Employee Strain Research Articles

Health-specific leadership: Is there an association between leader consideration for the health of employees and their strain and well-being?

The aim of this study is to examine the concept of health-specific leadership, differentiate it from sound general leadership and identify whether it has an impact on employee strain, alongside general sound leadership practices. Health-specific leadership is conceptualized as the leader's explicit consideration of and engagement in employee health. The study is based on research in the field of leadership impact on employee strain, health and well-being, extended by recent findings of the importance of domain-specific leadership constructs. As indicated by previous relevant studies, we include psychological climate for health, role ambiguity and job satisfaction as mediating variables. Using structural equation modelling, a sample of 1027 employees of the German tax administration was examined. The results show differential effects for health-specific and general sound leadership. While neither of these two aspects of leadership exhibited a direct association with employee strain, general sound leadership practices were significantly related to lower employee strain through lower levels of role ambiguity, better psychological climate for health and higher job satisfaction. Health-specific leadership was associated with higher levels of psychological climate for health, but also higher role ambiguity.

Reducing conflict-related employee strain: The benefits of an internal locus of control and a problem-solving conflict management strategy

Workplace conflict is a potent stressor, but most previous research has focused on its effect on productivity and performance rather than on individual well-being. This paper examines the moderating roles of an individual's internal locus of control and a problem-solving conflict management strategy. In the cross-sectional study, among 774 health care workers in the Netherlands, employees' internal locus of control did moderate the relationship between experienced conflict at work and psychological strain, which was measured using a 13-item Dutch adaptation of the Occupational Stress Indicator. In addition, this moderation was mediated by the active conflict management strategy of problem solving; people with a more internal locus of control use a problem-solving conflict management strategy more often and, as a result, experience less psychological strain in cases of workplace conflict. Implications for conflict theory, for future research, and for practice are discussed.

EXPLORING EMPLOYEE REACTIONS TO HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS: IS THERE A POTENTIAL “DARK SIDE”?

This study examines relationships among high performance work systems (HPWS), job control, employee strain, work intensification, and turnover intentions. Building on theory that challenges the rhe...

Antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment in organizations: A meta-analytic review.

This paper provides meta-analytic support for an integrated model specifying the antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment. Results indicate that contextual antecedent constructs representing perceived high-performance managerial practices, socio-political support, leadership, and work characteristics are each strongly related to psychological empowerment. Positive self-evaluation traits are related to psychological empowerment and are as strongly related as the contextual factors. Psychological empowerment is in turn positively associated with a broad range of employee outcomes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and task and contextual performance, and is negatively associated with employee strain and turnover intentions. Team empowerment is positively related to team performance. Further, the magnitude of parallel antecedent and outcome relationships at the individual and team levels is statistically indistinguishable, demonstrating the generalizability of empowerment theory across these 2 levels of analysis. A series of analyses also demonstrates the validity of psychological empowerment as a unitary second-order construct. Implications and future directions for empowerment research and theory are discussed.

Emotional labor in china: do perceived organizational support and gender moderate the process?

AbstractThis survey study of 2201 employees from a large mobile phone company investigated how perceived organizational support (POS) and gender moderate the impact of emotional labor strategies on employee strain. Emotional labor strategies were related to employee strain, including turnover intentions, job satisfaction, burnout, and mental well‐being in the expected directions. POS moderated these relationships such that POS was related to more positive outcomes for employees who engaged in deep acting but exacerbated negative outcomes for employees who engaged in surface acting. Gender moderated these relationships such that women were more likely than men to report positive consequences when engaging in deep acting. POS and gender interacted with deep acting in predicting cynicism such that POS was related to reduced cynicism in response to deep acting for women but not for men. These results indicate that organizational policies and training opportunities aimed at improving POS and use of deep acting over surface acting could be valuable for organizations. Results also illuminate the important and complicated moderating role of POS and gender in the emotional labor process. Future research directions for scholars investigating the emotional labor process, its consequences, moderators and its cross‐cultural relevance are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Heart rate and work pulses of two age groups associated with working in the cold at +3°C and −24°C

