Employee Recovery Research Articles

Leaving Work at Work: A Meta-Analysis on Employee Recovery From Work

After reviewing the various ways employee recovery from work has been conceptualized in existing literature as well as the predominant theoretical frameworks used to study recovery, we meta-analyze the relationships between employee recovery, demands, resources, well-being, and performance. We also quantitatively examine the conceptualizations of recovery as activities, experiences, or states in terms of both their intercorrelations and differing effects with demands, resources, well-being, and performance. Results of meta-analyses using a total of 198 empirical samples indicated general support for the hypothesized positive relationships between employee recovery and resources, well-being, and performance as well as a negative relationship with demands. However, the size and consistency of observed effects differed markedly based on the conceptualization utilized. Additionally, various conceptualizations of recovery were shown to be only modestly related, while recovery experiences and the state of being recovered were shown to have substantial temporal consistency. Implications of these findings for scholars studying recovery and practitioners are discussed.

Climate Change and Preparations for the Tide of Traumatic Stress: Implications for Asia-Pacific Human Resources

ABSTRACTAlthough attention to the business risks posed by natural disasters fueled by climate change has grown, the toll that disasters have on human resources in the form of traumatic stress is comparatively neglected. It is common for more than 20% of people exposed to natural disasters to develop traumatic stress disorders that can last for years. In the workplace, traumatic stress hurts attendance, the quantity and quality of output, and relationships. Fortunately, businesses can promote employee resilience and recovery. Given the Asia-Pacific region’s high risk of natural disasters, businesses operating there should include employees’ traumatic stress in their disaster preparedness.

Psychological Detachment from Work during Nonwork Time and Employee Well-Being: The Role of Leader's Detachment.

Research has shown that psychological detachment from work during nonwork time is an important recovery experience and is crucial for employee well-being. Integrating research on job-stress recovery with research on leadership and employee mental health and well-being, this study examines how a leader's psychological detachment from work during nonwork time directly relates to subordinate psychological detachment from work and indirectly to employee exhaustion and need for recovery. Based on self-report data from 137 employees and their supervisors, this study revealed that leader psychological detachment was related to subordinate psychological detachment and that leader psychological detachment was indirectly related to low subordinate exhaustion and low subordinate need for recovery, also when controlling for negative affectivity and leader-member-exchange. Overall, this study demonstrates that leaders might have an impact on subordinate strain symptoms not only via leadership behavior at work but also via detachment processes during leisure time. These findings suggest that employee recovery processes might not only be regarded as an individual phenomenon, but could be seen as embedded in the larger organizational context.

Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Off-Job Activities on Recovery and Sleep: A Two-Wave Panel Study among Health Care Employees.

This study examined whether particular recovery activities after work have a positive or negative effect on employee recovery from work (i.e., cognitive, emotional, and physical detachment) and sleep quality. We used a two-wave panel study of 230 health care employees which enabled looking at both short-term and long-term effects (i.e., two-year time interval). Gender, age, marital status, children at home, education level, management position, and working hours were used as control variables. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that work-related off-job activities were negatively associated with cognitive and emotional detachment in both the short and long run, whereas low-effort off-job activities were positively related to cognitive detachment in the short run. Moreover, household/care off-job activities were positively related to sleep quality in the long run, whereas physical off-job activities were negatively associated with sleep quality in the long run. The long-term findings existed beyond the strong effects of baseline detachment and sleep quality. This study highlights the importance of off-job recovery activities for health care employees’ detachment from work and sleep quality. Practical implications and avenues for further research are discussed.

Two faces of employee inactivity: Procrastination and recovery

The present study aims to investigate whether the two kinds of employee inactivity, namely procrastination and recovery at work can be empirically distinguished. Online survey data collected from 116 Dutch white-collar employees were analyzed in terms of (a) the factorial distinction of recovery and procrastination (internal validity evidence) and (b) their association with performance and work engagement (external validity evidence). The results of confirmatory factory analysis revealed the best fit for the model in which recovery and subdimensions of procrastination (soldiering and cyberslacking) loading to separate latent constructs. Moreover, recovery was positively related to work engagement and performance, whereas, procrastination did not show any significant relationship to these two concepts. In sum, findings of this study suggest that employee non-work related activity during work hours can be differentiated empirically. These results enhance the workplace procrastination literature by providing further validation evidence.

