Beatrice van der Heijden

The Development and Empirical Validation of a Multidimensional Measurement Instrument for Team Learning Behaviors

The importance of teamwork to organizational success in today’s economy has been emphasized in literature for well over a decade. Effective teamwork can only be sustained, however, if it is supported by a process of team learning. Following Edmondson, the authors regard team learning as a group process comprising several concrete learning behaviors. The aim of this article is to report on the development of a conceptual framework and its operationalization into a measurement instrument for behaviors associated with team learning. A better understanding of these distinctive behaviors and their impact on team performance may help tailor interventions aimed at improving team performance. Based on a survey among 19 operational teams in the Dutch banking sector, the authors validated a multidimensional instrument for team learning behaviors. To prevent common-method bias, they used a multirater approach with two respondent groups, namely, team members and leaders (representing the insiders of the team), on one hand, as well as supervisors (representing the external stakeholders of the team), on the other hand. The data indicated a positive relationship between several team learning behaviors and team performance, and partly confirmed their theoretical model.

Work–family interface from a life and career stage perspective: The role of demands and resources

Work-family conflict and enrichment are experiences that occur daily and have substantial consequences for employees, their families, and the organizations that employ them. The aim of the current review is to make a link between life and career stage, work and family conditions, and the work-family interface. The basic proposition is that life stages partly determine career development, and consequently the specific working conditions (job demands and job resources) and family conditions (family demands and family resources) that individuals are exposed to. As a result, the specific demands and resources in the work and family domains determine to what extent individuals experience that work and family are conflicting or enriching life domains. In this review we suggest that individuals in early adulthood will experience high inter-role conflict and low facilitation due to high demands and low resources in both life domains, while individuals in late adulthood will experience the opposite pattern; that is, low conflict and high facilitation due to low demands and high resources in both domains. Individuals in middle adulthood will experience high work-family conflict but also high family-work facilitation due to the presence of high job demands and resources in both life domains. Integrating life and career stage perspectives and the experience of work-family interface is of notable practical utility because it provides a mechanism to make more informed decisions about the relative need for and corresponding benefits of work-family programs.

The Association Between Workers' Employability and Burnout in a Reorganization Context: Longitudinal Evidence Building Upon the Conservation of Resources Theory

This longitudinal study probes the relationship between employability and burnout among employees from a company undergoing reorganization. We advanced employability as a personal resource that relates negatively to burnout. We expected that this hypothesis would hold for different operationalizations of employability, including (1) job-related and (2) transferable skills, (3) willingness to change jobs and (4) to develop competences, (5) opportunity awareness, (6) self-esteem, and (7) self-perceived employability (i.e., perceived employment opportunities). In a similar vein, we expected that the hypothesis would hold for the different dimensions of burnout; namely emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. We used longitudinal Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to test our hypotheses. Employees from a Swiss company undergoing a major reorganization were surveyed at three times with a total time lag of 19 months (Time 1: N = 287; Time 2: N = 128; Time 3: N = 107). Our results indicate that particularly self-esteem, but also job-related and transferable skills as indicators of ones employability were important predictors of burnout, with all relationships being negative.

Effects of extended work shifts on employee fatigue, health, satisfaction, work/family balance, and patient safety

12-hour shifts are quickly spreading in Europe. From our multivariate analysis concerning 25,924 European nurses, including twenty explanatory variables simultaneously, we found that work schedule itself is not a major determinant factor. Nurses aim to choose or accept night shifts or 12-hour shift in order to reduce their work/home conflicts, however, at the expense of the patients safety, as well as their own health and safety. Therefore, it is important to develop measures, such as extended child care, association of nurses to the elaboration of their rota, 9- or 10-hour shifts in the afternoon, allowing naps during night shifts, and reduction of changing shifts with short notice. Work schedules must be organized in order to allow time for shift handover, social support and team building.

Organisational influences upon the development of occupational expertise throughout the career

The present study describes the relationship between four organisational predictor variables and the degree of occupational expertise of higher-level employees in three different career stages. The factors in question are: social support from immediate supervisor, social support from near colleagues, organisational facilities and attention from immediate supervisor for a further career development. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher-level employees and 224 direct supervisors working in large organisations both in the profit and in the non-profit sector. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employees present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non-existent. That is to say, management has a preoccupation with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here-and-now and less future-oriented, instead of appropriate people management.