Due to increasing sales numbers, the production and distribution of frozen food, as well as working in the deep cold, are becoming more and more important. Nevertheless, there are only a few investigations into the effects of working in the cold on humans. Order-picking in a cold environment at approximately −24°C represents a high workload and even when wearing suitable cold protective clothing leads to exceptionally high strain. At least hypothetically, also varying physical strain of younger and older employees could be expected. Therefore, evaluation methods were developed and applied for the quantification of the physiological responses of two age-groups to working in the cold. The results of heart rate measurements while working at +3°C and −24°C are presented.

Passive responses to interpersonal conflict at work amplify employee strain

Interpersonal conflict at work correlates with stress related outcomes such as psychological strain and exhaustion. Consistent with conflict theory, we argued that this relationship is moderated by the way conflict is managed. Cross-sectional data collected in The Netherlands, from students with part-time jobs (Sample 1, n = 104), healthcare workers (Sample 2, n = 191), and mid-level administrative personnel (Sample 3, n = 161) indeed revealed that conflict was related to psychological strain and exhaustion especially when interpersonal conflict was managed passively (through avoiding and yielding). Active conflict management strategies (forcing and problem solving) did not moderate the relationship between interpersonal conflict and employee strain. Implications for conflict theory, for future research, and for practice are discussed.

Cross‐level effects of high‐performance work practices on burnout

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of management practices – specifically, high‐performance work practices (HPWPs) – on employee burnout. Two potential mediating mechanisms that counterbalance each other in the development of burnout are compared: a critical mechanism that states that HPWPs intensify job demands (which increases burnout) and a positive mechanism that states that HPWPs increase fairness among employees (which reduces burnout).Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire data are gathered among 393 employees working in 86 Dutch organizations. Human resource managers provide information about HPWPs while employees were inquired about their perceptions of job demands, fairness, and burnout. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted to test the assumptions.FindingsThe analyses reveal a slightly positive relationship between HPWPs and burnout, which is completely mediated by job demands. Fairness was associated with the experience of less burnout, but the results do not sustain the idea that HPWPs contributed to procedural justice. Although the data do not support the idea that justice and intensified job demands counteract each other in the development of burnout under systems of HPWPs, the results do support a critical “employee exploitation” oriented perspective on HPWPs.Originality/valueMost studies on HPWPs focus on mechanisms that explain positive employee well‐being outcomes. A more critical perspective, which predicts increased employee strain as a result of demanding work practices, is also valid. The results of this paper indicate that the critical perspective on HPWPs receives empirical justification and requires further elaboration in future research.

Euthanasia-related strain and coping strategies in animal shelter employees

To identify and evaluate coping strategies advocated by experienced animal shelter workers who directly engaged in euthanizing animals. Cross-sectional study. Animal shelters across the United States in which euthanasia was conducted (5 to 100 employees/shelter). With the assistance of experts associated with the Humane Society of the United States, the authors identified 88 animal shelters throughout the United States in which animal euthanasia was actively conducted and for which contact information regarding the shelter director was available. Staff at 62 animal shelters agreed to participate in the survey. Survey packets were mailed to the 62 shelter directors, who then distributed them to employees. The survey included questions regarding respondent age, level of education, and role and asked those directly involved in the euthanasia of animals to provide advice on strategies for new euthanasia technicians to deal with the related stress. Employees completed the survey and returned it by mail. Content analysis techniques were used to summarize survey responses. Coping strategies suggested by 242 euthanasia technicians were summarized into 26 distinct coping recommendations in 8 categories: competence or skills strategies, euthanasia behavioral strategies, cognitive or self-talk strategies, emotional regulation strategies, separation strategies, get-help strategies, seek long-term solution strategies, and withdrawal strategies. Euthanizing animals is a major stressor for many animal shelter workers. Information regarding the coping strategies identified in this study may be useful for training new euthanasia technicians.

