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Background and purpose: Various electrodiagnostic criteria have been developed in Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). Their performance in a broad representation of GBS patients has not been evaluated. Motor conduction data from the International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS) cohort were used to compare two widely used criterion sets and relate these to diagnostic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis criteria. Methods: From the first 1500 patients in IGOS, nerve conduction studies from 1137 (75.8%) were available for the current study. These patients were classified according to nerve conduction studies criteria proposed by Hadden and Rajabally. Results: Of the 1137 studies, 68.3% (N = 777) were classified identically according to criteria by Hadden and Rajabally: 111 (9.8%) axonal, 366 (32.2%) demyelinating, 195 (17.2%) equivocal, 35 (3.1%) inexcitable and 70 (6.2%) normal. Thus, 360 studies (31.7%) were classified differently. The areas of differences were as follows: 155 studies (13.6%) classified as demyelinating by Hadden and axonal by Rajabally; 122 studies (10.7%) classified as demyelinating by Hadden and equivocal by Rajabally; and 75 studies (6.6%) classified as equivocal by Hadden and axonal by Rajabally. Due to more strictly defined cutoffs fewer patients fulfilled demyelinating criteria by Rajabally than by Hadden, making more patients eligible for axonal or equivocal classification by Rajabally. In 234 (68.6%) axonal studies by Rajabally the revised El Escorial (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) criteria were fulfilled; in axonal cases by Hadden this was 1.8%. Conclusions and discussion: This study shows that electrodiagnosis in GBS is dependent on the criterion set utilized, both of which are based on expert opinion. Reappraisal of electrodiagnostic subtyping in GBS is warranted.

Drawing on self-determination theory, this study examines how using personal strengths at work in the morning is associated with different types of performance throughout the workday. Momentary satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence are proposed as mechanisms that differentially link strengths use to four different performance outcomes: task accomplishment, goal attainment, organizational citizenship behaviour and counterproductive work behaviour. We collected data from 216 Dutch employees in a large variety of sectors twice a day for one workweek (N = 1470 observations) using a smartphone application. Results of multilevel structural equation modelling showed that momentary satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and competence at noon mediated the positive relationship between morning strengths use and afternoon task accomplishment and goal attainment. Furthermore, satisfaction of the need for relatedness mediated the positive relationship between morning strengths use and afternoon organizational citizenship behaviour, but not the negative relationship between morning strengths use and counterproductive work behaviour. These findings deepen our understanding of strengths use theory and uncover novel insight on the temporal aspects of strengths use within a working day.

Although extant research shows detrimental consequences of workaholism, well-known workaholism scales have been commented on for the lack of construct clarity and validity. The Multidimensional Workaholism Scale (MWS), a new measure developed in the United States, offers both conceptual and psychometric advantages over previous workaholism scales, yet it has not been fully validated in different countries. This study aimed to adapt the MWS to a Northern European context (i.e., the Netherlands) and examine its factorial, convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity. To evaluate the psychometric properties and validity of the Dutch version of MWS, a sample of 366 Dutch employees was surveyed. The analyses showed that the subdimensions of the Dutch MWS had internal consistency and convergent validity with obsessive passion, workload, and the Dutch Work Addiction Scale. Moreover, the Dutch MWS showed good discriminant validity and modest incremental validity. Researchers in Dutch-speaking nations can use the Dutch version to learn more about workaholism.

