HOW DO WORK VALUES IMPACT WORK ETHIC? MODEL DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY VALIDATION OF A WORK ETHIC ATTENUATION SCALE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The United States Department of Labor recently reported the number of employees quitting their jobs has reached record proportions. This has motivated organizations to explore the issues presumed to be impacting this turnover, specifically those believed to be the root cause of deflated work enthusiasm. This paper reports the results of two studies designed to provide a deeper understanding of this issue. Study 1 is a qualitative evaluation and theoretical development of the correlation between the attenuation of an employee's work ethic and the unfulfillment of values expected from the work experience. Using a dual dimensional construct based on both the work values and work ethic literature, work related factors that are likely to attenuate each dimension of work ethic were isolated from a study of 22 subjects. A new model of employee reactions to work environment factors that attenuate each of the individual subcomponents of inaugural work ethic is proposed. Study 2 describes the scale development process used to measure the attenuation of work ethic and provides empirical support from 332 subjects for this work ethic attenuation scale. Suggestions for future research and managerial application are offered. Keywords Work Value, Work Ethic, Work Environment, Work Centrality