Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention.

Three studies investigated the relationships among employees' perception of supervisor support (PSS), perceived organizational support (POS), and employee turnover. Study 1 found, with 314 employees drawn from a variety of organizations, that PSS was positively related to temporal change in POS, suggesting that PSS leads to POS. Study 2 established, with 300 retail sales employees, that the PSS-POS relationship increased with perceived supervisor status in the organization. Study 3 found, with 493 retail sales employees, evidence consistent with the view that POS completely mediated a negative relationship between PSS and employee turnover. These studies suggest that supervisors, to the extent that they are identified with the organization, contribute to POS and, ultimately, to job retention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived organizational support: Inferior versus superior performance by wary employees.

Retail employees in Study 1 and employees from multiple organizations in Study 2 completed a questionnaire investigating the moderating effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on the relationship of employees' fear of exploitation in exchange relationships (reciprocation wariness) and their in-role and extra-role job performance. When POS was low, reciprocation wariness was negatively related to in-role and extra-role job performance. With high POS, reciprocation wariness was positively related to extra-role performance and either positively related to in-role performance (for retail employees) or showed no reliable relationship with in-role performance (for the multiorganizational sample). In deciding on their work effort, reciprocation-wary employees considered how much the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. Implications for employee–employer exchange relationships and workforce cynicism are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commitment and employee behavior: Comparison of affective commitment and continuance commitment with perceived organizational support.

The social exchange view of commitment (R. Eisenberger et al, 1986) suggests that employees' perceptions of the organization's commitment to them (perceived organizational support [POS]) creates feelings of obligation to the employer, which enhances employees' work behavior. The authors addressed the question of whether POS or the more traditional commitment concepts of affective commitment (AC) and continuance commitment (CC) were better predictors of employee behavior (organizational citizenship and impression management). Participants were 383 employees and their managers. Although results showed that both AC and POS were positively related to organizational citizenship and that CC was negatively related to organizational citizenship, POS was the best predictor. These findings support the social exchange view that POS creates feelings of obligation that contribute to citizenship behaviors. In addition, CC was unrelated, whereas AC and POS were positively correlated, with some impression management behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Listen while you work? Quasi-experimental relations between personal-stereo headset use and employee work responses.

Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined relations between stereo headset use and employee work responses. Employees (N?=?256) worked on 32 jobs in an office of a retail organization. Employees indicated whether they were interested in using stereos at work. From those expressing an interest, a random sample (n?=?75) was assigned to a stereo condition. These employees used headsets at work for 4 weeks. The remaining employees (n?=?181) were assigned to a control condition and were not allowed to use stereos. Results indicated that employees in the stereo condition exhibited significant improvements in performance, turnover intentions, organization satisfaction, mood states, and other responses. The mood state of relaxation best explained the relation between stereo use and performance. Finally, employees in relatively simple jobs responded most positively to the stereos. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring relationships among anger, perceived organizational support, and workplace outcomes.

The present study examines anger within a perceived organizational support (POS) theory framework. Using structural equation modeling, the authors explored relationships among POS, anger, and workplace outcomes in a sample of 1,136 employees in 21 stores of a U.S. retail organization. At both individual and store levels, low POS was directly associated with greater anger. At the individual level, anger partially mediated relationships among low POS and turnover intentions, absences, and accidents on the job. Anger had direct and indirect effects on alcohol consumption and health-related risk taking. At the store level, anger had direct negative effects on inventory loss and turnover. The authors interpret these findings in light of social exchange theory and emotion regulation theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When supervisors feel supported: Relationships with subordinates' perceived supervisor support, perceived organizational support, and performance.

The authors surveyed full-time retail employees and their supervisors to investigate relationships of supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) with subordinates' perceptions of support from their supervisors (perceived supervisor support [PSS]), POS, and in-role and extra-role performance. The authors found that supervisors' POS was positively related to their subordinates' perceptions of supervisor support. Subordinates' PSS, in turn, was positively associated with their POS, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Beyond these bivariate relationships, subordinates' perceptions of support from the supervisor mediated positive relationships of the supervisors' POS with the subordinates' POS and performance. These findings suggest that supervisors who feel supported by the organization reciprocate with more supportive treatment for subordinates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reciprocation of perceived organizational support.

Four hundred thirteen postal employees were surveyed to investigate reciprocation's role in the relationships of perceived organizational support (POS) with employees' affective organizational commitment and job performance. The authors found that (a) POS was positively related to employees' felt obligation to care about the organization's welfare and to help the organization reach its objectives; (b) felt obligation mediated the associations of POS with affective commitment, organizational spontaneity, and in-role performance; and (c) the relationship between POS and felt obligation increased with employees' acceptance of the reciprocity norm as applied to work organizations. Positive mood also mediated the relationships of POS with affective commitment and organizational spontaneity. The pattern of findings is consistent with organizational support theory's assumption that POS strengthens affective commitment and performance by a reciprocation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual reactions to high involvement work processes: Investigating the role of empowerment and perceived organizational support.