Background Despite the societal importance to improve understanding of the role of employers in the inclusion of workers with a distance to the labor market, scant knowledge is available on the effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) bundles for the inclusion of vulnerable workers. Objective This paper studies which HRM bundles are applied by employers that hired people with a distance to the labor market, and to what extent these different bundles of HRM practices are related to employment of workers with specific vulnerabilities, such as people with disabilities or people with a migration background. Methods A latent class analysis of 1,665 inclusive employers was used to identify HRM bundles based on seven HRM practices: financial support practices, specialized recruitment, promotion and career opportunities, training opportunities, part-time work, job crafting, and adaptations to the workplace. Results Six bundles were identified: a recruitment and development bundle (34.4% of employers), a development bundle (24.8%), maintenance-focused practices (16.5%), a recruitment bundle (9.4%), a sustainable employment bundle (8.9%), and passive HRM (6.0%). Post-hoc analyses showed the probability of hiring specific vulnerable groups for each bundle (e.g., sustainable employment bundles showed the highest overall probability to hire people with a physical disability). Conclusion Nuancing what is suggested in strategic HRM literature, we conclude that both extensive HRM and focused HRM bundles can be successful for the employment of vulnerable workers. In conclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to inclusive employment and employers, large or small, can tailor their HRM systems to include vulnerable workers.

This protocol investigates the efficacy of a mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) program named BAMBOO. The goal of this program is to increase resilience and mental well-being among refugees. In recent years, there has been an increasing number of refugees fleeing to Europe and applying for permanent residence. In the Netherlands, a wide variety of programs that focus on increasing mental well-being among refugees is available. BAMBOO is a strengths-based intervention, which consists of five weekly two-hour group-based sessions. It is based on the theoretical framework of positive psychology and adapted according to the guidelines for the implementation of culturally sensitive cognitive behavioral therapy among refugees. The program does not focus on the treatment of trauma, mental disorders, or underlying problems, but aims to increase factors such as personal strengths, positive emotions, positive relations, and self-esteem. The first version of the program (BAMBOO 1.0) has been conducted at over 50 asylum centers in the Netherlands since January 2020. In the time period from September 2020 to September 2022, qualitative and quantitative data were collected among BAMBOO trainers and participants and the program was adapted, leading to a revised version (BAMBOO 2.0). A single-blinded parallel pilot randomized controlled trial, with an intervention group and awaiting list control group, with 34 participants per group will be used to test the program’s efficacy. Outcomes include resilience, satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, and self-esteem. The study will be conducted among adult Arabic speaking refugees, residing at an asylum center in the Netherlands and/ or in a Dutch municipality, Baseline, post-intervention, and five-week follow-up assessments will be conducted. This paper describes the protocol for the evaluation of a novel and culturally adapted program. The study will shed light on the efficacy of a culturally sensitive strength

Managers are increasingly expected to coach their employees. However, managers are often ill equipped and lack the necessary support from their organization to effectively implement coaching behavior. Based on strengths theory, we propose that a strengths spotting intervention could help managers to develop their coaching behavior. In addition, based on theory on emotional contagion and the broaden and build theory, we argue that spotting employees’ signature strengths leads to a stronger increase in managerial coaching behavior over time than an intervention that focuses on spotting lesser strengths. We conducted a field experiment, in which 255 managers (providing 414 data points) were randomly assigned to either a signature strengths or a lesser strengths spotting intervention. In a 1-month follow-up study we found that both interventions contributed equally to managerial coaching behavior. We conclude that online training in strengths spotting is a useful tool that helps managers to develop their coaching behavior.

Purpose To improve the inclusion of vulnerable workers in the labor market, employer behavior is key. However, little is known about the effectiveness of strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) practices that employers use to employ vulnerable workers. Therefore, this exploratory study investigates the association between strategic HRM practices (based on social legitimacy, economic rationality and employee well-being) and the actual and intended employment of vulnerable workers in the future. Methods In total, 438 organizations included in the Netherlands Employers Work Survey participated in a two-wave study with a nine-month follow-up period. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between strategic HRM practices (T0) with the employment of vulnerable workers (T1) and intentions to hire vulnerable workers (T1), while controlling for organizational size, sector, and employment of vulnerable workers at baseline.Results Employers who applied strategic HRM practices based on social legitimacy (e.g., inclusive mission statement or inclusive recruitment) or economic rationality (e.g., making use of reimbursements, trial placements, or subsidies) at T0 were more likely to employ vulnerable workers and to intend to hire additional vulnerable workers at T1. No significant results were found for practices related to employee well-being. Conclusion Since different types of strategic HRM practices contribute to the inclusion of vulnerable workers, employers can build on their strategic priorities and strengths to create inclusive HRM approaches. Future research is needed to study whether these strategic HRM domains also relate to sustainable employment of vulnerable workers.