Too anxious to help? Off‐job affective rumination as a linking mechanism between work anxiety and helping

This study explores the inter‐relationships of work anxiety, affective rumination, and helping behaviours. Drawing on the effort–recovery model and resource depletion perspectives to extra‐role behaviours, we hypothesized that employees with higher work anxiety would affectively ruminate about work during off‐job time, which in turn would diminish their helping behaviours at work. Results of a multisource, time‐lagged study with 167 full‐time employee‐co‐worker dyads supported this indirect effect model. The results of this study extend research on work anxiety to encompass extra‐role behaviours and indicate the value of exploring leisure time experiences as linking mechanisms in the work anxiety–job performance relationship.Practitioner points We identify affective rumination during off‐job time as a mechanism linking work anxiety to employee helping behaviours. Our findings suggest that efforts to reduce work anxiety and encourage effective employee recovery may yield more helping behaviours at work.

Ovsiankina's Great Relief: How Supplemental Work during the Weekend May Contribute to Recovery in the Face of Unfinished Tasks.

Unfinished tasks have been identified as a significant job stressor that impairs employee recovery after work. Classic experimental research by Ovsiankina has shown that people tend to resume yet unfinished tasks to satisfy their need for closure. We apply this notion to current working life and examine supplemental work after hours as a means to achieve peace of mind. We investigate how progress towards goal accomplishment through supplemental work may facilitate recovery in terms of psychological detachment, relaxation, autonomy, and mastery experiences. We conducted a week-level diary study among 83 employees over a period of 14 consecutive weeks, which yielded 575 observations in total and 214 matched observations of unfinished tasks, supplemental work during the weekend, progress, and recovery experiences. Unfinished tasks were assessed on Friday. Supplemental work and recovery experiences were assessed on Monday. Multilevel modeling analyses provide evidence that unfinished tasks at the end of the work week are associated with lower levels of detachment at the intraindividual level, tend to relate to lower relaxation, but are unrelated to autonomy and mastery. Progress towards finishing tasks during the weekend alleviates the detrimental effects of unfinished tasks on both kinds of recovery experiences. Supplemental work is negatively linked to detachment, but largely unrelated to the other recovery experiences.

Identifying ICT-Related Affective Events Across Life Domains and Examining their Unique Relationships with Employee Recovery

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of information and communication technology (ICT) use for employees by exploring affective ICT events and their relation to employee recovery. We conducted two daily diary studies with knowledge workers in Germany. In study 1 (N = 153), we followed a qualitative approach by developing a taxonomy of negative and positive ICT events at work and at home. We found 11 negative (e.g., multichannel use, work e-mails in the evening) and 10 positive ICT event clusters (e.g., utilizing idle times, availability at home). In study 2 (N = 154), we examined how the occurrence of ICT-related events in the evening is related to detachment from work and sleep quality using a multilevel design. Study 2 provided a differentiated picture of relationships between evening ICT events and recovery. Overall, results indicate that work-related ICT events in the evening—even in cases where they are appraised as positive—are detrimental for employee recovery. Our study contributes to the refinement of the operationalization of ICT use for future analyses of ICT impacts and sheds light on the differential effects of specific types of ICT events. ICT use conceptualized as the occurrence of affective events helps to advance our understanding of the diversity of ICT-related experiences. The negative effects of handling work e-mails at home imply that organizations should engage in optimizing their “e-mail culture.”

Better together? Examining profiles of employee recovery experiences.

Employees are exposed to a wide variety of job demands that deplete personal resources and necessitate recovery. In light of this need, research on work recovery has focused on how distinct recovery experiences during postwork time relate to employee well-being. However, investigators have largely tested the effects of these experiences in isolation, neglecting the possibility that profiles of recovery experiences may exist and influence the recovery process. The current set of studies adopted a person-centered approach using latent profile analysis to understand whether unique constellations of recovery experiences-psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, control, and problem-solving pondering-emerged for 2 samples of full-time employees. In Study 1, which involved a single-time-point assessment, we identified 4 unique profiles of recovery experiences, tested whether job demands (i.e., time pressure, role ambiguity) and job resources (i.e., job control) differentiated profile membership, and evaluated whether each profile uniquely related to employee well-being outcomes (i.e., emotional exhaustion, engagement, somatic complaints). In Study 2, which involved 2 time points, we replicated 3 of the 4 profiles observed in Study 1, and tested 2 additional antecedents rated by employees' supervisors: leader-member exchange and supervisor support for recovery. Across both studies, unique differences emerged in regard to antecedents and outcomes tied to recovery experience profile membership. (PsycINFO Database Record

