and work engagement. SEM analyses were performed to examine the relationship between these variables, and a mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the role of self-efficacy as a mediator in the relationship between resilience, stress, and work engagement.

Results

The results indicated a positive relationship between resilience, self-efficacy, and work engagement, as well as a negative relationship between stress and work engagement. Additionally, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between resilience and work engagement, as well as the relationship between stress and work engagement in nurses.

Conclusion

Personal resources such as self-efficacy are a key factor in the relationship between resilience (work resources), stress (work demands), and work engagement of Peruvian nurses. Strengthening self-efficacy and resilience can improve work engagement and personal satisfaction of nurses. Hospital administrators and nursing managers should consider the importance of resilience, stress, work engagement, and self-efficacy in registered nurses and develop effective strategies to improve them. This can have a positive impact on the quality of care provided to patients and on the job satisfaction of nurses.

The Influence of Performance Appraisal Justice on Employee Job Performance: A Dual Path Model

Performance appraisal, as a powerful tool for human resource management, has become an important driving force for organizations to achieve sustainability. However, only when employees believe that a performance appraisal is fair can an organization’s performance appraisal truly work and have a positive impact on employees. Hence, based on social exchange theory and social identity theory, we theorized and validated a dual path model to explore the influence of performance appraisal justice on employee job performance through work engagement and organizational identification. Survey data from 404 Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in high-tech enterprises were analyzed using multiple regression and structural equation modeling. Results indicate that performance appraisal justice of employees has a positive impact on their work engagement, organizational identification, and job performance. In addition, both work engagement and organizational identification of employees partly mediated the relationship between performance appraisal justice and their job performance. Our conclusions mean that when employees perceive justice in organizational performance appraisals, they will actively engage in their daily work and truly identify with their organizations, thus improving job performance, which is conducive to the sustainable development of organizations. The limitations and implications for future research and practice are also discussed.

Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic and turnover intention: The moderating effect of employee work engagement

The study aimed to understand the relationship between the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and turnover intention and the moderating role of employee engagement. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire through both hand deliveries of printed questionnaires and Google docs from 187 frontline employees in the Ghanaian public sector. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. There exists a positive and significant relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and employee turnover intentions. Out of the three dimensions of work engagement, vigor had a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between psychological impact and turnover intentions. This implies that the positive effect of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on turnover intentions is minimized, where employees have high levels of energy and mental resilience while working, thus their vigor is high rather than low. The study contributes to literature on employee work engagement by using the Job demands-resources model to unravel the specific dimension of employee engagement that can minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 on employees' turnover intention in the public sector in a developing country.

Emerging work environments in the pandemic era: a gendered approach to work-life balance programs

As the coronavirus pandemic affects virtually every sector of the economy, this ongoing review examines the effects of remote working on women's job performance-including hypotheses about serious activities and how they may balance work and family. In recent years, psychometric testing has become increasingly popular with organizations worldwide, and they are looking at this method to better understand how women achieve balance in their lives. The aim of this work is to investigate how different aspects of psychometrics and factors relating to work-life balance influence women's satisfaction levels. An exploratory factor assessment (EFA) and a confirmatory factor assessment (CFA) using a seven-point Likert scale were performed on data collected from 385 selected female IT workers whose satisfaction levels toward psychometric assessments in their organization were examined. The current study uses EFAs and CFAs to develop and identify the key factors in women's work-life balance. The results also showed that three significant variables accounted for 74% of the variance: 26% from work and family, 24% from personal factors, and 24% from loving their job.

Relationships Between Perceived Organizational Support, Psychological Capital and Work Engagement Among Chinese Infection Control Nurses

Background

Few studies have focused on the work engagement of infection control nurses (ICNs). The perceived organizational support (POS) and psychological capital (PsyCap) might be important factors influencing ICNs' work engagement. Moreover, PsyCap might play a mediating role in the relationship between POS and work engagement.

