Employee Subjective Well-being Research Articles

Understanding subjective well-being across a multi-generational workforce in public relations: a qualitative study

PurposeThe current inquiry advances the public relations field and practice in several ways. First, this research addresses a clear gap in research on subjective well-being, specifically among PR professionals across career stages and generations. Second, the findings reveal important generational similarities and differences in how PR practitioners talk about well-being. This provides an empirical basis for developing tailored, multi-generational approaches to supporting well-being in PR workplaces. Lastly, this research provides practical implications for PR professionals to understand generational perspectives and to implement flexible policies to improve well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe current study explored subjective well-being (SWB) across generations of public relations professionals. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 PR practitioners at various career levels – entry, mid-level and senior.FindingsAnalysis revealed several similarities but a key disparity among cohorts. Senior-level professionals specifically reported struggling with work–life balance and the perceived ability to be autonomous, while entry-level professionals expressed commitment to setting boundaries on their time. These findings highlight a need for the PR industry to establish flexible workplace standards that enable employees at different career stages to collaborate and support one another’s well-being.Practical implicationsOur findings will appeal to your readers who seek to cultivate employee subjective well-being and understand generational issues via qualitative methods. By conducting a qualitative study in an understudied area, PR industry leaders and managers can support employee well-being across generations and career stages.Originality/valueOur study is the first to examine generational dispositions as it relates to SWB across the public relations industry.

Promoting employee well-being and commitment in communication industries

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the well-being initiatives and programs offered to full-time communication employees and identifies antecedents of employee subjective well-being and commitment in the workplace (e.g. organizational attention to mental health in the workplace and perceived organizational support, POS).Design/methodology/approachGuided by organizational support theory (OST), we conducted an online survey with 262 full-time communication professionals.FindingsThe data show that a variety of well-being initiatives and programs (e.g. mental health assistance programs and flexible working hours) are offered to communication employees, who receive this information from various sources (e.g. emails and announcements at employee meetings). Additionally, the number of well-being initiatives also positively predicted organizational attitudes and attention to mental health in the workplace. Supporting OST, attitudes and attention to mental health in the workplace positively predicted POS, which subsequently predicted subjective well-being and organizational commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offers practical implications around the communication professionals’ experience in employee well-being and culture. Perspectives from internal communication teams will help organizations leverage their efficiency in creating a supportive work culture around mental well-being and contribute to the understanding of well-being in communication industries. Theoretically, we extended the range of OST, by testing the theory in a new context of communication professionals during the pandemic.Originality/valueAlthough communication professionals carry a critical internal communication role in actively promoting employee mental health, well-being and healthy organizational cultures, very little research has been dedicated to investigating how they handle these subjects themselves. Therefore, this study provides original value by focusing on the perceptions, knowledge and action taken by communication professionals when responding to organizations’ well-being programs/initiatives offerings during the peak of COVID-19 and the factors that influence communication professionals’ subjective well-being.

Employee emotional investment: An institutional logic perspective

Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, institutional logic, and institutional arrangements, this study conceptualized and examined employee emotional investment as an important factor that influenced hospitality employee job and personal outcomes. In Study 1 (N=211), the reliability of the modified employee emotional investment scale was examined. In Study 2 (N=250), first using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) the reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the measure was confirmed. Second, partial-least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis of hospitality employees revealed that their emotional investment affected their work attitudes and behaviors. Organizational service climate and employee hierarchy in the organization were identified as significant antecedents of emotional investment. Emotional investment directly influenced employee resilience, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), organizational commitment, and employee engagement. Emotional investment indirectly affected employee subjective wellbeing, whereas organizational commitment and employee engagement showed full mediation effects. The findings extended COR theory and revealed employee emotional investment as a distinct form of employee organizational behavior. Practical implications for hospitality managers are provided.

