Supervisor Support Research Articles

The Implications of Organisational Contexts on Unpaid Workers’ Loyalty: The Interactive role of Perceived Organisational and Supervisor Support

AbstractThis paper examines the process through which perceived organisational support (POS) affects volunteers’ affective commitment (AC) by investigating the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) in the relationship between POS and AC of volunteers in five non-for-profit organisations in Queensland, Australia. Data collected from 213 participants with a cross-sectional survey questionnaire were analysed to validate the hypotheses. The result reveals that POS has a significant direct effect on volunteers’ AC, as well as indirect significant effect through LMX. The results of the study provide new knowledge about the importance of a supportive workplace relationship between immediate supervisors and volunteers in enhancing volunteers’ positive organisational experiences that would lead into higher loyalty and involvement.

The barriers and enablers to completing the RPS core advanced pharmacist credentialing programme via the CPPE/RPS pilot programme

Abstract Introduction The RPS and CPPE launched a pilot programme in March 2023 to support 300 pharmacists to evidence their advanced practice via an e-portfolio aligned to the RPS Core Advanced curriculum1 in a 12-week period. Successful pharmacists are credentialed as Advanced Pharmacists. The pilot involved CPPE education supervisors (ESs) support, an online learning platform and small group learning and support. Aim To ascertain barriers and enablers to completing an advanced e-portfolio and to identify how to improve the on-going programme. Methods The invitation to complete the anonymous survey in May 2024 was administered via www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk and developed linking to key performance indicators around education supervision support, to understand why candidates were deferring cohorts and to ascertain additional support accessed by candidates. Ethical approval was not required as study is service evaluation. Candidates who responded included those who successfully submitted their e-portfolio ‘submitted candidates’ n=10, candidates who are resubmitting their portfolio after not passing ‘resubmission candidates’ n=8, pharmacists currently completing their portfolio ‘current candidates’ n=44 and those who started but left without submitting ‘attrition candidates’ n=13. Results All submitted candidates scored ES support as very good/excellent; 60% agreed strongly they would not have submitted their portfolio without this support. Each cohort had two small-group tutorials where candidates accessed peer support and joined WhatsApp groups. Only 38% of resubmission candidates, compared to 80% of portfolio submitted candidates attended both group tutorials. Resubmission candidates were less likely to access additional peer support (38% for resubmission candidates vs 60% for submitted candidates) or to join the cohort WhatsApp group (75% for resubmission candidates vs 90% for submitted candidates). Resubmission candidates rated the remedial SMART action planning support highly. Submitted candidates would have found it easier to complete their portfolio with more comprehensive (60%) and timely responses (70%) from their collaborators. This compares to 55% and 59% of current candidates recognising the same issues. Submitted candidates wanted more allocated time during working hours to support completion of the portfolio (60% rising to 80% for current candidates). There is a notable increase for current candidates wanting a longer period to complete their portfolio (75% compared to 40% of submitted candidates). Half of submitted candidates (50%) reported spending more than 5 hours (average) each week on their portfolio compared to 18% of current candidates. Top reasons for attrition include too busy with work, family responsibilities, personal health challenges and no support from the workplace. Candidates across all groups suggested programme improvement ideas including more evidence examples, making the RPS platform less difficult to navigate and use, and more education supervisor support. Motivating factors for completion include recognition of advanced level working and preparation for the consultant portfolio. Conclusion Enablers include education supervision, CPPE resources/facilitated support events, peer support, WhatsApp groups, recognition and career progression. Key barriers include needing more time and lack of dedicated time at work to complete e-portfolio, lack of timely and comprehensive support from collaborators and finding the RPS e-portfolio platform difficult to navigate. Limitations – low numbers and response rate. Data collection is on-going. Reference 1. Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum, 2022 https://www.rpharms.com/Portals/0/Credentialing/RPS%20-%20Core%20Advanced%20curriculumFINAL.pdf?ver=8gc3s2aE9t1nZN37CSU7Lw%3d%3d (Accessed 28 May 2024)

Good stress or bad stress? An empirical study on the impact of time pressure on doctoral students’ innovative behavior

