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Job crafting refers to the self‐initiated work behaviours employees use to change their job characteristics. According to job design theory, these crafting‐induced changes in job characteristics should impact employee outcomes. Job characteristics can therefore be proposed as a key mechanism through which job crafting affects employee outcomes and we present cross‐sectional meta‐analytic structural equation modelling of this key mechanism (K = 58 independent samples, N = 20,347 employees). Results show significant indirect effects between task resource crafting and employee outcomes (well‐being and positive job attitudes) via task resources, and significant indirect effects between social job crafting and employee outcomes (well‐being and positive job attitudes) via social resources. Results also indicated that challenge and hindrance demand crafting increase job strain via increases in job demand. Overall, our findings indicate that job characteristics are an important job crafting mechanism, that employees may have difficulty in crafting job demands in ways that produce beneficial outcomes, and that future research needs to consider simultaneously the range of mechanisms through which job crafting affects outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the massive changes experienced within work contexts over the last decades, work design has received renewed attention both from scholars and practitioners interested in carefully balancing job demands with employees' needs, aiming to boost performance. Hence, work design, meant as a strategic human resource management tool to craft job context and content, has been proven to impact on work performance and burnout. However, despite this evidence, the literature clearly explaining the paths through which work design might lead to positive or negative organizational outcomes is still scarce. To address this gap, the present study investigated the contribution of work–family interface aspects (i.e., work–family conflict and work–family enrichment) as mediators in this relationship. The participants were 160 white-collar employees, invited to fill in an online survey encompassing socio-demographical information (e.g., age, gender, education, and professional role) and individual self-report responses on the study variables (i.e., work design, work/family conflict, work/family enrichment, burnout, and work performance). The path analyses were conducted to investigate the direct and indirect relationships among constructs. The results showed that work–family conflict mediated the relationships between some work design characteristics and burnout, whereas work–family enrichment had a mediating role in the paths leading both to burnout and to work performance. The implications for research and practice were discussed with respect to an evidence-based human resource management perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the healthcare sector is growing, and AI‐based technologies are envisioned to affect not only patient care but also how healthcare professionals work. Nevertheless, the actual impact of various AI applications on healthcare professionals' jobs has not been studied yet. Bringing together a framework to analyse AI applications in health‐care and the job design model, we analysed 80 publications from the grey‐literature platform 'SingularityHub'. Our findings demonstrate that AI applications in 1) diagnosis and treatment, 2) patient engagement and empowerment and 3) administrative activities have an impact on the various components of healthcare professionals' job design, including job autonomy and control; skill variety and use; job feedback; social and relational aspects; and job demands. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigate the implications of different aspects of algorithmic coordination and algorithmic quantification for perceived work conditions and the meaningfulness of crowdwork. Using survey data obtained from 412 crowdworkers, our analysis shows that work conditions and the meaningfulness of work are impacted differently by algorithmic coordination and the feeling of being quantified by an algorithm. Specifically, it shows that algorithmic coordination has either a positive or null impact on perceived work conditions and meaningfulness of work. However, negative associations between algorithmic quantification and perceived work conditions, suggest that the algorithmic quantification seems particularly problematic for crowdworkers' experienced work conditions. Furthermore, algorithmic coordination is positively associated with the meaningfulness of work, while algorithmic quantification is negatively associated with the perceived meaningfulness of work. Using work design theory, the findings also provide insights into the mechanisms explaining these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid growth in the Chinese construction industry is exposing many design professionals to elevated stress levels with negative implications for their health and well-being, and in-turn project outcomes. However, it is surprising that there has been little research into job stressors affecting design professionals in the construction industry. The aim of this paper is to help address this gap in knowledge by reporting the results of research that explored the job stressors of design professionals and how they vary across various personal and workplace characteristics. Data was collected via a survey of 408 design professionals in the Chinese construction industry, supported by in-depth sensemaking interviews with nine Chinese design professionals. Survey data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics combined with qualitative analysis of interview transcripts. Results indicate that task-related stressors are the leading sources of job stress for design professionals in the industry. Managing job workload, job requirements, and job ambiguity are the main task-related stressors and are linked to time pressures, working overtime, high workload, balancing multiple projects, and high levels of responsibility. Results also indicate that gender, marital status, age, education background, years of design experience, design discipline, position, and professional title are mediating factors in a design professional's job stressor profile. Being the first large-scale empirical investigation of the job stressors among design professionals in the Chinese construction industry, the findings provide new empirical and conceptual insights into an increasingly important yet under researched problem and concludes with practical recommendations to reduce job stress for design professionals in the industry, which has broader relevance in other countries. The current research findings have important practical implications for Chinese design professionals and for managers of design organizations and construction projects in China that involve design professionals. By providing new insights into the critical stressors that affect design professionals