Job Rewards Research Articles

Making Gender Fit and “Correcting” Gender Misfits

This article highlights the extent to which finding a job without actively searching (“nonsearching”) sustains workplace sex segregation. We suspect that unsolicited information from job informants that prompts fortuitous job changes is susceptible to bias about gender “fit” and segregates workers. Results from analyses of 1,119 respondents to the 1996 and 1998 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are generally consistent with this expectation. Gender “misfits”—individuals employed in gender-atypical work groups— are more likely to move into gender-typical work groups than neutral ones. Women misfits are more likely to move into male-dominated than neutral work groups without a job search, but they join mostly desegregated occupations and receive lower job rewards than men misfits who change jobs without searching. We conclude that the nonsearch process serves as an important mechanism that sustains sex segregation and workplace inequality.

Effect of Job Rewards on Job Satisfaction, Moderating Role of Age Differences: Emperical Evidence from Pakistan

This study explores the relationship between work rewards and job satisfaction with moderating effect of age differences. It is an empirical study and a sample of 84 full time employees of FESCO (Faisalabad Electric Supply Company, Pakistan) was taken. The results of this study reveal that Job rewards are proved to be strong determinant of job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is more related to extrinsic rewards for employees than intrinsic rewards. The Age differences have moderating effect on job satisfaction as it increases with rise in age.

Quality of Work: Concept and Measurement

In this paper we review some of the most essential literature on the concept and measurement of quality of work. We show that different academic fields have conceptualized quality of work in distinct ways however there has been a convergence in the positions. Although there is a lack of coherent measures or indicators, the utility a multi-dimensional approach, including both monetary and non-monetary indicators is often recommended. We propose six dimensions to be included in the measurement of quality of work: job security, pay and fringe benefits, intrinsic job rewards, work intensity, skills, and autonomy and control. The majority of the literature relies on subjective indicators of job quality. One way to improve data quality is to merge administrative data and survey data, combining both objective and subjective measures.

Body art in the workplace: piercing the prejudice?

PurposeThe prevalence of body art is on the rise; particularly among college age persons. This study aims to use group norms theory (GNT) and the justification‐suppression model of the expression of prejudice to examine the impact of body art such as tattoos and piercings on ratings of acceptability by co‐workers.Design/methodology/approachIn a full‐factorial two‐by‐two scenario‐based experiment the authors manipulated the presence or absence of face‐to‐face customer contact and the interdependency of the distribution of rewards.FindingsAfter controlling for participants' own tattoos and piercings, impression management, openness‐to‐experience, and agreeableness, the authors have found that an inside sales job and independent rewards are significantly positively related to acceptability but that their interaction was not.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study include the fact that it is a scenario‐based experiment using a fictitious co‐worker and that the sample is comprised of college students. However, manipulating body art in a live confederate would likely to have been impossible and college students are in the age group in which body art is most prevalent, making them logical candidates on which to examine the hypotheses.Practical implicationsEven those with body art themselves still prefer not to work with body art (non‐concealable) wearers in jobs with high levels of face‐to‐face customer contact or in jobs in which rewards are shared equally like team‐based sales.Originality/valueAn experimental design is used so as to manipulate only those characteristics of the work relationship hypothesized to be of interest, while controlling for extraneous variables like attractiveness and personality in the co‐worker, which vary greatly from person to person.

Occupational stress and burnout of judges and procurators

This study aims to examine the associations between occupational stress and burnout among judges and procurators. The Chinese versions of the job content questionnaire (JCQ), Siegrist's effort-reward imbalance questionnaire (ERI), and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) were administered to examine occupational stress and personal, work-related, and client-related burnout among 211 judicial officers, comprising 87 judges and 98 procurators, in Taiwan. Logistic regression was applied to determine the association between burnout and occupational stress among judges and procurators, adjusting for potential confounders of age, gender, marriage, number of children, work experience, working hours, and the significant occupational stress scale of each model for the other. The judicial officers with average age of 36.84 years and work experience of 8.57 years had high averaging scores of job control (70.31), psychological demand (32.23), effort (18.98), reward (48.37), and overcommitment (17.04) as well as personal (49.97), work-related (51.36), and client-related (43.57) burnout. The high psychological demand, effort, and overcommitment were significantly associated with both personal and work-related burnout, while the low workplace social support was significantly associated with client-related burnout among the judicial officers. The judges had a significant higher risk of client-related burnout than the procurators. In general, occupational stress was associated with personal and work-related burnout for both judges and prosecutors. Client-related burnout was more common for judicial officers with low social support and the judges.

