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The aim of this study is to compare the employment relationship of temporary agency and permanent workers in two different sectors analyzing the relationship between human resource practices systems and workers’ affective commitment and the mediating role of work engagement. The hypotheses were tested with multiple group analysis on two samples: from a call center and from two industrial companies. Results confirm that in both the temporary agency and the permanent subsamples in the two sectors workers’ perception of the human resource practices system relates positively with affective commitment toward the organization, and work engagement partially mediates this relationship. Moreover, the study confirms that the relationship between workers’ perception of the human resource practices system and affective commitment was stronger for temporary agency than for permanent workers. However, this moderation occurred only in the manufacturing sector. Contrarily, the relationship between workers’ perception of the human resource practices system and engagement was stronger for permanent workers than for temporary agency workers (TAWs) in this sector and the relationship between this psychological state and affective commitment was also stronger for permanent than for TAWs, in both sectors (call center and manufacturing).

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this research builds a motivation profile typology of contingent workers in the contact center industry, compares outsourcer (OW) and temporary agency workers’ (TAW) profiles, and differentiates their human resources practices (HRP) perceptions and affective commitment. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 2078 Portuguese contingent workers, through several statistical procedures, including latent profile analysis. Six profiles were identified. As expected, OW were mostly in the more intrinsic profiles, whereas TAW were in the more extrinsic ones. However, the contingent employment format did not moderate the relationship between motivation, HRP perceptions, and affective commitment.

This study tested the relation between perceived social impact, social worth, and work engagement in the military, and mediating effects of prosocial motivation. We tested hypotheses using structur...

Purpose – Different studies underline that perceived job insecurity (PJI) has negative consequences at both individual and organisational level. Some authors investigated PJI in temporary agency workers (TAWs) but these studies did not focus on specific countries and did not discuss the relationship with job exhaustion. Other researchers explored gender differences in PJI and found different results; some investigated differences in PJI perception and others its relationship with the outcome of stress or well-being. The purpose of this paper is to inquire about the effects of PJI (as a demanding condition) on job exhaustion, considering the mediation role of workload and exploring differences between male and female TAWs. Design/methodology/approach – This research involved 474 Portuguese TAWs (209 men, 265 women). Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire; data analyses were performed using IBM Spss Statistics 22 for descriptive statistics, correlations and t-test; Mplus7 was used to estimate a multi-group structural equation model and to test the mediation. Findings – The results confirmed that workload is a mediator and indicated gender differences in how PJI relates to workload and job exhaustion in TAWs. In fact, the mediation of workload in the relationship between PJI and job exhaustion was partial in men and total in women: in the women group the direct effect of PJI on job exhaustion is not significant, and the indirect effect mediated by workload is significant; in the men group both direct and indirect effects are significant. Originality/value – This paper contributes to extend the research on job insecurity of TAWs in a specific national context and highlights gender differences in the relationship between PJI and job exhaustion.

In this study, we develop a conceptual model of the relationship between job insecurity and job performance, which is mediated by affective organizational commitment and moderated via perceived organizational support in a Chilean company that has undergone downsizing. In this cross-sectional study, we focused on 400 Chilean employees from the retail sector. Our findings indicate that job insecurity negatively influences job performance, which is a relationship that is partially mediated by effective organizational commitment. Moreover, a high level of perceived organizational support helped intensify the effects of the relationship between job insecurity and affective organizational commitment. To minimize the negative effects of job insecurity on the active employees of a downsizing strategy, an effective intervention is required by developing a more realistic communication in terms of a worker's expectations toward the organization. RESUMEN Este trabajo presenta el desarrollo de un modelo conceptual de la relación entre la inseguridad laboral y el desempeño laboral mediado por el compromiso organizacional afectivo y moderado por el apoyo organizacional percibido en una empresa chilena que ha sufrido un proceso de reducción de personal. Este estudio se basa en un diseño cross-sectional en una muestra de 400 trabajadores chilenos del sector minorista. Nuestros resultados señalan que la inseguridad laboral influye negativamente en el desempeño laboral; efecto que a su vez es mediado parcialmente por el compromiso organizacional afectivo. Además, se encontró que es probable que un alto nivel de apoyo organizacional percibido intensifique los efectos de la relación entre la inseguridad laboral y el compromiso organizacional afectivo. Con el fin de minimizar los efectos negativos de la inseguridad laboral en una estrategia de reducción de personal, se sugiere una intervención eficaz en los trabajadores sobrevivientes mediante el desarrollo de una comunicación más realista en términos de expectativas del trabajador hacia la organización. RESUMO Este artigo apresenta o desenvolvimento de um modelo conceitual da relação entre a insegurança laboral e o desempenho laboral, mediada pelo comprometimento organizacional afetivo e moderada pelo apoio organizacional percebido em uma empresa chilena, que sofreu um processo de downsizing. Este estudo baseou-se em um desenho de corte transversal em 400 funcionários chilenos do setor de varejo. Nossos resultados apontam que a insegurança laboral influencia negativamente o desempenho laboral, e tal relação é parcialmente mediada pelo comprometimento organizacional afetivo. Verificou-se também que um elevado nível de apoio organizacional percebido intensifica a relação negativa entre insegurança laboral e comprometimento organizacional afetivo. A fim de minimizar os efeitos negativos da insegurança laboral em relação aos sobreviventes de uma estratégia de downsizing, uma intervenção eficaz é sugerida por meio do desenvolvimento de uma comunicação mais realista em termos de expectativas do trabalhador em relação à organização.

