Extending the job demands-resources model with guanxi exchange

The dual impacts of guanxi closeness on followership: Mediating roles of burnout and power distance

Guanxi and followership play important roles in employees' interaction with their supervisors. Extant studies have found that supervisor-subordinate guanxi can predict subordinates' attitudes and behaviors toward their supervisors. However, little is known about the relationship between guanxi closeness and subordinates' following supervisors. Accordingly, drawing on conservation of resource theory (COR), we develop a two-path mediation model and examine the direct impact of guanxi closeness on followership, the mediating role of burnout and power distance orientation, discussing the dual impacts of guanxi closeness. To reduce the common method basis, a two-wave time-lagged (interval of one month) study was conducted. Then, we collected 239 pieces of data to test our hypotheses using path analyses. Results show that the direct effect of guanxi closeness on followership is significant. Additionally, guanxi closeness weakens followership by reducing employee burnout. Meanwhile, guanxi closeness can decrease employees' power distance orientation (PDO) and then enhance followership. These findings reveal the dual impacts of guanxi closeness and extend our understanding of guanxi showing positive impact as well as negative impact. Therefore, managers should cultivate guanxi closeness with subordinates to enhance followership by reducing subordinates' PDO while providing resources and support to employees involved in burnout. These behaviors are conducive to helping managers to attain subordinates' following.

The role of Guanxi in fostering adaptability and work engagement among educators in international educational institutions

The present study delves into the intricate relationships between individual adaptability, various dimensions of Guanxi-Ganqing, Renqing, and Xinren-and work engagement among educators working in international educational institutions across major cities in China. Guanxi refers to complex system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitate business and other dealings. Ganqing, Renqing, and Xinren represents distinct but interconnected dimensions. Ganqing refers to the emotional bonding or personal affection that is developed within a Guanxi relationship. Renqing can be understood as the norm of reciprocity or the social obligation to respond to another's needs and to maintain the balance of give and take in relationships. Finally, Xinren: This dimension represents trust and credibility in Guanxi relationships. Employing online data collection via the Qualtrics platform, the study investigates the impact of individual adaptability on work engagement, particularly examining the mediating roles of different Guanxi dimensions. Utilizing Hayes' Process Model 80 for mediation analysis, our findings demonstrate a statistically significant direct effect of individual adaptability on work engagement, thus supporting Hypothesis 1 (H1). The analysis reveals that this relationship is partially mediated by other variables within our model. Significantly, the study highlights the nuanced roles of the Guanxi dimensions of Ganqing, Renqing, and Xinren in this context. Both Ganqing and Renqing were found to amplify the effect of individual adaptability on work engagement, confirming Hypotheses 2a and 2b. However, while Xinren increased the effect size, it did not significantly mediate the relationship between individual adaptability and work engagement, leading to the rejection of Hypothesis 2c. Furthermore, our research provides new insights into the interplay between these Guanxi dimensions. Specifically, Ganqing and Renqing significantly influenced Xinren, which in turn impacted work engagement, thereby supporting Hypotheses 3a and 3b. This mediated chain model suggests a more complex interaction between these factors than previously understood. Our analysis also reveals the differential impacts of these Guanxi dimensions. Notably, Ganqing exhibited a greater influence on work engagement compared to Renqing and Xinren. This finding underscores the critical role of affective bonds in social ties and their importance in enhancing work engagement. These results, robust across statistical metrics including R, R-squared, MSE, F, and p-values, are detailed in our results section and illustrated in Figure 3. The study contributes to the understanding of how individual adaptability and various Guanxi dimensions interact to influence work engagement, offering valuable insights for both academic research and practical application in organizational settings. These findings are contextualized within Confucian values and the ongoing internationalization of education. The study thus advances the theoretical discourse while offering practical recommendations for educators and institutional policies. Limitations and future research directions are also elaborated.

Psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with burnout in police officers: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

The specific factors that may influence burnout levels in police officers are not yet clear. Our aim was to systematically identify the psychosocial risk and protective factors associated with burnout among police officers.