The teaching profession is characterized by high demands and teachers who thrive are better able to navigate their demanding context than teachers who survive. Based on theories on strengths use we propose that strengths interventions which help teachers to identify, use, and develop their strengths can enhance their thriving (vitality and learning) which enables them to perform better. In addition, based on the socioemotional selective theory we propose that strengths interventions are especially beneficial for older teachers because it fits their goals and skills. We conducted a quasi-experimental study, in which 152 teachers and their team leaders participated in a strengths intervention. Longitudinal survey data indicated that the strengths intervention contributed to older teachers’ (≥ 46 years old) vitality, which in turn, contributed to their performance. No significant effects were found for younger teachers. We discuss the implications of our study for older teachers.

Strengths-based leadership helps employees identify, utilize, and develop their strengths. Does such leadership facilitate employee work engagement and performance? In this study, we integrate Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theories to hypothesize that strengths-based leadership is positively related to employee task performance through employee work engagement, and that this effect is moderated by LMX quality. We collected survey data at two time points – with one month interval – from 556 Chinese workers and their managers (N = 104 teams). The results of path modelling showed that strengths-based leadership was positively related to supervisor-ratings of employee task performance via employee work engagement. As predicted, the positive relation between strengths-based leadership and employee work engagement was stronger when LMX was of high-quality. However, the predicted moderated-mediation effect was not supported. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on strengths-based leadership, as well as the practical implications.

the 21st European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Conference, 24 mei 2023, Item does not contain fulltext

Research findings indicate an age-related decline in worker’s growth and learning. In this paper, we investigate to what extent these results may be affected by measures (e.g., growth need strength scale) that are influenced by educational approaches to workplace learning, framing learning as intentional processes of knowledge acquisition guided by educators. Based on Human Resource Development (HRD) and non-HRD literature, we propose that these measures may not fully capture learning processes of older workers who seemingly prefer learning outside of formal educational contexts (e.g., spontaneous, strengths-based, and collaborative forms of learning). We examine measures of growth motives and learning behaviors and conclude that these are strongly influenced by an educational perspective, encouraging inaccurate conclusions regarding older workers’ learning interest and activity. We provide suggestions for the development of new measures inspired by a noneducational perspective on work-related learning, for instance by tapping into spontaneous, strengths-based, and collaborative forms of learning.

This paper describes a field experiment with a self-leadership training aimed at helping human service professionals to improve their detached concern and proactivity. Whereas detached concern refers to a state in which human service professionals blend compassion with emotional distance in their interaction with clients, proactivity refers to self-starting and change-oriented behaviour to enhance personal or organizational effectiveness. Based on self-leadership theory, we hypothesized that self-leadership training can enhance detached concern and proactivity. Moreover, based on behavioural plasticity theory, we hypothesized that training participants who are low in occupational self-efficacy are more susceptible to the external influence of self-leadership training, than individuals with higher levels of occupational self-efficacy. We conducted a field experiment with a sample of 223 human service professionals who were either assigned to a training group (n = 94), or a wait-list control group (n = 129). In a 3-month follow-up study, we found that self-leadership training had a positive effect on detached concern and that the intervention was especially effective for participants with low to medium initial levels of pretraining occupational self-efficacy. However, the intervention did not affect participants' level of proactivity. This study adds to the literature on workplace learning by demonstrating the potential of a self-leadership training for the transfer maintenance of newly developed soft skills (i.e., detached concern and proactive behaviour) to the workplace and by pinpointing occupational self-efficacy as an individual predisposition that influences training success.