Self-determination as a moderator of demands and control: Implications for employee strain and engagement

Abstract Does job control act as a stress-buffer when employees’ type and level of work self-determination is taken into account? It was anticipated that job control would only be stress-buffering for employees high in self-determined and low in non-self-determined work motivation. In contrast, job control would be stress-exacerbating for employees who were low in self-determined and high in non-self-determined work motivation. Employees of a health insurance organization (N = 123) completed a survey on perceptions of role overload, job control, work self-determination, and a range of strain and engagement indicators. Results revealed that, when individuals high in self-determination perceived high job control, they experienced greater engagement (in the form of dedication to their work). In addition, when individuals high in non-self-determination perceived high job demands, they experienced more health complaints. A significant 3-way interaction demonstrated that, for individuals low in non-self-determination, high job control had the anticipated stress-buffering effect on engagement (in the form of absorption in their work). In addition, low job control was stress-exacerbating. However, contrary to expectations, for those high in non-self-determination, high job control was just as useful as low job control as a stress-buffer. The practical applications of these findings to the organizational context are discussed.

The influence of shift work on emotional exhaustion in firefighters

PurposeWith the demand for continuous services increasing, organizations have relied more upon shift work to adapt to the needs of consumers. However, relatively little research has adequately explored the effects of different types of shifts on emotional exhaustion, particularly as they relate to work‐family conflict and social support. In this paper based on the conservation of resources (COR) model of stress, a mediated model where shifts that demand more resources related to the work‐family interface will be more likely to lead to emotional exhaustion is argued. The paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachA study of 168 fire service personnel from departments working on three different shift systems is conducted. The participants complete survey measures of emotional exhaustion, work‐family conflict, support, and demographic controls.FindingsThe paper suggests that more demanding shifts, those that lead to less time spent off the job in continuous blocks, are associated with higher work‐family conflict. Moreover, family support can make up for the lost resources of demanding shifts and is negatively associated with work‐family conflict. Finally, higher work‐family conflict is associated with emotional exhaustion.Practical implicationsThe paper has important implications for the scheduling of shifts and employee well‐being. Specifically, it suggests that scheduling shifts with larger continuous blocks of time with family will be associated with lower work‐family conflict and less strain on employees.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to use a COR‐based framework to understand how shift scheduling leads to decrements in employee well‐being. Given the common use of shift work in practice, such findings may be critical in effective shift work design such that shifts have less negative impact on family life and less longer term impact on employee strain.

Effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment: Predicting strain in academic employees in the United Kingdom.

Effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment: Predicting strain in academic employees in the United Kingdom.

Integrating Job Stress and Social Exchange Theories to Predict Employee Strain in Reformed Public Sector Contexts

This research examines the organizational characteristics that contribute to employee wellbeing in public sector agencies that have undergone substantial organizational change. Two studies were undertaken, the first involving 2,466 police officers working in a state-based law enforcement agency, whereas the second comprised 1,010 occupationally diverse employees working in a State Government authority. The research was guided by a theoretical framework that begins with a model underpinning many large-scale job stress investigations—the job strain model (JSM)—and is expanded to incorporate widely used social exchange variables (i.e., psychological contract breach and organizational fairness). The results of hierarchical regression analyses from both studies confirm the value of the JSM. There was also strong support for extending the JSM to include the breach and fairness variables; however, proposed interactions between job demands and organizational fairness failed to add to the explanatory value of the model. The implications of these results particularly for public sector organizations that have undergone extensive reforms consistent with New Public Management are discussed.