Are Small Firms More Beautiful or Is Bigger Better? A Study of Compensating Differentials and Law Firm Internal Labor Markets

Research on the size–job rewards relationship emphasizes extrinsic rewards that are typically more prevalent in large, complex organizations. We examine whether certain intrinsic rewards are more characteristic of small firms and shift the focus from manufacturing industries to professional service (law) firms. We find that small is not entirely beautiful. Smaller firms offer more autonomy but no more challenging work or better coworker relations, whereas larger firms offer lucrative salaries, enhanced benefits, and greater promotional opportunities. Our results challenge the compensating differential explanation whereby large firms offer superior extrinsic rewards to compensate for a shortfall of instrinsic job rewards.

Occupational Stress is Associated with Impaired Work Ability and Reduced Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Kidney Failure

About 300,000 patients in the United States with Chronic Kidney Failure (CKF) are of working age, but up to 70% lose their job within the first year of renal replacement therapy .No study has examined how work ability and perceived health are influenced by the subjects' adjustment to their job. We assessed the association of occupational stress (Effort-Reward Imbalance, ERI),work ability (WAI) and health-related quality of life (QoL) in hemodialysis. 40 employed hemodialysis patients completed a self-administered questionnaire. Associations between ERI, short Form 12 (sF-12), short Form - 6 Dimensions (sF-6D), Kidney Disease QOL- 36 (KDQOL-36) and WAI were tested with partial Spearman's correlation adjusted for age, income, and comorbidity burden. Study subjects were mainly low-income (82%), african-american (73%), men (75%); 16 were manual laborers and 9 worked in the industrial sector. Study subjects reported low levels of Occupational Stress: ERI scores indicated an imbalance between Job Efforts and Rewards in only 3 subjects. Nevertheless, ERI scores were inversely and strongly associated with WAI (rho=-0.41, p<0.012) and all QoL scales even after adjustment for known confounders. Our study suggests that psychosocial workplace factors may play a substantial role in modulating patients' health perception and ability to continue working. The causal relationship between Occupational stress, perceived health, and work ability should be further investigated. Occupational Health professionals and nephrologists should closely collaborate to meet the needs of occupationally active hemodialysis patients.

Change in Work‐Family Conflict Among Employed Parents Between 1977 and 1997

Using data from two national surveys (N = 2,050), this paper examines what accounts for the increase in the sense of work‐family conflict among employed parents between 1977 and 1997. Decomposition analysis indicates that the increases in women’s labor force participation, college education, time pressure in completing one’s job, and the decline in free time were related to the increase. Fathers in dual‐earner marriages experienced a particular increase in work‐family conflict. With the same amount of time spent with children, parents felt greater work‐family conflict in 1997 than in 1977. Although masked by the overall increase, some trends, such as the increases in intrinsic job rewards, time with children, and egalitarian gender attitudes, contributed to a decline in work‐family conflict.

Privatization and the Working Conditions of Health Care Support Staff

Using an assisted survey approach, we compare health care service employees' perceptions of work between public and privatized health care settings. Results indicate that laundry, maintenance, food service, and housekeeping staff employed by privately managed medical institutions have more negative perceptions of job rewards than their public sector counterparts, with no difference in perceptions of supervisor support, work stress, autonomy, and opportunity. A supplementary analysis comparing three organization types: pure-public, pure-private, and public-private shows that workers perceive higher work stress and lower rewards in public-private organizations, while workers at pure-private organizations perceive low rewards, low supervisor support, and low opportunity. Our interpretation is that privatization lowers workers' perception of rewards in completely privatized organizations and in public organizations that privatize a proportion of services.

Preemployment Beliefs, Organizational Inducement, and Psychological Contract Change: A Longitudinal Study