ObjectiveTo define the current treatment practice of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).MethodsThe study was based on prospective observational data from the first 1,300 patients included in the International GBS Outcome Study. We described the treatment practice of GBS in general, and for (1) severe forms (unable to walk independently), (2) no recovery after initial treatment, (3) treatment-related fluctuations, (4) mild forms (able to walk independently), and (5) variant forms including Miller Fisher syndrome, taking patient characteristics and hospital type into account.ResultsWe excluded 88 (7%) patients because of missing data, protocol violation, or alternative diagnosis. Patients from Bangladesh (n = 189, 15%) were described separately because 83% were not treated. IV immunoglobulin (IVIg), plasma exchange (PE), or other immunotherapy was provided in 941 (92%) of the remaining 1,023 patients, including patients with severe GBS (724/743, 97%), mild GBS (126/168, 75%), Miller Fisher syndrome (53/70, 76%), and other variants (33/40, 83%). Of 235 (32%) patients who did not improve after their initial treatment, 82 (35%) received a second immune modulatory treatment. A treatment-related fluctuation was observed in 53 (5%) of 1,023 patients, of whom 36 (68%) were re-treated with IVIg or PE.ConclusionsIn current practice, patients with mild and variant forms of GBS, or with treatment-related fluctuations and treatment failures, are frequently treated, even in absence of trial data to support this choice. The variability in treatment practice can be explained in part by the lack of evidence and guidelines for effective treatment in these situations.

Competence-based education (CBE) is an innovation in (vocational) education aimed at improving students’ competences. Little is known, however, about the processes leading to successful implementation of CBE and about its outcomes. This study investigates the effects that the level of CBE implementation has on student satisfaction (regarding the quality of education, guidance, and the development of interpersonal and general vocational skills) and to what extent CBE implementation mediates the relationship between teacher team learning activities and student satisfaction. To this end, data was gathered from 662 teachers belonging to 46 teacher teams in senior secondary vocational education in the Netherlands, and their students. Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed that teacher team learning was positively associated with te implementation of CBE. Furthermore, CBE had a positive effect on student satisfaction with quality of education, guidance, and development of interpersonal skills; however, no significant effect was found on student satisfaction with the development of general vocational skills. These results indicate that implementation of CBE has, to some degree, fulfilled its promise of better preparing students for their future workplace and that teacher team learning can support the further implementation of CBE.

Dit artikel leidt het themanummer 'Het verlagen van werkdruk door de inzet van positieve interventies' in. Terwijl het verlagen van werkdruk in veel sectoren prominent op de beleidsagenda staat, beperkt het beleid van veel organisaties zich tot werkdrukinterventies die worden ingezet zodra negatieve gevolgen van hoge werkdruk (denk bijvoorbeeld aan stressklachten) geconstateerd worden. Het is echter wenselijk om dit soort negatieve gevolgen te voorkomen door de oorzaken van werkdruk bij de bron aan te pakken en door meer in te zetten op preventieve in plaats van reactieve interventies of beleidsmaatregelen. Inzichten vanuit de positieve psychologie suggereren dat interventies die positieve aspecten van het werk of van werkende mensen zelf versterken, effectief zijn in het voorkomen van de negatieve gevolgen van werkdruk. De vier artikelen in het themanummer bieden vernieuwende, wetenschappelijke inzichten met betrekking tot positieve interventies om werkdruk te verlagen.

Personal growth is not only a central individual need but also a key requirement for organizational success. Nevertheless, workplace interventions aimed at stimulating the personal growth of employees are still scarce. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of an intervention that aimed at the identification, development, and use of employee strengths in stimulating personal growth initiative. We conducted a field experiment with a sample of 84 educational professionals who were either assigned to a strengths intervention or a wait-list control group. In a 1-month follow-up study, we found that the intervention had a direct effect on general self-efficacy (GSE) and an indirect effect on personal growth initiative. Moreover, in line with plasticity theory we found that the intervention was especially effective for participants with low to medium initial levels of GSE. We conclude that a strengths intervention may provide a brief and effective tool for organizations that aim for self-directed learning among their staff, in particular when offered to employees who lack confidence in their own abilities. Practitioner pointsIn a 1 month follow-up study, we found that a strengths intervention had a positive direct effect on general self-efficacy and an indirect effect on personal growth initiative. In line with plasticity theory, we found that the strengths intervention was especially effective for participants with low to medium initial levels of general self-efficacy.

