Supervisory Behavior Research Articles

When Supervision is Abusive: What Explains it and What are the Consequences?

Currently, people spend most of their daytime at work, therefore, it is essential that organisations offer their employees benefits that go beyond the salary, because people value their psychological well-being, which contributes to the quality of life in the workplace and a good work life balance. It is also important to note that interpersonal relationships at work are significant when it comes to organisational well-being. Relationships between subordinates and supervisors must be healthier and trustable relationships. When the opposite occurs, we are faced with abusive supervision with a negative influence on employees' well-being. This study focus on the relationship between supervisors and subordinates. In order to analyse the impact of a supervisor's attitudes on the relationship with their subordinates, it matters to understand that these attitudes are influenced by their personality traits. The aim of this study is to realise how different personality traits of the supervisor, namely those related to the dark triad, contribute to the development of abusive supervision that will affect the employees’ psychological well-being at work. To develop this study, a survey was applied to a sample of 232 employees from different Portuguese organisations, to measure the dark triad, abusive supervision and psychological well-being at work, respectively. After analysing the results using structural equations, it was possible to conclude that psychopathy and machiavellianism, which are two of the dark triad concepts, influence the supervisor's behavior, and further lead to an abusive supervision. Abusive supervision negatively influences the employees’ psychological well-being at work. The greater the abusive supervision, the greater the negative emotions felt by employees at the workplace, and therefore, the employees’ psychological well-being is lower. This study also highlighted differences in the way men and women perceive abusive supervision, concluding that, although men perceive more abusive supervision than women, they present fewer negative emotions than women. Finally, some conclusions, limitations and possible future research were drawn.

Trickle-down effects of corporate social responsibility on employee outcomes: the mediating role of family-supportive supervisor behaviors

Trickle-down effects of corporate social responsibility on employee outcomes: the mediating role of family-supportive supervisor behaviors

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.

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.

Sensemaking of Subordinates’ Perception Through Supervisor Interactions and Its Role in Informing HRM Practices: A South Asian Perspective

The dyadic relationship between subordinate-supervisor garners significant focus within organizational studies and human resource management (HRM), being deemed a perpetual source of the organization’s most direct experiences. Nonetheless, these interactions are transient, as the dyadic and complex nature of their relationship transcends simple exchanges at workplace. The study provides an in-depth analysis of sensemaking in the context of modern-day organizations, particularly focusing on South Asian workplaces. Sensemaking is a cognitive process that individuals undergo when they encounter changes in their work environment, seeking clarity and formulating appropriate responses. The paper examines sensemaking’s influential role in shaping HRM practices. The authors adopted a deductive thematic analysis method to analyze 30 nominated texts using the MAXQDA content analysis tool. The authors propose a conceptual model based on five key themes derived from sensemaking: perception of supervisory behavior, perception of work relationship aspects, perception of workplace culture, opportunities-challenges in HRM practice, and outcomes of subordinate perception informing HRM practice. The study concludes that sensemaking is deeply embedded in the institutional, cultural, and organizational fabric of South Asian workplaces, and it significantly influences HRM practices.

How much do family‐supportive supervisor behaviours matter? A meta‐analysis based on the ability‐motivation‐opportunity framework

AbstractFamily‐supportive supervisor behaviours (FSSB) and their association with employees' work, family, and health outcomes have been widely investigated in workplace contexts. We aimed to acquire a comprehensive understanding of whether FSSB have valuable associations with work, family, and health outcomes and to investigate how FSSB are related to these outcomes using 126 independent samples retrieved from 122 articles (N = 59,068). Our findings revealed several outcomes. First, the bivariate results demonstrated that FSSB were significantly associated with essential work, family, and health outcomes. Second, FSSB exerted beneficial incremental effects on task performance, burnout, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction beyond coworker support, flexible work arrangements, and family‐supportive organizational perceptions, providing further support for its discriminant validity. Third, we built an integrative model that uses ability‐motivation‐opportunity as our organizational framework. Our findings demonstrate that FSSB are significantly associated with employees' work and health outcomes through self‐efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy. Intrinsic motivation exerts the largest mean indirect effect, followed by self‐efficacy and autonomy. Based on these findings, we discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.