Copyright © 2018 Carvalho, Chambel, Neto and Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms., Job characteristics are important to work-family conflict (WFC). Additionally, is well established that WFC has a negative impact on mental health. As such, this research aims to examine the role of WFC as a mechanism that explains the relationship between job characteristics (i.e., those establishing by the Job Demands-Control-Support Model) and workers' mental health. Moreover, based on gender inequalities in work and non-work roles, this study analyzed gender as moderator of this mediation. Specifically, the relationship between job characteristics and WFC and the relationship between WFC and mental health could be stronger for women than for men. With a sample of 254 workers from a Portuguese services company, (61% males), and based on a multiple-group analysis, the results indicated that the WFC mediates the relationship between job characteristics (i.e., job demands and job control) and mental health. It was reinforced that job demands and lack of control could contribute to employees' stress and, once individual' energy was drained, the WFC could emerge. Ultimately, may be due to the presence of this conflict that individuals mental health' is negatively affected. Contrary to our expectations, this relationship is not conditioned by gender (Z-scores were non-significant). The study results have implications for human resource management, enhancing the knowledge on the relationship between the WFC and workers' mental health.

© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine., Background: The promotion and maintenance of workers’ mental health is an increasingly important issue, both for employers and society. Previous research has shown that job characteristics (i.e. demands, control and support) are significantly associated with employees’ mental well-being. However, changes in work characteristics have given rise to the emergence of new job demands, leading to work–family life conflict. Aims: To investigate the association between work–family life conflict and employee mental well-being. Methods A cross-sectional study with two samples: one sample comprising clothes store sales employees and the other comprising call centre operators. Logistic regression models were used to examine the effects of work–family life conflict on employee well-being. Results: After controlling for job demands, job control, supervisory support and co-workers support, work– family life conflict was associated with employee mental well-being. Conclusions: Work–family life conflict is an important factor to explain employee well-being and productivity and should be addressed as well as work factors.

The main objective of this study is to test the mediating effect of perceived internal employability on the relationship between organisational practices of competences development and affective commitment, and also to test the moderating effect of different generations in this mediation. The sample has 302 participants, who are employees in several organisations based in Portuguese territory. We verified the mediating effect of the employability perception in the relationship between organisational practices of competences development (individualised support and functional rotation) and affective commitment. Regarding the moderating effect of the generations, this effect was verified in the relationship between the organisational competences development practices and the affective commitment in the liaison between the organisational practices of competences development and the perception of internal employability and in the connection between the perception of internal employability and affective commitment. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Purpose – Temporary agency workers (TAWs) are regarded as experiencing employment conditions that tend to facilitate high strain. In this study, the authors view this situation as not being inevitable and dependent on the opportunity of having positive experiences in the professional context. The purpose of this paper is to propose that perceptions of the human resource management (HRM) practices system are positively related to work engagement, which in turn, is positively related to context free well-being. Design/methodology/approach – These hypotheses were tested with two samples of TAWs, from Portugal (n=241) and Brazil (n=228), contracted by the same international agency. Data were analyzed with multiple group analyses. Findings – Results confirmed that in both the Portuguese and Brazilian samples the HRM practices system is positively related to TAWs’ context free well-being and their work engagement mediates this relationship. However, the authors also verified that the relationship between work engagement and satisfaction with life was stronger for the Portuguese TAWs than for their Brazilian counterparts. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited, due to the nature of the data (self-reported) and the lack of a longitudinal design. Practical implications – An important implication of this research study is that agencies should acknowledge the fact that HRM practices are an investment with a return from TAWs, since they are positively related to their well-being. Originality/value – The findings highlight the importance of the HRM practices system in developing positive psychological states with TAWs, not only at work, but also outside this context. This observation was confirmed in two different countries.

Background In the case of workers with disabilities, family support is often essential to gain access to the labor market and achieve personal autonomy and financial independence, in addition to fostering job satisfaction and permanence in the organization. Moreover, the support offered by organizations is particularly valued by workers with disabilities, as the organizations that hire such people generally go to considerable lengths to ensure their adaptation and integration in the workplace, contributing to job satisfaction and permanence in the organization. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between organizational support and family support with job satisfaction and intention to quit the organization among workers with disabilities employed in ordinary firms. Methods Our study surveyed 204 workers using a questionnaire, and we used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses to test these relationships. Results Our results show that organizational support is a significant explanatory factor in the levels of job satisfaction. Moreover, our results indicate that the participants perceived high levels of support from their families, facilitating the conciliation of work and family life. Conclusions Our results have practical implications in order to improve full integration and normalization of workers with disabilities in ordinary jobs.