and the influence of personal and workplace characteristics on their job stressors, this research provides a strong empirical foundation for new evidence-based stress management initiatives and policies to reduce job stressors in this critically important professional group. For example, this may include involving design professionals or design organizations in the redesign of their jobs and working environments and the development of flexibility policies that enable better work-life balance, such as working remotely, paternity leave, and shorter work weeks. More importantly, the findings point to the importance of changing the demanding nature of work in the construction industry and developing more targeted measures to improve individual resilience and stress-coping capabilities for design professionals, especially those subgroups to which the results indicate are subject to stronger job stressors. These groups include electrical design professionals, design professionals with a higher level of education or job position, and professionals with family caring responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In order to develop a proposed model for job redesign at Zagazig University Hospitals, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the organizational influences, the individual-level factors, the main five job characteristics, and personenvironment fit. The data was collected from 282 healthcare providers working at Zagazig University Hospitals in Egypt and analyzed by using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results of the study indicated that the main five job characteristics mediate the relationship between individual and organizational factors and person-environment fit. Accordingly, the University Hospital's management should create supportive organizational environment and provide the medical staff with the necessary competences to be align with redesigned jobs. These redesigned jobs are characterized by involving a wide variety of tasks, feeling of meaningfulness and appreciation from others, performing a clear and a complete job from start to finish, allowing to independently use the appropriate method to perform the job, and having the information about the level of job performance on an ongoing basis. Then, the outcome of these redesigned jobs is enhancing person-environment fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My aim with this commentary is to discuss my vision on what will determine its impact, building on Parker and Grote (2020). To my view, digitalization and automation can contribute to stimulating and "healthy" jobs, if (a) they are designed to support people's work, (b) people are in control and can craft their use, (c) job resources are maximized and job demands are affordable, (d) the economic growth is shared among stakeholders, including employees, and (e) authorities protect employees and employment (conditions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on self-determination theory and job characteristics theory, this study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive model simultaneously investigating the relationship between job characteristics and two forms of work motivation (i.e., controlled motivation and autonomous motivation). To examine the proposed model, we recruited employees working in multiple Chinese industries and collected 435 valid questionnaires. The results indicate that job characteristics have a significantly positive effect on basic psychological needs satisfaction, which, in turn, positively affects autonomous motivation and negatively influences controlled motivation. In addition, basic psychological needs satisfaction mediates the linkage between job characteristics and positive or negative work motivation. Moreover, when an employee had high positive affectivity, job characteristics were more likely to fuel their basic psychological needs satisfaction. In contrast, job characteristics were more likely to be the depressor of these needs satisfaction when an employee possesses high negative affectivity. Our findings revealed that the degree of three needs satisfaction at work is a convincing and identifiable psychological mechanism between job characteristics and two types of work motivation. Also, work affectivity may influence the different perceptions of job characteristics, reminding managers that personality traits are a non-negligible factor in job design. Overall, this paper extends the application of the job characteristics model by revealing when and how job characteristics influence two types of work motivation and further puts forward managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New technologies are ever evolving and have the power to change human work for the better or the worse depending on the implementation. For human–robot interaction (HRI), it is decisive how humans and robots will share tasks and who will be in charge for decisions on task allocation. The aim of this online experiment was to examine the influence of different decision agents on the perception of a task allocation process in HRI. We assume that inclusion of the worker in the allocation will create more perceived work resources and will lead to more satisfaction with the allocation and the work results than a decision made by another agent. To test these hypotheses, we used a fictional production scenario where tasks were allocated to the participant and a robot. The allocation decision was either made by the robot, by an organizational unit, or by the participants themselves. We then looked for differences between those conditions. Our sample consisted of 151 people. In multiple ANOVAs, we could show that satisfaction with the allocation process, the solution, and with the result of the work process was higher in the condition where participants themselves were given agency in the allocation process compared to the other two. Those participants also experienced more task identity and autonomy. This has implications for the design of allocation processes: The inclusion of workers in task allocation can play a crucial role in leveraging the acceptance of HRI and in designing humane work systems in Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Team virtuality has been mostly conceptualized as structural features, such as the percentage of time team members communicate via technology. However, the perception of distance and of information deficits (team perceived virtuality, TPV) may be an indispensable construct to understand virtual teams' functioning. The lockdowns imposed on most countries due to COVID-19 created virtual teams with high degrees of structural virtuality. With structural virtuality held constant among teams, we explore configurations of work characteristics (autonomy, interdependence, and organizational support) that influence TPV. With a sample of 296 multinational workers, a Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles of those work characteristics. Those profiles related differently to TPV. Contrary to previous findings, interdependence