Commuting vs teleworking: How does it impact the relationship between commuting satisfaction and subjective well-being

While the relationship between commuting satisfaction (CS) and subjective well-being (SWB) has been extensively studied, less attention is given to explaining how CS affects SWB via satisfaction with non-travel-related life domains. Failure to account for these spillover effects of life domains other than commuting has certainly led to an overestimation of the impact from CS to SWB. This study aims to address this gap and examine the recent changes in commuting practices/working conditions, particularly the increase in working from home (WFH) due to the pandemic. A structural equation model is employed to examine differences in WFH frequencies and their impact on the relationship between CS, satisfaction with other life domains and SWB. The results suggest that hybrid teleworkers exhibit highest SWB and occasional WFH individuals have the lowest levels of SWB. Moreover, the effect of CS on SWB is mediated first by time satisfaction (TUS) and then by other life domains, highlighting the dominance of TUS on the relationship between CS and SWB regardless of WFH frequency. These findings help to identify not only areas where employee SWB can be improved, but also how.

Promoting subjective well-being of IT professionals through gratitude practice: a moderated mediation analysis of gender and employee engagement

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze the potential mediating role of employee engagement in the relationship between gratitude and subjective well-being (SWB) of employees working in the information technology (IT) sector in India. The study investigated a moderated mediation model for gratitude and SWB, treating employee engagement as a mediator and gender as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 162 professionals working IT sector in India. Process Macro, AMOS and IBM SPSS 22 were used to analyze the mediation and moderation effects.FindingsThe results depicted that employee engagement fully mediates the positive association between gratitude practice and the SWB of employees as well as the demographic variable; gender also demonstrated a full moderation effect between them.Originality/valueThis research may be one of the few studies from the Indian context that explore whether gratitude practiced by employees working in the IT sector can play a significant role in impacting their SWB. Past research models had not introduced employee engagement’s indirect impact on the examined variables.

Effect of positive organizational behavior on subjective well-being in the workplace in the tourism sector of Jordan

Employee subjective well-being, which contributes to work stability, increases productivity, and in turn improves the performance of both employees and the organization, is critical in modern business organizations for a variety of reasons that affect the performance and sustainability of those organizations, as well as the numerous benefits they achieve.The purpose of this study is to discover the impact of positive organizational behavior on the subjective well-being of employees in Jordanian tourism industry. The analytical-descriptive methodology was used to attain the study’s goal. The sample consisted of 392 workers of Jordanian tourism organizations (22 companies) within the upper and middle administrative levels, who were chosen using a simple random procedure. The questionnaire that included items to measure the dimensions of independent and dependent variables was distributed to them.The study concluded that there is a medium level of positive organizational behavior and subjective well-being in the workplace for the study sample. All dimensions of positive organizational behavior (self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and flexibility) have a statistically significant effect on subjective well-being. That is, the higher the level of positive organizational behavior, the higher the subjective well-being of workers. AcknowledgmentThis study is funded by the Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, fund decision number (393/2021).

How job demands and job resources contribute to our overall subjective well-being.

How the work environment contributes to employees' overall subjective well-being remains inadequately explored. Building upon the seminal Job Demands-Resources model, this study aims to test a complex model that combines leadership, job demands, and job resources, as factors contributing either indirectly (via job satisfaction) or directly to employees' subjective well-being (SWB). The cross-sectional data (N = 1,859) of the Belgian National happiness study (2020) were used. Leadership (satisfaction with leadership; perceived supervisor support), job demands (role conflict; job insecurity; work-private conflict; perceived working conditions), job resources (autonomy; relatedness; competence; skill utilization; personal growth), job satisfaction and subjective well-being (life evaluation; positive affect; negative affect) were assessed via self-report questionnaires. The proposed model investigates the direct impact of job demands and resources on SWB, as well as the indirect impact with job satisfaction as mediating factor, and was tested using the Structural Equation Modeling technique. Findings supported the proposed model. Both job demands and job resources have a direct relationship with SWB. Job resources are positively related to overall SWB, whereas job demands negatively affected SWB. Moreover, job resources are more strongly related to SWB compared to job demands. The demands and resources also indirectly contribute to employee's SWB via job satisfaction as job satisfaction appeared to mediate these relationships. The current study shows that both job demands and resources directly and indirectly contribute to employees' SWB. Creating a supportive and healthy work environment is thus of paramount importance in order to foster employees' SWB. In particular, investing in improving job resources may be a fruitful approach to promote employees' overall subjective well-being.