Using self-determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 2008) as the theoretical framework, we tested a model for this study that considers soldiers’ perceptions of organizational support and leader–member ...

Perceived high-performance work systems (HPWS) have presented mixed results related to subjective well-being. Additionally, there remains a lack of an integrative analysis of the relationship between work–family balance and these practices. To explore this relationship more fully, we developed and tested a model that proposed work–family balance and well-being at work as mediators. Data gathered from 218 participants employed in a city council with different occupations indicated a positive relationship between perceived HPWS and work-to-family enrichment and a negative relationship between perceived HPWS and work-to-family conflict. More interestingly, based on Conservation of Resources theory and on Job-Demands Resources, the results also indicated the presence of a serial mediation model where work–family balance and well-being at work act as mediators of perceived HPWS and subjective well-being.

The objective is to analyze the relationship between job resources (i.e., job autonomy and social support) and work engagement in nurses. Hypotheses have been tested through hierarchical linear modeling using data from 313 Portuguese nurses (individual level) nested in 33 work teams (team level), after aggregating individual perceptions to the group level and testing the agreement among these perceptions using the rwg(j) and the intraclass correlations indices. Results confirmed first, that individual job autonomy and team-level social support (from the supervisor as well as from co-workers) are positively related to individual work engagement and second, that team-level social support has a moderating effect on the relationship between individual job autonomy and individual work engagement (but not in the case of co-workers’ support). This study provides evidence that nurses’ work engagement results from individual job autonomy and collective social support. Accordingly, fostering job autonomy and social support in order to promote work engagement among nurses can be useful for both hospital managers and practitioners.

This study is based on the psychological contract theoretical model. It provides an empirical test of the antecedents and consequences of psychological contract violation (PCV) that was caused by the wage reduction of Portuguese civil servants. Data were collected from a sample of 212 employees who worked in public organizations across different sectors. These positions entailed different functions and were subject to different levels of wage reduction. A Structural Equation Model was used to analyze the data. The results show that employees' attributions of this psychological contract breach are related to their perception of PCV. Furthermore, our findings also suggest that civil servants have two distinct psychological contracts and that the PCV of the employing organization also depends on the PCV of the public institution. Moreover, the PCV of the public institution was found to be the mechanism that explains the relationship between the meaning attached to wage reduction and the PCV of the employing ...

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships among expatriates’ perceived human resource management practices (HRMP), psychological contract fulfilment (PCF) and turnover intention (TI). Design/methodology/approach – The study sampled 100 expatriates from a Portuguese company through a survey questionnaire. The paper used structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses to explore relationships between the variables and to test its hypotheses. Findings – Data showed that expatriates’ perceived fulfilment of their psychological contracts was negatively related to TI. The study also finds a positive relationship between HRMP and the fulfilment of psychological contract. Moreover, expatriates’ perceived fulfilment of psychological contract was found to be a mediator between HRMP and TI. Thus, a subjective perception of PCF is an important predictor of TI, but this perception is related with the HRMP developed by the organisation during the mission. Research limitations/implication – First, the study is limited due to the sample nature and the lack of longitudinal design not allowing causal relationships to be established between the variables. Second, all variables were measured using self-reported data, raising the question of whether the results may have been contaminated by common method variance. Practical implications – An important implication from this research is that organisations should develop appropriate HR practices during the mission and maintain open communications with their expatriates to ensure clear understanding of the agreement existing about the international mission. Originality/value – Few research studies are available to the authors’ knowledge to assess HRM practices with specific measure to expatriation context and with a Portuguese sample.

This study investigates whether contract type (temporary versus permanent employment) moderates the relationship between emotional exhaustion and supervisor-rated individual performance. Most temporary workers desire permanent employment, and this may drive them to uphold performance also when strained. This hypothesis was tested with multiple-group analysis in a sample of 430 call-center operators from five Portuguese organizations from different sectors. The results show that emotional exhaustion related negatively to supervisor-rated individual performance among permanent workers, but not among temporary workers. Our conclusion is that the relationship between emotional exhaustion and supervisor-rated individual performance is conditional upon contract type. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21608 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.21608/pdf