Subordinates' perceptions of the need‐supportive, need‐thwarting, and need‐indifferent behaviors used by their supervisors: A person‐centered investigation

AbstractAdopting a recent tripartite operationalization of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors, anchored in self‐determination theory (SDT), this person‐centered study considers the co‐existence of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' need‐supportive, need‐thwarting, and need‐indifferent behaviors. Moreover, we also consider how these various combinations (or profiles) of perceived supervisor behaviors relate to subordinates' levels of work motivation, well‐being, attitudes, behaviors, and work–home functioning. A sample of 596 French employees (Mage = 31.22; 73.5% women) participated in this study. Our results revealed six profiles of subordinates characterized by distinct configurations of perceived need‐related behaviors from supervisors (globally unfavorable, globally favorable and supportive, moderate‐indifferent, moderately favorable and involved, moderately unfavorable, and moderately favorable). Consistent with our expectations, these profiles displayed well‐differentiated patterns of associations with all of the outcomes considered in this study. These findings underscored the key role of subordinates' specific perceptions of need‐supportive, need‐thwarting, and need‐indifferent behaviors, over and above their global perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors, in determining how beneficial or harmful supervisory profiles are. In particular, our results also highlighted the critical role played by need‐indifferent behaviors, which prove to be a very important, and yet typically neglected, component of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors.

Understanding Residents' and Supervisors' Views on Developing Support-Autonomy Balance Through Supervision Methods in Postgraduate Dental Training: AQualitative Study.

Supervisors continuously need to decide when to provide clinical opportunities for unsupervised patient care to facilitate residents' development in the complex clinical learning context. The aim of this study is to explore residents' and supervisors' views and understanding of the influence of clinical supervision on affording a balanced support-autonomy from the cognitive apprenticeship (CA) theoretical lens. Residents and supervisors, representing all disciplines, participated in five focus groups and four semi-structured individual interviews. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were used for recruiting participants. The reflexive thematic analysis approach was used for inductive data analysis. A total of 15 residents and 8 supervisors participated in this study. All agreed that CA teaching methods can be applied across all levels. Participants experienced changes in their supervision methods and supervisor-resident interactions at different levels of training. They related the selection of supervision to task-, resident- and supervisor-related factors. Learning facilitating factors in clinical learning environment were identified and suggestions to enrich residents' learning experiences were also reported. The current study found that a one-size-fits-all paradigm may not be effective for clinical supervision. It contributes to our understanding of how the CA model may be used to guide supervisor behaviour and how such practices can be modified to residents' level of development and competencies.

Mental health training for physicians supervising resident physicians: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

To evaluate an online training program for physician supervisors with the aim of promoting a mentally healthy workplace by improving their use of both responsive and preventive mental health support strategies. Cluster randomised, waitlist-controlled trial. Royal Australasian College of Physicians fellows who were supervising at least one resident physician in any of the 31 primary health networks in Australia and 20 district health boards in New Zealand (health network clusters). A brief online skills-based mental health training program, comprising twelve modules grouped into three topics: common mental illnesses; helping trainees you are concerned about (responsive strategies); and minimising mental health risks at work (preventive strategies). Change between baseline and the 3-month assessment in self-reported recommended supervisor behaviours; differences between intervention and control groups in recommended behaviour scores three weeks, three months, and six months after the program. Ninety physicians from 20 health network clusters were allocated to the intervention group, 88 physicians from 22 clusters to the control group. Intervention group participants reported greater positive change in behaviour across the study period than those in the control group (mixed model repeated measures analysis, group × time interaction: P < 0.001). The mean change in self-reported supervisory behaviour score was higher for the intervention than the control group at the 3-week (mean difference in score, 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8-2.4), 3-month (0.9; 95% CI, 0.2-1.6), and 6-month assessments (1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-2.7). The mean change in self-reported responsive behaviour score was also greater for the intervention group at the 3-week (mean difference, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.5-3.1), 3-month (1.0; 95% CI, 0.2-1.9), and 6-month assessments (2.0; 95% CI, 1.1-2.9); differences in the mean change in preventive behaviour scores were statistically significant at the 3-week (mean difference, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.1-2.2) and 6-month assessments (1.8; 95% CI, 0.8-2.8), but not the 3-month assessment (0.8; 95% CI, -0.1 to 1.7). Brief online mental health training for senior physicians can lead to changes in their self-reported behaviour for supporting the mental health needs of resident physicians. Whether this leads to better mental health for resident physicians should be investigated. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12619001496101 (prospective).