Psychological contract(PC) is a key aspect in the employee-employer relationship,which develops over time in an organizational context.Few longitudinal studies exist regarding the nature of the employee PC and the causes of its change.A decade ago,three studies suggested that PC obligations would change in the first two years of employment(Robinson,Kraatz and Rousseau,1994;Robinson,1996; Thomas and Anderson,1998).Despite the fact that certain changes in employees' obligations to their employers have already been demonstrated,some important issues still remain to be addressed.The present study examined the change in the PCs of new entry-level college graduates in a Chinese organizational context.The study investigated how individual and contextual factors contributed to PC change over two time intervals.Specifically,the study examined the role played by individual preemployment beliefs concerning employment relations and organizational inducement in influencing changes in employee obligations.The following are the three major hypotheses proposed in this study:(1) initial changes in newcomer PCs will be in the direction of their existing beliefs;(2) organizational inducement including job rewards(JR) and organizational support(OS) will promote changes in employee obligations;specifically,JR is closely related to the transactional components of a PC,whereas OS is closely related to the relational components of a PC;(3) organizational inducement will moderate the relationship between the preemployment beliefs of new recruits and their PCs;specifically,JR will promote a positive relationship between short-term beliefs and changes in the transactional components of a PC change,whereas OS will enhance a positive relationship between long-term beliefs and the relational components of a PC. A longitudinal sample of college graduates was used to test the abovementioned hypotheses.Time 1 data were collected from graduates who had already secured full-time employment from various enterprises.Questionnaires were administered to 1,500 potential respondents in a leading domestic university;854 questionnaires were returned.One year later,the second wave survey was conducted on the 854 time 1 respondents;a total of 219 questionnaires were returned.By matching the two waves,the study employed 189 data points to test the hypotheses.Among the major measures,employee obligations were developed and validated in a Chinese organizational context,JRs were adopted from the Rusbult and Farrel(1983) study and the OS scale utilized was originally developed by Eisenberger et al.(1986) and later refined by Settoon et al.(1996).Cronbach's alphas for these measures were from 0.70 to 0.83,indicating acceptable measurement reliabilities. Hierarchical regression modeling(HRM) results indicated the following:(1) preemployment beliefs did not manifest direct effects on changes in employee obligations;(2) OS manifested positive impacts on both transactional and relational obligation change,and its impact on relational obligations was stronger than that on transactional obligations;and(3) the relationship between preemployment beliefs and changes in employee obligations was moderated by organizational inducement,which included OS and JR.Specifically,OS showed highly positive relationship with relational obligations when individuals held long-term beliefs.JR promoted both relational and transactional obligations of individuals who "did not" have long-term beliefs,whereas it had no impact on the obligations of individuals who had long-term beliefs. The above mentioned findings suggested the following.First,in comparison with economic exchange,relational exchange was more likely to be valued by Chinese employees.Hence,organizations operating in China should offer employees supportive working environments and emotional investment in order to achieve strong obligations from their employees and maintain the positive effect of long-term beliefs.Second,a moderate level of JR is necessary for organizations to maintain the obligations of employees with short-term beliefs.Limitations of the study and possible future investigation with regard to PC change were also discussed.

The Pharmacy Technician's Role in Pharmacy Student Education

To the Editor: To date, the literature is lacking considerably in the area of technician involvement in pharmacy student education. With increasing focus on the experiential component of pharmacy student education, it is inevitable that student pharmacists will have significant interaction with technicians during multiple periods of their training. Although it is ultimately the responsibility of the pharmacist educator to provide the student with adequate opportunities for growth and development, the nature of the practice of pharmacy dictates that technicians will have an impact on the student's practice-based experience. The typical introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) presents numerous scenarios for potential student-teaching by pharmacy technicians. The degree of mastery of activities such as processing, dispensing, and billing is likely to be influenced by the types of interactions between student pharmacists and technicians. Therefore, the level of training and motivation of the technician deserve attention from all parties invested in the quality of pharmacy student training. As students are paired with technicians to gain experience in the intravenous (IV) room or at the filling station, consideration must be given to the technician's attitude toward teaching and the expectations communicated to the technician about student training. Technicians cannot be expected to provide students with a positive training experience if they have not been given a clear explanation of the role that they are expected to play. Reasonable expectations of technicians include embracing opportunities to incorporate students into the workflow, effectively demonstrating their roles and responsibilities, treating students with respect, and incorporating feedback regarding student training. Regular documentation and evaluation of student and technician interactions is one way to determine the effectiveness of these training relationships. It is reasonable to include items on IPPE site evaluation forms that question students specifically about their interactions with technicians. Questions could evaluate the quality of interactions as well as the approximate percentage of training provided by pharmacy technicians. This information will not only assist in the evaluation of specific training sites, it will also help to quantify the magnitude of technician involvement in student teaching. The potential for resistance among technicians to participate in the training initiatives of their future supervisors cannot be ignored. One way to minimize this conflict is to stress the importance of a learning partnership and identify specific opportunities for pharmacy students to provide valuable educational opportunities for technicians (ie, new drug updates, review sessions for technician certification boards, etc). Another method for increasing motivation among reluctant technicians is to include a teaching/training component in their job standards and reward excellence regularly. It is important that we broaden our approach to evaluating student learning and begin to recognize the significant role that pharmacy technicians play. With this role comes the need for regular evaluation and the opportunity for greater recognition. It is up to technician employers and pharmacy institutions of learning to take advantage of this chance to further enhance the experiential training of student pharmacists. Dalia R. Mack, PharmD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