Alterations in cervical muscle activity in functional and stressful tasks in female office workers with neck pain

This study determined differences between computer workers with varying levels of neck pain in terms of work stressors, employee strain, electromyography (EMG) amplitude and heart rate response to various tasks. Participants included 85 workers (33, no pain; 38, mild pain; 14, moderate pain) and 22 non-working controls. Work stressors evaluated were job demands, decision authority, and social support. Heart rate was recorded during three tasks: copy-typing, typing with superimposed stress and a colour word task. Measures included electromyography signals from the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), anterior scalene (AS), cervical extensor (CE) and upper trapezius (UT) muscles bilaterally. Results showed no difference between groups in work stressors or employee strain measures. Workers with and without pain had higher measured levels of EMG amplitude in SCM, AS and CE muscles during the tasks than controls (all P < 0.02). In workers with neck pain, the UT had difficulty in switching off on completion of tasks compared with controls and workers without pain. There was an increase in heart rate, perceived tension and pain and decrease in accuracy for all groups during the stressful tasks with symptomatic workers producing more typing errors than controls and workers without pain. These findings suggest an altered muscle recruitment pattern in the neck flexor and extensor muscles. Whether this is a consequence or source of the musculoskeletal disorder cannot be determined from this study. It is possible that workers currently without symptoms may be at risk of developing a musculoskeletal disorder.

Organizational change in the public sector: Augmenting the demand control model to predict employee outcomes under New Public Management

This study identifies the environmental and personal characteristics that predict employee outcomes within an Australian public sector organization that had, under New Public Management (NPM), implemented a variety of practices traditionally found in the private sector. These are more results-oriented, and their adoption can be accompanied by increased strain for employees. The current investigation was guided by two complementary theories, the Demand Control Support (DCS) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, and sought to examine the benefits of building on the DCS to include both situation-specific stressors and internal coping resources. Survey responses from 1,155 employees were analysed. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both external and employee-centred variables made significant contributions to variations in psychological health, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The external resources, work based support and, to a lesser extent, job control, predicted relatively large proportions of the variance in the target variables. The situation-specific stressors, particularly those involving harmful management practices (e.g., insufficient time to do job as well as you would like, lack of recognition for good work), made significant contributions to the outcome measures and generally supported the process of augmenting the generic components of the DCS with more situation-specific variables. In terms of internal resources, problem and emotion-based coping improved the capacity of the model to predict psychological health. The results suggest that the impact of NPM can be ameliorated by incorporating the dimensions of the augmented DCS and coping resources into the change programme.

Must "Service With a Smile" Be Stressful? The Moderating Role of Personal Control for American and French Employees.

Suppressing and faking emotional expressions depletes personal resources and predicts job strain for customer-contact employees. The authors argue that personal control over behavior, in the job and within the national culture, provides compensatory resources that reduce this strain. With a survey study of 196 employees from the United States and France, the authors supported that high job autonomy buffered the relationship of emotion regulation with emotional exhaustion and, to a lesser extent, job dissatisfaction. The relationship of emotion regulation with job dissatisfaction also depended on the emotional culture; the relationship was weaker for French customer-contact employees who were proposed to have more personal control over expressions than U.S. employees. Theoretical and research implications for the emotion regulation literature and practical suggestions for minimizing job strain are proposed.

Job strain and leisure-time physical activity in female and male public sector employees

Background High work stress could decrease physical activity but the evidence of the relationship has remained equivocal. The present study examined the association between job strain and leisure-time physical activity in a large sample of employees. Methods Cross-sectional data related to a cohort of 46,573 Finnish public sector employees aged 17–64 years. Job strain was measured by questions derived from Karasek's Demand/Control model. Leisure-time physical activity was defined using activity metabolic equivalent task (MET) index. Analysis of variance was used to compare means of MET-hours/week by job strain categories and by tertiles of job control and job demands. Results Women and men with high strain (low control and high demands), passive jobs (low control and low demands), and low job control had 2.6 to 5.2 MET-hours/week less than their counterparts with low strain and high control, respectively, even after the effects of age, marital status, socioeconomic status, job contract, smoking, heavy drinking, and trait anxiety were taken into account. Active jobs (high control and high demands) were additionally associated with lower mean of MET-hours in men and in older workers. Conclusions Our findings suggest an independent, albeit substantially weak, association between higher work stress and lower leisure-time physical activity.