No More the Nice Guy: Coping with Abusive Supervision through Service Sabotage Behaviours

‘Atithi Devo Bhav’, implying that guests must be treated as Gods, is the philosophical belief of Indian society indicating the importance of treating the customers with utmost respect and courtesy. The current study examines service sabotage behaviours by utilizing time-lagged method to collect data in three waves from 332 employees from Indian hotel industry. The study highlights the effects of abusive supervision on the employees who perceive disrespect, public humiliation or rude supervisory behaviours towards them as breach of psychological contract, and they retaliate by displaying deviant workplace behaviour such as service sabotage. The unique proposition of the research is to investigate the sequential mediating role of psychological contract violation and retaliation intention on the relationship between abusive supervision and service sabotage. The research utilizes psychological contract theory and frustration–aggression theory to draw logical inferences from the findings. Findings indicate that when employees perceive mistreatment or injustice, they experience psychological contract violation that instigates an urge to retaliate against the unfair treatment by engaging in negative service behaviours, for example, sabotage. Therefore, the hospitality organizations must implement practices and processes to take care of any unjust, unfair or hostile behaviour at play in the organization, as the success of the industry is dependent on the service quality and frontline employees’ encounters with the customer. The study provides some interesting and useful managerial and theoretical implications.

Exploring family supportive supervisor behaviours from a police perspective to ensure life satisfaction: an empirical investigation using importance-performance analysis

PurposeThe primary aim of this research is to analyse the impact of family-supportive supervisor behaviours (FSSB) on the level of life satisfaction among individuals working in the police force. FSSB is informal support by supervisors, which is an emerging topic. Further, this study examines the intermediary role of career calling and job embeddedness in the association between supportive family behaviours of supervisors and life satisfaction. However, only limited studies have been conducted on how informal support by the supervisor performs for police personnel. This research aims to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachFor the purpose of data collection from police personnel, we used a structured questionnaire. Variance-based partial least squares structural equational modelling (PLS-SEM) methodology was applied using SmartPLS software to investigate the conceptual model of the study. Additionally, using importance-performance map analysis (IMPA), we evaluate the importance and performance of each construct.FindingsThe data analysis findings indicate that job embeddedness and career calling function as complete mediating factors in the association between FSSB and life satisfaction. Additionally, the study revealed that career calling is the most performing construct for promoting life satisfaction but is not perceived as important by the police department.Originality/valueAccording to the authors’ knowledge, there has been no research in the Indian context that examines the effects of supervisor family supportive behaviours, especially among police. The incorporation of career calling and job embeddedness as mediators provides a novel perspective in the examination of the correlation between FSSB and life satisfaction.

Reactions to Electronic Communication After Work: The Roles of Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior

Reactions to Electronic Communication After Work: The Roles of Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior

Linking Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors to Supervisor Work and Family Performance

Linking Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors to Supervisor Work and Family Performance

Anti-corruption policy and earnings management: do women in monitoring roles matter?

PurposeThe inadequate enforcement of anti-corruption policies in the private sector in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries is the motivation for this study to investigate how a company’s anti-corruption disclosure (ACD) affects earnings management. Moreover, the underrepresentation of women in supervisory roles makes this aspect of particular interest. Hence, this study highlights the question of whether their participation in audit committees can impact the organization's policies.Design/methodology/approachThis research employs archival methods to examine 30 of the largest non-financial companies from each of the ASEAN-5 countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines) from 2016 to 2018. Lastly, the authors also utilize a robustness test.FindingsAs expected, the results indicate that the low willingness to disclose anti-corruption activities encourages earnings management practices. This relationship is significantly more potent in firms with fewer women on their audit committees. The findings remain robust after assessing alternative measurements.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study imply that a company’s anti-corruption policies and the role of women in supervisory activity influence rent-seeking behavior. Thus, investors should consider elements that promote transparency in companies. Additionally, regulators must evaluate regulations to promote gender diversity and eradicate corruption by establishing exact policies, providing whistleblowing protection and simplifying indicators for effective disclosure.Originality/valueThe consequences of the anti-corruption policy in the ASEAN-5 countries are relatively under-researched and still focus on a single country. Furthermore, while examining the connection between ACD and earnings management, this study also considered how addressing the supervisory factor is urgent in terms of corporate transparency.