METHODS

This systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). A protocol was registered in PROSPERO. A search strategy was applied to Medline via OvidSP, PsycInfo, Scopus and Web of Science. The quality assessment entailed the use of the CASP checklist for cohort studies. The data was reported through a narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

After removing studies based on the selection criteria, 41 studies were included in this review. The findings were synthesized under the following subheadings: socio-demographic; organisational; operational; individual and coping strategies. Organisational and operational factors were found to be risk factors for burnout. Individual factors and coping strategies revealed risk and protective factors. Social interaction-related factors were mostly protective. Socio-demographic factors were weak in explaining burnout.

LIMITATIONS

Most studies are from high-income countries. Not all used the same burnout measurement tool. All relied on self-reported data. Lastly, 98 % had a cross-sectional design, causal inferences could not be made.

CONCLUSIONS

Burnout, despite being strictly defined as an occupational phenomenon, is related to factors outside of this context. Future research should focus on examining the reported associations by using more robust designs. More attention must be paid to police officers' mental health by investing in developing strategies to mitigate adverse factors and maximise the effects of protective factors.

How Does IT Influence Chinese IS/IT Users' Job Burnout?

Organizational utilization of information systems and information technology continues to grow in the 21st century, and job stress has become a worldwide problem; but the emotional expression of people differ in diverse cultural societies, and employees need to use IS/IT (IS/IT users) to do their work. Work exhaustion will also increase with the time. Mainland China (the PRC) and Taiwan share the same language and inherit Chinese culture; thus, this study based on job a burnout model and Chinese Guanxi perspective adopts a qualitative research method to collect IS/IT users' data from these two areas. This study has explored (1) permeability as a critical factor of the technology characteristics, (2) that technology characteristics and Chinese Guanxi will influence each other, and (3) that Chinese Guanxi will influence emotional job demands, social support, and personal accomplishment of Chinese IS/IT users. Finally, it has a contribution to both the academics and practice of the job burnout issue.

Upper and lower musculoskeletal back pain, stress, physical activity, and organisational work support: An exploratory study of police investigative interviewers

Police investigative interviewers in special victims' units have particularly stressing work conditions. Being few in numbers, with highly specialised competence, the health and well-being of this workgroup are key. This study explores the prevalence of muscular lower and upper back pain and stress and associations with physical activity and organisational work support among 77 police investigators. The police investigative interviewers reported high levels of physical activity. Compared to other police employees, they reported similar levels of musculoskeletal back pain, higher levels of upper back pain, and higher levels of stress. Physical activity was not related to musculoskeletal back pain. In the regression analysis, musculoskeletal back pain was negatively associated with organisational work support. Limitations due to low statistical power and a cross-sectional design apply. However, the study provides interesting insight into the prevalence of musculoskeletal back pain and its association with organisational work support and stress among police employees.

Is Guanxi critical to the job burnout of ITP and IS/IT users in Chinese society?

Purpose

The speedy development of information technology (IT) is indeed a significant issue to support the enterprises to spread their products and services to their customers. Although the adoption of IT in the enterprises can help employees' work, it will increase their work exhaustion and job burnout too.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data of this study was collected from Chinese IT personnel (ITP): 543 and Chinese information systems (IS)/IT users: 525, totaling 1,068 respondents.

Findings

The result shows that the influences of the organizational factors and guanxi on the work exhaustion are different between Chinese ITP and IS/IT users in the research model. Also the implications of the study are discussed and made some contribution to the research and management practice.

Originality/value

By comparison between the Chinese ITP and IS/IT users, this study shows that guanxi can be antecedent factor to some organizational factors, and the organizational factors guanxi have had a different effect on the work exhaustion of Chinese ITP and IS/IT users. Given that the critical successes to the organizations, management should focus on what direction to reduce Chinese ITP and IS/IT users work exhaustion.