De Tilburgse Psychologisch Contract Vragenlijst

The Tilburg Psychological Contract Questionnaire The Tilburg Psychological Contract Questionnaire C. Freese, R. Schalk &amp; M. Croon, Gedrag &amp; Organisatie, volume 21, August 2008, nr. 3, pp. 278-294. The development of the Tilburg Psychological Contract Questionnaire (TPCQ) is described. Criteria are formulated that psychological contract measures should meet. The theoretical background and the psychological contract items of the TPCQ are described. With exploratory factor analysis five perceived organizational obligation scales are revealed: job content, career development, social atmosphere, organizational policies and rewards. Two perceived employee obligation scales were found: in-role behaviour and extra-role behaviour. A separate violations scale was developed. The psychometric features of the scales (including test-retest reliability) were sufficient. Construct validity was assessed with regression analysis on affective commitment, continuance commitment and intention to turnover. Organizational policies, violations and both perceived employee obligations scales were predictors of affective commitment, intention to turnover and to a lesser extent continuance commitment.

Professional monopolies and divisive practices in law: ‘les femmes juridiques’ in civil law, Canada

This paper examines women’s entry and advancement within Québec’s, civil law tradition of a dual system ofnotairesandavocatsin law practice. The two arms of the profession have developed along exclusive legal jurisdictions codified through law, contrasting professional structures, and different styles of legal practice. Yet, they share a common foundation through law school and professional training and their respective practices of law occasionally overlap and conflict in the competition for clientele, services and professional status. Women’s representation in Québec law practice has risen to nearly fifty percent and their entry to law in large numbers coincides with the emergence of exclusionary processes within and across the professional divide. Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital provides new insight to gendered career dynamics in law practice, specifically an understanding of cultural repertoires of resources mobilised in successful careers, resources that are also at the centre of disputes over the professional status and legal jurisdictions betweennotairesandavocats. The analysis demonstrates that women and men within these two professional groups are not only equipped with differential stocks of capital, but that the conversion rates also differ. Particularly among theavocats, men receive greater exchange on their investments in human and social capitals and their cultivated ‘habitus’ also better enables men to garner enhanced job rewards.

Job satisfaction and job values among beginning nurses: A questionnaire survey

Background Concepts such as the theory–practice gap and reality shock call attention to the challenges nurses experience in their professional lives. These challenges seem to be particularly acute in the transition from nursing school to work. Based on an assumption that the theories and skills taught in school are not directly applicable to nursing practice, beginning nurses may find that they are not prepared to do the work for which they have trained. Consequently, nurses may experience challenges to their work ideals, and their level of job satisfaction may decline. In addition, major life changes, such as buying a house/apartment, becoming a parent or getting married are likely to occur in the first year after graduation. Consequently, the emphasis on economic rewards may increase in the transition from school to work. Objectives To examine the relationship between work ideals, experiences of work and job satisfaction through a vital period in nurses’ careers. To compare beginning nurses’ job satisfaction, perceived job rewards and values with those of beginning doctors and teachers. Participants Survey data were collected from two cohorts of students in several educational programs in Norway. The survey was repeated among the same respondents, as workers, 3 years after graduation. Almost 3000 students were originally invited to participate. The response rate in the surveys varied from 59% to 80%. Methods Tabular analyses and linear regression models. Results The results indicate similarities in nurses’, doctors’ and teachers’ preferences for work, but differences in what they obtain. In the transition from school to work, nurses increase their emphasis on high income and job security, and 3 years after graduating, nurses’ emphasis on these two job values is higher than that of doctors and teachers. Nurses were fairly satisfied with their present job. Conclusion In terms of level of job satisfaction and their preferences for work, the transition from school to work for nurses seems less dramatic than initially assumed.