THE INFLUENCE OF WORKING CONDITIONS ON PRO-MIGRATION CONSIDERATIONS AMONG NURSING STUDENTS

Purpose of the article: to identify the pull factors of migration among nursing students and the impact of migration flows on the Slovak labour market with an aspect on the health care sector. Findings: Nursing students are most attracted to studying abroad by the following pull factors: legal norms, regulations and requirements for work performance, the behaviour of supervisors, relationships between colleagues and the favourable social climate in the country. Factors that are less influential are remuneration, education and a higher standard of living. Based on the answers of the respondents, a high percentage of considerations about looking for a job abroad were shown. Out of the 423 students, up to 80% of the respondents plan to go abroad for work. The current number of nursing students is not sufficient to cover the needs of the Slovak labour market in the health sector. The massive outflow of potential staff in hospitals exacerbates the staffing problems in hospitals.

Are different generations of female employees trapped by work-family conflicts? A study on the impact of family-supportive supervisor behavior on thriving at work.

With women's advancement in education and status, they drive corporate and social progress. However, traditional gender roles burden female employees with more family responsibilities, challenging work-life balance and affecting job performance. Organizations should supporting female employees to address these challenges. Thriving at work, a core aspect of positive work engagement, helps maintain enthusiasm and efficiency. This study explores the impact of family-supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) on the thriving at work of female employees in China, considering generational differences in their work-family balance needs and the mediating mechanisms involved. The methodology adopted in this study utilized Amos 26.0 and SPSS 25.0 to analyze data obtained from a sample of 279 female employees in China. Specifically, the study examined the direct impact of FSSB on thriving at work, alongside the mediating influence of work-family balance. Moreover, the research aimed to discern variations in these effects across different generational cohorts. This study highlights the direct impact of FSSB on female employees' thriving at work across different generational cohorts. Notably, the "post-90s" generation displayed the strongest direct effect of FSSB on thriving at work. Additionally, the impact of FSSB on work-family balance varied by generation, with the "post-90s" generation showing the weakest effect. Furthermore, the mediating role of work-family balance differed among generations, with complete mediation observed in the "post-80s" generation but no mediating effect in the "post-90s" generation, reflecting their distinct work-life balance priorities and needs. This study uses a generational difference perspective to explore the main and mediating effects of FSSB on thriving at work, enriching the theoretical research on generational differences and providing valuable insights for future research. Practically, organizations should focus on the needs of different generations while encouraging FSSB, fostering a supportive work environment and enhancing outcomes.

Transfer of a leadership training intervention prior to COVID-19 on leadership support during the pandemic

PurposeWe examined the impact of a leadership support training intervention implemented prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on support behaviors specific to COVID-19 during the pandemic. Primary intervention targets (i.e. family-supportive supervisor behaviors and sleep leadership behaviors) were explored as mediators between the intervention and supportive COVID-19 leadership behaviors.Design/methodology/approachA cluster randomized controlled trial intervention was implemented with service members and their supervisors in the Army and Air National Guard throughout 2017–2019. Follow-up survey data were collected after the intervention, including during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Direct and indirect intervention effects were tested.FindingsA pre-COVID intervention targeting leader support for family and sleep health had a direct effect on leader support specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, sleep leadership, but not family-supportive supervisor behaviors, mediated the intervention effects on supportive COVID-19 leadership. These findings suggest that certain leadership training interventions can transfer across knowledge domains and time.Practical implicationsFindings from this study demonstrate that training leaders on support behaviors improves their ability to support employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and may translate to crisis leadership in other contexts.Originality/valueWe examined the long-term effects of an intervention that was implemented approximately 1–2 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic on leadership support behaviors specific to the pandemic. Our findings contribute to the leadership, training, and organizational intervention literatures, and have implications for how leaders can support employees during crises.