Subjektives Wohlbefinden von Einsatzkräften im Rettungsdienst mit unterschiedlichem arbeitsbezogenem Verhaltens- und Erlebensmuster

ZusammenfassungHintergrundIm Rettungsdienst (RD) sind psychische Belastungen im Arbeitsalltag im besonderen Maße vertreten. Für einen umfassenden Blick auf die mentale Gesundheit und um Gesundheitsbeeinträchtigungen durch arbeitsbezogene Belastungen zu erkennen, ist das Wohlbefinden eine wichtige Größe. In dieser Befragung sollten Zusammenhänge zwischen subjektivem Wohlbefinden und dem arbeitsbezogenen Verhaltens- und Erlebensmuster untersucht werden. Ziel war es, Interventionsbereiche für die Gesundheitsförderung aufzuzeigen und einen Beitrag zur Primärprävention im RD zu leisten.MethodikIn einer Online-Umfrage wurden 508 Einsatzkräfte im RD befragt. Das Durchschnittsalter der teilnehmenden Personen betrug 32,8 ± 9,16 Jahre. Mit Hilfe des AVEM-Fragebogens (arbeitsbezogenes Verhaltens- und Erlebensmuster) konnten 381 der befragten Einsatzkräfte einem der 4 AVEM-Muster (A, B, G und S) und 127 (25,5 %) keinem Muster zugeordnet werden. Anhand dieser Eingruppierung wurden Unterschiede in der Ausprägung des Wohlbefindens mit dem WHO-5-Fragebogen analysiert.ErgebnisseIn der Gesamtstichprobe ergab sich für mehr als 83,9 % (426) der befragten Personen ein gutes subjektives Wohlbefinden. Es ließen sich jedoch signifikante Unterschiede zwischen dem subjektiven Wohlbefinden der 4 AVEM-Muster nachweisen. Hierbei gaben besonders Einsatzkräfte mit dem gesundheitsförderlichen Muster G signifikant besseres Wohlbefinden an, als solche mit gesundheitsbeeinträchtigenden Musterausprägungen (B und A). Persönliche Eigenschaften wie das Alter und Dienstjahre zeigten keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge zum Wohlbefinden.DiskussionIn der Betrachtung der Zusammenhänge des subjektiven Wohlbefindens mit den AVEM-Muster-Ausprägungen der befragten Personen ergaben sich deutliche Interventionsbereiche für die Gesundheitsförderung bei den Risikomustern A und B.

Predictors of subjective wellbeing at work for regular employees in Japan

Japan has been experiencing a long decline in its workforce. Companies in Japan are eager to retain their existing employees and diversify their recruitment. Employees with long-term and open-ended employment are also switching companies at a greater rate. Consequently, Japanese firms have started paying attention to employee subjective wellbeing, now recognized as a source of higher job performance. This study empirically explores the predictors of subjective wellbeing at work for Japanese regular employees beyond those already identified in Europe and U.S.-centric research. We applied a two-stage design, consisting of interviews and a questionnaire survey to identify those factors that promote subjective wellbeing in Japanese corporations where long-time employment and group cohesiveness and achievement are valued over individual achievement. We identified eight factors affecting subjective wellbeing at work for Japanese regular employees: meaningful work, relationships, culture, workspace, evaluation, time off, financial benefits, and diversity at work. Consequent regression analyses highlighted the discriminant importance of work relationships, evaluation, diversity, workspace, and meaningful work. Eudaimonic and hedonic happiness were found to be caused by different factors. As expected, meaningful work led to eudaimonic satisfaction of life at work in Japan. In contrast hedonic happiness was affected by factors external to work itself, such as work relationships, work evaluation and diversity. Interestingly, diversity at work was found to have an ambivalent effect as it was related to both positive and negative affects at work. These findings will help Japanese companies create a work environment that can maximize regular employees’ wellbeing, job performance, and retention.

The association of perceived leadership style and subjective well-being of employees in a tertiary hospital in Germany.

