Abstract
In the absence of clearly established procedures in the workplace, employees will experience a negative affective state. This situation influences their well-being and their intention to behave in ways that benefit the organization beyond their job demands. This impact is more relevant on teamwork where members share the perception of ambiguity through emotional contagion (role ambiguity climate). In the framework of the job demands-resources model, the present study analyzes how high levels of role ambiguity climate can have such an effect to reduce employee affective engagement. Over time it has been associated with negative results for the organization due to a lack of extra-role performance. The sample included 706 employees from a multinational company, who were divided into 11 work teams. In line with the formulated hypotheses, the results confirm the negative influence of the role ambiguity climate on extra-role performance, and the mediated effect of affective engagement in the relationship between the role ambiguity climate and extra-role performance. These findings indicate that the role ambiguity climate is related to the adequate or inadequate functioning of employees within a work context.
Highlights
When organizations establish procedures to increase the effectiveness and well-being of employees, the absence of ambiguity in the workplace is a key element in achieving success in such a venture
None of the two outcome variables influence the age variable which was used as a control variable
The results show that role ambiguity climate and extra-role performance are significantly reduced (β = −0.9, p < 0.05) in step 1
Summary
When organizations establish procedures to increase the effectiveness and well-being of employees, the absence of ambiguity in the workplace is a key element in achieving success in such a venture. If in the context of work there are no clearly established procedures, employees must improvise their actions and their behavior will be based on their experience. This leads them to generate latent mistakes or produces direct negative consequences at the organizational level (Ramanujam and Goodman, 2003). If there is clarity in the procedures associated with a role, it increases the degree of accuracy with which the functions associated with that role are developed (Kahn et al, 1964).
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