Nursing Assistants' Job Commitment: Effect of Nursing Home Organizational Factors and Impact on Resident Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) whether certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are more committed to nursing home jobs when they perceive their jobs as enhanced (greater autonomy, use of knowledge, teamwork), and (b) whether CNA job commitment affects resident satisfaction. A qualitative exploration of management philosophy and practice and of CNAs' views of their jobs in 18 Massachusetts nursing homes formed the basis for a survey administered to 255 CNAs in 15 homes. A quality-of-life questionnaire was administered to 105 residents. Logistic regression accounting for clustering estimated the effect of personal characteristics, satisfaction with tangible job rewards, and aspects of job design on CNAs' intent to stay in current jobs. A general linear model estimated the effect of job commitment on residents' satisfaction with their relationship to nursing staff. After we accounted for satisfaction with wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities, good basic supervision was most important in affecting CNAs' intent to stay in their jobs. Job enhancements were not significantly related to intent to stay. Residents were more satisfied with their relationships to nursing staff and their quality of life on units where a higher proportion of CNAs were committed to their jobs. The finding that greater job commitment of CNAs is associated with better quality of relationships and life for residents implies that better jobs lead to better care. Culture change transformation that increases CNA autonomy, knowledge input, and teamwork may not increase workers' commitment to jobs without improvements in basic supervision.

The influence of emotional dissonance and resources at work on job burnout among Chinese human service employees.

The authors extended Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources (COR) model to examine the influence of emotional dissonance and work resources on burnout among 392 Chinese human service employees. Bivariate correlation results showed that emotional dissonance correlated positively with display rules and burnout, but negatively with work resources, specifically, satisfactory work relations and job rewards. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported the extension of the COR model to study the dissonanceresources-burnout association. In the revised model, display rules had a direct impact on emotional dissonance, which in turn influenced burnout indirectly through the mediation of work resources. Limitations of the study and implications for work stress management are discussed.

Job satisfaction and emotional distress among nurses providing palliative care: Empirical evidence for an integrative occupational stress-model.

Lise Fillion, Isabelle Tremblay, Manon Truchon, and Denis Co ˆte´Laval UniversityC. Ward Struthers and Re ´jeanne DupuisYork UniversityThis study tested an integrative occupational stress-model with a sample of209 palliative-care nurses who responded to a survey. Using two hierarchi-cal regression models, including the Job Demand-Control-Support model,the Effort-Reward Imbalance model, and speciÞc palliative care stressorsand resources, results showed that best predictors of job satisfaction werejob demand, effort, reward, and people-oriented culture, whereas best pre-dictors of emotional distress were reward, professional and emotional de-mands, and self-efÞcacy. Finally, using structural equation modeling, atwo-factor occupational stress-model was developed, distinguishing job de-mands and job resources. Results emphasize the importance of using com-prehensive and situation-speciÞc models to study stress in speciÞc workerpopulations, studying positive outcomes in stress research, and increasingjob resources at work to prevent stress.

Employed Parents of Children with Mental Health Disorders: Achieving Work–Family Fit, Flexibility, and Role Quality

Extensive interviews with 60 employed parents of school-age children treated for mental health problems explored work–family fit, flexibility, family support, and work–life strategies in relation to role quality. Role quality was measured as employment and parenting rewards and concerns. Work–family fit was positively related to family flexibility but not work flexibility. Higher flexibility in work and family predicted lower job concerns, and work flexibility and work–family fit were predictors of job rewards. Parental concerns were dependent on flexibility and work–family strategies. Single parents had significantly fewer sources of family support and used fewer work–family strategies than caregivers with partners. Human services providers should collaborate with families by jointly exploring new flexibility and support strategies in work and family domains.

A comparison of the effectiveness of employee voice arrangements in Australia

The incidence and effectiveness of different forms of employee voice were compared across three measures: perceived managerial responsiveness to employee needs, job control and influence over job rewards. Multiple regression analyses revealed that voice was perceived as most effective when an amalgam of different forms was present. The effective coexistence of different forms of voice challenges the notion that non-union voice acts as a substitute for union representation.

Hierarchical regression analysis for relationship between job stress and job burnout in Shanghai employees

To identify related factors of job burnout in Shanghai employees. Four hundred fifty-six employees in Shanghai were investigated in this study. Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess job burnout and job stress, based on Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Job Demand-Control model as well as Effort-Reward Imbalance Model. Hierarchical linear regression was employed to analyze the relationship of job burnout to personal characteristics and job stress. The indexes of three dimensions of job burnout were emotional exhaustion 19.70 +/- 8.92, depersonalization 11.95 +/- 4.45 and reduced personal accomplishment 28.10 +/- 10.08. Job stress was found to be affected differently in three dimensions of job burnout. Job demand, effort and over-commitment had positive impact on emotional exhaustion. Job control had a negative association with emotional exhaustion. There were significant relationship between depersonalization and age, sex and education of employees. Job control, reward and over-commitment affected the index of depersonalization. Education level and social support increased personal accomplishment index. It is necessary to reduce job stress and care about personal characteristics in preventing job burnout.