Relationship beyond the Workplace: Impact of Guanxi GRX Scale on Employee Engagement and Performance

The primary objective of this research was to find out the impact of GRX scale (ganqing, renqing, and xinren) on a non-Chinese working environment. Thus, to apply and ascertain the effect of the three dimensions of guanxi on employees’ engagement and, eventually, their job performance in an African working environment. This research used social exchange theory to explain the relationship between supervisors and their subordinates. The research data comprises 530 respondents who were randomly chosen from seven organizations. Smart-PLS 3.2.8 was the primary instrument used to analyze the data. The finding indicated that renqing, synonymous with mutual sharing or need for reciprocity, was highly significant with employee engagement and job performance. Hence, a win-win outcome is achieved whenever employers exhibit genuine concern and care for their employees. Additionally, there was a negative relationship between ganqing (emotional attachment) and employee engagement. This revealed that making decisions based on personal relationships will negatively affect employees’ engagement and job performance. This research adds to the literature by revealing that guanxi is applicable in non-Chinese workplaces.

The Effects of Asymmetrical Guanxi Perception on Job Burnout: Task Conflict, Relationship Conflict, and Process Conflict as Mediators

In Chinese organizations, individuals benefit in many ways from having good guanxi. For employees, however, guanxi also comes with well-documented negative effects. Until recently, the guanxi investigated in these studies was always of a substantial nature. The negative effects of non-substantial guanxi (in effect, the absence of real guanxi), such as the guanxi of misunderstandings for those who lack good guanxi, have not been examined. This study investigates how the existence of asymmetrical guanxi perception for an employee (i.e., when other people believe that good guanxi exists between a manager and an employee, but the employee disagrees with the belief that he/she has good guanxi with his/her supervisors) contributes to job burnout for that employee due to task conflict, relationship conflict, and process conflict. A cross-sectional data sample was collected from 363 employees of 10 hotels in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling results suggest that relationship conflict is the most powerful mediator affecting the relationship between asymmetrical guanxi perception and job burnout. The results provide insights for researchers interested in the mechanism of how asymmetrical guanxi perception induces employee job burnout while generating useful implications for managers charged with reducing such burnout.

Burnout and Engagement Dimensions in the Reception System of Illegal Immigration in the Mediterranean Sea. A Qualitative Study on a Sample of Italian Practitioners

The present study describes the semantic nature of burnout and engagement in the operators involved in the management of illegal immigration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on a sample of Italian practitioners (n = 62) of the two levels of the reception system considered: (1) rescue and first aid and (2) reception and integration. Within the framework of the job demands–resources model (JD-R), the interviews deepened the analysis of the positive and negative dimensions of burnout and engagement: exhaustion versus energy, relational deterioration versus relational involvement, professional inefficacy versus professional efficacy and disillusion versus trust. The interviews were analysed using the T-Lab software, through a cluster analysis (bisecting K-means algorithm), which emphasised noteworthy themes. The results show that, in the vast majority of the dimensions considered (for both levels of reception), the same dimensions of engagement of the operators (energy, relational involvement, professional efficacy and trust) are able to lead them into a condition of burnout, with experiences, conversely, of exhaustion, relational deterioration, professional inefficacy and disillusion. These findings expand the knowledge on burnout and engagement in practitioners of illegal immigration, a context characterised by the value of help and welcome.

The Diminishing Effect of Transformational Leadership on the Relationship Between Task Characteristics, Perceived Meaningfulness, and Work Engagement

The topic of employee work engagement in the public sector has attracted broad attention because it is critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of public services. Based on the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) and the Integrative Theory of Employee Engagement (ITEE), the present research adopts a multilevel design to examine a moderated mediation model in which task characteristics (i.e., task autonomy and task significance as level-1 predictors) and social context (i.e., transformational leadership as a level-2 moderator) jointly impact employee work engagement via individual perception of meaningfulness in work. A total of 349 grassroots police officers from 35 police substations were invited to anonymously complete a survey via mobile app. After performing the cross-sectional analysis, the results indicated that in contrast to task significance, the conditional effect of task autonomy on work engagement via perceived meaningfulness was more positive at a lower level of transformational leadership. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

Association Between Job Stress and Organizational Commitment in Three Types of Chinese University Teachers: Mediating Effects of Job Burnout and Job Satisfaction

Utilizing the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as the theoretical framework, this study examines the relationship between job stress, job burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among 1,906 university teachers in China, and investigates teachers’ differences across groups. The result of SEM indicates that job burnout and job satisfaction could play mediating roles between job stress and organizational commitment. The result of multi-group analysis shows that for national university teachers, the positive effect of job stress on job burnout is the highest among three types of university teachers, the negative effect of job burnout on organizational commitment is lower compared with provincial university teachers and the negative effect of job burnout on job satisfaction is lower compared with provincial university teachers. Only for provincial university teachers, the job stress can significantly positively predict organizational commitment, and the independent mediating effect of job burnout is significantly greater than job satisfaction. The practical advice to enhance Chinese university teachers’ organizational commitment was provided in the end.

