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There is scant research examining both the psychological (individual) and leadership (environmental) influences on older workers. We firstly examine the influence of older workers' mindfulness on their job engagement, job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Secondly, we address effective leadership approaches for older workers, comparing two positive relational leadership styles, leader member exchange and leader autonomy support (LAS). We survey 1,237 participants from 28 organisations in New Zealand and employ structural equation modelling to test our hypotheses using AMOS 24.0. We find that mindful older workers enjoy greater wellbeing and are discerning of the leadership styles that most benefit their engagement, satisfaction and intentions to stay within the organisation. We find that mindfulness has direct importance and LAS has indirect importance on advancing the wellbeing of older workers. Mindful older workers exhibit greater work wellbeing than non-mindful workers, but they also demonstrate greater expectations and discernment of the leadership styles they encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explored whether respondents who self-identified as New Zealand Europeans experienced less bullying and less severe outcomes than those who self-identified as Maori, Pacific Island or other ethnic groups. Social support was also examined as a potential buffer against the negative effects of bullying. One thousand, seven hundred and thirty-three respondents from four sectors (health, education, hospitality and travel) responded to a self-report questionnaire. Despite reporting higher levels of bullying than New Zealand Europeans, Pacific Island and Asian/Indian respondents reported lower levels of psychological strain. A possible explanation for this may lie in the somewhat higher levels of supervisor support reported by Pacific Island, Asian/Indian and Maori respondents, compared to those who self-identified as New Zealand European. Respondents with more supportive supervisors and colleagues reported experiencing less bullying and less strain. Bullying was related to negative outcomes for all groups. The implications of these findings for management of workplace bullying are discussed. Keywords: Bullying, strain, social support, ethnicity, Workplace bullying is defined as a situation where a person feels they have repeatedly been on the receiving end of negative actions from one or more other people, in a [...]

The influence of the work environment on psychological wellbeing is an important consideration for organisations to motivate and retain older workers. This study examines how organisational factors can enhance older workers' psychological wellbeing. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory, we propose that the interaction of two organisational factors, inclusive leadership, and mature‐age human resource (HR) practices, can foster older workers' psychological wellbeing. Online panel data were collected from a sample of 398 older workers in the Australian public sector. Results showed that mature‐age HR practices positively and partially mediated the relationship between inclusive leadership and psychological wellbeing. More importantly, we found that inclusive leadership acted as an antecedent and moderator by enhancing the ability of mature‐age HR practices to beneficially influence the psychological wellbeing of older workers. Based on the findings, we discuss theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyberbullying presents a new workplace issue with initial research demonstrating strong links to negative outcomes for individuals and organisations across a range of sectors. Yet, detailed accounts of target experiences of cyberbullying remain largely unexamined. To address this crucial research gap, this study explores nurses' experiences of workplace cyberbullying – a profession with high rates of workplace bullying. Adopting a work environment perspective, this paper provides an in-depth examination of eight cases of workplace cyberbullying that emphasise the practical and theoretical complexities associated with this emerging workplace hazard. Specifically, workplace cyberbullying is often experienced within a broader pattern of bullying behaviours, leading to a potentially wider scope of harm for those involved. A new typology of cyberbullying based on the source of perpetration is also presented that contributes to our growing understanding of the issue while extending the knowledge base for the effective management of workplace cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace bullying is known to be a psychosocial stressor for targets. Meanwhile, the effects of bullying on observers have received scant attention. This study investigated whether greater exposure to bullying, through observation as well as direct experience, was associated with a poorer work environment, and poorer individual wellbeing and work attitudes. Data were collected from 1733 employees, with 586 of these identified as suitable for further analyses. From the total, 13% (225) had neither experienced nor ever observed bullying, 3% (53) were categorized as observers, 13% (228) were identified as targets, and 5% (80) as both observers and targets. Planned statistical data contrasts across the four groups showed that non-bullied employees had the most positive perceptions of the work environment followed by observers, then targets, and finally those who had been both observers and targets. Broadly similar results were found for individual wellbeing and work attitudes. These results support the negative impact of observing bullying, with greatest impact for those who are both observers and targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bullying at work, a severe form of anti-social behaviour, has become an issue of major concern to workers, organisations, unions and governments. It has also received considerable attention in organisational behaviour and human resource management research over the past 20+ years. Research has been conducted on the prevalence of bullying at work and factors which contribute to bullying, but less attention has been accorded to personal coping with bullying and organisational-level responses to counteract bullying. The present paper reports findings from a survey of over 1700 employees of 36 organisations in New Zealand. We describe the reported incidence of bullying at work, along with relevant work attitudes and experiences, including psychological strain, ratings of subjective well-being, and levels of commitment to the organisation. Personal experience of bullying was reported by 17.8% of respondents, and was significantly correlated with higher levels of strain, reduced well-being, reduced commitment to their organisation, and lower self-rated performance. Personal coping strategies were generally unrelated to these outcomes. On the other hand, the perceived effectiveness of organisational efforts to deal with bullying was considered an important contributor to both the occurrence of bullying and reduced negative effects of bullying. Overall, our findings illustrate the importance of developing organisational-level strategies to reduce the incidence of bullying and to counteract its negative impact, rather than expecting individuals to develop personal strategies to cope with this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]