Objective

This study aims to clarify the relationships among POS, PsyCap and work engagement of Chinese ICNs.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was performed to collect data on 7382 ICNs from 20 provinces in China. Data collection was conducted by an online questionnaire, including questions about demographics, the Chinese version of the Utrecht work engagement scale (UWES), the Chinese version of the psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ) and the perceived organizational support scale for medical staff. Univariate analysis, the Spearman correlation method and the mediating effect test were conducted.

Results

The work engagement was at a relatively high level, with a total score of 80.87 ± 14.95. The total scores of POS and PsyCap scale were 41.45 ± 7.37 and 89.14 ± 9.06 respectively, both of which were at the upper-middle level. Work engagement was positively associated with both POS and PsyCap (both P<0.01). Furthermore, the mediating effect of PsyCap on the relationship between POS and work engagement was 0.394, the total effect was 0.443, and the ratio of mediating effect to total effect was 88.94%.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that both POS and PsyCap can directly increase the work engagement of the Chinese ICNs. Besides, POS can indirectly improve work engagement, partially through PsyCap. Therefore, enhancing POS and PsyCap could be effective in improving the work engagement of ICNs.

Can employee engagement be attained through psychological detachment and job crafting: the mediating role of spirituality and intrinsic motivation

Purpose

The present study is to develop an additional perspective on when and why psychological detachment and job crafting behaviors in predicting employee engagement through spirituality and intrinsic motivation. It was hypothesized that spiritual employees are better able to detach themselves from work and craft their job according to their preference and abilities, which would inculcate experience and make them intrinsically motivated and thereby leading to employee engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprised 408 employees, who are employed in different organizations across India. To test the hypotheses, the author conducted structural equation modeling on SPSS AMOS 22.

Findings

The results highlight the partial mediating role of spirituality in the association of psychological detachment with intrinsic motivation as well as between job crafting and intrinsic motivation. The results highlight the fully mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the association of psychological detachment with employee engagement as well as between job crafting and employee engagement.

Practical implications

This study has depicted that spiritual employee who are psychologically detached and have proactive job crafting behavior can achieve higher intrinsic motivation and more engaged.

Originality/value

On the basis of the broaden and build theory, self-determination theory (SDT) and the recovery process (i.e. the effort-recovery model), this paper demonstrates that spirituality plays the role of predictor that drives psychological detachment and encourages job crafting, which has the ability to intrinsically motivate the employee and are able to more engaged in work.

Appearance between professionalism and work-related stress among marketing employees

BACKGROUND

Appearance and body language are key components of non-verbal communication and play an important role in the service and marketing sector.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to explore experiences and perceptions of appearance issues related to work among employees in the marketing sector in Sweden.

METHODS

Interviews were conducted with 15 marketing and communication employees (five males, ten females), at multinational companies and a university. Thematic analyses were conducted, and content was organised in two themes with sub-themes: 1. Appearance from a resource perspective (Appearance benefits; Physical activity resources; Age benefits). 2. Appearance from a demand perspective (Adaptation to gender roles; Investment in appearance; Adaptation to situation and culture).

RESULTS

The findings showed that appearance was perceived as a resource for professionalism, work engagement and career in various ways. Appearance-related issues were not considered on organisational work level, but employees perceived unspoken demands to look good and appropriate to represent the company brand. The employees spent a considerable amount of time, money, and effort on appearance.

CONCLUSION

Appearance creates dualistic questions and points out several dilemmas that the individual struggle to solve, which creates stress in work. The character of unspoken demands on appearance and absent communication on organisational level make the stress-coping strategies complicated and the stress coping is mostly left for the individual to handle. A gender difference shows that compared to men, women more often experience negative stress generated by appearance-related issues in work. Education and actions at the managerial level of companies are needed.

Examining online learning platform characteristics and employee engagement relationship during Covid-19

Purpose

As work-from-home policies were being implemented during Covid-19, organizations have been migrating their learning and development programs to digital platforms. This study aims to understand the role of employees’ perceptions about four key attributes of online learning platforms (OLPs), namely, online environment, ease of use, online content (OC) and online engagement anchors in their levels of work engagement (WE). Further, it also investigates how the personality attributes of the employees and financial incentives for online learning influence this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the snowball sampling technique, online questionnaires were distributed to about 350 employees in four IT firms in India who were working from home during the Covid-19 period. The total number of valid responses was 306 and consisted of software developers, technical leads, process specialists, testers and managers. The analysis was done using Python software (V.3.7.4) packages and Process Macro (pyprocessmacro V.1.0.8) developed for Python.