Three dimensions of service recovery: examining relationship and impact

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to evaluate the interrelationship between process recovery, employee recovery and customer recovery in a financial services call centre. We also investigate how process recovery affects customer recovery via employees- the bridge between organisation and customers. Design/methodology/approach: A case study based approach is adopted in this study, and data triangulation is achieved through multiple data collection methods including semi-structured interviews, employees’ survey, and company reports. Justice theory is the theoretical lens considered to understand the ‘service recovery’ phenomenon. Findings: The research helps in understanding the relationship of process and employee recovery with customer recovery. Findings suggest that service recovery could be used for complaint management as well as in understanding and addressing the gaps in internal operations and employee skill-sets. Factors such as training, operating systems, empowerment, incentives, and feedback, were identified as critical in providing effective service recovery. Process improvement is necessary to control complaints by conducting root cause analysis and learning from failure. Research limitations/implications: Findings are limited to a case company in financial services sector and thus limits its generalisability to other context. Questionnaire distributed to employees only included important dimensions of service recovery, which would be further developed in future research. Relevance/contribution: This paper explores the specific reverse exchange strategies, termed in this paper as service recovery, and analyses the different factors responsible for better performance in the exchange process. The paper highlights how the imbalance in the process and employee recovery dimensions can impact on customer recovery. Closing the customer complaint loop by using the service recovery perspective may help organization to not only deal with complaints in a better way but also prevent such complaints in the future.

Retrospective: tracking service failures and employee recovery efforts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of the findings first put forward in the article Tracking Service Failures and Employee Recovery Efforts with the benefit of hindsight, and to offer directions for further research and developments in the research area. Design/methodology/approach Research directions which emanated from the publication of the article have been examined in light of current service(s) marketing theory and practice. As a result, promising current and future strands of research have been identified. Findings The original study yielded the initial steps into what has become a systematic step-by-step process that outlines the development and implementation of a service recovery program that now includes failure identification; failure attribution; recovery strategy selection; recovery implementation; and tracking, monitoring and evaluating effectiveness. Subsequent research has linked organistic and mechanistic components of a recovery program to important customer and financial outcomes and the development of a service recovery audit. Practical/implications The original study served as a starting point for the development of a set of implications for services marketing practitioners. Specifically, as a result of the original research, a programmatic approach to service recovery was developed that includes the systematic process of failure identification; failure attribution; recovery strategy selection; (4) recovery implementation; and tracking, monitoring and evaluating effectiveness. Originality/value The original article was highly rated, and generated discussion and important further research. It has value as a part of the history of service(s) marketing research. The retrospective analysis by the author(s) gives a unique insight into processes and thinking associated with understanding key aspects that contribute to the historical development of service(s) marketing, and provides substantial food for thought for future research directions.

Internal Service Recovery’s Influence on Frontline Service Employees’ Satisfaction and Loyalty

Relatively little studies have investigated employee recovery from internal service failure, especially from the employees’ perspective. When handling customer complaints, employees must not only deal with legitimate customer demands after a service failure, such as providing an apology, rectifying the problem, and offering compensation, but they must also manage illegitimate dysfunctional customers, who may yell, threaten, and even physically harm the employee. These negative experiences can have strong effects, and employees can exhibit higher levels of stress such as burnout and emotional labor, which have been linked to dissatisfaction, tension and anxiety, reduced performance and effectiveness, and a greater propensity to leave the firm, ultimately leading to negative financial consequences for the firm. These conditions result in internal service failure and create the need to recover employees - in other words, internal service recovery. However, little research has examined this issue so far. The purpose of the current study, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between internal service recovery and employee outcomes. A pre-test, post-test between-subjects experimental design was developed. Participants were 166 part-time students who were working full-time. The average age of the participants was 36.74 years, and 57.50% of them were female. The average length of employment was 13 years. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups of approximately equal size. Three of the groups were subjected to an experimental situation involving an internal service failure, while one group was not exposed to failure, thereby acting as a control group. This study contributes to the service marketing literature in several ways. First, the study extends service failure and/or recovery research by examining recovery in an employee context. Second, this study attempts to measure internal service recovery and to empirically demonstrate its relationship to employee outcomes. Third, this investigation emphasizes the managerial importance of internal service recovery. For example, understanding the nature of the relationships between internal service recovery and its consequences can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of managers" resource allocation decisions.