Prior research in Western contexts has pointed to the benefits of supporting employees in the use of their personal strengths at work. This manuscript aims to investigate the invariance of the relationship between employees’ perceived organizational support for the use of their strengths and their well-being (work engagement, burnout, and satisfaction with life) across countries. To this end, we collected a cross-sectional sample of n = 1894 working individuals from five different countries (Germany, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Romania, and South Africa). The results of multigroup path analysis indicated that the relationships between support for the use of their strengths at work and the three indicators of well-being did not differ across the five countries. Perceived support for the use of strengths displayed a significant positive relationship with work engagement and satisfaction with life and a significant negative relationship with burnout. Consequently, our findings provide initial evidence for the universal benefits of focusing on individual strengths at work.

Goal orientation is an important predictor of motivation at work. This study introduces goal orientation profiles in the work domain, evaluates their stability over time and assesses the impact of managerial coaching behavior on change in employees' goal orientation profiles. We hypothesize that coaching managers inspire, facilitate, and guide employees to change towards profiles with relatively high levels of learning goal orientation and performance approach goals, and relatively low levels of performance avoidance goals. We conducted a two-wave study with a one-year time interval among teachers (N = 521) working in Vocational Education and Training institutions in the Netherlands. Latent transition analysis and multinomial regression analyses were applied. Four distinct profiles were identified: success-oriented, diffuse, low-performance, and high-avoidance. Although the majority of the teachers remained in the same goal orientation profile over time (91.2%) a small percentage of the teachers shifted towards the success-oriented goal orientation profile. Facilitative managerial coaching was positively associated with belonging to the success-oriented goal orientation profile while guidance was negatively associated with belonging to the success-oriented goal orientation profile. Moreover, facilitative managerial coaching supported change to the success-oriented profile while guidance and inspirational managerial coaching did not support this transition.

Orientation: The positive psychology paradigm suggests a balanced focus on employee strengths and deficits. However, an overemphasis on strengths has raised questions regarding the value of a focus on strengths use, deficit improvement or a combined approach with a balanced focus on both. Research purpose: The primary objective was to examine whether perceived organisational support (POS) for strengths use, POS for deficit improvement or a combined approach would be the strongest predictor of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Motivation for the study: In the literature, there is little empirical evidence to support an approach where both employees’ strengths are used and their deficits improved. Research design, approach and method: This study was conducted among 266 teachers from four public schools in the Western Cape. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Main findings: The results suggest that both strengths use and deficit improvement are important predictors of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Learning was higher and turnover intention lower for individuals experiencing a combined approach compared to those believing that their school did not support them in either using their strengths or improving their deficits. Furthermore, a combined approach was associated with higher job satisfaction than a strengths-based approach, and a deficit-based approach was shown to be associated with higher levels of work engagement and lower turnover intentions compared to an environment where neither employees’ strengths nor deficits were addressed. Practical or managerial implications: The results urge organisations to invest an equal amount of resources in their employees’ strengths and deficits, as opposed to neglecting either one. Such a combined approach may be associated with increased work engagement, learning and job satisfaction and lower turnove