Findings

Perceived OLP features significantly influence employee WE. OC and ease of use are significant influencers of employee WE. The perception of OLP features indirectly affects WE through the learner’s personality characteristics. Moreover, the financial incentive to learn online shares a negative interaction effect with OLP features to influence WE.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the existing literature on virtual knowledge management by identifying the driving factors that reinforce the acceptance of OLPs. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to link online learning management system key characteristics with employee outcome as engagement. Most of the previous work has ignored exploring such a relationship in an organizational setting.

Workplace ostracism and service performance: The mediating role of job tension, organizational identification, and work engagement

Given the empirical evidence indicating the relationship between workplace ostracism and counterproductive work behavior, this study aims to tackle, in a collectivistic culture, the impact of workplace ostracism on service performance. EFA and CFA were run on the quantitative data collected, online, from 242 respondents. Reliability and validity were assessed. The findings reveal that the relationship between workplace ostracism and service performance is partially mediated by job tension, organizational identification, and work engagement. Organizational identification, in such a collectivistic context, is shown to buffer the negative impact of workplace ostracism on service performance, supporting the results of earlier studies. Different implications are highlighted and recommendations for future research are communicated too.

The moderating effect of employee growth climate on the relationship between work engagement and job outcomes among plantation workers in North Sumatra, Indonesia

The current study investigates the moderating effect of employee growth climate on the relationship between work engagement and job outcomes among plantation workers in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Three individual-level job outcomes are investigated, namely, intra-role behavior, employee learning, and innovative work behavior. Six hundred and seven Indonesian plantation workers from one of the biggest palm oil plantations in Indonesia participated. Work engagement and employee growth climate were positively related to the three types of job outcomes, as expected. Furthermore, the relationship between work engagement-intra-role behavior and work engagement-innovative work behavior was moderated by employee growth climate. However, no moderating effect of employee growth climate was observed for the relationship between work engagement-employee learning. Thus, organizations may create programs to foster employee growth climate and aware of their employees' learning behaviors.

The relationship among idiosyncratic deals, psychological empowerment, and internal locus of control: A moderated mediation model

Building upon the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, this research offers an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms by which idiosyncratic deals (I-deals), such as personalized work arrangements, can enhance academics' psychological empowerment (PE) and hence affect their work engagement. This study's purpose was to investigate whether PE mediates the relationships between task and work responsibilities I-deals, flexibility I-deals, and work engagement among academics in higher education and whether the mediating effects are moderated by academics' internal locus of control. Using an online platform, the survey questionnaire was sent to 650 academics working in higher education. The results reveal that task and work responsibilities I-deals and flexibility I-deals, are positively associated with the academics' work engagement and that PE mediates those relationships. Additionally, the internal locus of control strengthens the positive relationship between task and work responsibilities I-deals and PE, and it enhances the indirect effect of task and work responsibilities I-deals on academics' work engagement through PE. Though, this study did not find the moderating effect of internal locus of control on the flexibility I-deals-PE relationship; however, the results indicate that internal locus of control boosts the indirect effect of flexibility I-deals on academics' work engagement through PE.

How does workplace event criticality spur employees' proactivity? The roles of work engagement and mindfulness

This paper aims to generate insights about whether, how, and when workplace event criticality spurs employee proactivity. We conducted multilevel analyses with a three-wave time-lagged survey of 179 employees and their 55 direct leaders in China to test our proposed model. The findings indicate that workplace event criticality is conducive to stimulating proactive work behavior through improving employee engagement. Further, employee mindfulness amplifies the positive relationship between workplace event criticality and work engagement. Despite the increasingly unavoidable influence of events in the workplace on employee proactivity, empirical research around the relationship and its underlying mechanism has been rather sparse. Our event-oriented research advances this knowledge by unpacking the salient motivating role of workplace events' criticality in employee work engagement and proactivity. It also increases our understanding by illustrating that employee mindfulness will amplify and intensify the motivational potential of workplace event criticality for work engagement.