This study sought to understand how high involvement work processes (HIWP) are processed at the employee level. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the authors tested and supported a model in which psychological empowerment mediated the effects of HIWP on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and job stress. Furthermore, perceived organizational support (POS) was hypothesized to moderate the relationships between empowerment and these outcomes. With exception for the empowerment-job satisfaction association, support was found for our predictions. Future directions for research and the practical implications of our findings for both employees and organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of fair treatment and rewards in perceptions of organizational support and leader-member exchange.

This study examined a model of the antecedents and consequences of perceived organizational support (POS) and leader-member exchange (LMX). It was predicted that organizational justice (procedural and distributive justice) and organizational practices that provide recognition to the employee (feelings of inclusion and recognition from upper management) would influence POS. For LMX, it was predicted that leader reward (distributive justice and contingent rewards) and punishment behavior would be important antecedents. Results based on a sample of 211 employee-supervisor dyads indicated that organizational justice, inclusion, and recognition were related to POS and contingent rewards were related to LMX. In terms of consequences, POS was related to employee commitment and organizational citizenship behavior, whereas LMX predicted performance ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abusive supervision and subordinates' organization deviance.

The authors developed an integrated model of the relationships among abusive supervision, affective organizational commitment, norms toward organization deviance, and organization deviance and tested the framework in 2 studies: a 2-wave investigation of 243 supervised employees and a cross-sectional study of 247 employees organized into 68 work groups. Path analytic tests of mediated moderation provide support for the prediction that the mediated effect of abusive supervision on organization deviance (through affective commitment) is stronger when employees perceive that their coworkers are more approving of organization deviance (Study 1) and when coworkers perform more acts of organization deviance (Study 2). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature.

The authors reviewed more than 70 studies concerning employees' general belief that their work organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support; POS). A meta-analysis indicated that 3 major categories of beneficial treatment received by employees (i.e., fairness, supervisor support, and organizational rewards and favorable job conditions) were associated with POS. POS, in turn, was related to outcomes favorable to employees (e.g., job satisfaction, positive mood) and the organization (e.g., affective commitment, performance, and lessened withdrawal behavior). These relationships depended on processes assumed by organizational support theory: employees' belief that the organization's actions were discretionary, feeling of obligation to aid the organization, fulfillment of socioemotional needs, and performance-reward expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among organizational family support, job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being.

The authors analyzed data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 3,504) to investigate relationships among availability of formal organizational family support (family benefits and alternative schedules), job autonomy, informal organizational support (work-family culture, supervisor support, and coworker support), perceived control, and employee attitudes and well-being. Using hierarchical regression, the authors found that the availability of family benefits was associated with stress, life satisfaction, and turnover intentions, and the availability of alternative schedules was not related to any of the outcomes. Job autonomy and informal organizational support were associated with almost all the outcomes, including positive spillover. Perceived control mediated most of the relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do the weary care about racioethnic similarity? The role of emotional exhaustion in relational demography.

Diversity theorists have hypothesized that similarity leads to both greater identification among individuals and reduced interpersonal conflict within organizations. Little research, however, has been conducted to identify boundary conditions for this relationship. The authors investigated the interactive effects of supervisor–subordinate racioethnic similarity and emotional exhaustion on organizational commitment in two studies. In Study 1, racioethnic supervisor–subordinate similarity related positively to commitment, but only among employees low in emotional exhaustion. In Study 2, we observed a significant indirect effect of racioethnic similarity on loyalty through supervisor support. Moreover, the support–loyalty linkage was significantly stronger for employees low in emotional exhaustion. Thus, the effects of supervisor–subordinate racioethnic similarity on employee commitment appear contingent upon employee emotional exhaustion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do positive work-related states mediate the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover? A longitudinal analysis.

This study investigated whether positive work-related states—affective organizational commitment and experience of meaning at work—mediated the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. A prospective cohort study was conducted among employees in eldercare services in Denmark. Employees no longer working in eldercare at follow-up were interviewed with questionnaires. Respondents to this questionnaire were coded as cases of turnover (n = 730) and were compared with employees who had not changed jobs during the follow-up period (n = 5,262). Data on positive work-related states and psychosocial work characteristics were measured at baseline in the cohort study. We used logistic regression analyses to investigate whether positive work-related states mediated the association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. Initial analyses showed that psychosocial work characteristics significantly predicted turnover. Subsequent analyses showed that affective organizational commitment and experience of meaning at work significantly reduced the risk of turnover, and the mediators attenuated the associations between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. Accordingly, the results show that positive work-related states mediate the longitudinal association between psychosocial work characteristics and turnover. The results furthermore imply that turnover among staff in eldercare can be reduced by enhancing positive work-related states and improving the psychosocial work environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment discrimination: Authority figures' demographic preferences and followers' affective organizational commitment.