seems to play an important role in these teams high in structural virtuality when their autonomy is also high, highlighting the pivotal role of frequent interaction among team members, under conditions of high structural virtuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New technologies with unprecedented agentic capabilities (i.e., action selection, protocol development) are now introduced in organizations such as Big Data, 3D printing or artificial intelligence. Because they are endowed with novel capabilities that might compete with human agency, they might disrupt the way employees work. Based on the work design model, this study aims to examine their introduction in the daily work activities and the consequent perceptions of the work characteristics. Building on Murray's et al. (2020) proposal, we offer a classification of the digital technologies to conceptualize their relationship with the work characteristics. To explore the changes induced by two digital technologies (i.e., drones, robotic automation process), we interviewed 3 types of employees (i.e., experts, managers, users) from an organization which has started a digitalization process and we conducted a thematic analysis. Our analysis revealed three main themes that are discussed: A technological theme (arresting, assisting), a work characteristic theme and a theme about the human-technology relationship (agentic, non-agentic). Results showed that employee autonomy has not been reduced when digital technologies executed repetitive and unmotivated tasks and that jobs in the digital work context may be marked by a high level of knowledge characteristics. Moreover, technologies with agentic capabilities may be perceived as a non-human agent. Theoretical contributions for the work design model are then examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job crafting theory suggests that misalignment between an employee's preferred and actual amount of job characteristics acts as a motivational trigger for job crafting. We test this unexplored, yet key proposition underlying job crafting theory. To do so, however, we take a more comprehensive misfit perspective than previously applied, evaluating person‐job undersupply and oversupply. We propose that task interdependence misfit motivates a reductive form of job crafting, decreasing hindrance demands. We also propose that low autonomy mitigates the misfit to decreasing hindrance demands relationship. To empirically evaluate this direction, we employ moderated polynomial regression and response surface analysis. Study 1 (N = 159 English‐speaking respondents) findings suggest that task interdependence misfit (both undersupply and oversupply) is positively related to decreasing hindrance demands. Study 2 (N = 363 Dutch‐speaking respondents) findings replicate and support our misfit hypothesis. Further, as expected, low levels of autonomy neutralize the relationship between task interdependence misfit and decreasing hindrance demands. Theoretical and practical implications regarding the misfit‐as‐motivation hypothesis, and the simultaneous investigation of job crafting facilitators (i.e., autonomy) and motivators (i.e., misfit) are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of non-monetary work environment factors on employee discretionary effort within the higher education sector in Australia. There is limited qualitative research that examines the factors that drive and inhibit employee discretionary effort especially in the higher education sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 higher education institution academics and support staff using a purposive sampling method. The findings of this research suggest that professional commitment has important implications for discretionary effort within the higher education sector and needs to be explored. The findings also support job design, job characteristics and organisational factors (e.g. excessive workload) as having a direct influence on discretionary behaviour. However, two previously identified factors, organisational culture and leadership and management factors, did not have the expected influence on discretionary effort by the participants due to their negative perception of the current culture within all institutions in the Higher Education Sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overqualified individuals have more experience, KSAs (knowledge, skills, abilities), and/or education than what is needed in their job. Prior research has identified autonomy as a work characteristic that helps individuals deal with overqualification; yet, it remains unclear as to why this is the case. The goal of the present study was to identify the mechanism through which autonomy exerts its beneficial impact. Drawing on the literatures of person-environment fit and proactivity, we first hypothesized that, in addition to autonomy, job crafting likewise moderates the relationship between overqualification and both withdrawal and turnover intention as central outcomes. Job crafting denotes a proactive type of behavior whereby individuals change the boundaries of their jobs. Next, we hypothesized that job crafting is positively related to autonomy, and that job crafting represents the key mechanism through which autonomy moderates the overqualification-outcome relationship. In a multisource sample of 226 employee-supervisor dyads, we found that overqualified employees were significantly more likely to withdraw from their work and intend to exit if (a) their job provided little autonomy or (b) if they engaged in low levels of job crafting. When individuals experienced high levels of autonomy or engaged in high levels of job crafting, the overqualification-outcome relationship was reversed (or non-significant). Moreover, autonomy was positively related to job crafting. Finally, we found evidence for mediated moderation, such that the moderating effect of autonomy on the relationship between overqualification and both withdrawal and turnover intention was transmitted through job crafting. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of a Czech adaptation of the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) that measures 21 work characteristics. Sample and setting. A sample of 461 people working in Czech organizations completed a Czech adaptation of WDQ. In order to assess the convergent validity of WDQ, the respondents also completed 4 other questionnaires. Results. Confirmatory factor analyses showed a similar fit of the 21-factor model (RMSEA = = 0.046; CFI = 0.89; TLI = 0.88) to the original English WDQ. The standardized factor loadings were high (λ = 0.60 to 0.90), only the item wdq 25 did not load on the job complexity factor (λ = .21) as it should have according to the theoretical model. The authors do not recommend including this item in the job complexity subscale because it has two possible meanings in both the Czech and English versions, and the respondents may not understand it in accordance with the content of the subscale. All the subscales of WDQ showed high internal consistency (ω = 0.75 to 0.96) except the social support subscale (ω = 0.64). The convergent validity of the subscales is supported by the correlations of their scores to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intrinsic motivation, and perceived own work performance. The analyses also showed the criterial validity of the subscale interaction outside an organization. as the respondents in sales and services scored higher than the respondents who worked in different positions. Limitations. Respondents with an university degree and respondents doing knowledge work prevailed in the sample. The data about work characteristics and other variables came from the same source - the self-report questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Test job fulfillment as a mediator of the relationship between work design and presenteeism in teachers. Originality/value: Presenteeism is one of the reasons for teachers to underperform in the classroom. Many models explain organizational results, among which the Job Characteristics Model. That model, however, has not yet been tested with presenteeism, and, as it proposes, it will be predicted by work design mediated by positive work-related attitudes (i.e., eudaimonic well-being). Design/methodology/approach: A total of 2,282 public school teachers participated in the study, of which 71.1% were women. They completed the scale of job fulfillment, the Stanford Presenteeism Scale, and the full work design taxonomy in the Brazilian version. Direct and mediated relationships were tested, and the Job Characteristics Model was partially confirmed. Findings: For not completing work, mediation is confirmed only to the task identity subcategory of work design. Here, direct relationships with scheduling autonomy and social support were observed. For avoiding distraction, mediation occurred only for social support, and comfort at work. The subcategories decision-making autonomy, physical demands, and job complexity are directly related. We discuss the mediating role of critical psychological states and other positive triggers that could mediate the relationship between work design and organizational outcomes, such as emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though classic job design theories have evolved over the years and become more focused on employees’ ability to autonomously change their job characteristics, tools to assess job crafting are still limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ), taking into account the valuable contribution made by Wrzesniewski and Dutton’s model to the understanding of the job crafting concept. The total sample consisted of 768 employees (participants’ mean age was 41.63 and 49.7% of them were women). The sample was randomly divided into two halves in order to conduct two factor analyses (Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis). Concurrent and convergent validity was assessed by computing correlations with validated questionnaires for measuring job crafting (Job Crafting Scale, JCS), engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-9) and job burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, MBI-GS). The results indicated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .880) which was similar to the original scale, and provided a good fit to the three-dimensional model tested. Appropriate evidence of construct validity was also shown (r = .45 with total JCS; r = .52 with total UWES-9 and r-values between -.33 and .45 with MBI dimensions). The results confirmed that the Spanish translation of the JCQ is a suitable tool for measuring job crafting and enabling practitioners and researchers to further expand the existing knowledge of this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on work design to date has focused on work characteristics associated primarily with one of three domains—task, social, or contextual. The present paper introduces a new concept—hybrid work characteristics—that refer to work characteristics which are not fully captured within any one of the three domains but possess features from more than one domain. We identify boundarylessness, multitasking, non‐work‐related interruptions, and demand for constant learning as hybrid work characteristics in the modern work environment. Furthermore, we theorise that boundarylessness, multitasking, and demand for constant learning carry both enriching and depleting potential, but non‐work‐related interruptions have only depleting potential. In our study, we developed instruments to assess the four work characteristics and tested their relationship with jobholders' job satisfaction, occupational commitment, emotional exhaustion, and somatic health symptoms, through three independent studies (a total of 968 employees across a wide range of jobs). The results demonstrated convergent, predictive, and discriminant validity for the newly developed scales, and showed partial support for the prediction that boundarylessness and multitasking are beneficial as well as detrimental for jobholders and consistent support for the depleting potential inherent in non‐work‐related interruptions. We conclude with a discussion of how our exploration of hybrid work characteristics contributes to research on work design and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the actor–context interaction effects of job characteristics and organizational context on individual creativity in the South Korean context. Specifically, we examined the relationship among three job characteristics (i.e. skill variety, autonomy and feedback), three organizational context factors (i.e. organizational climate, resources and extrinsic rewards), and individual creativity. Our findings indicated that all job characteristics positively affected individual creativity. Only extrinsic rewards had a significant moderating effect on the job characteristics and individual creativity relationship; extrinsic rewards negatively moderated the relationship between skill variety and individual creativity, while it positively affected the relationship between autonomy and individual creativity. Our study extends and contributes to the actor–context interactionist view in creativity scholarship and provides several important implications for creativity research and practice. Key points Skill variety, autonomy, and feedback had a positive direct effect on individual creativity.Organizational climate, resource, and extrinsic rewards had a positive direct effect on individual creativity.Only extrinsic rewards had a significant moderating effect on individual creativity.Moderating effects of extrinsic rewards were mixed – they were positive for autonomy and negative for skill variety, in relation to individual creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our main purpose was to explore how collective job crafting relates to the meaning of work and the meaning-making processes. Originality/value: We explored the job crafting model to study the meaning of work at the collective level. But, while most job crafting studies focus