Purpose– This study aims to empirically identify cultural patterns in the family business: paternalistic,laissez-faire, participative and professional. Our second goal is to understand whether, besides the variable generation, there are other aspects that are based on the different cultural patterns in first and second generations. Dyer (1986) proposed a theoretical model to exploit cultural change in the family business, describing a typical temporal sequence of cultural patterns throughout the succession process.Design/methodology/approach– We selected a qualitative research approach with multiple case studies. Six small-sized Portuguese family businesses were selected. Data were collected from in-depth and semi-structured interviews with the family leaders and those directly responsible for human resource management.Findings– We empirically identified paternalistic,laissez-faireand participative cultural patterns. We also verified that, besides the generation, there are other factors that are at the root of the emergence of a cultural pattern within family businesses: the founder’s age and academic level and the presence of a human resource technician, in the case of businesses managed by founders and the presence of the founder in the case of businesses managed by second generation.Originality/value– By identifying different cultural patterns, we were able to verify that culture is an important variable to explain the relationship between the members of the family businesses and the way they are managed. Furthermore, this study suggests that more complex models, which consider multiple variables, are required to understand culture in the context of family businesses.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out to analyze the supervisor psychological contract as a new psychological contract focus. Furthermore, the relationship between this psychological contract and the organizational psychological contract is compared in the prediction of job satisfaction and organizational affective commitment among a sample of traditional (in-house) and temporary agency workers. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested with multiple group analyses in a sample of 444 Portuguese call center workers: 215 were in-house and 229 were temporary agency workers. Findings – Results confirmed that workers, regardless of their status, distinguished these two foci of psychological contract. However, for temporary workers, the supervisor psychological contract partially mediated the relationship between the organizational psychological contract and attitudes; while for in-house workers the organizational psychological contract was relevant to explain job satisfaction and the two foci of the psychological contract related independently to workers’ affective commitment toward the organization. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited due to the nature of the sample (call center sector where temporary agency and in-house workers received similar opportunities and treatment) and the lack of a longitudinal design. Practical implications – An important implication of this research is that employers should assume the relevance of the supervisor for temporary agency workers. The social exchange between them and the host organization occurs in part through his/her actions. Originality/value – Although supervisor psychological contract has been acknowledged, as far as the authors know there are no empirical studies that support its existence or analyzes its relevance in worker-organization relationships.

Aims This study validates the Portuguese version of the psychological effects of the relational job characteristics scale among hospital nurses in Portugal and Brazil. Background Increasing attention has been given to the social dimension of work, following the transition to a service economy. Nevertheless, and despite the unquestionable relational characteristics of nursing work, scarce research has been developed among nurses under a relational job design framework. Moreover, it is important to develop instruments that study the effects of relational job characteristics among nurses. Evaluation We followed Messick's framework for scale validation, comprising the steps regarding the response process and internal structure, as well as relationships with other variables (work engagement and burnout). Statistical analysis included exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Key issues The psychological effects of the relational job characteristics scale provided evidence of good psychometric properties with Portuguese and Brazilian hospital nurses. Also, the psychological effects of the relational job characteristics are associated with nurses’ work-related well-being: positively with work engagement and negatively concerning burnout. Implications for nursing management Hospitals that foster the relational characteristics of nursing work are contributing to their nurses’ work-related well-being, which may be reflected in the quality of care and patient safety.

Versão pós-print., The aim of this study was to analyse whether the social exchange between temporary agency workers (TAWs) and the client organization is associated with a perception of training. In this study, we developed and tested a moderated mediation model that accounts for TAWs’ exhaustion and desire to obtain a direct contract with the client company in the relationship between the perception of training and affective commitment. Our hypotheses were tested on a sample of 425 blue-collar workers from four Portuguese companies with temporary agency work contracts. Our findings support a conditional indirect relationship between the perception of TAWs that the training provided by the client company facilitates their internal employability and their commitment towards this company via exhaustion for those TAWs who have a low desire to have a direct contract with this company. In addition, our findings show that TAWs do not reciprocally respond to the training that promotes external employability, as this factor is not associated with the affective commitment of these individuals, although exhaustion is associated with this perception. Moreover, we discuss the implications of these findings for the human resource management of TAWs.

Research has demonstrated the importance of job characteristics to explain work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and the value of this enrichment to explain employees’ wellbeing. However, there is no comprehensive framework to explain the relationship between these variables. This study uses the Job Demands-Control-Support model as a guiding framework, and examines the relationship between these job characteristics and WFE and, more interestingly, the WFE as a mechanism for explaining the relationship between job characteristics and employees’ well-being. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship of employees’ perceptions of High Performance Work System (HPWS) with job characteristics. With a sample of 1,390 employees from a Portuguese bank, job demands were found to be negatively related to WFE while autonomy and supervisor support displayed a positive relation. We also observed that WFE is an important mechanism to explain the relationship between these job characteristics and employees’ well being. As expected, HPWS was a relevant organizational characteristic to explain job characteristics, however, we observed that it was also directly related to WFE.

The paradigm of this study is positive occupational psychology, with the job demands-resources model as the research model and the Conservation of Resources theory as the general stress theory. The research design analyses the job demands-resources model's dynamic nature with normal and reversed causation effects between work characteristics and psychological well-being among Portuguese firefighters. In addition, we analyse a positive (engagement) dimension and a negative (burnout) dimension in the firefighters' well-being, because previously, studies have merely focused on the strain or stress of these professionals. The research questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 651 firefighters, and a two-wave full panel design was used. Cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the causal direction of the relationship between organizational demands and burnout is reciprocal. Also, we found that the reciprocal model, including cross-lagged reciprocal relationships between organizational demands/supervisory support and burnout/engagement, respectively, is what fits the data best. Practical implications to develop organizational change programmes and suggestions for future research regarding the promotion of occupational health are discussed.

