A demands-resources model of work pressure in IT student task groups

This paper presents an initial test of the group task demands-resources (GTD-R) model of group task performance among IT students. We theorize that demands and resources in group work influence formation of perceived group work pressure (GWP) and that heightened levels of GWP inhibit group task performance. A prior study identified 11 factors relating to the task, group, individual, or environment as source factors to GWP. We extended this research by creating and validating scales for each source factor within an integrated GWP instrument. We then applied the instrument in an initial test of the GTD-R model. Results show the GTD-R model provides good predictions of GWP and group task performance. In addition we find GWP, task complexity, and time pressure factors to be higher in IT tasks vs. non-IT tasks described by our student participants. The findings extend demands-resources research from its prior focus on job burnout and exhaustion in individual tasks to incorporate less-intense pressure levels and group task contexts.     

Factors impacting the perceived organizational support of IT employees

Organizations today face shortages of IT personnel. We investigated workplace factors in one state government in hope of identifying factors that influence perceived organizational support (POS) within an IT work environment. A combination of job characteristics (challenging job and perceived workload), job stressors (work exhaustion, role conflict, and role ambiguity), and the organization’s discretionary actions (pay-for-performance and mentoring opportunities) were measured and hierarchical regression was used to determine the relationships. Four control variables were also included (age, gender, organizational tenure, and professional versus administrator status). Role ambiguity, role conflict, work exhaustion, career mentoring, and pay-for-performance together explained 62% of the variance in the IT employees’ POS. Career mentoring and role ambiguity explained most of the variance.     

Quality of working life and turnover intention in information technology work

High turnover has been a major issue in information technology (IT) organizations. A conceptual model to explain turnover was developed and tested in two national samples of IT and IT manufacturing work. The model postulates that quality of working life mediates the relations between job/organizational characteristics and turnover intention. The American sample consisted of 624 IT employees of five IT organizations. The Austrian sample consisted of 677 employees from an international IT production company (IT manufacturing work). A similar questionnaire was used in both studies. The model was tested with path analysis. A core model with main pathways between job demands and supervisory support to emotional exhaustion, and between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction to turnover intention was confirmed in the national samples and in subsamples of demographics and job types. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Learning demand and job autonomy of IT personnel: Impact on turnover intention

Information technology jobs require a significant amount of learning to maintain currency and perform expected activities, more so than in many other professions. The sheer volume of learning can increase work exhaustion, with a negative effect on turnover. However, jobs can be designed to provide a large amount of autonomy over pace and process in the hands of the IT employee. According to job demand and control models, the ability of an employee to pace oneself and make task decisions can lessen negative impacts. From another perspective, IT employees differ in their desires to learn as part of personal and career growth. Thus, negative effects of learning demand should be lessened by the IT employee’s motivation to learn, and motivation is a crucial antecedent in turnover models. A model based on the job demand-control model establishes and tests these relationships and finds them to hold in a sample of 306 IT employees. Work exhaustion is reduced by instilling job autonomy in the presence of learning demands and motivation, which then lessens turnover intentions of the IT workers.     

基于BP神经网络的IT教师职业枯竭预警研究

研究IT教师职业枯竭状况,建立预警BP模型.参考《中小学教师职业枯竭量表》设计问卷,收集来自6所高校IT教师的98份问卷调查数据,使用Matlab神经网络工具箱,将“情绪衰竭”、“非人性化”、“认知枯竭”和“个人成就感”四个变量进行反向传播神经网络的建模.模型预测结果的识别率为100％,均方误差为0.0001.IT教师职业枯竭预警BP模型能够动态预测枯竭状态,为尽早提供有效的心理干预提供依据.     

Career transition antecedents in the information technology area

The more organizations invest in information technology (IT), the more the concern with IT personnel management has increased, namely the hiring, training and retaining of IT professionals needed to deal with such investments. In this context, two issues related to these professionals have often been observed, namely ‘turnover’ – in which the IT professional changes job but still remains in the IT area – and ‘turnaway’ – in which the IT professional abandons the IT area and assumes a job in another area in the same organization or another, usually rising to a managerial position. This work addresses the turnaway of IT professionals in Brazil. The relevance of this research is supported by the shortage of adequately trained IT professionals to work in the productive sector in this country. Therefore, by using and adapting the extant scientific literature, research hypotheses associated with the IT professional turnaway phenomenon are developed and tested via structural equation modelling. It was then concluded that exhaustion with work in the IT area, job dissatisfaction, the need to acquire further experience to remain attractive in the job market, the need for professional growth and prior and conscious managerial capacity development for career transition are the main antecedents of the career transition of IT professionals to other functional areas.     