on the relation between workers and tasks, we focused on the collective meaning-making that emerges from workers actively adapting tasks, significance, and relationships in their jobs. As for the practitioners, we alert for a possible trapdoor through which job crafting can fall back into plain hierarchical job design if it is not actively and autonomously engaged by workers. Design/methodology/approach: We used basic qualitative research to combine interpretative analysis (aligned with our topic and theoretical model) and the possibility to look into an interaction scenario (aligned with our objectives). Data was collected though informants' responses to a semi-structured interview and analyzed using content analysis. Findings: We found out that workers shared an understanding of the problems of work meanings and engage in a quest to make sense of their work lives both 1. At the organizational level - arranging work in unorthodox ways -; and 2. At the interpersonal level - adhering to specific roles to attach meaning to work. Our findings shed light on new aspects of the job crafting model, particularly, on the meaning of work centrality to the model in collective job crafting experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green employees were conceptually described as having an environmental identity, holding environmental values and beliefs, and having a desire to help the environment through work. For the first time in the literature, this study analyzes the match between green employees and their jobs by using the theoretical framework of the job characteristic model (JCM) of employee motivation. Given the complexity of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), behaviors with different intensities are analyzed. The paper also develops and tests new constructs, such as green job design, and green person-job (GPJ) fit, thus advancing the field's understanding of the unique traits of green employees and the degree of congruence with the jobs they perform. Findings suggest that green job designs had a larger influence on the normative rather than the reflective PEB, but green traits had a larger influence on the reflective rather than the normative PEB. Organizations that want to develop a sustainable competitive advantage are urged to pay attention to the match between employees and their jobs. • Green employees hold ecological beliefs, values, and an environmental identity. • To improve organizational sustainability, jobs should be designed in a green manner. • The fit between green employees and their jobs matters for clean production. • Analyzing pro-environmental behaviors of different intensities is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People as a resource among all the resources are the most precious resource in an organization. It is, therefore, important to see that the people are constantly kept motivated so that they contribute more productively towards achieving the organization’s goals. The focus of the present study is to ascertain motivational potential and identify perceived job characteristics among Railway Employees. This study explored Motivational potential on a sample of railway employees of Signal Telecommunication department. A job characteristics model was constructed to ascertain the Motivation potential of the sample and a checklist based on Herzberg’s model of motivation was used to identify needs and motivation factors in the workplace. The results show that the employees of the sample are having average motivation potential. It was observed that the most preferred factor in job was ‘Responsibility & Accountability’. The least preferred factor was found to be ‘job possibility of individual growth’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ward organization is a major determinant for nurses’ well-being on the job. The majority of previous research on this relationship is based on single source methods, which have been criticized as skewed estimations mainly due to subjectivity of the ratings and due to common source bias. Objectives To investigate the association of ward organization characteristics and nurses’ exhaustion by combining observation-based assessments with nurses’ self-reports. Design and participants Cross-sectional study on 25 wards of four hospitals and 245 nurses. Setting Our multi-method approach to evaluate hospital ward organization consisted of on-site observations with a standardized assessment tool and of questionnaires to evaluate nurses’ self-reports and exhaustion. Methods After establishing the reliability of our measures, we applied multi-level regression analyses to determine associations between determinant and outcome variables. Results We found substantial convergence in ward organization between the observation-based assessments and nurses’ self-reports, which supports the validity of our external assessments. Furthermore, two observation-based characteristics, namely participation and patient-focused care, were significantly associated with lower emotional exhaustion among the nurses. Conclusions Our results suggest that observation-based assessments are a valid and feasible way to assess ward organization in hospitals. Nurses’ self-reported as well as observation-based ratings on ward organization were associated with nurses’ emotional exhaustion. This is of interest mainly for identifying alternative measures in evaluating nurses’ work environments, to inform health promotion activities and to evaluate job redesign intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To investigate the curvilinear associations between two job characteristics (i.e. task identity and information processing) and negative outcomes (i.e. nurse need for recovery and negative affect). Background Research has historically demonstrated the beneficial effects of motivational job characteristics on several individual and organizational consequences. These job characteristics were indeed found to be positively and linearly related to positive outcomes such as job satisfaction. However, another stream of research contends that job characteristics may have curvilinear effects on employee well-being. Design A cross-sectional correlational design was used. Method Data were collected during June 2014, using a questionnaire survey. A convenience sample of French nurses and assistant nurses was recruited ( n = 269). All participants were working in centres specialized in providing care to people with disabilities. Results This study demonstrated statistically significant curvilinear effects of job characteristics on nurses' ill-being, while controlling for their linear effects. Conclusions These findings support that nurses' job characteristics are associated with their ill-being in complex ways and provide organizational and managerial applications for healthcare centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to validate the Spanish version of the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ; Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006). Employees from three Colombian samples completed the questionnaire (N=831). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed a 21-factor structure (χ²/df ratio = 2.40, SRMR = .06, RMSEA = .04, CFI = .90) with adequate levels of convergent and discriminant validity. Additional support for construct validity was found from significant differences among different occupational groups (professional and nonprofessional, health-focused, commercial, and manufacturing workers). Furthermore, knowledge, social, and work context characteristics showed incremental validity over task characteristics on job satisfaction and perceived performance. Possible interpretations of these relationships are offered. It is concluded that the study provides evidence for the validity of a Spanish version of the scale, and presents further support for the generalization of the 21-factor structure of work design characteristics in different cultural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the establishment of the charge nurse development by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) in the U.S. The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 in the country is also tackled. Explored is the Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement model within nursing leadership development.

Rapid changes in today's business environment and intense global competition have made it essential for organizations to compensate their human resources appropriately. This research is undertaken in order to highlight the total compensation strategy of Warid Telecom Bangladesh Ltd. The company is very highly spoken of now of these days. The company pays more attention to its customer's delights than to its customer's satisfaction. This company started from scratches and has shown utmost performance in the last seven years. Warid Telecom Bangladesh Ltd owes its success to its employees, believing that providing competitive Compensation & Benefits packages to the employees along with job satisfaction, motivates them to work hard and deliver better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies explore the link between the psychological contracts and the commitment of nursing professionals in the healthcare sector, and how perceived breaches of the psychological contract can impact on nurses' commitment levels. Objective: This study explores the connections between the psychological contracts and organisational and professional commitment of nurses and nurse managers. Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses and nurse managers, to explore the connections between their psychological contracts and organisational and professional commitment. Settings: Large acute and small community organisation within the British National Health Service. Participants: 28 nurses and 11 nurse managers working within an acute and a community sector organisation - 20 and 19 in each organisation. Participants were selected through a process of purposive sampling, reflecting variations in terms of age, grade, ward and tenure. Methods: A discourse analysis was conducted on the qualitative data from the thirty nine semi-structured interviews. Results: Two overall themes emerged, professional and managerial values. Professional values included the sub-themes: professional recognition; immediate work environment - leadership and peer support; professional development and progression. Sub-themes under managerial values included: involvement; general management; resource management. Conclusions: The findings suggest that nurses and nurse managers are governed by relational psychological contracts, underpinned by an affective and to a lesser extent normative commitment towards the nursing profession. They emphasise 'professional values', and professional commitment, as the basis for positive psychological contracts amongst nursing professionals. There was anecdotal evidence of relational psychological contract breach, with decreasing job satisfaction as the outcome of perceived psychological contract breach. Positive psychological contracts and commitment levels amongst nursing professionals can be supported by managers been aware and sensitive to nursing discourses, and managing their expectations through greater involvement and leadership development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the motivational potential of job design, we linked job demands and job resources, as defined in the job demands-resources model, to the motivational process defined in self-determination theory. Specifically, we introduced basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between job design and work effort. We tested this model by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of 689 employees. The comparison of several competing models provided support for the hypothesized model. We conclude that job demands thwart and job resources promote the fulfillment of 3 psychological needs. High levels of need satisfaction, in turn, are associated with autonomous motivation and, therefore, with high levels of effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of work characteristics on members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, and the subsequent effect on police officers' performance. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel model is adopted to analyze quantitative data obtained by using 812 police officers and 54 chiefs of police stations in Taiwan as the research objects. Findings – The authors found that work characteristics affected members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, which further affected the individual- and group-level performance and the contextual effect of social work characteristics (SWCs) and collective efficacy on self-efficacy and individual performance. The authors also confirmed the cross-level moderation of social characteristics on the relationship between motivational work characteristics (MWCs) and self-efficacy, and between self-efficacy and individual performance. Research limitations/implications – A limitation was the characteristics of the sample, which consisted of mostly first-line uniformed police officers in Taiwan. From the perspective of managerial implications, it is felt that police organizations should beef up the training on police officers' collective efficacy, such as building group spirit, improving members' sense of responsibility, and building up trust with the organization. Originality/value – The findings prove that the study of work design is particularly important for enhancing the management effectiveness of police organization, because it explains the causes of a number of organizational behaviors as well as a number of important results that influence the police organization (e.g. efficacy and performance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on positive psychology, the present study aims to address the role of humour in the workplace, and particularly in job design, one of the crucial job aspects contributing to employee well-being. Specifically, we examine the main effects of self-enhancing and affiliative