Outsourced workers in information technologies (IT) generally have high skills and a high value on the job market. Their IT outsourcing organizations are likely to provide them with training, in the first place for skill development, but perhaps also as a way to bind the workers to them. This can be understood along the role of the psychological contract. Outsourced IT workers may see training as a fulfillment of their psychological contract. Accordingly, we hypothesize that psychological contract fulfillment mediates the relationship between training and affective commitment to the IT outsourcer. This was tested in a sample of 158 Portuguese outsourced IT workers. The results showed that employees who considered that they were receiving good training opportunities felt a greater affective commitment to their IT outsourcers. This relationship was mediated by the fulfillment of the relational psychological contract.

Although the importance of studying motivations is recognized, research about this subject, specifically addressing temporary agency workers (TAWs), has been limited and exploratory. In addition, the few existing studies are not theoretically robust. The present study focuses on the validity of one measure constructed to assess motivations of TAWs according to the Self-determination Theory (SDT), with a sample of 1,325 participants originating from the industry and services sectors in Portugal. Several statistical procedures were performed, namely the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and the convergent and discriminant analysis that includes examining the convergent and discriminant the factors validity of the proper measure conceptualized, as well as, the validity of this measure in relation with other constructs. The implications of these results are discussed ahead. Generally, they suggest the applicability of this measure to analyze in a more complex way the motivations for being TAW and the validity of this instrument to observe the relations between these motivations with workers well-being.

This study reports an intervention programme to promote job resources (social support) to increase firefighters' psychological well-being (burnout and engagement), using the Job Demand-Resource Model as the theoretical model. Participants were firefighters from an elite Portuguese organization. The intervention consisted of a leadership stress management workshop for middle supervisors that lasted 21 hours spread over 3 days. The intervention group (n = 67) were subordinates whose immediate supervisors participated in the workshop, and the control group (n = 37) were subordinates whose supervisors did not. All participants filled out questionnaires before the workshop and 4 months after. The repeated measures ANOVA revealed as expected that Time x Intervention interaction increased colleagues' social support, and marginally also increased firefighters' vigor. However, contrary to expected the intervention also increased chronic demands. Discussion focuses on the importance of understanding the pro...

© 2016 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Objective: The development of work-family conflict over time was analyzed using Conservation of Resources Theory. Method: The reciprocal effect between work-family conflict and employee well-being was tested with cross-lagged analyses on the basis of three waves. The sample comprised 713 employees of a Portuguese service organization. Results: Structural equation modeling analyses, with sex, age, and parental demand controlled, indicated that the work-family conflict at T1 and T2 decreases the employee psychological well-being at T2 and T3, respectively. Furthermore, employee psychological well-being at T2 had a longitudinal cross-lagged effect on work-family at T3. We concluded that employee psychological well-being at T2 predicted work-family at T3, which was a subsequent outcome of work-family conflict on T1. Conclusions: This paper highlighted the importance of organizations to consider work-family conflict to ensure employees' well-being because they develop reciprocal relationship with a loss spiral effect.

Nurse well-being is a crucial factor in the quality of care given to patients and in patient safety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the psychological effects of relational job characteristics (PERJCs) and indicators of well-being in hospital nurses. The data for this correlational study were collected from an online survey responded to by a sample of 620 hospital nurses (335 Portuguese and 285 Brazilian). Statistical procedures included structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. A full mediation model was supported by data analysis, in which work-related well-being (i.e., engagement and burnout) explained the relationships between hospital nurses' perceived social worth and their context-free well-being. Moreover, in the Portuguese sample, the perceived social impact on client lives and the affective commitment to clients were indirectly related to the context-free well-being of nurses, through work engagement. Practical implications are presented in order to foster the PERJCs, thus contributing to nurse well-being.

This article aims to analyze work-to-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment (WFE) profiles related to job characteristics and well-being at work and general well-being. A cross-sectional survey data of 1885 employees was analyzed. The Latent Profile Analysis revealed that the five-profile solution exhibited strong statistical significance (p > .001). ANCOVAs were performed to analyze the relationship of the identified profiles with job characteristics and well-being. Employees in the Beneficial profile had the best perception of job characteristics (lowest demands and the highest control and support) and the highest well-being, and those in the Harmful profile had the lowest job characteristics perceptions and the lowest well-being. Through a comparison of the Moderate Active profile and the Moderate Harmful profile, WFE was found to buffer the effects of the WFC on well-being at work (burnout; engagement) and on general well-being (i.e., health perceptions). The promotion of WFE through higher job autonomy, job support, and fewer demands is a crucial aspect to consider. This study helps to consolidate the work-family balance typology and its effects on employees’ well-being, and broadens this framework to consider job characteristics.