Multidimensional analysis of supervisors’ safety leadership on safety violations of construction workers: An empirical investigation

BACKGROUND: Frontline supervisors have the most frequent interactions with workers on construction projects. Although Supervisors’ Safety Leadership (SSL) is commonly practiced, its specific inter-relationship with workers’ safety violations remains unclear, especially when it comes to detailed interactions between supervisors and workers, such as supervisors’ safety coaching/safety controlling/safety caring against workers’ situational/routine safety violations. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to uncover the intrinsic relationship between SSL and safety violations from the perspective of construction workers with the help of mediating variables at both organizational and individual levels. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted to test all hypotheses based on empirical data from 346 construction workers. The path coefficient of the fitted model was then analyzed, including associated mediating effects. RESULTS: Situational safety violations are directly affected only by safety caring (β= –0.161, p &lt; 0.05), while routine safety violations are impacted only by safety coaching (β= –0.159, p &lt; 0.05). SSL can influence different types of safety violations through differing mediators. In particular, safety coaching acts on individuals’ routine safety violations mainly through self-efficacy (β= 0.199, p &lt; 0.01; standardized indirect effect = –0.121, 95% CI[–0.226, –0.024]); safety controlling is more oriented to influence individuals’ situational safety violations through group safety norm (β= 0.383, p &lt; 0.001; standardized indirect effect = –0.091, 95% CI[–0.177, –0.036]); and safety caring further influences individuals’ situational safety violations mainly through safety motivation (β= 0.581, p &lt; 0.001; standardized indirect effect = –0.263, 95% CI[–0.418, –0.146]). CONCLUSION: The research enhances existing knowledge by clarifying the complex relationships between supervisor behavior and safety outcomes, particularly from the perceptions of construction workers towards supervisors’ actions and leadership.

The Development of a Calculator for Objectively Evaluating Supervisory Behaviors in Practice.

Supervision has been a popular topic of study by behavior analysts for the last decade. This popularity came about after several hallmark articles were published and key events in our profession enhanced clarity regarding how much impact supervision can have on important variables such as the quality of behavior-analytic service delivery, patient outcomes, staff satisfaction, and level of staff burnout. Despite the increase in the volume of supervision literature, few articles have provided concrete recommendations for how to objectively evaluate supervisory behaviors in practice. In this tutorial, we share how we developed a supervision assessment calculator and tested its efficacy to evaluate supervisory behaviors in our practice. We tested the calculator with mock videos, and compared scores from independent raters to determine if the calculator could be used reliability in practice. We make recommendations for behavior analysts who wish to create objective scoring criteria for supervision in their own practice, and ways in which resources like this can be used to enhance the quality of supervision.

The Roles of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviour, Work-Life Balance, Job Satisfaction, Motivation, and Job Performance Among Married Private Employees

Aim – This study investigates the effect of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviour (FSSB), work-life balance, job satisfaction, motivation, and job performance among married private employees in Indonesia. Methodology – Data collection was carried out online using Goole form. This study used a sample of 206 private employees who were married and worked for at least 3 years in Indonesia. Data was analysed using Structural Equational Model (SEM) with Lisrel 8.80 software. Findings – The result showed that FSBB, job satisfaction, and motivation, have a positive effect on job performance. FSSB also has a positive effect on motivation. Work-life balance and motivation also positively influence job satisfaction. Another finding showed that work-life balance has no effect on the performance of married private employees. Based on testing the indirect relationship, there are two mediating roles whose results are significant, namely motivation mediates the relationship between FSSB on job performance. In addition, job satisfaction mediates the relationship between motivation and job performance. Limitations – This research still has some limitations that need to be improved in the future. First, the survey only focuses on private sector employees. Second, this study uses respondents who are private employees, married, but limited to a minimum working period of 3 years and a minimum education of bachelor’s degrees. Third, based on regional distribution, most of the respondents work on the island of Java, especially in the Greater Jakarta area. Fourth, the variables used in this study only focus on five variables, namely FSSB, work-life balance, motivation, job satisfaction, and performance. Originality/value – The study contributes to literature that the family-supportive supervisor behaviours can increase motivation and job performance especially for among private employees who are married. When motivation increases, it affects satisfaction and job performance. Companies can also implement a work-life balance as an effort to increase job satisfaction.