Personal resources and personal demands for work engagement: Evidence from employees in the service industry

Conventional studies have widely demonstrated that individuals' engagement at work depends on their personal resources, which are affected by environmental influences, especially those derived from the workplace and home domains. In this study, we examine whether a change in work engagement may be based on individuals' decisions in managing their personal resources. We use the conservation of resources (COR) theory to explain how personal resources and personal demands at home can influence work engagement through personal resources and personal demands at work. We conducted a daily diary study involving a group of 97 Chinese employees (N = 97) from a range of different service settings for 2 consecutive weeks (N = 1358) and evaluated their daily work engagement using manager ratings. The findings support the hypothesized mediating effects of personal resources and personal demands at work on personal resources and personal demands at home and work engagement.

The effectiveness of supervisor support in lessening perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion of university employees during the COVID-19 crisis: the constraining role of organizational intransigence

Despite the severity of the COVID-19 crisis, which has affected organizations worldwide, there is a lack of research on the organizational factors that affect the psychological wellbeing of the employees of an organization affected by the crisis. This research uses the case of employees at two international universities in Thailand that have been directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Grounded in social support theory and the job-demand resource model of job stress, this research examines the role of supervisor support in explaining the degree of perceived uncertainties and emotional exhaustion that employees experience due to the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, this research examines whether the effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees can be moderated by organizational intransigence, that is, a prevailing climate of resistance to change at the workplace. The questionnaire survey data were obtained from a sample of 300 employees at two private international universities, and the partial least squares structural equation model was used for data analysis. The results significantly confirm that supervisor support has a negative effect on the perceived uncertainties of employees. Perceived uncertainties also significantly mediate the negative effect of supervisor support on the employees' emotional exhaustion. More importantly, the moderating effect analysis shows that the negative effect of supervisor support on the perceived uncertainties of employees presents only for employees who work in a workplace climate where there is low intransigence; in a workplace climate where there is high intransigence, supervisor support does not lower the perceived uncertainties of employees.

Going Your Own Way: A Cross-Cultural Validation of the Motivational Demands at Work Scale (Mind@Work)

In modern jobs, performing well at work requires to an increasing degree that workers manage and motivate themselves for their tasks. Rather than to rely on a supervisor, they must set their own goals, decide how hard they work to achieve that goal, and decide when the task is completed. This manuscript describes the validation of an instrument that measures the extent to which workers must deal with such “motivational job demands”; the Motivational Demands at Work Scale (Mind@Work). Using data from a Dutch (N = 308) and a Chinese (N = 681) sample of working adults, confirmatory factor analysis showed that this instrument was reliable and robust in both samples, and that the factor structures obtained in both samples were highly comparable. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that high scores on the dimensions of the Mind@Work were associated with higher levels of engagement, work passion, job crafting and innovation behavior, even after controlling for job control, and job demands. These findings suggest that motivational job demands can be measured in a reliable and valid way. Thus, more research that examines the potential of this new concept for well-being and performance of employees seems warranted.

How host-country nationals manage the demands of hosting expatriates

Purpose

Using job demands-resources (JD-R) theory as a conceptual apparatus, the purpose of this paper is to report an empirical exploration of the experiences of host-country national (HCN) employees when their organization hosts an expatriate assignment.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 Vietnamese HCNs who had vast experience hosting multiple self-initiated expatriates with organizational development objectives.

Findings

The study reveals previously hidden costs associated with locals’ support for expatriates, including a range of extra-role demands and more complex and stressful interpersonal interactions. These demands exceeded the current intercultural capabilities of many respondents, and while offset to some extent by their positive pre-arrival attitudes and culture-specific knowledge, led to sometimes counterproductive coping responses such as withdrawal behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

The study extends the JD-R framework by explicating which demands and resources are pertinent to HCNs, and how these activate particular coping strategies. The cultural context of Vietnam, as both a setting for the workplace interactions and imbued in the values and assumptions of respondents, limits the study’s transferability.