The work compatibility improvement framework: an assessment of the worker–work environment interaction in the manufacturing sector

The manufacturing sector in the US is challenged by high health care costs and shortage of qualified workers, which are largely attributed to the degree of fit between the worker and work environment. In this regard, a healthy worker–work environment interface is a necessary and sufficient condition for the containment of health care costs and the retaining/attraction of highly qualified knowledge workers and should be based on the principles of optimum physical, cognitive and emotional health for the workers. In prior research, the Work Compatibility Improvement Framework (WCIF) was introduced as a vehicle to address these issues and was defined as the identification, improvement and maintenance of the well-being characteristics of the workforce and its interaction with the work environment through the application of engineering, medicine, management and human sciences methodologies, technologies and best practices. This paper advances WCIF by examining its applications in manufacturing with regard to the evaluation of working conditions impacting musculoskeletal/stress outcome measures. A study was conducted in a machining department of a bag packaging manufacturer in the Midwest of the United States. The work tasks were planned and executed with regard to the following aims: (1) to compute work compatibility as a function of work demands and energisers; (2) to establish whether the prevalence of musculoskeletal/stress disorders increases with a decrease in the quality of worker–work environment interface in terms of work compatibility level and other work factors such as shift and job category. A major finding is that a ‘poor’ work environment (a function of all work domains) results in musculoskeletal/stress disorders that are 105% and 67% higher than those for a ‘good’ work environment. The evening shift exhibited the poorest compatibility followed by the night shift relative to the day shift. Application of the work compatibility approach demonstrated the detection of non-added value work. It is essential to evaluate the various domains of worker–work environment interface to uncover the root causes that tend to sub-optimise the physical/cognitive/emotional health of the workforce. The WCIF was used to uncover the non-value added effort in the work process. These findings will have major implications for developing and implementing customised design interventions with the aim to maximise the benefit and reduce the cost of employees in a manufacturing enterprise. The study findings suggest that the WCIF should be pursued as a potential strategic tool for optimising human performance in an enterprise to create healthy workplaces.     

Service encounter thinklets: how to empower service agents to put value co‐creation into practice

The concept of value co‐creation and the service encounter as locus of this value co‐creation gained much academic interest, notably in marketing research and service sciences. While the current research discourse mainly follows conceptual perspectives, there has been little research on the practical implications on service agents' enabling co‐creation of value in the information technology (IT)‐supported service encounters with clients. In this paper, we seek to bridge this gap and first use the example of IT‐supported citizen advisory services to show the fundamental deficiencies in current service agents regarding the implementation of value co‐creation work practices. We introduce the concept of service encounter thinklets, adapted from collaboration engineering, to overcome these deficiencies and to empower service agents to put value co‐creation into practice. We show how service encounter thinklets can complement existing advisory support measures to enable service agents to transform the IT‐supported customer service encounter into a collaborative work environment, bringing together themselves, customers and supporting information systems to co‐create the advisory's value. A test with employees in a public administration's front office has provided first evidence that service encounter thinklets can effectively empower service agents on the job to adapt their work practices and to bring value co‐creation into practice.     

Alternative date entry technologies and settings: Impact on worker attitudes and behavior

Changes in technology and the movement of key entry functions into user areas are altering the traditional work environment. These changes can effect worker attitudes and associated behaviors, such as absenteeism and productivity. This study examines the effect of differences in key entry settings and technologies on perceived job characteristics and worker attitudes and behaviors. The results are based upon a study of 350 operators working in 87 key entry environments drawn from 29 organizations. It is found that new technologies and the movement of key entry into user areas affect perceived task characteristics, including task significance, autonomy, and feedback from the job. Job satisfaction, worker motivation, absenteeism, and productivity are also influenced (but to a lesser degree) by changes in key entry technology and setting. The implications of the findings for the design of key entry equipment and jobs are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that designers of key entry technologies and environments will benefit from a knowledge of the dimensions comprising meaningful work.     

Burnout among pilots: psychosocial factors related to happiness and performance at simulator training

Abstract

In this study among airline pilots, we aim to uncover the work characteristics (job demands and resources) and the outcomes (job crafting, happiness and simulator training performance) that are related to burnout for this occupational group. Using a large sample of airline pilots, we showed that 40% of the participating pilots experience high burnout. In line with Job Demands-Resources theory, job demands were detrimental for simulator training performance because they made pilots more exhausted and less able to craft their job, whereas job resources had a favourable effect because they reduced feelings of disengagement and increased job crafting. Moreover, burnout was negatively related to pilots’ happiness with life. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors and health for valuable outcomes for both pilots and airlines.