Professionals in the healthcare sector are a particularly vulnerable group for occupational strain due to high work-related psychological stress. For the implementation of targeted stress-prevention interventions as an important part of a workplace health management programme for all occupational groups and hierarchy levels, information about the current state of their mental health is mandatory. Hence, this study investigated the association of general well-being and different leadership styles among employees in a German tertiary hospital. Via an online survey, 10,101 employees were contacted. The final sample consisted of 1137 employees. Of these, 27.7% described themselves as leaders and 72.3% as followers. Most participants were female (74.8%), more than half were under 41 years old. Besides control variables, general well-being (WHO-5) and leadership style (transactional and transformational, laissez-faire and destructive leadership) were assessed. Leaders reported higher well-being scores than followers. Physicians without leadership responsibilities had the lowest scores for well-being. Practitioners of both transformational and transactional leadership were associated with higher well-being scores, while those practicing laissez-faire and destructive leadership had lower scores for almost every professional group. Results highlight the necessity for future multimodal health-preventive leadership interventions feature behavioural and organizational intervention modules specifically tailored to hospital professionals at different hierarchical and functional levels to foster the mental health of employees.

Organizational culture and performance. The case of Google

Organizational culture, as a social science concept, has been studied in a range of disciplines from social anthropology to organizational psychology. Corporate culture is used as a concept to denote a more commercialized approach to organizational culture. In recent years there has been a significant emphasis on the concept of organizational culture, as a critical component of day-to-day organizational functioning, and there has been a strong realization that the performance of organizations depends to a large extent on the culture they have developed within them. This is also a very difficult point for any modern manager. Culture can be understood as the invisible side of an iceberg, occupying the most important volume of the structure. The visible part at the level of organizations, can concern what is perceived daily, such as behaviors, final judgments, etc. Managers must successfully manage the invisible—the invisible attitudes and perceptions of employees, departments, and the ways in which they all intertwine and ultimately affect performance. In the same context, individual performance is a vital factor for organizations. When employees begin to underperform, managers try to address it before it affects the entire department, organization, etc. Often, individual performance is attempted to be resolved, without considering the culture, or the root cause of the problem. Often managers may not realize that they are not individual therapists—since culture is beyond them, what they can do is ensure that an employee can meet the demands of the existing culture. At the same time, they must successfully manage the fluid, ever-changing external environment (which demands the ensuring of the satisfaction of increasingly heterogeneous interest groups). The purpose of the work is to investigate job satisfaction, organizational culture and the subjective well-being of employees. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect that the organizational culture of a company has on the selection and evaluation of personnel, while its objectives are to investigate the selection criteria of candidates based on the culture of the company and the degree to which the corporate culture affects the attitude of the executives to integrate the employees into the culture of the company. The present paper dealt with the above demands, utilizing the culture of the Google Company as a case study. In this way, an attempt was made to derive useful conclusions and suggestions for Greek organizations.

Using active noise-cancelling headphones in open-plan offices: No influence on cognitive performance but improvement of perceived privacy and acoustic environment

High speech intelligibility in open-plan offices and thus a high changing-state character of the acoustic environment have been found to negatively influence cognitive performance. This is often attributed to the so-called irrelevant speech effect. Office workers lately use active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones to improve the acoustic situation by blocking unwanted sound. However, it is currently unknown if using ANC headphones in a noisy setting improves cognitive performance. Two studies were conducted to examine if ANC headphones improve cognitive performance and the subjective well-being of employees in an open-plan office. Cognitive performance was measured using a serial recall test. Subjective assessments were measured using a questionnaire. The participants were tested in silence, speech without headphones, speech with ANC headphones switched off and speech with ANC headphones switched on. No statistically significant differences were found between the conditions with ANC headphones switched on and off as well as without headphones for cognitive performance. However, ANC headphones statistically significantly improved subjective assessments such as perceived privacy and the assessment of the acoustic environment. The results provide a scientific basis for evaluating and planning the appropriate use of ANC headphones for concentration-intensive activities such as office work.