The more the better? How and when can high-performance work systems fuel the proactive fire

Drawing on the job demands-resources model and conservation of resources theory, this study investigates how and when the high-performance work systems (HPWS) influence proactive workforce. Using the data obtained from 204 supervisor-employee dyads in China, we developed and tested a moderated mediation model in which leader-member exchange (LMX) moderates the positive relationship between HPWS and proactive behavior via work engagement. Our results demonstrated that the association between HPWS and proactivity was fully mediated by work engagement. We also found that the indirect effect of HPWS on proactivity was significantly weaker among employees with high-quality LMX. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research, are then discussed.

Bridging two tales of engagement: a meta-analytic review of employee engagement and customer engagement in service contexts

Purpose

Employing a service-profit chain (S-PC) framework, this manuscript investigates the relationship between employee engagement (EE) and customer engagement (CE) within service contexts and explores how a mediating mechanism, service employee work performance (SEWP), links EE with CE.

Design/methodology/approach

Meta-analytic procedures ascertain the magnitude of the relationship between EE and SEWP (k = 102, ρ^ = 0.45) and between SEWP and three dimensions of CE: customer purchases (k = 42, ρ^ = 0.47), customer knowledge (k = 4, ρ^ = 0.33) and customer influence (k = 7, ρ^ = 0.42). The current meta-analysis reports an effect size for the EE-overall SEWP relationship nearly 1.50 times greater than related extant meta-analyses.

Findings

Results suggest SEWP, consisting of service employee task performance and contextual performance, serves as an important intervening mechanism between EE and CE by considering nine dimensions of SEWP. Such findings suggest that to maximize SEWP, service employees must go beyond simply being satisfied in their work roles; instead, service employees must feel energized, find fulfillment and meaning and be engrossed in their work to maximize the service they provide to customers.

Originality/value

This research extends previous meta-analytic efforts, bridges the multi-disciplinary gap between EE and CE research, provides an empirical link allowing for informed decision-making for managers and stakeholders, underscores the importance of service employees surpassing required job responsibilities to meet and exceed customer needs and suggests an agenda for future service research integrating EE and CE.

The relationship between empowering leadership and radical creativity

Drawing on the conservation of resource theory, we theorized and tested a serial mediation model linking empowering leadership with employee radical creativity through job control and willingness to take risks. We tested our hypotheses using data collected from a time-lagged and multisource survey of 385 employees in 84 research and development teams from 20 different companies. The results demonstrated that empowering leadership had a positive indirect effect on employee radical creativity via job control and willingness to take risks, and the error management climate was found to strengthen this indirect effect. Theoretical and practical implications are also provided in the discussion section.

The Relationship Between Dual Filial Piety and Caregiver Burden Among Arab Family Caregivers in Israel

The current study examined the association between dual filial piety (FP) (reciprocal and authoritarian) and caregiver burden in adult children caregivers and attempted to understand the underlying mechanisms of these links. A cross-sectional study of 222 family caregivers of older relatives in an Arab community in Israel was performed. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews in Arabic using structured questionnaires. Bootstrapping with resampling strategies tested the multiple mediator model. Reciprocal and authoritarian components of FP were associated negatively with caregiver burden. The link with reciprocal FP was partially mediated by role engagement and relationship strain between caregiver and care recipient, whereas the link between authoritarian FP and caregiver burden was mediated by role engagement, but not by relationship strain between caregiver and care recipient. The study highlights the positive effect of cultural values (dual FP) and the underlying mechanisms working against the harmful effects of caregiving stressors in traditional societies, such as Arab-Israeli society. Practitioners should be sensitive to issues of family cultural values and family care among traditional populations. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, xx(x), xx-xx.].