Participation in professional development activities is important for teachers to continuously improve their knowledge and skills. However, teachers differ in their attitude towards learning activities. This paper examined how different goal orientation profiles are related to participation in professional development activities (acquiring information and asking feedback). To this end, we conducted latent profile analysis based on a sample of 984 teachers in vocational education. Five profiles were identified: diffuse (50.1%), moderate learning (12.3%), high avoidance (10.9%), performance oriented (15.9%) and success oriented (10.7%). Furthermore, means of acquiring information and asking feedback from teachers were compared across the profiles. Teachers with a success-oriented profile (high learning and performance approach goals) scored significantly higher while teachers with a high-avoidance profile scored significantly lower on asking for feedback and acquiring information. Exploration of background characteristics indicated that age, gender and work experience outside education were related to the goal orientation profiles. Our findings show that goal orientation profiles can be used to explain individual differences in teachers’ propensity to engage in professional development activities.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy with a highly variable clinical presentation, course, and outcome. The factors that determine the clinical variation of GBS are poorly understood which complicates the care and treatment of individual patients. The protocol of the ongoing International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS), a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study that aims to identify the clinical and biological determinants and predictors of disease onset, subtype, course and outcome of GBS is presented here. Patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for GBS, regardless of age, disease severity, variant forms, or treatment, can participate if included within 2 weeks after onset of weakness. Information about demography, preceding infections, clinical features, diagnostic findings, treatment, course, and outcome is collected. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid and serial blood samples for serum and DNA is collected at standard time points. The original aim was to include at least 1,000 patients with a follow-up of 1–3 years. Data are collected via a web-based data entry system and stored anonymously. IGOS started in May 2012 and by January 2017 included more than 1,400 participants from 143 active centers in 19 countries across 5 continents. The IGOS data/biobank is available for research projects conducted by expertise groups focusing on specific topics including epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, clinimetrics, electrophysiology, antecedent events, antibodies, genetics, prognostic modeling, treatment effects, and long-term outcome of GBS. The IGOS will help to standardize the international collection of data and biosamples for future research of GBS.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute polyradiculoneuropathy with a highly variable clinical presentation, course, and outcome. The factors that determine the clinical variation of GBS are poorly understood which complicates the care and treatment of individual patients. The protocol of the ongoing International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS), a prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study that aims to identify the clinical and biological determinants and predictors of disease onset, subtype, course and outcome of GBS is presented here. Patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for GBS, regardless of age, disease severity, variant forms, or treatment, can participate if included within 2 weeks after onset of weakness. Information about demography, preceding infections, clinical features, diagnostic findings, treatment, course, and outcome is collected. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid and serial blood samples for serum and DNA is collected at standard time points. The original aim was to include at least 1,000 patients with a follow-up of 1–3 years. Data are collected via a web-based data entry system and stored anonymously. IGOS started in May 2012 and by January 2017 included more than 1,400 participants from 143 active centers in 19 countries across 5 continents. The IGOS data/biobank is available for research projects conducted by expertise groups focusing on specific topics including epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, clinimetrics, electrophysiology, antecedent events, antibodies, genetics, prognostic modeling, treatment effects, and long-term outcome of GBS. The IGOS will help to standardize the international collection of data and biosamples for future research of GBS.

PurposeTransformational leaders spark the intrinsic motivation of employees, thereby stimulating their extra-role performance. However, not all employees are lucky enough to have a transformational leader. The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent mindfulness can function as a substitute for transformational leadership. By being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present, mindfulness provides employees with a source of intrinsic motivation that lies within the person, thereby possibly making employees less dependent on transformational leadership.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was used to collect data of 382 employees working in diverse sectors in the Netherlands.FindingsModerated mediation analyses indicated that mindfulness partly compensates for a low levels of transformational leadership in fostering intrinsic motivation and in turn extra-role performance, thereby providing evidence for the substitutes for leadership theory. Moreover, the findings extend previous research on the contribution of mindfulness to in-role performance by showing its additional value for intrinsic motivation and extra-role performance.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the use of validated measures and the presence of an interaction effect, common-source bias cannot be out ruled completely. Practical implications - Since mindfulness can be developed, the results suggest a training intervention to make employees less dependent on their leaders for their motivation.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to show that mindful people are more resilient against the absence of transformational leadership. Given the frequent changes in management layers in organizations, knowledge about resources for individual resilience and self-management is sorely needed.