types of humour both on burnout and work engagement. Furthermore, we study whether these humour styles serve as personal resources, moderating the associations of job hindrances (i.e., role conflict), job challenges (i.e., workload) and job resources (i.e., social support) with burnout and work engagement, as outlined in the Job Demands-Resources model. Results in a large sample of Belgian employees (N= 1200) showed that both types of humour related negatively to burnout and positively to work engagement. No interactions between humour and the job characteristics were found in the prediction of burnout. The significant interactions in predicting work engagement showed that self-enhancing and affiliative humour played a positive role, particularly when role conflict and social support were low. No interactions with workload were found. The discussion aims to shed light on the unexpected results and to further the study of the humour-health hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the application of a model for analyzing industrial tasks that was developed to identify jobs that could potentially be filled by people with disabilities (DP) and to serve as a guideline for a company hiring policy. In Brazil, Law No. 8213/91 makes it obligatory to hire DP based on quotas that are established according to the number of employees in a public and private company. Using a set of methods and techniques based on ergonomic work analysis and on occupational therapy, we sought to build a model to indicate the skills required to perform industrial tasks. The model was applied at 19 workstations at a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer in 2002. The task supervisor and the operator performing the task were interviewed, the work activity was filmed, a kinesiological analysis was done, the task was observed and a checklist was applied to help recognize and systematize the skills involved in performing the job task. The last step consisted of correlating the skills required to perform the task to the potential skills of the various types of disability. It was found that 100% of the jobs could be filled by workers with low-level paraplegia, 89% by workers with general paraplegia, 0% with low-level tetraplegia, 47% with auditory impairment, 42% with hemiplegia, 68% with upper limb amputees wearing adequate prostheses, and 89% handicapped wheelchair users. The company hired 14 DP based on the results of this model. The model proved adequate for analyzing industrial tasks with a view to the inclusion of DP, and it can be applied to other sectors of industrial production. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today the job description for a journalist includes the use of digital tools that lead to an improvement in the way the profession serves the world. The functions attributed to professionals in the audiovisual field have expanded greatly and consequently so has the preparation needed to carry them out. The changes taking place today affect not only production processes but also the ways and means with which journalism is practiced, the ways we preserve and maintain information, program content and more importantly job descriptions for journalists. Currently a new job description is making its appearance, that of the content manager. The content manager's main role is to manage previously prepared information and make decisions regarding its final use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on physical and psychosocial job characteristics as mediators in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. From sociological research on the stratification of employment outcomes we expect that people with less education, lower earnings, and lower levels of occupational standing have more physically and psychosocially demanding jobs. From the occupational stress, ergonomics, and job design literatures, we expect that people with more physically and psychosocially demanding jobs have less favorable health outcomes. Consequently, we expect to find that job characteristics play an important mediating role in associations between SES and self-assessed overall health and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health problems. To address these hypotheses, we use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS). We find support for our hypotheses, although the extent to which job characteristics mediate SES–health relationships varies across health outcomes and by sex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study concerns the development of a technology of synthetic validity derived from a structured job analysis technique (the Position Analysis Questionnaire) and its related attribute bank. Attribute profiles are generated on three alternative bases for a sample of seven jobs. The resultant sets of profiles are assessed in terms of their reliability. The validities of the alternative approaches are assessed in terms of the accuracy of mdications in relation to the actual mean scores of job incumbents on related aptitude tests. One approach is shown to offer significantly higher levels of reliability and validity, and is discussed as a basis for synthetic validation and validity generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional job analysis was used to write 25 task statements. Inter-rater reliability of judgements concerning aptitude requirements of these tasks was assessed both correlationally and in terms of absolute agreement. Since judgements like these are made in most content validation research, it is critical that they at least be reliable. Analyses indicate that, in terms of both correlations and percent agreement, the ratings using functional job analysis scales were highly reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents results of an empirical study on the relationship between task design and worker responses. In much research on task design incumbents' job perceptions are assumed to reflect the objective character of the job and to influence attitudinal and behavioural responses. However, when both jobs and responses are assessed through the incumbent, a within-person or cognitive consistency model is as plausible as a person-situation model of job characteristics. In this study both independent assessments and incumbents' perceptions of jobs are used as predictors. The results show a substantial convergence in the patterns of correlations between job characteristics and responses in the two forms of measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While job redesign ideas are currently attracting widespread interest, threats to their future acceptability can be identified. First, concerning relevant analysis and research, a confusion of terminology exists in the field and the practical implications of job redesign theory may not be fully understood. While considerable rhetoric has been associated with presentations of job redesign ideas, research designs have been weak with the claimed results of particular exercises confounded to an unknown extent by extraneous variables. The field