This study analyses the expansion of the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model with the introduction of proactive coping, in both health impairment and motivational processes. 1487 rescue mission firefighters from the 18 districts of Portugal participated in the study. Through structural equation modelling the results revealed that proactive coping partially mediated the relationship between job demands and burnout, as well as the relationship between job resources and engagement. The results suggest that this personal resource also has an effect on the promotion of positive occupational well-being indicators, in addition to the mitigation of negative well-being indicators. Practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology are also discussed.

PurposeOutsourced information technology (IT) workers establish two different employment relationships: one with the outsourcing company that hires them and another with the client organization where they work daily. The attitudes that an employee has towards both organisations may be influenced by the interpretations or attributions that employees make about the reasons behind the human resource (HR) management practices implemented by the outsourcing company. This paper aims to propose that commitment‐focused HR attributions are positively and control‐focused HR attributions are negatively related to the affective commitment to the client organization, through the affective commitment to the outsourcing company.Design/methodology/approachThese hypotheses were tested with a sample of 158 highly skilled outsourced employees from the IT sector. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe paper's hypotheses were supported. It can conclude that, if an employee interprets the HR practices as part of a commitment‐focused strategy of the outsourcing company, it has clear attitudinal benefits. The study found that the relationship between HR attributions and the commitment to the client organization is mediated by the commitment to the outsourcing company.Practical implicationsThese findings hint at the critical role of outsourcing companies in managing the careers of these highly marketable employees.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to apply the concept of HR attributions to contingent employment literature in general and to outsourced IT workers in particular.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of training to explain affective commitment and exhaustion of temporary agency workers (TAW). There is a general assumption that training relates with a social exchange relationship where employees exchange positive outcomes, not only with inducements received by training but also with the expectation of prospective inducements that will emerge from the fulfilment of promises made by the organization.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested on a sample of 393 Portuguese blue‐collar TAW using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe hypotheses were supported. Training was positively related to workers' affective commitment and negatively to workers' exhaustion. Psychological contract fulfilment partially mediated these relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited due to the nature of the sample (TAW in industrial sector with similar training opportunities as permanent workers) and the lack of longitudinal design. Neither does it provide implications for other types of commitment that may be relevant for TAW (continuance commitment, for example).Practical implicationsAn important implication of this research is that employers should not assume that training is an investment without return from TAW. Developmental opportunities, while important to all employees, were positively related to TAW' affective commitment towards the organization and negatively to TAW' exhaustion.Originality/valueThe findings highlighted the importance of training in developing positive employment relationships with TAW and the role of psychological contract fulfilment as a mechanism that contributes to explain such relationship.

The aim of this study is to analyse psychological contract fulfilment as a mechanism through which training affects stress in call centres. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 412 call centre operators, using structural equation modelling to analyse their survey responses. Our results demonstrated that training is negatively related to workers' exhaustion and that the relationship is fully mediated by the fulfilment of socio-emotional obligations. We found that it was the fulfilment of balanced obligations, and not relational obligations, which mediated the relationship between training and exhaustion. Hence, we verified that training was related to lower levels of employee exhaustion through fulfilment of the balanced psychological contract. Our findings highlight the centrality of psychological contract fulfilment to call centre workers, and the importance of training in constructing positive employment relationships with workers. We discuss implications for human resource management in call centres.

Using the Job Demands-Control (JD-C) model as the theoretical framework, this study investigated the relationships among burnout, job demands, and autonomy. With a sample of 802 employees from a Portuguese bank, we demonstrated the importance of taking into account emotional job demands when studying the burnout of service providers. Thereby, the unique explanatory power of each emotional demand on burnout was tested with regression analysis, after controlling for the original demands and autonomy variables from the JD-C model along with demographic variables. The results confirmed the relevance of the study model in explaining burnout and indicated that emotional dissonance was associated with employee burnout, beyond quantitative demands and autonomy. As expected, hierarchical regression analysis provided evidence for the main effects of quantitative demands, emotional dissonance, and autonomy on burnout. These findings have several implications for designing jobs involving interactions with clients. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse whether a social exchange relationship between temporary workers and organizations is possible. The authors aim to consider whether, when training is perceived by an employee as an organizational practice that promotes his or her employability, this entails a social exchange relationship.Design/methodology/approachSurveys from 240 call centre workers were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression to explore relationships between training to promote employability, perceived organizational support (POS) and affective commitment.FindingsThe data support the idea that social exchange theories are useful frameworks in explaining temporary workers' affective commitment towards organisations. Organisational investment in training was positively related to the affective commitment of these temporary workers. However, employees attributed greater importance to the fact that training increased their employability than to the number of training hours received. The relationship between this human resource management practice and affective commitment partly occurred through the perceived organisational support. Such perception partially mediates the relationship between training as a promoter of employability and this positive attitude.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited due to sample nature and the lack of longitudinal design. It does not provide implications for other types of commitment that may be relevant for temporary workers (continuance commitment, for example).Practical implicationsAn important implication from this research is that employers should not assume that training is an investment without return from temporary workers. Developmental opportunities, while important to all employees, did make temporary workers more committed to organizations.Originality/valueThe paper is the first, to the authors' knowledge, to assess training as promoting employability with a specific measure. While the results are simple, they refute many stereotypes of temporary workers and add an important perspective to the human resource management literature.