Practical implications

The findings provide guideposts for organizations in ways to offset HCNs’ hindrance demands (e.g. matching demands to current capabilities) and to encourage the use of productive coping strategies via, for instance, anticipating and mitigating potential challenges.

Originality/value

The study’s insights go some way toward articulating more fully the richness and complexity of HCNs’ experiences, and a more rounded perspective of the costs and benefits inherent in international work assignments.

How career adaptability can enhance career satisfaction: Exploring the mediating role of person–job fit

This study examined the operation of resources as a mechanism underlying the relationship between career adaptability and career satisfaction. Based on career construction theory and conservation of resources theory, we examined the interactive effects of career adaptability, career satisfaction, person–job fit, and job uncertainty. The results of two-wave data collection from 234 full-time workers revealed that employees with stronger career adaptability were more likely to report career satisfaction. The full mediating effect was found of person–job fit. Specifically, we found that career adaptability enhances person–job fit, which results in greater career satisfaction. Additional analysis revealed that job uncertainty interferes with the mediation model. We identified a new antecedent of career satisfaction (i.e., person–job fit) and revealed the functional mechanism underlying the effect of this antecedent. This study provides novel insights valuable to the field of career management.

How Do Coworkers Aid in Coping with Emotional Exhaustion? An Experience Sampling Method Approach

The present study emphasizes the indirect influences of coworker helping behavior on emotional exhaustion through psychological availability and the moderating role of perceived task demands on a daily basis. Using a two-wave experience sampling method with data collected via mobile phones, we collected 345 matched data from 69 samples over five consecutive days in mainland China. We developed a moderated mediation model to test our conceptual model, with the following significant results: (1) Daily coworker helping behavior decreased employee emotional exhaustion; (2) daily psychological availability mediated the influence of coworker helping behavior on employee emotional exhaustion; (3) through psychological availability, perceived task demands moderated the indirect influence of daily coworker helping behavior on emotional exhaustion. The indirect influence of daily coworker helping behavior only emerged with a low perception of job demands. This research explores the mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship between daily coworker helping behavior and employee emotional exhaustion with the job demands-resources model framework. In practice, leaders should adopt beneficial interventions to enhance team cohesion, to facilitate team members' helping behavior, and to manage task demands.

Conceptualizing Well-Being in Vocational Psychology: A Model of Fulfilling Work

Following from the strengths-based inclusive theory of work (S-BIT of Work), fulfilling work is a central goal of career and work counseling. However, vocational psychologists have yet to develop a comprehensive model of fulfilling work. We addressed this concern by reviewing the literature on well-being, developing the fulfilling work construct, and delineating an operationalized model of fulfilling work. This operationalization contains four components: (a) job satisfaction, (b) meaningful work, (c) work engagement, and (d) workplace positive emotions. These components capture the hedonic, eudaimonic, cognitive, and affective dimensions of fulfilling work. Researchers can adapt these components to different cultures by adjusting their operationalizations and understanding how people interpret and experience fulfilling work in different contexts. Fulfilling work represents the core experience of well-being in the work context and provides a starting point for research on the S-BIT of Work.

Resource Crafting: Is It Really 'Resource' Crafting-Or Just Crafting?

This study aims to provide an integrated perspective on job crafting and its antecedents through the exploration of the joint effects of individual-level and team-level job crafting on employee work engagement. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that engaging in job crafting behaviors is promoted by the presence of job-related resources. In turn, job crafting is expected to result in higher levels of work engagement. We expect this reasoning to hold for the individual as well as the team/collective levels. The hypotheses were tested using data from 287 medical professionals from 21 hospital units of a Chinese public hospital. Findings from two-level Bayesian structural equation modeling supported the idea that at the individual level, individual job crafting behaviors partially mediated the relationship from individual resources to individual work engagement. Further, collective crafting mediated the relationship from team resources to individual work engagement. In addition, a positive cross-level relation between collective crafting and individual crafting was found. We conclude that stimulated by resources, both job crafting processes at the individual-level and team-level can promote individual work engagement in Chinese employees.

