Abstract
As part of society, religious organizations are exposed to contextual conditions and challenges. However, adapting to external conditions is an act of balance since too much compromising may risk having a negative effect on employees’ perception of organizational authenticity and, in turn, employees’ well-being and attitudes toward work. In this study, we examined how specific characteristics of the work, in terms of job demands (role conflict and emotional demands) and job resources (influence at work and social community at work), as well as employees’ credence in the organization’s ability to respond to change, relate to employee well-being within the Church of Sweden. In total 2,112 employees (58% participation rate) answered a web-based survey. The results of regression analyses showed that job resources and credence in the organization’s ability to respond to change provided a clear contribution to the explanation of variance in work engagement and, especially, job satisfaction. However, the contribution of job demands was less clear. Moreover, to further the understanding of the association between employees’ credence in the organization’s ability to respond to change and employee well-being, the mediating effect of job resources was tested. The results showed that the association between credence and well-being is in part mediated by job resources. In sum, the study demonstrate that employees’ credence in the organization’s ability to respond to change is important to consider for understanding employee well-being within religious organizations. In conclusion, our study suggest that organizations that are built up on strong values and institutionalized beliefs, such as religious and faith-based organizations, need to tread carefully in the process of adapting to conformal pressure for change. This, since the actions and choices of the organization are important for employees’ credence in the organization and, in turn, employee well-being. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Highlights
In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the societal importance of religious organizations as well as the well-being of the employees in these organizations (e.g., Roof, 2015; Ariza-Montes et al, 2017)
The aim of the present study was to investigate the role and importance of credence in the organization’s ability to respond to changes in relation to employee well-being in religious organizations
In line with the basic propositions of the Job Demands– Resources (JD-R) theory, the present study investigates the significance of specific job demands and resources in relation to employees’ well-being within a religious organization
Summary
In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the societal importance of religious organizations as well as the well-being of the employees in these organizations (e.g., Roof, 2015; Ariza-Montes et al, 2017). As part of society, religious organizations are not bound to one institutionalized community but exposed to external challenges, expectations, and norms other than merely religious ones (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Suchman, 1995; Deephouse and Suchman, 2008). These logics and rationalities of organizational structures, management conceptions, and operational standards constitute a conformal pressure on the organization to adapt to (e.g., Brunsson and Jacobsson, 2010; Brunsson et al, 2012). The associations seem to be complex, as the ability of organizations to handle change in a constructive manner is dependent on the commitment of the employees (Elias, 2009)
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