Research on the influence of employee's subjective well-being on organizational identity

Enterprise employees are an important factor and reserve force of enterprise development, organizational identity of employees means they have a certain sense of dependence and belonging to the organization, is an important factor to improve work performance and job satisfaction. The subjective well-being of individuals has a certain impact on organizational identity. This study will study subjective well-being and organizational identity through linear regression analysis. Finally, the conclusion that positive emotion has a positive impact on organizational identity is drawn, and relevant suggestions and opinions are given.

Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership as Job Resources for Achieving Workers' Subjective Well-Being Among Organizations Based on Values.

IntroductionEmpirical evidence shows that leadership style is a job resource that promotes employee subjective well-being among workers of value-based organizations. These organizations try to create cultures with strong values to which employees adhere, increasing their subjective well-being and transmitting the identity values. Concretely, religious organizations are characterized by transmitting their values while they perform their services. The value-based management model of religious entities is an appropriate setting for studying the effects that this style based on values has on subjective well-being.PurposeIn organizations with strong value-based cultures, the most appropriate styles are moral leadership and, among them, servant and authentic leadership; thus, this research contributes from the theoretical framework of job demands-resources (JD-R) model to the open debate on leadership as job resource to promote subjective well-being and the common characteristics of these leadership styles.Patients and MethodsTo reach the aim of this research, a sample of workers in Catholic organizations located in Spain was used. The data was processed using partial least squares (PLS) technique.ResultsThe results show that while authentic leadership is a job resource to achieving greater well-being among workers of value-based organizations, servant leadership is merely a resource in the presence of a perceived authentic leadership. In other words, authentic leadership exerts a total mediation in the relationship between servant leadership and subjective well-being.ConclusionThe main contribution of this research lies in demonstrating that servant and authentic leadership are job resources that together promote subjective well-being among workers of religious organizations. This result rejects the previous theory that defend the redundant outcomes of these leadership styles, what undoubtedly constitutes an interesting finding for the academy. These findings also complement the social identity theory, as the identity of a service entity could justify that servant leadership generates higher levels of perceived authentic leadership.

Roles of work-life balance and trait mindfulness between recovery experiences and employee subjective well-being: A moderated mediation model

The present study proposed and tested the mediating effect of work-life balance (WLB) in the relationship between recovery experiences and subjective well-being (SWB) as well as the moderating role of trait mindfulness in the proposed relationships. A convenience sample of 348 full-time Chinese hotel employees from 3–5-star hotel was collected using a self-administered online survey. Results from Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) illustrated that two dimensions of recovery experiences, mastery experiences and control, were positively related to work-life balance. Control recovery dimension and work-life balance were positively associated with subjective well-being. The study results also confirmed the mediating role of work-life balance between recovery experience and subjective well-being. In addition, trait mindfulness showed a partial moderating role in the mediated relationships among recovery experiences, work-life balance, and subjective wellbeing. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

The Double-edged Sword Effect of Overtime Work on Employee Career Success: The Role of Team Overtime

Despite the increasing use of overtime in organizations, the investigation into whether overtime contributes to or hinders employees’ career success remains unanswered. Drawing on human capital theory and conservation of resources theory, this study offers a model that postulates that employee overtime relates positively to employee career success through increasing employee in-role performance, but that overtime also hinders employee career success through damaging employee subjective wellbeing. In addition, team-level overtime moderates the indirect effect of employee overtime on career success via in-role job performance as well as subjective wellbeing. We tested our hypotheses in Study 1 with a four-month time-lagged survey from 613 employees nested in 95 teams nested in 25 Chinese firms, and Study s with a three-wave longitudinal study from 280 employees in a Western cultural context. Taking together, our research provides support for a double-edged sword effect of employee overtime on career success, and illustrates the importance of team-level overtime.