Internal Service Recovery’s Influence on Frontline Service Employees’ Satisfaction and Loyalty

Relatively little studies have investigated employee recovery from internal service failure, especially from the employees’ perspective. When handling customer complaints, employees must not only deal with legitimate customer demands after a service failure, such as providing an apology, rectifying the problem, and offering compensation, but they must also manage illegitimate dysfunctional customers, who may yell, threaten, and even physically harm the employee. These negative experiences can have strong effects, and employees can exhibit higher levels of stress such as burnout and emotional labor, which have been linked to dissatisfaction, tension and anxiety, reduced performance and effectiveness, and a greater propensity to leave the firm, ultimately leading to negative financial consequences for the firm. These conditions result in internal service failure and create the need to recover employees - in other words, internal service recovery. However, little research has examined this issue so far. The purpose of the current study, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between internal service recovery and employee outcomes. A pre-test, post-test between-subjects experimental design was developed. Participants were 166 part-time students who were working full-time. The average age of the participants was 36.74 years, and 57.50% of them were female. The average length of employment was 13 years. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups of approximately equal size. Three of the groups were subjected to an experimental situation involving an internal service failure, while one group was not exposed to failure, thereby acting as a control group. This study contributes to the service marketing literature in several ways. First, the study extends service failure and/or recovery research by examining recovery in an employee context. Second, this study attempts to measure internal service recovery and to empirically demonstrate its relationship to employee outcomes. Third, this investigation emphasizes the managerial importance of internal service recovery. For example, understanding the nature of the relationships between internal service recovery and its consequences can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of managers" resource allocation decisions.

Need satisfaction and employees' recovery state at work: A daily diary study.

The present study aimed to advance insight in the associations between employees' daily effort expenditure at work and their recovery state during the workday, and specifically focused on the role of daily work-related need satisfaction in this process. We examined (a) if high intrinsic work motivation and low self-control effort act as mediating mechanisms underlying the beneficial role of need satisfaction, and (b) to what extent need satisfaction mitigates the adverse effects of high job demands (work pressure and cognitive demands) on employee recovery. Data were collected by means of a 5-day daily diary study (2 measurements daily: in the morning before work, and at the end of the workday) among 68 participants. Multilevel analyses showed that need satisfaction at work was related to a beneficial recovery state at the end of the workday, and that this association was mediated by high intrinsic work motivation and low self-control effort. Furthermore, need satisfaction attenuated the adverse effects of high work pressure on employee recovery. All in all, this study increased our understanding of employees' daily effort and recovery processes at work, and highlighted the beneficial role of need satisfaction at work.

Please respond ASAP: workplace telepressure and employee recovery.

Organizations rely heavily on asynchronous message-based technologies (e.g., e-mail) for the purposes of work-related communications. These technologies are primary means of knowledge transfer and building social networks. As a by-product, workers might feel varying levels of preoccupations with and urges for responding quickly to messages from clients, coworkers, or supervisors--an experience we label as workplace telepressure. This experience can lead to fast response times and thus faster decisions and other outcomes initially. However, research from the stress and recovery literature suggests that the defining features of workplace telepressure interfere with needed work recovery time and stress-related outcomes. The present set of studies defined and validated a new scale to measure telepressure. Study 1 tested an initial pool of items and found some support for a single-factor structure after problematic items were removed. As expected, public self-consciousness, techno-overload, and response expectations were moderately associated with telepressure in Study 1. Study 2 demonstrated that workplace telepressure was distinct from other personal (job involvement, affective commitment) and work environment (general and ICT work demands) factors and also predicted burnout (physical and cognitive), absenteeism, sleep quality, and e-mail responding beyond those factors. Implications for future research and workplace practices are discussed.

Empirical analysis of health tourism - Băile Herculane, WHERE TO?

Tourism is an activity practiced in our times at a large scale, with more and more people wanting to be part of this phenomenon, aware of its benefits: cultural, emotional and even health benefits. Spa tourism has a long tradition in Europe: the curative properties of water were highly valued by the Greeks and Romans, who turned the habit of bathing into a social occasion. This form of tourism is no stranger to Romania, being practiced here since 2000 years ago, the most important evidences being the Roman built resorts such as B aile Herculane. Spa tourism is of significant importance for employee recovery after occupational stress, helps with recovering from injuries, provides a life extension and improves specific ailments associated with ageing. This paper attempts to foray into health tourism over time - from the earliest records of the use of curative thermal waters in Europe until present, suggesting ways that we believe are beneficial for future research. The second part of the paper focuses on B aile Herculane, with an analysis of the resort tourism indicators, its present condition and possible improvements.