In recent years, with rapid societal advancement and profound transformations in knowledge production, doctoral students are increasingly facing significant time pressures. These pressures not only stem from an escalation in research tasks but also from urgent demands for innovative outputs. Grounded in Affective Events Theory, this study explores the dual impact of time pressure on the innovative behaviors of doctoral students in China. It specifically examines how challenge and hindrance time pressures affect doctoral students’ innovative behavior through the mediating role of research self-efficacy and the moderating role of supervisor support. This research employed SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 for statistical analysis, analyzing multi-time point data collected from 452 Chinese doctoral students between May and August 2023. The results reveal that challenge time pressure significantly positively impacts doctoral students’ innovative behavior, while hindrance time pressure has a significant negative impact. Furthermore, research self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between both challenge and hindrance time pressures and innovative behavior. In this process, the moderating role of supervisor support is significant, enhancing the positive effects of challenge time pressure and mitigating the negative impacts of hindrance time pressure, highlighting the importance of supervisor support in optimizing the impact of time pressure and promoting doctoral students’ innovative behavior. These findings not only enrich the theoretical framework in the field of time pressure research but also provide practical guidance for universities and supervisors on how to support doctoral students in effectively managing time pressure and fostering their innovation.

Employee pro-environmental proactive behavior: the influence of pro-environmental senior leader and organizational support, supervisor and co-worker support, and employee pro-environmental engagement

Employee pro-environmental proactive behavior: the influence of pro-environmental senior leader and organizational support, supervisor and co-worker support, and employee pro-environmental engagement

The compensatory protective effects of organizational and supervisor support for nurses’ morale in sickness presenteeism: a three-way moderated mediation model

PurposeThe present study explored sickness presenteeism as a linchpin connecting prolonged working hours to elevated turnover intention among hospital nurses (mediation). In addition, we examined the joint moderating effects of organizational health care support and supervisor support on the second stage of the “long working hours-presenteeism-turnover” process (three-way moderated mediation).Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a two-wave survey to collect data over a four-month period from hospital nurses in Taiwan. The final sample for analysis had 294 nurses.FindingsWe found that presenteeism partially mediated the elevated turnover intention after working long hours four months later. We also found a significant three-way moderation effect of organizational health care support and supervisor support on the positive relationship between presenteeism and turnover intention. Specifically, nurses reported the lowest turnover intention with high levels of both organizational healthcare and supervisor support, the highest turnover intention with both support being low, and the intermediate level of turnover intention when any one of the support was high.Practical implicationsOrganizations should build a positive work environment through organizational health care support and supervisor support to retain talents.Originality/valueOur findings suggested that support resources of different origins (organization-level vs line supervisor) can compensate for one another to protect the employees in demanding work conditions. Our moderated mediation model exploring the psychosocial context of presenteeism has theoretical contributions pivoting on the interplay of resources at different levels in the organization as well as practical implications for presenteeism management.

Exploring the Impact of Flexible Work Arrangements on Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction and the Moderating Effect of Perceived Supervisory Support

In today's employment landscape, the value of flexibility cannot be overstated, with an increasing number of employees seeking to balance their professional duties with their personal lives. This quest for the right balance has been strengthened by workplace flexibility, allowing individuals to tailor their workloads and have more autonomy over their working conditions. This research focuses on the impact of Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs)—namely, working from home and flextime—on Turnover Intention (TI) within the power and utilities sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We further investigate how Job Satisfaction (JS) mediates this relationship, and the extent to which Perceived Supervisory Support (PSS) moderates it. The study utilized a convenience sampling method to survey employees from a leading global energy company with a significant presence in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, boasting over 500 staff members. Of the 550 employees approached, 250 responded, yielding a 45% response rate. The research employed SPSS V.28 for demographic analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and measurement of the reliability and validity of the study constructs. Also, mediation and moderation analysis were performed using Hayes Process Macro to validate our conceptual framework, providing robust statistical analysis. This research focuses on how PSS moderates the relationship between FWAs and Job Satisfaction, a relatively underexplored area. The findings include, FWA has positive impact on Job Satisfaction and negative impact on turnover intention. The indirect effect of Job Satisfaction and Perceived Supervisor Support is found out to be insignificant. The implications of this study guides organizations in tailoring their policies, and practices to mitigate turnover intentions.

Going the Extra Mile: What Drives Employee Voluntarism in Public Sector Organizations?

This research intends to investigate the impact of employee age and innovative work climate on the relationship between supportive supervisory roles and employee acts of voluntarism. Using a large cross-sectional survey of the Australian Public Service we find that the influence of supportive supervisors on employees’ acts of voluntarism and extra role behaviors at work is higher amongst younger employees. This indicates that younger employees are more likely to engage in acts of voluntarism as a result of supportive supervisory roles. Findings also indicate that innovative work climate accentuates the relationship between supportive supervisory behaviors and acts of voluntarism. Employees who experience high levels of innovative work climate and high levels of support from supervisors tend to display higher levels of voluntarism and extra role behaviors at work. These findings have several theoretical and practical implications.