Service Orientation and Customer Performance: Triad Perspectives of Sales Managers, Sales Employees, and Customers

This study examines how shop managers’ attitudes toward customers are transferred to sales employees, and thus affect customer performance. We surveyed shop managers, sales employees, and customers in five department stores in Seoul, South Korea, in June 2021 to determine the relationships among service orientation, customer orientation, customers’ perceptions of sales employees’ authenticity, and customer performance. We found that sales managers’ service orientation positively influences sales employees’ service and customer orientation. Furthermore, this orientation positively correlates with customers’ perceptions of sales employees’ authenticity, thereby improving service performance and customer loyalty. Few studies have examined how institutional-level capacity and attitudes influence employees within organizations and how this, in turn, affects service performance. Thus, this study theoretically and empirically explores how sales managers’ attitudes and sales behaviors are transferred to sales employees and how this affects customer performance. The research findings fill a gap in the current understanding of customer performance in the service industry.

The relationship between curiosity and innovative work behavior in the aviation industry: the mediating effect of work engagement

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between curiosity and innovative work behavior. The context of the study is the initial stages of the pandemic starting April 2020, when international travel became restricted.

Design/methodology/approach

Self-administered questionnaires were distributed and collected from 327 respondents of 32 organizations in the aviation industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Findings

As hypothesized, work engagement is a mediator of the relationship between curiosity and innovative work behavior.

Research limitations/implications

The limited sample size and confinement to the aviation industry in the UAE limit the generalisation of the results.

Practical implications

Managers desirous of improving employees’ innovative work behavior will now understand how employees’ curiosity and exploration can impact innovative work behavior through the employees’ work engagement. Therefore, managers should focus on ensuring how employees’ curiosity and exploration can be created into work engagement, ultimately leading to innovative work behavior.

Originality/value

This research extends the social learning theory by positing that people who have strong traits of curiosity and exploration, will learn from others on how to work more effectively. This will make them more absorbed in their work (work engagement) and subsequently lead to innovative work behavior.

Job Crafting and Burnout as Predictors of Food Safety Behaviors in the Foodservice Industry

This study aimed to investigate whether job crafting, burnout, and work engagement predict food safety behaviors in the foodservice industry. It was a cross-sectional study conducted in Cuiabá (Brazil) among foodservice workers. Four instruments were used among foodservice workers for the examination: (a) job demands and resources, (b) job satisfaction, (c) burnout, and (d) work engagement. Food safety practices were measured using a validated risk-based checklist. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis model. In this study, 22 restaurants and 302 foodservice workers were examined. It was found that the “job demands-resources” model was valid for foodservice workers, i.e., burnout was strongly predicted by job demands (β = 0.550; p < 0.001); job resources were a positive predictor of work engagement (β = 0.258; p < 0.001); and burnout was a negative predictor of work engagement (β = −0.411; p < 0.001). Food safety violations were predicted by job crafting (β = −0.125; p = 0.029) and burnout (β = 0.143; p = 0.016). The results indicate that mitigating burnout and increasing job crafting can be important supporting strategies to improve food safety behaviors.

Think Happy Be Happy: Salesperson’s Personal Happiness and Flourishing

Although the role of positive emotions is important in sales, personal happiness remains understudied in the selling context. Grounded in broaden-and-build theory, this study aims to examine the relationships among personal happiness, job involvement, job satisfaction and salesperson flourishing. For salespeople, the new demands of a connected world have largely blurred the boundaries between their personal life and work life. It has allowed emotions from their personal life to spill over into their workplace. Data from 137 salespeople in the retail context in India lend support for the proposed serial mediation model. The authors propose that the influence of personal happiness on a salesperson flourishing is mediated by job involvement and job satisfaction. Results of this study shows that personal happiness has a direct influence on the salesperson’s flourishing and is effective only through the mediating influence of job satisfaction and not of job involvement. This study extends the broaden-and-build theory by proposing that personal happiness may influence flourishing at work. The findings illustrate the need for a renewed focus on salesperson’s personal emotions, especially in todays connected workplace where the boundaries between personal and work life are shrinking

Empowering leadership and employee creativity: the mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the relationship between empowering leadership and employee creativity and the mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the results of a survey of 302 knowledge workers from a leading telecommunications company in South Korea, the relationships among the variables empowering leadership, work engagement and knowledge sharing on employee creativity were analyzed using conducted confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. This study conducted bootstrap analyses to test the mediating effects.