Practitioner Summary: Using an online survey among the members of a European pilots’ professional association, we examined the relationship between psychosocial factors (work characteristics, burnout) and outcomes (simulator training performance, happiness). Forty per cent of the participating pilots experience high burnout. Job demands were detrimental, whereas job resources were favourable for simulator training performance/happiness.

Twitter text: 40% of airline pilots experience burnout and psychosocial work factors and burnout relate to performance at pilots’ simulator training.     

Can proactively induced organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) foster positive work attitudes? Theorising the mediating role of ‘meaning of work’ for IT professionals

Given the high employee turnover rates among information technology (IT) professionals, firms are on the lookout for ways to retain them. With this end in view, to keep their professionals committed and satisfied, many IT firms are making proactive efforts to induce a favourable organisational environment by encouraging employees towards extra-role organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). However, there is scant evidence as to whether orchestrating proactively induced OCB results in positive work attitudes. Our study contributes by theorising the mechanisms through which OCB fosters positive work attitudes among IT professionals, which is expected to lower their turnover rates. Grounding our research in self-perception and self-determination theories, we hypothesize the relationships between IT professionals' OCB and their affective attitudes towards their organisation and job, as being mediated by their cognitive evaluations of the ‘meaning of their IT work’. We test the theorised model with data collected through a large-scale two-wave survey design from a multinational IT-services company. The results offer a nuanced understanding of the relationship between OCB and positive work attitudes for IT professionals, which have significant implications for research and practice.     

The Relationship between Coworker Incivility,Emotional Exhaustion,and Organizational Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between coworker incivility, emotional exhaustion, and organizational outcomes measured by job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intention. Working with a sample of 286 retail bank employees in South Korea, structural equation modeling is employed to test four hypotheses drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and affective events theory (AET). According to the analyses, while employee incivility positively affects emotional exhaustion, emotional exhaustion has a negative effect on job satisfaction and job performance. In addition, emotional exhaustion has a positive impact on turnover intention among organizational employees. These results imply that to better understand the relationship between coworker incivility and organizational outcomes, it is necessary to consider emotional exhaustion as an important mediating variable. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed, together with its limitations and future research directions.     

Impact of mobile technology-enabled HR gamification on employee performance: An empirical investigation

This study draws from the information technology (IT)-enabled organizational capabilities perspective, technology affordance theory, and theoretical foundations of organizational gamification to examine how firms’ usage of mobile technology may be associated with the execution of human resource (HR) gamification initiatives and its effect on employee job performance and financial performance. Our central thesis was tested with a survey dataset from 134 firms. We found that: (1) Mobile technology-enabled HR gamification initiative improves job satisfaction and employee engagement and (2) employee engagement and job satisfaction are the pathways to improve job performance and create business value from IT.     

Insights about mental health aspects at intralogistics workplaces – A field study

The present field study investigated mental health aspects at intralogistics workplaces, as cognitive and social demands have largely changed in this branch. Within a cross-sectional, mixed methods study design, forty-one intralogistics employees completed a survey about their working conditions and mental states. Further, nine workers participated in a systematic, qualitative group interview to obtain intralogistics specific job resources and job demands. The results were compared to known mechanisms from a long-established psychological model (the Job-Demands and Resources model, JD-R model) to evaluate if these general assumptions still apply at modern working conditions. As expected and in line with the JD-R model, regression analyzes supported that job resources predicted work engagement (p < .05) and job demands predicted burnout symptoms (p < .001) even at modern intralogistics workplaces. However, no interaction effects (Job Demands X Job Resources) were found. The qualitative interviews highlighted several job demands and job resources, which were reported as especially relevant for modern intralogistics workplaces by the participants. Based on the findings, practical recommendations were evolved for the improvement of mental health at intralogistics workplaces. Job resources, for example process transparency or respectful and esteeming leadership behavior, can be increased in order to improve work engagement. Job demands, for example task interruptions, excessive time pressure or profuse exposure to physical stress should be controlled to reduce burnout symptoms.     