Sex Differences in Coping Strategies and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Taiwanese Police Officers

This study compares Taiwanese male and female police officers’ work stress and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data derived from 1,329 male and 225 female police officers between May and July 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was found that male officers experienced more family-work stress than their female colleagues. Male officers were more likely to engage in avoidance coping and used humor to cope with stress. On the contrary, female officers were more inclined to adopt emotion regulation strategies and distraction to cope with stress. Supervisor support was found to be positively associated with officers’ well-being and negatively connected with officers’ stress. Humor and self-distraction were found to be positively associated with officers’ well-being, whereas avoidance and negative stressor appraisal of COVID-19 were negatively connected with well-being. Policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Perceptions of Social Studies Teachers and Supervisors about Teaching Space Education in the Sultanate of Oman

This study aimed to reveal the perceptions of social studies teachers and supervisors about teaching space education in the Sultanate of Oman, and the extent of their interest and satisfaction with the current reality of space education. The questionnaire, which consisted of (28) statements distributed over five axes, was applied to a stratified random sample of (150) teachers and supervisors. The results showed the support of social studies teachers and supervisors for teaching space education in the Sultanate of Oman, and there were no statistically significant differences at the significance level (0.05) according to the variable of years of experience. The researchers recommended the development of social studies curricula; To keep abreast of developments in the field of space education, and to hold training courses for teachers and supervisors of social studies in the field of space education; To develop their knowledge and skills with its developments, and accordingly the researchers suggest some future studies. Keywords: Perceptions, teachers, supervisors, space education, social studies

Perceived Supervisor Support and Academic Procrastination in Postgraduate Students: Roles of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Learning Engagement

Academic procrastination is a common problem among postgraduate students, one that has caused negative consequences that cannot be ignored. Therefore, finding out how to effectively eliminate academic procrastination behavior has become an essential task in educational practice. Based on the use of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to explore the relationship between the perceived supervisor support and academic procrastination of postgraduate students, a total of 448 questionnaires were gathered from postgraduate students across China. The results showed significant correlations between the perceived supervisor support, basic psychological needs satisfaction, learning engagement, and academic procrastination of postgraduate students. The relationship between the perceived supervisor support and academic procrastination of postgraduate students was mediated by basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning engagement. Additionally, basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning engagement played a chain-mediating role between the perceived supervisor support and academic procrastination of postgraduate students. The findings of this study contributed to the enhancement of the interaction between supervisors and students in higher education and improving the quality of postgraduate education.

Flexibility stigma, supervisory support, and the use of flexible work arrangements in the public sector: distinguishing flextime and flexplace

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between flexible work arrangements (FWAs) in the public sector and flexibility stigma, focusing on two types of FWAs based on work schedule and work location. Using data from the 2017 Federal Work-Life Survey of U.S. federal employees, the study analyzes how supervisory and organizational support influence the relationship between flexibility stigma and FWA use. Results show a negative relationship between flexibility stigma and flextime use, while flextime use varies by type of flextime. Supervisor and organizational support mitigated the negative effects of flexibility stigma, particularly for flextime and remote work. The findings suggest that enhancing supervisory support can reduce the effects of flexibility stigma and promote effective use of FWA in the public sector. This study provides new insights into how supervisory and organizational support systems can mitigate flexibility stigma and promote the adoption of various FWAs in the public sector.

Predictors of Happiness and Life Satisfaction among University Teacher-Trainees on Internship

The study investigated the factors that drive happiness and life satisfaction among university teacher trainees on school practice internship. It was a purely qualitative study that employed explorative methods and a phenomenological design because it dealt with the subjective experiences about happiness and life satisfaction during internship as a phenomenon. It was conducted on a population of 25 participants drawn from a total population of about 700 teacher trainees on internship placement. The respondents were selected using both purposive and convenient sampling technique. These methods were preferred because purposively, the respondents were teacher trainees on internship and conveniently, they were under the supervision of the corresponding author. Data was collected using in depth interviews and analysed using themes and narratives drawn from the transcribed data. Results’ presentation, analysis and discussions was done concurrently. The findings revealed that happiness and life satisfaction among teacher trainees on internship school practice placement is determined by economic and financial drivers, supervision processes, collegial social support and connections, student or learner attributes, logistical provisions and follow up factors. As a result of the findings, universities invested in teacher training and schools hosting internship teacher trainees are required to boost the university-based and school-based factors in order to promote happiness and life satisfaction among the trainees respectively through provision of teaching practice logistics, supervisor support and evaluation, student/learner discipline, as conditions aimed at enhancing happiness, for the end goals of academic achievement

A Workplace Intervention to Strengthen Supervisor Support for Employees With Common Mental Health Problems: A Mixed-Methods Realist Evaluation