Findings

Empowering leadership was positively and significantly associated with work engagement and knowledge sharing. Work engagement was significantly related to knowledge sharing and employee creativity. In turn, knowledge sharing was significantly associated with employee creativity. The direct effect of empowering leadership on employee creativity was nonsignificant, but this study found a significant indirect effect of empowering leadership on employee creativity via the significant mediating roles of work engagement and knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

This study introduced empowering leadership that may work for knowledge workers who create new ideas by analyzing data from the knowledge workers’ perceptions of their leaders in the workplace. The intuitive linkage between work engagement and knowledge sharing was empirically verified in this study. This study’s findings and implications provide direction for knowledge workers and how their managers should support employees’ work environment and activities.

Employer attractiveness, employee engagement and employee performance

Purpose

This study examines the effects of employer attractiveness (EA) on employee engagement (EE) and employee performance (EP).

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed method. The analytical technique is the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling through survey questionnaires collected from 937 respondents as employees from 37 enterprises in Vietnam.

Findings

EA has a positive impact on EE and EP factors. However, EE has no statistically significant impact on EP.

Practical implications

This study helps managers build solutions toward retaining talent and improving EP through the strategy of building EA. Concurrently, this study guides the important factors to build an effective EA.

Originality/value

This study explores the relationship between three factors: EA, EE and EP. This has added a new research direction of EA to existing employees. In addition, the study results provide a new perspective on the relationship between EE and EP.

Research on Customer Behavioral Intention of Hot Spring Resorts Based on SOR Model: The Multiple Mediation Effects of Service Climate and Employee Engagement

Based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, this study explored customer behavioral intentions and influencing factors in the service industry, represented by hotels. It studied the servicescape, customer emotions, and customer behavioral intentions. PROCESS analysis was conducted on 305 valid questionnaires collected from hot spring resorts. The study found that servicescape can predict customer behavioral intentions, that customer emotions have a partial mediating effect in the influence of servicescape on customer behavioral intentions, and that service climate and employee engagement have multiple mediation effects in the SOR model. Therefore, the researchers suggest that hotels can improve customer perceptions through decoration and staff management, and thereby develop the hotel in a sustainable way.

Does Future Work Self Benefit Everyone Equally? The Moderating Role of Organizational Support for Development

To elucidate how and why hotel employees proactively engage in career development, this study explains the indirect effect of future work self (FWS) on their proactive career behavior through career engagement. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study discusses the moderating role of organizational support for development (OSD) to highlight why OSD is important for those who have low-level FWS. Results of the 205 hotel supervisor–staff-matched data show that career engagement mediates the relationship between FWS and proactive career behavior. Furthermore, OSD can be considered a compensatory moderator that determines the indirect effect of FWS on proactive career behavior. This study provides further theoretical and practical implications.

A Dark Side of Telework: A Social Comparison-Based Study from the Perspective of Office Workers

Telework became a necessary work arrangement during the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, practical evidence even before the pandemic also suggests that telework can adversely affect teleworkers’ colleagues working in the office. Those regular office workers may experience negative emotions such as envy which, in turn, can impact work performance and turnover intention. In order to assess the adverse effects of telework on regular office workers, the study applies social comparison theory and suggests telework disparity as a new theoretical concept. From the perspective of regular office workers, perceived telework disparity is the extent to which they compare their office working situation with their colleagues’ teleworking situation and conclude that their teleworking colleagues are slightly better off than themselves. Based on social comparison theory, a model of how perceived disparity associated with telework causes negative emotions and adverse behaviors among regular office workers was developed. The data were collected in one organization with telework arrangements (N = 269). The results show that perceived telework disparity from the perspective of regular office workers increases their feelings of envy toward teleworkers and their job dissatisfaction, which is associated with higher turnover intentions and worse job performance. This study contributes to telework research by revealing a dark side of telework by conceptualizing telework disparity and its negative consequences for employees and organizations. For practice, the paper recommends making telework practices and policies as transparent as possible to realize the maximum benefits of telework.

