Federica Emanuel

Job insecurity, workload and job exhaustion in temporary agency workers (TAWs)

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.

New Technologies Smart, or Harm Work-Family Boundaries Management? Gender Differences in Conflict and Enrichment Using the JD-R Theory

Background: The relationship between technology-assisted supplemental work and well-being outcomes is a recent issue in scientific literature. Whether the use of technology for work purpose in off-work time may have a positive or negative impact on work-family balance remains an open question and the role of gender in this relationship is poorly understood. Aim: According to the JD-R theory, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between off-work hours technology assisted job demand (off-TAJD) and both work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE). Moreover, it considered two general job demands, workload and emotional dissonance, and one job resource, supervisory coaching. Method: The hypotheses were tested with a convenience sample of 671 workers. Data were collected with a self-report questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS 23 and through multi-group structural equation model (SEM) (Mplus 7). Results: The estimated SEM [Chi-square (510) = 1041.29; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.06 (0.05, 0.06); SRMR = 0.05. M = 319/F = 352] showed that off-TAJD was positively related to WFC in both subsamples; off-TAJD was positively related also to WFE only in the Male group. Workload was positively related to WFC in both Male and Female subsamples. Emotional dissonance was positively related to WFC in both subsamples and was negatively related to WFE. Supervisory coaching was strongly, positively related to WFE in both groups, and only in the Male subsample presented a low negative relationship with WFC. Conclusion: This study contributes to the literature on new challenges in work-life interface by analyzing the association between off-TAJD and WFC and Enrichment. Our findings suggest it is important to pay attention to gender differences in the study of the impact of supplemental work carried out during off-work hours using technology on the work-life interface. In fact, employee perception of Company demands of being available during off-work time, with the use of technology, may have different consequences for men and women, indicating potential differences in the centrality of the working role. Practical implications, at both cultural and organizational levels, should address the use of technology during leisure time.

Inbound Call Centers and Emotional Dissonance in the Job Demands - Resources Model.

Background: Emotional labor, defined as the process of regulating feelings and expressions as part of the work role, is a major characteristic in call centers. In particular, interacting with customers, agents are required to show certain emotions that are considered acceptable by the organization, even though these emotions may be different from their true feelings. This kind of experience is defined as emotional dissonance and represents a feature of the job especially for call center inbound activities. Aim: The present study was aimed at investigating whether emotional dissonance mediates the relationship between job demands (workload and customer verbal aggression) and job resources (supervisor support, colleague support, and job autonomy) on the one hand, and, on the other, affective discomfort, using the job demands-resources model as a framework. The study also observed differences between two different types of inbound activities: customer assistance service (CA) and information service. Method: The study involved agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company, 352 of whom worked in the CA and 179 in the information service. The hypothesized model was tested across the two groups through multi-group structural equation modeling. Results: Analyses showed that CA agents experience greater customer verbal aggression and emotional dissonance than information service agents. Results also showed, only for the CA group, a full mediation of emotional dissonance between workload and affective discomfort, and a partial mediation of customer verbal aggression and job autonomy, and affective discomfort. Conclusion: This study’s findings contributed both to the emotional labor literature, investigating the mediational role of emotional dissonance in the job demands-resources model, and to call center literature, considering differences between two specific kinds of inbound activities. Suggestions for organizations and practitioners emerged in order to identify practical implications useful both to support employees in coping with emotional labor and to promote well-being in inbound call centers. In detail, results showed the need to improve training programs in order to enhance employees’ emotion regulation skills, and to introduce human resource practices aimed at clarifying emotional requirements of the job.

Flow at work in Italian journalists: differences between permanent and freelance journalists

Flow is an inner experience produced by the participation in an activity in which people are immersed and enjoy it (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). According to the Job Demands-Resources Model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2014), flow at work (FaW) occurs when job demands meet professional skills and when they are balanced by resources (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003). This study aimed to detect the relation between job resources (supervisors’ support, job autonomy), personal resources (optimism, internal locus of control) and job demands (workload, emotional dissonance) on FaW, in a sample of Italian journalists, considering differences between permanent and freelance. Participants are 260 journalists (118 permanent, 142 freelance) that filled out a self-report questionnaire. Data analysis (SPSS22) involved: descriptive statistics, Alpha reliabilities; correlations (Pearson’s r); t-test for independent samples; multiple regression. Results show differences between journalists: in permanent journalists FaW is influenced only by both job resources, in freelance journalists FaW is influenced by internal locus of control, job autonomy and workload. These results suggest a possible challenges-skills balance and a moderating effect of autonomy between workload and flow at work, to verify in the future. This study shows the importance to detect and to promote FaW in the same professional group, considering different types of task and employment contract. Promoting a positive organizational culture and FaW experiences is functional to prevent the risk of exhaustion, to improve performance and to protect the employees’ health and quality of working life.

Corrigendum: A Crossover Study From a Gender Perspective: The Relationship Between Job Insecurity, Job Satisfaction, and Partners' Family Life Satisfaction

Background: In the last years, many changes have involved the labor context: new ways of working, more flexibility and uncertainty, new and more insecure job contracts. In this framework, perceived job insecurity, worker’s perception about potential involuntary job loss, has received renewed interest, also for those workers with a permanent contract in Italy. Consequences of job insecurity on work-related outcomes such as job satisfaction have been demonstrated; nevertheless, its possible effects outside the workplace seem to be underestimated so far. Moreover, literature highlighted the importance to consider gender as a possible moderator in the relationship between one partner’s stressors and the other partner’s strain. Aim: According to spillover and crossover theories, this study aim was to investigate the relationship between job insecurity and family life satisfaction of both partners, through the mediation of job satisfaction. The model has been simultaneously tested in two groups, women and men, in a sample of permanent workers. Method: The research involved a convenience sample of 344 employees with permanent contract (53% female) from different occupational sectors. Participants (focal persons) and their partners filled out a self-report questionnaire. Results: The multi-group SEM indicated a full mediation of job satisfaction in the relationship between job insecurity on the one side, and both individual’s and his/her partner’s family life satisfaction on the other side in both groups. Conclusion: These study findings highlighted how job insecurity may be indirectly and negatively related to both members’ family life satisfaction, through the mediation of job satisfaction. As regards gender, similar spillover and crossover patterns emerged, contributing to that literature that highlights a greater similarity in the models of interaction between work and family among women and men. Interventions should be aimed at reducing perception of job insecurity among workers, including those with permanent contract. Employers should improve communication and flow of information about future organizational changes. Moreover, interventions useful to monitor and reinforce employees’ job satisfaction should be planned. Finally, career practitioners may provide counseling and coaching projects aimed at strengthening employees’ employability and their ability to deal with changes.