The purpose of this study is to obtain insight into whether, how and under which circumstances a novel workplace intervention works. This intervention aims to strengthen the supportive behaviour of Dutch supervisors in promoting the work participation of employees with common mental health problems (CMHPs), provided by occupational health professionals (OHPs). In a mixed-methods realist design, we evaluated changes over time, reasoning that supportive behaviour would be changed through motivation and skills and we explored how mechanisms of change may be triggered by personal, environmental and intervention factors. Compared to baseline (n = 92), self-reported supportive behaviour of supervisors increased post-intervention (n = 65, 3 months) and increased significantly post-follow-up (n = 56, 6 months). A statistically significant regression model (R2 = 0.29) indicated that factors such as increased self-efficacy and skills, being assessed as supervisor on sick leave numbers, previous collaboration between OHP and supervisor, and having dealt with CMHP before were positively related to the changes in supervisors’ supportive behaviour. According to supervisors, working mechanisms on the interpersonal level were the OHPs’ expertise and trust and the co-supervisors collective efficacy. On the individual level, mechanisms were self-efficacy, willing to improve and skills to act. Enabling circumstances to trigger those mechanisms were being given time and structural, low-key access to OHP expertise, in a safe learning climate. This preventive, multifaceted, action-oriented workplace intervention had a positive impact on supervisor support in promoting work participation among employees with CMHP. These findings may encourage employers to invest in supervisors’ capacity, thereby enabling employees with CMHP to keep working and perform well in their jobs.

The Influence of Workplace Incivility, Perceived Supervisor Support, and Job Satisfaction in Mediating Organizational Identification Has an Influence on Employee Performance in Teachers at the Yos Sudarso Karawang School

This research describes the results of the analysis which concludes that workplace incivility has a negative influence on organizational identification, while perceived supervisor support and job satisfaction show a positive influence, although not always significant. Apart from that, it was found that organizational identification has a positive and significant influence on employee performance. These findings support previous research which reports that the relationship between these variables is complex and can influence employee performance. Therefore, this research not only provides a better understanding of the factors that influence teacher performance at the Yos Sudarso Karawang school, but also highlights the importance of paying attention to organizational identification in an effort to improve individual performance in an organizational context. In addition, through clear identification of the problem, scope, problem formulation, objectives and benefits of research, this research also contributes to further understanding of important issues in education in Indonesia.

Prevalence and predictors of near misses and road traffic crashes among long-distance bus drivers in Ghana

IntroductionDespite the critical role of bus drivers in the Ghanaian economy, research on their safety is limited, hindering progress towards reducing road traffic crashes (RTCs) in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.6. This study aimed to investigate the rate of RTCs and near misses among long-distance bus drivers, identifying key predictors.MethodThis cross-sectionl survey sampled 7,315 long-distance bus drivers operating from Accra and Tema to other parts of Ghana and sub-region. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were condcuted using Jamovi software version 2.5.3.ResultsThe study found that 53.7% and 96.9% of bus drivers had at least one RTC and one near-miss two years prior to data collection respectively. Older age, higher education, and extensive driving experience (≥ 21 years) reduced RTC risk, while factors like 6–20 years of experience, individual bus ownership, irregular shifts, long driving hours, sleepiness, job security, low decision authority, and skill discretion increased RTC risk. Near-misses were more likely with public bus ownership, not driving alone, low decision authority, skill discretion, and supervisor support, while high work-family conflict reduced near-miss likelihood.ConclusionConcerted efforts are needed to implement targeted interventions aimed at regulating working hours, enhancing job security and integrating occupationl health and safety standards in the Ghanaian bus transport industry. By prioritizing evidence-based policies and practices, stakeholders can work towards creating safer roads and healthier work environments for bus drivers.

Psychological hardiness, social support, and emotional labor among nurses in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey study

BackgroundOur study of nurses in Tehran was conducted in June of 2020, when the lockdown from the pandemic had been implemented. Nurses had been faced with how to effectively manage their own emotion responses during patientcare. ObjectivesOur study aims to evaluate how psychological and social resources were jointly related to the use of emotional labor through surface acting and deep acting among nurses at public hospitals. DesignThe study design was a single-wave, cross-sectional self-report questionnaire survey containing validated measures where the nurses reported on their work experiences during the pandemic. SettingsThe participants came from five out of 50 public hospitals within Tehran. ParticipantsOf the 250 nurses chosen by using multi-stage randomly sampling, 224 were retained after listwise deletion of missing data and outliers. MethodThrough a survey questionnaire, participants responded to scale measures of psychological hardiness, social support, and emotional labor to investigate the joint impact of hardiness and social support on emotional labor. Their responses provided information on the (1) validity and reliability of all variables, and (2) the hypothesized structural relations, using SPSS-AMOS 22 software. ResultsChallenge and control were related to social support; coworker sympathy and supervisory support were related to surface acting; coworker sympathy was related to deep acting. Under strong support, high hardiness was most negatively related to surface acting and positively related to deep acting. ConclusionThrough coworker and supervisory support, hardiness became an effective means for nurses to regulate their own emotions during interactions to enhance patientcare.