Empowering leadership and team innovation: The mediating effects of team processes and team engagement

This study explored the mediating effects of team processes and team engagement on the relationship between empowering leadership and team innovation using a time-lagged research design and two-source data, where the supervisors’ team innovation rating was measured after a 3-month lag. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The findings showed that (1) team processes fully mediated the positive relationship between empowering leadership and team innovation, (2) team engagement fully mediated the positive relationship between empowering leadership and team innovation, and (3) the positive covariance of both team processes and team engagement contributed to stimulating the positive effect of empowering leadership on team innovation. Theoretical implications, practical implications, and directions for future research were also discussed.

Is There a Link Between Green Human Resource Management and Consumer Buying Behavior? The Moderating Role of Employee Diffidence

Green Human Resource Management (HRM) supports promoting and incorporating sustainable development with regard to their resources. Managers and customers actively utilize the limited resources efficiently and effectively to accomplish environment-friendly goals and objectives. The study focuses on investigating the moderating role of diffidence between Green HRM, among eco-friendly behavior and Employee Performance of frontline employees of the hospitality sector. Two hundred ten individuals particapted in the research from hospitality sector with regard to examine green HRM policies of employees along with their influence on consumer buying behvaiour. Frontline employees incorporated the data on HRM performance, eco-friendly behavior, and diffidence. Besides, consumers gave their opinion on consumer buying behavior. The study’s findings revealed that Green HRM, aka Green HRM, directly impacts consumer behavior. In addition to this diffidence moderates the relationship between Green HRM and employee performance and employee eco-friendly behavior. Besides, future studies can explore the clothing and banking sector as the current study was conducted in fast food sector.

Importance of Autonomous Motivation in Construction Labor Productivity Improvement in Vietnam: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Labor productivity is an important aspect of the construction industry, and motivation is believed to be an influential factor that affects it. While previous studies have emphasized the role of controlled motivation (i.e., external factors), the role of autonomous motivation (i.e., internal factors) has been ignored. This knowledge gap hampers further efforts to explore new determinants that increase construction labor productivity (CLP). Accordingly, self-determination theory (SDT) is promising in terms of its ability to bridge this gap and explain how autonomous motivation can be generated by integrating reasonable leadership styles and psychological satisfaction. Therefore, this study develops a novel model for assessing the effects of engaging leadership, three basic psychological satisfaction factors (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and work motivation on CLP. Based on the data collection in Vietnam, we found that both autonomous motivation and controlled motivation positively and significantly contributed to CLP. In terms of promoting autonomous motivation and improving CLP, competence and relatedness satisfaction played a key role. Ultimately, these results highlighted two crucial features related to CLP improvement in addition to the conventional view: “negative legacy” and “new light of hope”. This study expands and reinforces SDT knowledge by comprehensively illuminating leadership and psychological and motivational indicators in the construction context. It provides substantial practical recommendations for CLP improvement, such as enhancing autonomous motivation, promoting satisfaction with competence and relatedness, and reducing selfish work, which is a novel factor that negatively contributes to CLP. This factor is the first discovered in the construction domain.

Moving Past Burnout, Looking Toward Engagement

Physician engagement is often discussed in the medical literature; yet health care research examining this construct has been disjointed and plagued by conceptual ambiguities. Examining validated organizational evidence, we offer 3 key antecedents of work engagement that show promise as resources for medical professionals and health care organizations: psychological safety, organizational justice, and job crafting. In addition, we outline the nomological network of related, yet distinct, concepts, to demonstrate the relationship between engagement, burnout, and job satisfaction. As health care organizations facilitate engagement, they provide an additional avenue to decrease physician burnout, while also positively impacting provider and organizational outcomes.