The Influence of Work-Family Conflict on Taiwanese Expatriates' Burnout and Turnover Intention in China: Guanxi as a Moderator

Guanxi has been shown to play an important role in the management of Taiwanese expatriates assigned to China. In this study, we examined the relationships between expatriates’ work-family conflict, burnout, and intent to return early and the moderate role of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi in these relationships from the perspective of job demands-resources model. We used a two-waved data from a sample of 257 Taiwanese expatriates in China, and the results supported the moderating hypotheses of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi. Besides, burnout mediated the effect of work-family conflict on intent to return early, only when Taiwanese expatriates perceived low levels of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi. Finally, Guanxi would be a buffer for expatriate assignment management in the Chinese context.

Is the Role of Work Engagement Essential to Employee Performance or ‘Nice to Have’?

The current study aimed to scrutinize roles of work engagement as a mediator in the relationships between job and personal resources and employees’ outcomes, namely job performance and turnover intention, specifically focusing on testing the essentiality of work engagement. A total of 571 complete responses from full-time employees in Korean organizations were utilized for data analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM). This study analyzed two research models through the competing model approach: One model (Model 1) specified that job and personal resources directly influence job performance and turnover intention and also indirectly influence job performance and turnover intention through work engagement, whereas the other model (Model 2) specified that job and personal resources only indirectly influence turnover intention and job performance through work engagement. The results of the competing models demonstrated that overall, Model 2 adequately fit better than Model 1. The results also showed that the direct effects of job and personal resources on work engagement, as well as the direct effects of work engagement on job performance and turnover intention were statistically significant. In addition, the results of the study revealed statistically significant mediating effects of work engagement, not only on the relationship between job and personal resources and job performance, but also on the relationship between job and personal resources and turnover intention. Based on the results, theoretical and practical implications for human resource management, limitations, and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Socialization resources theory and newcomers’ work engagement

Purpose

Although work engagement has become an important topic in management, relatively little attention has been given to newcomers’ work engagement in the socialization literature. The purpose of this paper is to explain how newcomers’ work engagement can fluctuate during the first year of organizational entry and the role of organizational socialization in developing and maintaining high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the socialization literature indicates that uncertainty reduction theory has been the basis of research on socialization tactics and newcomer information-seeking both of which function by providing newcomers with information to reduce uncertainty. Socialization resources theory is used to develop a new pathway to newcomer socialization which focuses on providing newcomers with resources during the first year of organizational entry and socialization.

Findings

The uncertainty reduction pathway to newcomer socialization is narrow and limited because it primarily focuses on minimizing and reducing the negative effects of job demands rather than on providing newcomers with resources that are necessary to facilitate work engagement and socialization.

Practical implications

Organizations can use newcomers’ work engagement maintenance curves to map and track fluctuations in newcomers’ work engagement during the first year of organizational entry and they can conduct an audit of socialization resources to determine what resources are required to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

Originality/value

This paper describes newcomer work engagement maintenance curves and explains how socialization resources can be used to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement. A model of a new pathway to newcomer socialization is developed in which socialization resources, personal resources, and job demands influence newcomers’ work engagement and socialization outcomes.

A conceptual safety-oriented job demands and resources model for the fire service

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and present a safety-oriented job demands-resources (JD-R) model that supports the notion that excessive job demands in the fire service, when not controlled or countered, may increase firefighter burnout and diminish firefighter safety.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach for the present project includes a review of the JD-R literature and the presentation of a conceptual model specific to fire service organizations.

Findings

A conceptual model, relevant to fire service organizations was derived. The model argues that excessive job demands associated with workload, physical demands, emotional demands, and complexity can result in burnout if not controlled or countered. Safety-specific resources, including recovery, support, safety-specific transformational leadership and safety climate are theorized to buffer these effects and are suggested to enhance firefighter engagement. These effects are argued then to improve firefighter safety. Ultimately, the findings will help guide future research, intervention projects and workplace safety and health management programs and initiatives.

Originality/value

This paper and conceptual model extends the application of the JD-R model to fire service organizations. Further, the conceptual model supports the application of safety-specific job resources vs more traditional job resources as a means to enhance firefighter safety.