The authors used theories of organizational commitment and obedience to authority to explain employment discrimination. In Study 1, employees participated in an experimental simulation of their work. An organizational authority's demographic preferences led to employment discrimination. As expected, affective organizational commitment moderated this effect, such that it was stronger for more committed employees. In Study 2, another sample of employees completed a survey that included an employment discrimination scenario. A model of linkages from affective organizational commitment to submissiveness to organizational authorities to employment discrimination fit the data well, after controlling for prejudicial attitudes and authoritarianism. Submissiveness to organizational authorities mediated the relationship between affective organizational commitment and employment discrimination. The authors discuss the importance of studying employment discrimination as an organizational and not just an intergroup phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived organizational support, discretionary treatment, and job satisfaction.

A diverse sample of 295 employees drawn from a variety of organizations was surveyed to investigate (a) whether the relationship between the favorableness of job conditions and perceived organizational support (POS) depends on employee perceptions concerning the organization's freedom of action and (b) whether POS and overall job satisfaction are distinct constructs. The favorableness of high-discretion job conditions was found to be much more closely associated with POS than was the favorableness of low-discretion job conditions. No such relationship was found between job conditions and satisfaction. To decide how much the organization values their contributions and well-being, employees distinguish job conditions whose favorableness the organization readily controls versus job conditions whose favorableness is constrained by limits on the organization's discretion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and outcomes of organizational support for development: The critical role of career opportunities.

This study examines antecedents and behavioral outcomes of employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We first propose that employees' past participation in formal developmental activities and experience with developmental relationships positively relate to their perceptions of organizational support for development. We then propose that perceived career opportunity within the organization moderates the relationship between organizational support for development and employee performance and turnover. Using a sample of 264 exempt-level employees and their supervisors, we found that participation in training classes, leader–member exchange, and career mentoring were each positively related to employees' perceptions of organizational support for development. We also found support for the moderator hypotheses. Specifically, development support positively related to job performance, but only when perceived career opportunity within the organization was high. Further, development support was associated with reduced voluntary turnover when perceived career opportunity was high, but it was associated with increased turnover when perceived career opportunity was low. Our study demonstrates that social exchange and career motivation theory work together to explain when and how employees' perceptions of organizational support for development relate to turnover and job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional turnover: An empirical assessment.

Proposed that the traditional method of categorizing employee turnover as voluntary or involuntary has the effect of overstating the gravity of turnover on the organization. A recently suggested taxonomy was used to identify the extent of functional/dysfunctional and unavoidable/controllable employee separations. Analysis of data on employees (N?=?1,389) of Western bank branches, which considers both the replaceability and quality of departing employees, indicated substantial levels of functional (71%) and unavoidable (52%) turnover. Results suggest that the traditional dichotomy may in fact substantially overstate the impact of voluntary turnover. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Countering the Negative Effects of Job Insecurity Through Participative Decision Making: Lessons From the Demand-Control Model.

This study examined the effectiveness of increased organizational participative decision making in attenuating the negative consequences of job insecurity. Data were collected from 807 employees in 6 different companies. Analyses suggest that job insecurity is related to lower coworker, work, and supervisor satisfaction and higher turnover intentions and work withdrawal behaviors. However, employees with greater participative decision-making opportunities reported fewer negative consequences of job insecurity compared with employees with fewer participative decision-making opportunities. Results are interpreted using the demand-control model and suggest that organizations that allow greater employee participative decision making may experience fewer negative side effects from today's rising levels of employee job insecurity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect Networks: A Structural Analysis of the Relationship Between Work Ties and Job-Related Affect.

The relationship between organizational networks and employees' affect was examined in 2 organizations. In Study 1, social network analysis of work ties and job-related affect for 259 employees showed that affect converged within work interaction groups. Similarity of affect between employees depended on the presence of work ties and structural equivalence. Affect was also related to the size and density of employees' work networks. Study 2 used a 10-week diary study of 31 employees to examine a merger of 2 organizational divisions and found that negative changes in employees' affect were related to having fewer cross-divisional ties and to experiencing greater reductions in network density. The findings suggest that affect permeates through and is shaped by organizational networks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)