Job?Family Role Strain Among Low-Wage Workers

This exploratory study aimed to identify the personal, family, and job characteristics associated with low-wage employees’ job–family role strain. Data were collected from both English and non-English speaking workers at one hotel site. Multivariate data analyses revealed that different sets of circumstances create job–family strain for employees. Supervisor support was independently associated with two of the three job–family strain variables while other job factors emerged as significant when interacting with demographic variables. Findings suggest that structural factors associated with managing work and family responsibilities may more accurately measure job–family role strain for this worker population. The study provides further evidence that the concept of job–family role strain is inherently complex, warranting further investigation, especially for employees in low-wage earning jobs.

Freiwillig mehr tun? Organizational Citizenship Behavior im Krankenhaus - ein Vergleich zwischen Ärzten und Pflegekräften

The study compares physicians and the nursing staff of a hospital in terms of their extra-role behavior. Matters of interest include the extent of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) shown on the one hand and on the other hand which conditions stimulate the OCB of both physicians and nurses, respectively. The comparison was conducted by applying a questionnaire on n = 70 physicians and n = 112 nurses in a nursing department of a municipal hospital. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) The extra-role behavior in terms of sportsmanship, individual initiative, and conscientiousness show equally high values with respect to physicians as well as nurses. In contrast, nurses rate their own helping behavior towards colleagues higher than the physicians do. Therefore, the extent of OCB does not seem to be job-specific in the narrower sense. (2) Differences between physicians and nurses exist indeed with respect to the conditions for the occurrence of OCB: Although the extent of OCB shown by physicians and nurses is independent from age, department tenure, and organizational tenure, job experience does play a role for the degree of conscientiousness (physicians) and individual initiative (nurses). Furthermore, gender affects the sub dimension sportsmanship (nurses). (3) While job characteristics (job control and stress) play a certain role for the degree of nurses' OCB, the physicians' extra-role behavior is independent from job control and strain. Vice versa, the analyzed person-related characteristics job insecurity and strain play a role for the extra-role behavior of physicians, while the behavior of nurses remains unaffected hereof. In other words: Nurses show the same OCB at high and low levels of strain and job insecurity, while physicians lower their OCB when strain and job insecurity rise. (4) For both physicians and nurses, job satisfaction is the most important predictor for extra-role behavior. When trying to enhance the extent of OCB within a hospital, it is -- according to our results -- primarily essential to increase the job satisfaction of physicians as well as nurses. Within the nursing department, it is additionally recommended to enhance the employees' scope of action, if possible. However, for the enhancement of OCB it must be kept in mind -- according to our results -- that with rising OCB the stress (e. g. time pressure and interruptions) rise at the same time. The latter might result in higher strain for employees. In the group of physicians, on the other hand, a person-related approach seems promising: it is essential to reduce the physicians' subjectively felt strains as well as the job insecurity.

Employee strain and job satisfaction related to an implementation of quality in a public service organization: A longitudinal study

To date, few studies have focused on employee reactions to the quality-related aspects of the introduction of New Public Management (NPM). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on employee strain and satisfaction of the implementation NPM in a public service organization. The study was designed as an empirical examination of the 'context-dependent approach' ( Edwards, Collinson, & Rees, 1998 ). This approach suggests that effects of an organizational change depend on the context of the implementation, i.e. organizational aspects (implementation strategies), job content and job context dimensions. They employed a single-case longitudinal design. The case was a large municipal service unit responsible for the public housing system of a city in Austria. The sample consisted of 217 employees. Measurements were taken before the organizational change, and at two different times during the change process. While the implementation of NPM can be considered to have been an organizational success (increase in customer satisfaction), it was accompanied by increases in job strain, and, at the same time, mixed results in job satisfaction. Less qualified employees mainly responsible for the customer interface experienced the organizational change most negatively. Using structural equation modelling, the context-dependent approach was empirically confirmed. Job control, role clarity and information were found to be the most important job and organizational resources.