A change of mind: Error motivation is shaped by error perceptions in different learning environments

Background The medical profession has traditionally had a culture of “blame and shame,” despite the importance errors have for learning, motivation, and improvement of clinical skills. This study aimed to explore how medical students and newly graduated doctors perceive errors across different learning contexts and levels of expertise, and how error perceptions influence motivation and engagement in learning activities. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Survey questions were developed based on the themes. The final survey included 27 questions divided into three sections. The survey was distributed via RedCap to medical students in year 1, year 4, and year 6 together with newly graduated doctors in Denmark. Results Of the 541 respondents, a majority anticipated making errors in both non-clinical (77.4%) and clinical (61.5%) learning situations, finding them motivating for participation (91.9% and 96.2%, respectively). A psychologically safe learning environment was seen to enhance the perception of errors as learning opportunities (96.9%) and increase risk willingness (96.3% non-clinical, 97.7% clinical). Respondents focused on the specific errors they made (86.0%), and their supervisors were perceived to focus more on correct handling of errors (70.7%). Respondents expected to conduct fewer errors in non-clinical learning situations in PGY-1 compared to medical students in year 1 (F(3529) = 3.0, adjusted p = 0.03). They showed an increase in risk willingness in clinical learning situations from year 6 to PGY-1 (F(3520) = 2.7, adjusted p-value 0.006) as long as the learning situations were considered psychologically safe. Conclusion The study suggests that a psychologically safe learning environment mitigates the “shame and blame culture” associated with errors. Respondents generally embraced errors as valuable learning experiences but noted a lack of specific error-related feedback. These findings underscore the nuanced relationship between errors, explicit learning activities, and supervisor support in medical education.

The Impact of Supervisor Support and Work Environment on Job Satisfaction among Bank Employees in Cyberjaya

The Impact of Supervisor Support and Work Environment on Job Satisfaction among Bank Employees in Cyberjaya

Challenges to Successful Thesis Completion among Postgraduate Students

This study utilized a descriptive quantitative approach to examine the key challenges that postgraduate students face in completing their thesis work. The target population for the research consisted of master’s, and doctoral students enrolled in various academic disciplines at Universities in Mogadishu, and a random sampling technique was employed to obtain a sample size of 124 participants. The findings of the study identified several major obstacles that graduate students encounter during the thesis process. The most significant factors were time management issues, limited access to critical research resources, and various institutional barriers that did not adequately support the thesis completion. Specifically, the study found that Institutional Factors (mean 3.49) and Time Management (mean 3.4) were considered "Highly Challenging" by the participants. Access to Resources (mean 3.38), Supervisor Support (mean 3.22), Discipline-Specific Factors (mean 3.31), and Language Factors (mean 3.25) were rated as "Moderately Challenging". Personal Obligations (mean 2.9) were also seen as "Moderately Challenging" by the graduate students. The results of this study underscore the need for universities to provide stronger support systems and address these multifaceted challenges to enable postgraduate students to successfully complete their thesis work. Recommendations for improving thesis support are discussed.

The Moderating Role of the Five-Factor Model of Personality in the Relationship between Job Demands/Resources and Work Engagement: An Online Cross-Sectional Study.

When organizations or managers utilize personality assessments for their workers, it is crucial to consider not only personality profiles but also the interaction between these profiles and the psychosocial environmental factors in the workplace. The present study aimed to examine the moderating effects of the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits on the relationship between job demands/resources and work engagement (WE). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between November and December 2022, targeting full-time workers in Japan. Data were collected from 1500 participants (757 men and 743 women). The survey included demographic variables, job demands and resources (job control, supervisor, and coworker support), WE, and the FFM. The primary statistical analysis was hierarchical regression analysis, which tested the interactions between job demands/resources and each personality trait. Four significant interactions were found: job demands and neuroticism, control and neuroticism, control and conscientiousness, and supervisor support and extraversion. High conscientiousness was associated with higher WE when job control was abundant. Moreover, low levels of both neuroticism and extraversion were linked to higher WE. The results suggest that managers can enhance WE by aligning workplace factors with employee personality traits. These insights can be applied to organizational staffing decisions.