Social Media Burnout: Definition,Measurement Instrument,and Why We Care

Social media users have shown several burnout symptoms lately. In this research, we study the social media burnout issue from three perspectives, including a user’s ambivalence, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. Building on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), we designed a new scale to measure a user’s social media burnout. Using social media continuance as an example, we investigated the effects of social media burnout on a user’s post-adoption intention. We find that ambivalence, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization can all significantly negatively influence a user’s social media continuance.     

Examining the relationship between job design and worker strain over time in a sample of office workers

This study examines relationships between job design variables and worker strain. Office workers from a public service organization participated in a three-year study. Once during each of the three years, the same questionnaire was handed out to the subjects to examine job design and worker strain. The results indicate that the bivariate relationships between job design and worker strain change over time. At round 1, quantitative workload, work pressure and supervisor social support were the most important predictors of the worker strain variables. At round 2, task clarity, supervisor social support, and job future ambiguity were the most important predictors of worker strain. At round 3, task clarity, attention, and job future ambiguity were the most consistent predictors of worker strain. The results of the canonical correlation analysis were relatively similar for rounds 1 and 3, but not for round 2. There appears to be some consistency in the overall underlying structure of the relationships between job design and worker strain, but there is also some inconsistency in terms of which specific job design factors are related to specific measures of worker strain.     

The Work Compatibility Improvement Framework: an integrated perspective of the human-at-work system

The industrial revolution demonstrated the limitations of a pure mechanistic approach towards work design. Human work is now seen as a complex entity that involves different scientific branches and blurs the line between mental and physical activities. Job design has been a traditional concern of applied psychology, which has provided insight into the interaction between the individual and the work environment. The goal of this paper is to introduce the human-at-work system as a holistic approach to organizational design. It postulates that the well-being of workers and work outcomes are issues that need to be addressed jointly, moving beyond traditional concepts of job satisfaction and work stress. The work compatibility model (WCM) is introduced as an engineering approach that seeks to integrate previous constructs of job and organizational design. The WCM seeks a balance between energy expenditure and replenishment. The implementation of the WCM in industrial settings is described within the context of the Work Compatibility Improvement Framework. A sample review of six models (motivation-hygiene theory; job characteristics theory; person-environment fit; demand-control model; and balance theory) provides the foundation for the interaction between the individual and the work environment. A review of three workload assessment methods (position analysis questionnaire, job task analysis and NASA task load index) gives an example of the foundation for the taxonomy of work environment domains. Previous models have sought to identify a balance state for the human-at-work system. They differentiated between the objective and subjective effects of the environment and the worker. An imbalance between the person and the environment has been proven to increase health risks. The WCM works with a taxonomy of 12 work domains classified in terms of the direct (acting) or indirect (experienced) effect on the worker. In terms of measurement, two quantitative methods are proposed to measure the state of the system. The first method introduced by Abdallah et al. (2004) identifies operating zones. The second method introduced by Salem et al. (2006) identifies the distribution of the work elements on the x/y coordinate plane. While previous efforts have identified some relevant elements of the systems, they failed to provide a holistic, quantitative approach combining organizational and human factors into a common framework. It is postulated that improving the well-being of workers will simultaneously improve organizational outcomes. The WCM moves beyond previous models by providing a hierarchical structure of work domains and a combination of methods to diagnose any organizational setting. The WCM is an attempt to achieve organizational excellence in human resource management, moving beyond job design to an integrated improvement strategy. A joint approach to organizational and job design will not only result in decreased prevalence of health risks, but in enhanced organizational effectiveness as well. The implementation of the WCM, that is, the Work Compatibility Improvement Framework, provides the basis for integrating different elements of the work environment into a single reliable construct. An improvement framework is essential to ensure that the measures of the WCM result in a system that is adaptive and self-regulated.     

A Review of Employee Well‐Being and Innovativeness: An Opportunity for a Mutual Benefit

By drawing on the Job Demands and Resources Model, this review article develops a conceptual framework to advance theoretical understanding of the relationship between job‐related demands and resources, employee well‐being and innovativeness. In conditions characterized by too high levels of demands, employees may suffer from burnout. When job resources are high, they are likely to feel engaged with their work. Burnout in turn can be seen as an inhibitor of innovativeness, and work engagement as an antecedent to innovativeness, mediating the effects of resources and demands at work on innovativeness. We further argue that innovativeness can function as a resource or a demand, depending on how it is managed. In addition to understanding the dual role of innovativeness, the identification of job‐specific demands and resources is central to supporting employee well‐being and, subsequently, innovativeness. The implications of the proposed conceptual framework for academic researchers and managers are discussed.