The relationship between emotional labor, workplace bullying, depression and subjective well-being of employees in call centers

여성집중 수준이 높은 콜센터 상담사들은 안전하지 않은 노동환경에서 심각한 수준의 감정노동과 직장 내 괴롭힘을 겪고 있다. 우리나라에서는 2018년 산업안전보건법의 개정을 통해 콜센터 상담사를 포함한 고객응대 노동자의 감정노동으로 인한 피해보호조치의 근거가 마련되었고, 2019년 근로기준법 개정을 통해 직장 내 괴롭힘 피해에 대한 보호조치 의무가 사업주에게 부과되었다. 그동안 콜센터 상담사에 대한 연구는 주로 인적자원 관리 관점에 기초하고 있거나, 감정노동 실태와 현상을 파악하기 위한 것에 초점을 둔 경향이 있다. 이에 본 연구는 국내 콜센터 상담사들의 감정노동과 직장 내 괴롭힘이 우울과 주관적 건강인식에 미치는 영향을 파악하고 이를 근거로 정책 및 제도적 개선방안에 대해 논의하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를 위해 2020년 8월 노동조합과 직장갑질119를 통해 자발적 조사참여자 총 501명을 대상으로 웹 기반 설문조사를 실시하였다. 분석결과 콜센터 상담사들의 감정노동 수준은 높았고, 직장 내 괴롭힘 피해율은 22.8%였다. 감정노동과 직장 내 괴롭힘은 다양한 인구사회적 변인을 통제한 상태에서 유의하게 우울과 주관적 건강인식에 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 이를 토대로 콜센터 상담사의 감정노동과 직장 내 괴롭힘 예방 및 해결을 위한 개선방안을 제언하였다.

Employment Precarization and Subjective Well-Being of Employees in Different Age Groups

The article looks into age-related differences in the degree of employment precarization and in the nature of its relationship with the subjective well-being of workers, with the perception of unstable conditions of employment and labor activity. Based on data from the all-Russian survey of the working population, three worker age groups are compared: up to 29 years old, 30–49 years old, 50 years old and up. It is found that indicators of precarization are more common among young people, while being less often found among older people and middle-aged workers. These age groups go in the same order if they are ranked in descending order of employment precarization index values, which is a number constructed of those precarity indicators that an employee displays simultaneously. Age-related differences are also found in the specifics of the relationship between precarization and subjective assessments of the situation in the realm of work and life in general. Unstable employment hurts middle-aged workers the most: among them an increase in employment precarization is associated not just with a decrease in satisfaction with one’s job, wages and working conditions (that’s typical for all age categories), but also with increased concern over various problems at their place of work, social pessimism, dissatisfaction with life and the changes that have occurred in it. For young people and older workers only a few of these indicators (primarily those related to evaluations of working conditions and place of work) are associated with increased employment precarization.

Influence of University teachers’ job satisfaction on subjective well-being and job performance

Research previously found a direct relationship between job satisfaction (JS) and employee job performance (JP). However, the literature reveals that the influence of intervening variables such as employee subjective well-being (SWB) might have an impact on job satisfaction and job performance relationship. Broaden-and-build model as the theoretical base, a conceptual model was developed where SWB moderates the relation between JS and JP. One unique addition of the study is the introduction of Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Three hundred and ninety-five teachers working for private engineering institutions participated in the study. Results revealed that teachers job satisfaction predicts job performance directly and also through subjective well-being. It show that more satisfied teachers are more likely to show increased job performance when they are experiencing low level and a moderate level of subjective wellbeing. NCA scatterplots and bottleneck analysis prove the necessity of JS and SWB to predict JP. Keywords - Job satisfaction; subjective well-being; job performance and necessary condition analysis.

Exploring the Factors of Employee Subjective Well-Being in the Midst of Health Threat: An Evidence from the U.S. Federal Government during the COVID-19

The recent COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge to employee well-being and will have a lasting impact on how safe employees feel about their work environment. This study aims at examining: (1) the impact of safety perception of employees on their job attitudes; and (2) what factors affect their expectations that their organizations will effectively protect them from potential health threats. Using data from the U.S. Federal Government, this study divided organizational responses to COVID-19 aimed at protecting their employees into the following three types: protecting the employees while working on site, reducing the number of employees working on-site, and providing mental and health assistance. The effects of these organizational responses were analysed separately, and regression analysis was performed with these factors with regards to employees’ safety perception. The results showed that the first group of measures, protecting the employees while they are in the workplace, had generally the most significant influences on employees’ feeling of safety. The attempt to protect those in vulnerable medical conditions was also seen as significant. These findings show that organizations need to protect their employees in the workplaces during a health crisis.