salanova m., lorente l., chambel m.j. & martinez i.m. (2011) Linking transformational leadership to nurses’ extra-role performance: the mediating role of self-efficacy and work engagement. Journal of Advanced Nursing 67(9), 2256–2266. Abstract Aims. This paper is a report of a social cognitive theory-guided study about the link between supervisors’ transformational leadership and staff nurses’ extra-role performance as mediated by nurse self-efficacy and work engagement. Background. Past research has acknowledged the positive influence that transformational leaders have on employee (extra-role) performance. However, less is known about the psychological mechanisms that may explain the links between transformational leaders and extra-role performance, which encompasses behaviours that are not considered formal job requirements, but which facilitate the smooth functioning of the organization as a social system. Methods. Seventeen supervisors evaluated nurses’ extra-role performance, the data generating a sample consisting of 280 dyads. The nurses worked in different health services in a large Portuguese hospital and the participation rate was 76·9% for nurses and 100% for supervisors. Data were collected during 2009. A theory-driven model of the relationships between transformation leadership, self-efficacy, work engagement and nurses’ extra-role performance was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. Results. Data analysis revealed a full mediation model in which transformational leadership explained extra-role performance through self-efficacy and work engagement. A direct relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement was also found. Conclusion. Nurses’ supervisors with a transformational leadership style enhance different ‘extra-role’ performance in nurses and this increases hospital efficacy. They do so by establishing a sense of self-efficacy but also by amplifying their levels of engagement in the workplace.

The number of call centre businesses and workers has increased considerably over recent years and has become one of the sectors with the highest growth rate in Portugal. In this cross-sectional study, covering 363 call/contact centre (C/CC) workers in a Portuguese firm, we confirm that the relationship between employees and the organization, namely their psychological contract, is influenced by their employment conditions, that is, their status and work premises. We perform multiple regression analyses and results show that: (1) temporary employees perceive fewer relational and balanced and more transactional organizational obligations than permanent employees; (2) employees working at the client’s premises perceive more balanced obligations of the organization; (3) the psychological contract has a relationship with the attitudes and behaviours of employees with a higher general relational orientation to their work, who are more satisfied and present more civic virtue behaviours. This study provides a discussion of the practical implications and future research.

The present study aims to test (1) the main effects of job demands and control on burnout and (2) the contribution of burnout to explaining variance in job performance, namely in-role performance and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviour (service-OCB). The hypotheses were tested in a three-wave study among a sample of 94 Portuguese salespeople. The results provided partial evidence for the main cross-sectional effects of demands and control on burnout, but they did not provide evidence of carry-over effects six months later. Exhaustion was found to reduce extra-role performance over a six-month period.

We assumed that a breach in psychological contract had an effect on soldiers' well-being and not only promoted their burnout levels but decreased their levels of engagement. In a longitudinal study...

This study investigated the impact of employment status (temporary/regular) on the employee–organization relationship in samples from two firms employing both temps (n = 234) and regular or core (n = 204) workers. Temps and regular workers held similar beliefs regarding the nature of their employment relationship. However, among those temps for whom temporary work was their preferred status, the employment relationship was less socioemotional and more economic than was the case for other workers. When these temps preferred regular employment, their relationships were high socioemotional and low economic, comparable with that of core workers. A employee–organization relationship high on socioemotional terms was positively related to satisfaction with the organization, an attitude which in turn mediated the relationship between employment relationship and employees' performance and civic virtue behaviors (behaviors as assessed by their supervisors). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aim To study work engagement as a mediator of the associations between relational job characteristics and nurses’ affective commitment to the hospital. Background Earlier research has shown that work engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and affective organizational commitment. However, relational job characteristics, which may be job resources, have not been studied or examined in relation to work engagement and affective organizational commitment in the nursing profession. Design This study uses a correlational survey design and an online survey for data collection. Method Data for this correlational study were collected by survey over months (2013) from a sample of 335 hospital nurses. Measures included Portuguese translations of the Relational Job Characteristics’ Psychological Effects Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Affective Organizational Commitment Scale. Results Data analysis supports a full mediation model where relational job characteristics explained affective commitment to the hospital through nurses’ work engagement. Conclusions Relational job characteristics contribute to nurses’ work engagement, which in turn contributes to affective organizational commitment.