The recovery potential of intrinsically versus extrinsically motivated off‐job activities

Thus far, studies on employee recovery have produced mixed findings about which off‐job activities contribute or impede recovery. We suggest that the recovery potential of an off‐job activity depends on the employee's motivation for the activity. Based on Self‐Determination theory, we expect that leisure activities (social, low‐effort, physical activities), particularly lead to next morning recovery when one has intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic, motivational tendencies for the activity. Likewise, the harmful effects of high‐duty off‐job activities (work‐related tasks, household chores, care tasks) are expected to be less severe when one is intrinsically, and not extrinsically, motivated for the tasks. During five consecutive days, 74 employees (356 data points) recorded the hours spent on six off‐job activities before going to sleep, and their feelings of exhaustion and recovery the next morning, while overall motivation for each of the six activities was measured by a general questionnaire. As predicted, the positive relationship between leisure activities and next morning recovery was more pronounced among employees with greater inherent intrinsic, in comparison with extrinsic motivation for the activity. Moreover, intrinsic motivation attenuated the positive relationship between high‐duty tasks and next morning exhaustion. Our findings highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation for the recovery potential of off‐job activities.Practitioner points Engaging in leisure activities after work contributes most to recovery when the employee is intrinsically motivated for those activities. Work‐related off‐job activities are less harmful for recovery when the employee has a general intrinsic, as opposed to an extrinsic, motivation for work‐related activities. Organizations may facilitate employee well‐being by discouraging employees to work beyond regular work hours during leisure time. Organizations may facilitate employee well‐being by creating a work climate in which intrinsic work motives are encouraged.

Spatially dispersed employee recovery: An airline case study

Employee recovery addresses either employee well-being or management's practices in aiding employees in recovering themselves following a service failure. This paper surveys the cabin crew at a small, European, low-cost carrier and investigates employees' perceptions of management practices to aid personnel achieve service recovery. Employee recovery within service research often focuses on front-line employees that work in a fixed location, however a contribution to the field is made by investigating the recovery of spatially dispersed personnel, such as operational personnel in the transport sector, who have a work place away from a fixed or central location and have minimal management contact. Results suggest that the support employees receive from management, such as recognition, information sharing, training, and strategic awareness are all important for spatially dispersed front-line employees' satisfaction with management's actions and overall employee recovery.

Staying engaged during the week: The effect of off-job activities on next day work engagement.

Although studies on employee recovery accumulate at a stunning pace, the commonly used theory (Effort-Recovery model) that explains how recovery occurs has not been explicitly tested. We aimed to unravel the recovery process by examining whether off-job activities enhance next morning vigor to the extent that they enable employees to relax and detach from work. In addition, we investigated whether adequate recovery also helps employees to work with more enthusiasm and vigor on the next workday. On five consecutive days, a total of 74 employees (356 data points) reported the hours they spent on various off-job activities, their feelings of psychological detachment, and feelings of relaxation before going to sleep. Feelings of vigor were reported on the next morning, and day-levels of work engagement were reported after work. As predicted, leisure activities (social, low-effort, and physical activities) increased next morning vigor through enhanced psychological detachment and relaxation. High-duty off-job activities (work and household tasks) reduced vigor because these activities diminished psychological detachment and relaxation. Moreover, off-job activities significantly affected next day work engagement. Our results support the assumption that recovery occurs when employees engage in off-job activities that allow for relaxation and psychological detachment. The findings also underscore the significance of recovery after work: Adequate recovery not only enhances vigor in the morning, but also helps employees to stay engaged during the next workday.

Relationships between work-home segmentation and psychological detachment from work: The role of communication technology use at home.

Employees can have difficulty mentally distancing themselves from work during off-job time due to increasing use of communication technologies (e.g., e-mail, cell phone, etc.). However, psychological detachment from work during nonwork time is important for employee recovery and health. This study examined several antecedents of psychological detachment: work-home segmentation preference, perceived segmentation norm, and the use of communication technology at home. Results indicate that segmentation preference and segmentation norm were positively associated with psychological detachment. Further, technology use at home partially mediated these relationships. Findings indicate that segmenting work and nonwork roles can help employees detach and recover from work demands. In addition, findings show that the segmentation norm within a work group is associated with employee experiences outside of work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).