Flow at work refers to a short-term peak experience that is characterized by absorption, work enjoyment, and intrinsic work motivation, and is positively related to various indicators of job performance. In an organizational context, research has predominantly focused on situational predictors of flow – including challenge job demands and resources. In this article, we propose that workers may also proactively create their own optimal experiences. We use self-determination theory to argue that all human beings have basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as well as an inherent tendency towards proactivity and growth. We propose that workers may use four self-determination strategies to satisfy their basic needs, facilitate flow experiences, and, in turn, increase their job performance: self-leadership, job crafting, designing work to be playful, and strengths use. Furthermore, we argue that factors within the organizational context – such as human resource practices and leadership, as well as personal resources – such as self-efficacy and optimism, moderate the effectiveness of these strategies. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

In this article, we explore the use of strengths interventions, defined as activities and processes that target the identification, development, and use of individual strengths, as an organizational tool to increase employee well-being. Engaging with one’s strengths is assumed to be a pleasant activity that elicits positive emotions like joy, pride, and gratitude, which, in turn, contribute to feelings of overall well-being and satisfaction. Building on this assumption, we hypothesized that participating in a strengths intervention leads to increases in general (i.e., psychological capital and satisfaction with life), and work-related well-being (i.e., increased work engagement and decreased burnout), and that positive affect mediates these effects. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a field experiment with a sample of N = 116 Dutch working people who were assigned to either an experimental group (participating in a strengths intervention) or a waitlist control group. All participants filled in a pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1 month follow-up questionnaire. Results indicate that participating in a strengths intervention creates short-term increases in employee positive affect and short- and long-term increases in psychological capital. We did not find evidence for a positive, direct effect of the strengths intervention on satisfaction with life, work engagement, and burnout respectively, but we did find support for indirect effects via the mediator positive affect.

We introduce 2 novel types of job crafting-crafting toward strengths and crafting toward interests-that aim to improve the fit between one's job and personal strengths and interests. Based on Berg, Dutton, and Wrzesniewski (2013), we hypothesized that participating in a job crafting intervention aimed at adjusting the job to personal strengths and interests leads to higher levels of job crafting, which in turn will promote person-job fit. Moreover, we hypothesized that this indirect effect would be stronger for older workers compared with younger workers. Results of an experimental field study indicated that participating in the job crafting intervention leads to strengths crafting, but only among older workers. Strengths crafting was, in turn, positively associated with demands-abilities and needs-supplies fit. Unexpectedly, participating in the job crafting intervention did not influence job crafting toward interests and had a negative effect on crafting toward strengths among younger workers. However, our findings suggest that some types of job crafting interventions can indeed be an effective tool for increasing person-job fit of older workers.

Although the positive psychology tradition emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach regarding individual strengths and weaknesses, there is no valid instrument to measure these phenomena in organizations. The purpose of the present studies is to develop and validate an instrument that measures four dimensions, namely perceived organizational support (POS) for strengths use, POS for deficit correction, strengths use behaviour, and deficit correction behaviour. In study 1 and 2, the Strengths Use and Deficit COrrection (SUDCO) questionnaire was developed and tested for its factor structure, reliability, and convergent and criterion validity in two samples of South African employees (N = 338 and N = 361, respectively). In study 3, the convergent and criterion validity of the SUDCO were examined in a sample of Dutch engineers (N = 133). Results indicated that the intended dimensions of strengths use and deficit correction can be measured reliably with 24 items and showed convergent validity. Moreover, POS for strengths use and strengths use behaviour correlated positively with self- and manager-ratings of job performance, supporting the criterion validity of these scales. As expected, POS for deficit correction and deficit correction behaviour were unrelated to the performance ratings.

Building on the focal article by Hyland, Lee, and Mills (2015), we propose conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989) as a framework that may explain why mindfulness contributes to work motivation and performance in an organizational context. We argue that mindfulness is especially beneficial in dynamic work contexts because it provides employees with a personal resource that makes them more resilient to the loss of job resources and more aware of alternative job resources in their changed work environment.