Individual career initiatives and their influence upon professional expertise development throughout the career

The present study describes the relationship between three individual predictor variables and the degree of professional expertise of higher level employees in three different career stages. Professional expertise is operationalised by means of five dimensions, i.e. knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, skills, social recognition and growth and flexibility. The factors in question are: the degree of participation in social networks, the degree of participation in training and development programmes and the degree of initiatives that are taken by the individual employee to further career growth. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher level employees and 224 direct supervisors. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employee’s present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non-existent. That is to say, management is preoccupied with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here-and-now and less future-oriented, instead of appropriate people management.

Exploring the contribution of formal and informal learning to academic staff member employability: A Dutch perspective

Purpose – Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of formal and informal learning to employability. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were obtained from 139 academic staff members employed at the Open University in the Netherlands. The questionnaire included employee characteristics, job characteristics, organizational context factors, formal learning and informal learning and employability variables. Findings – Informal learning, such as networking and learning value of the job, appeared to be solid contributors to employability, while the impact of formal learning activities was far less significant. Further, the study revealed the impact of employee and organizational context factors upon informal learning and employability. Age, salary and learning climate appeared to be strong predictors for informal learning, while promotions were shown to be highly positive contributors to employability. Practical implications – The findings stress the value of informal learning, although human resource policies that encourage both formal and informal learning are recommended. Originality/value – Academic careers comprise an under-researched area and the same applies to the relationship between learning and employability in the context of these types of careers.

The design and validation of an instrument to measure teachers' professional development at work

ABSTRACT After graduation, it is essential for teachers to continue working on their professional development since they need to be prepared for the requirements of tomorrows knowledge- and technology-based society, a more varied student and pupil population creating new responsibilities, and higher social expectations from schools and the society as a whole. Although attention for teachers’ professional development at work is increasing, the availability of valid survey instruments that measure their participation in professional development at work is still limited. Based on a literature review, such an instrument was designed. This 21-item self-report measure, using a 4-point rating scale, makes an inventory of teachers’ participation in activities contributing to professional development. The purpose of the instrument is to make teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders aware of whether, and to what degree, teachers engage in learning at work. This is important because ultimately the quality of education depends on it. A survey was administered in 9 Dutch primary schools and 15 Dutch secondary schools. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed a six-factor structure, and augments earlier findings in the field. The reliabilities of the six subscales were sufficient to good.

What about time? : Examining chronological and subjective age and their relation to work motivation.

Purpose The aging workforce is becoming an increasingly important topic in today’s labor market. However, most scientific research and organizational policies focus on chronological age as the main determinant of successful aging. Based on life span developmental theories – primarily socioemotional selectivity theory and motivational theory of life span development – the purpose of this paper is to test the added value of using subjective age – in terms of remaining opportunities and remaining time – over and above chronological age in their associations with motivation at work and motivation to work. Design/methodology/approach Workers from five different divisions throughout the Netherlands (n=186) from a taxi company participated in the survey study. Findings The results from the regression analyses and structural equation modeling analyses support the hypotheses: when subjective age was included in the models, chronological age was virtually unrelated to workers’ intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and motivation to continue to work for one’s organization. Moreover, subjective age was strongly related to work motivation. Specifically, workers who perceived many remaining opportunities were more intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, and those who perceived a lot of remaining time were more motivated across the board. Originality/value The findings indicate that subjective age is an important concept to include in studies focussing on successful aging, thereby contributing to life span developmental theories. Further implications for research and practice are discussed.

Toward a mediation model for nurses’ well-being and psychological distress effects of quality of leadership and social support at work

Abstract Given the lack of active nurses in industrialized countries throughout the world, in combination with demographic changes, it is of utmost importance to protect nurses’ well-being and to prevent psychological distress, because of their strong association with premature occupational leave. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quality of leadership and social support at work on well-being and psychological distress of nurses and to determine whether nurses’ overcommitment mediates the relationship between the abovementioned determinants and the outcomes. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather our data. This study utilized part of the database of the Nurses’ Early Exit Study. A total of 34,771 nurses (covering all nurse qualifications) working in hospitals, nursing homes, and home-care institutions in 8 European countries filled out a questionnaire (response rate = 51.4%). For all model variables (job satisfaction, satisfaction with salary, positive affectivity, personal burnout, negative affectivity, quality of leadership, social support from immediate supervisor, social support from near colleagues, and overcommitment), psychometrically sound, that is, valid and reliable measures were used. Outcomes from testing a structural equation mediation model indicated that, respectively, positive and negative influences of leadership quality and social support from supervisor and colleagues on nurses’ well-being and psychological distress are partially mediated, that is, reduced, by nurses’ overcommitment. Social work environment is highly important in relation to nurses’ well-being and psychological distress.