is ripe for a disenchantment which might involve a loss of the insights previously gained. Second, concerning general approaches to the field, little effort has been made to explore the value implications of evaluation procedures commonly used. Redesign exercises are studies in managerial terms of their success in providing more humane but also in essence more efficient ways to utilize 'human resources'. A convergence of organizational and individual requirements is assured. This leaves unexamined, and may even support, structural organizational arrangements perhaps as psychologically debilitating as simplified work. To overcome such problems a distinctively psychological approach should be followed and new research designs employed. Models of personality and human potential should be further developed, with current job design and organizational practices examined exclusively in terms of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a symbolic interactionist framework, a study of Chicago-area women aged 25 to 54 focused on their constructed reality including definitions of the complexity of their job. Women in even low status and task complexity occupations, as measured by Duncan and DOT scales, found some dimensions of their jobs "above average" -- such as independence, responsibility, opportunities to see the product of the work, and opportunities for self-development -- and were pleased by this level of perceived job complexity. There are women who feel their jobs are below average along these dimensions and are pleased with this situation, but there are fewer of them than the stereotypes of female workers predict. Women appear to judge their jobs from a social role rather than a task perspective, which probably accounts for the relatively low fit between their evaluations of job complexity and the Duncan socioeconomic index or The Dictionary of Occupational Titles' complexity scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeking to improve job analysis and design techniques, the study examines certain aspects of work structure. A novel objective job descriptor based on summation of the durations of different elementary tasks within the work cycle is defined and termed Nonrepetitive Time (NRT). NRT's and Cycle-Times (CT) were measured for eight jobs in one organization and six jobs in another. Their values were correlated with each other and with questionnaire-assessed subjective descriptors labeled "variety," "complexity," "interest," "monotony," "physical energy required," and "contact with co-workers." Results show NRT to be more highly correlated with the first four descriptors than CT, while "complexity" yielded best concordance. Factor analysis yielded a single factor loaded highly with complexity, variety, and interest. The term "varexity" is suggested for this factor, which correlates highly with NRT. It is pointed out that as an objective job characteristic NRT should prove useful in predicting worker preferences and hence optimizing job design for the performance of a given operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research on both job design and job analysis has evidenced a great deal of variability in the degree of convergence between incumbent and non-incumbent ratings of job characteristics. The present study attempted to shed light on this issue by identifying the factors that moderate the level of agreement between incumbents and non-incumbents. An examination of these moderators informed theoretical and practical aspects of job design and job analysis. As hypothesized, job complexity and job satisfaction moderated the level of agreement between incumbents and non-incumbents, with agreement being highest for jobs involving simple data operations and low levels of incumbents' job satisfaction. Because non-incumbents are affected by unique factors that do not affect incumbents and vice versa, non-incumbent and incumbent ratings should supplement each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work characteristics influence job performance but the individual values, reflected on the importance that employees place on each work characteristic, may affect this relationship. Drawing insights from personal salience and person-job fit theory, our research explored the partial mediation effect of importance given to work characteristics in the relation between 18 work characteristics and job performance in a sample of Colombian workers from different economic sectors (N = 817). We found that 17 out of 18 work characteristics indirectly influenced job performance through its effect on importance. These findings emphasize the role of personal antecedents on job performance with clear implications for research and practice (job design and selection). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meaningful work has increasingly been identified as a source of personal fulfillment, a protective factor against daily stress and adversity, and a key mediator linking job characteristics to important organizational outcomes. However, to date, positive organizational scholarship has neglected the role of individual differences in understanding how organizational work becomes more fulfilling. More broadly, there is limited consensus with respect to which traits, actions, or job features sustain meaning, and whether specific pathways may account for these associations. To address such limitations, we applied a regularized partial correlation network and directed acyclic graph to estimate the functional relations among multidimensional measures of these phenomena in a national dataset of workers (n = 570). Results highlight numerous situational and personality effects on work meaning and possible causal pathways linking various traits to experienced meaningfulness at work. Cumulatively, our findings suggest that interventions to encourage long-term changes in work meaning (e.g., job redesign, career coaching, job crafting) may require individuals to undergo changes in how their personality is structured (e.g., adjustment to the work environment and integrations with other aspects of the personality system). However, future experimental and longitudinal research is needed to test our propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Spring 2005 issue, Wang, Schnipke, and Witt provided an informative description of the task inventory approach that centered on four functions of job analysis. The discussion included persuasive arguments for making systematic connections between tasks and KSAs. But several other facets of the discussion were much less persuasive. This article offers a critique in the form of four counterarguments: (1) The job analysis method must be appropriate to the nature of the work; (2) The capacity of the task analysis inventory method to describe a complex profession is questionable; (3) Task importance ratings are inherently deficient; and (4) Careful generation of KSAs does not assure systematic item development, which is also necessary in the chain of validity evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]