Workers’ perception that their job experience enriches their family life has been considered a mechanism that explains their positive attitudes toward the organization where they work. However, because women and men live their work and family differently, gender may condition this relationship between the work-family enrichment and workers’ attitudes. With a sample of 1885 workers from one Portuguese bank, with 802 women, the current study investigated the relationship between work-family enrichment and organizational affective commitment as well as the role of sex as a moderator of this relationship. The hypotheses were tested by using regression analysis. The results indicated that the perception held by workers that their work enriches their family is positively correlated with their affective commitment toward the organization. Furthermore, the data revealed that this relationship is stronger for women than for men. Study results have implications for management, particularly for human resource management, enhancing their knowledge about the relationship of work-family enrichment and workers’ affective commitment toward organization.

RESUMONeste estudo avaliamos em que medida a Teoria da Troca Social podia ser utilizada para explicar as respostas dos trabalhadores temporários de agência (TTA). Aplicamos um questionário a uma amostra de 953 TTA e utilizamos Modelos de Equações Estruturais para analisar os resultados. Verificamos que o sistema de práticas de gestão de recursos humanos se relacionava positivamente com o comprometimento afetivo (β = 0,58; p < 0,01) e com o engagement (β = 0,24; p< 0,01), explicando 40% e 30% dessas variáveis, respectivamente. O cumprimento do contrato psicológico por parte da organização mediava parcialmente a relação entre este sistema e essas respostas positivas dos trabalhadores. Uma importante implicação deste estudo é que o investimento nos TTA relaciona-se com respostas positivas da sua parte. ABSTRACTThis study analyzed the extent to which the Social Exchange Theory can be used to explain the answers of temporary agency workers’ (TAW). We applied a questionnaire to a sample of 953 TAW and used Structural Equation Models (SEM) to analyze the results. We verified that the system of human resource management related positively with workers' affective commitment (β = 0,58; p< 0,01) and engagement (β = 0,24; p < 0,01), explained 40% e 30% of these variables respectively. The psychological contract fulfillment partially mediated the relationship between this system and TAW’ positive answers. One important implication of this study is that it confirms that investment with TAW has a return, i.e. positive workers outcome, which is important to organizational efficacy.

This study examined the contributions of the psychological contract framework to an understanding of the effects of different work statuses on employees’ behavior. We compared temporary firm workers (n=71) with core workers (n=268) and direct-hire temporary workers (n=149) with core workers (n=42) in two different samples. As expected, temporary firm workers consider that they receive fewer socio-emotional inducements from the organization they work for (opportunities for promotion, career development, long-term employment), but direct-hire temporary workers who succeeded in having their contracts extended had a psychological contract in which socio-emotional components predominated. A psychological contract with a predominance of socio-emotional components was important for organizations because it mediated the influence of work status on civic virtue behaviors on the part of temporary firm workers, and directly and positively influenced these behaviors in direct-hired temporary workers (behaviors as assessed by their supervisors). Contrary to the hypothesis, psychological contract had a direct and positive influence on the in-role behavior of direct-hire temporary workers. The implications of the findings for psychological contract research are discussed.

La relation entre les caracteristiques du travail, le bien-etre des etudiants et la performance a eteevaluee a partir du modele de Karasck & Theorell ≪Travail, exigences, controle, soutien≫ (1990). Un echantillon d’etudiants portugais (N= 825) a repondu a un questionnaire comprenant des mesures du controle et des exigences du travail universitaire, du soutien des pairs, de la satisfaction relative a la vie universitaire, de l’anxiete/depression et des resultats aux examens. Il apparut, comme dans d’aures contextes de travail, que la satisfaction des etudiants pour ce qui est de la vie universitaire, ainsi que les niveaux d’anxiete/depression etaient fortement dependants de leur perception des caracteristiques du travail. Les niveaux de satisfaction ont un effet direct sur la performance et agissent sur la relation entre la maitrise du travail universitaire et la performance. The relationship between work characteristics, student well-being and performance was assessed, based upon Karasek and Theorell's (1990) Job Demands–Control–Support model. A sample of Portuguese university students (N= 825) answered a questionnaire comprising measures of academic work demands and control, peer support, satisfaction with academic life, anxiety/depression and academic performance. Results suggested that, similar to other work contexts, student satisfaction with academic life and anxiety/depression levels are strongly dependent on their perceptions of work characteristics. Levels of satisfaction have a direct impact on student performance and mediate the relationship between academic work control and performance.

The development of either internal or external employability of temporary workers has been considered a mechanism of protection since it ensures that employment can be maintained. According to the social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity, when temporary workers perceive that the training promoted by the organization furthers employability, they are inclined to feel obligated to reciprocate with positive attitudes toward the organization. With a sample of temporary agency workers from three distinct industry organizations (N= 279), the current study investigated the relationship between training that promotes both internal and external employability and affective commitment as well as the role of voluntariness as a moderator of these relationships. The hypotheses were tested by using regression analysis. The results indicated that the perception held by temporary workers that the training they received is a promoter of their internal employability is positively correlated with their affective commitment towards the organization. Furthermore, the data revealed that this relationship is weaker for the group of temporary workers with high voluntariness. On the other hand, there was not a significant relationship between the training that promotes external employability and the affective commitment of temporary workers. Likewise, voluntariness did not moderate this relationship.