Leader Trait Self-control and Follower Trust in High-Reliability Contexts: The Mediating Role of Met Expectations in Firefighting

Drawing from the theory of met expectations, this study aims to create new knowledge on the antecedents of follower trust in leaders in the context of high-reliability organizations. We hypothesize that highly self-controlled leaders instill more trust than leaders with less self-control, as the former tend to meet follower expectations. This work combines data from a field survey ( N = 256) and a multi-wave field study ( N = 106), using samples of professional firefighters to support our hypotheses that met follower expectations mediate the relationship between leader trait self-control and follower trust in the leader. Our research highlights the importance of met expectations in high-reliability contexts and demonstrates the value of leader trait self-control in building trustful relationships.

Examining the Inverted U-Shaped Relationship Between Benevolent Leadership and Employees' Work Initiative: The Role of Work Engagement and Growth Need Strength

Benevolent leadership is generally considered to be beneficial for work initiative. However, based on social exchange theory, this paper explores an inverted U-shaped relationship between benevolent leadership and work initiative. Using a multilevel structural equation model that analyzed the data from 596 employees and 139 supervisors in multiple technology companies, our findings show that benevolent leadership had an indirect, negative curvilinear relationship with work initiative via work engagement at both the individual and team levels. Furthermore, we also indicate that growth need strength moderates the positive relationship between benevolent leadership and work engagement at the individual level. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Teachers' Commitment and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Work Engagement and Well-Being

In the field of language-education psychology, the psychology of educators was not at the center of attention to some extent, despite the immense attention given to the psychology of students. Recently, positive psychology has become very important as it puts more emphasis on the constructive dimensions of life and it regards individual well-being as a major problem for individuals’ achievement. Since the core of an instructing institution is the educators, their well-being must be prioritized in the academic circumstances to both improve students’ skills and to motivate and inspire participation and involvement in the class. Moreover, teacher engagement is viewed as another significant factor in this realm that refers to people’s outlook toward their job, impacting their emotional attendance and engagement during their presentation. Also, there is an inner force that pushes educators to put more time and strength in maintaining participation in the school that is called educator commitment that is determined on evolving the school builds an emotive connection between educators and schools. It eventually encourages educators to improve their instructing careers and find ways to create a successful educational setting that would enable learners to attain their goals. In addition, teacher self-efficacy, including educators’ convictions in their skill to successfully manage assignments, responsibilities, and difficulties associated with their expert activity, has an important function in affecting key scholastic results in the career setting. By taking the aforementioned constructs, this review of literature provides implications for academics, teachers, and policymakers in search of better considering the functions of commitment and self-efficacy on their work engagement and well-being.

Influence of Core Self-Evaluations on Work Engagement: The Mediating Role of Informal Field-Based Learning and the Moderating Role of Work Design

This study aims to examine the effect of employees’ CSE on their work engagement, along with its underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions. Based on the job demands–resources (JD-R) model and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose and test a moderated mediation model that examines IFBL as the mediator and work design as the moderator in the relationship between CSE and work engagement. We use time-lagged data from 231 employees to analyze the data. The results indicate that: (1) CSE is positively related to work engagement of employees; (2) IFBL mediates the relationship between CSE and work engagement; (3) problem solving reinforces the effect of IFBL on work engagement, which consequently enhances the mediated relationship between CSE and work engagement via IFBL. We further discuss the limitations and future research directions of this study.

Linking service-oriented human resource practices bundle and frontline employee service performance: A test of cross-level mediating processes

Drawing on conservation of resources and signaling theories, this research aims to develop a cross-level serial mediation model of branch-level predictors of frontline employees' service performance. Specifically, we examined whether the service-oriented human resource practices bundle (SO-HRP bundle) affects frontline employees' service performance via person–environment fit (P–E fit) and work engagement. Based on a sample of 327 employees and their supervisors across 70 branches of two service corporations in Taiwan, it was found, first, that the SO-HRP bundle and work engagement have a significant positive relationship; second, that person–organization fit and person–job fit was each positively linked with work engagement; and finally, that the SO-HRP bundle sequentially formed a positive link with frontline employee service performance through P–E fit and work engagement. The findings shine new light on the cross-level serial mediation processes whereby employee service performance is enhanced owing to the SO-HRP bundle.