Herbert G. Heneman

Pay satisfaction: its multidimensional nature and measurement.

The present study was guided by the general hypothesis that pay satisfaction is multidimensional. The Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) was developed to assess five dimensions of satisfaction with pay (level, benefits, raises, structure, and administration). Results on two heterogeneous samples of employees provided support for the multidimensional hypothesis, although a four-dimensional solution (level, benefits, raises, structure/administration) provided better representation of the variance in the items studied. These four scales showed high internal consistency reliabilities. Comparison of the pay scales of the Job Descriptive Index and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire with the PSQ dimensions suggested that these well-known scales primarily measure satisfaction with pay level. Implications of the findings for pay satisfaction research, both substantive and measurement oriented, are discussed.

The Role of Pay and Market Pay Variability in Job Application Decisions

Abstract The influence of pay and three other attributes on job application decisions under two sets of market conditions were examined. Consistent with economic hypothesizing, results suggested that most respondents used noncompensatory strategies to evaluate pay in making their application decisions. Moreover, both model usage and the pay importance appeared to vary as a function of market pay variability. Results are discussed primarily in terms of likely limitations to the generalizability of findings obtained from studies of attribute importance.

Predicting the Outcome of Union Certification Elections: A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the large body of literature examining the outcomes of NLRB certification elections. The authors first review the major patterns of the research conducted to date and then analyze twenty-nine studies in depth. These studies exemplify the range of methodologies used and results obtained within each of the two major kinds of election studies: those analyzing data gathered from individual voters and those analyzing NLRB data on election units. The review concludes with an appraisal of the current state of research on election outcomes and with policy recommendations for labor, management, and government representatives.

Age Stereotyping in Performance Appraisal

Thirty-two personnel specialists evaluated written performance descriptions of four secretaries. The fourth secretary was a target whose age (24 or 61 years) and job experience (S years or less than 6 months) were experimentally manipulated in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Age of participant was also measured and dichotomized at the median (33). Each secretary was evaluated on six dimensions. Evaluations of the first three secretaries were combined into a composite (mean) for each performance dimension in order to permit control for potential differences in relative leniency among participants. For each dimension, evaluations of the target were regressed on the composite, on main and interaction effects involving age and job experience of the target, and on the age of the participant. There were four significant effects due to the composite, no significant main effects due to age and job experience of target, and one significant main effect for age of participant. However, the Age of Target X Age of Participant interaction effects were significant in three instances. Participants above (below) the median age provided lower (higher) evaluations to the 61year-old target than to the 24-year-old target. Implications of these results for understanding past, and conducting future, research are discussed.

Teacher Motivation and School-Based Performance Awards

This article summarizes findings from a series of research studies on the motivational effects of school-based performance award programs on teachers in schools in Kentucky and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school district. Interviews and survey data were collected between 1995 and 1998. The research was framed by expectancy and goal-setting theories. The research findings suggest that teachers associate a variety of positive and negative outcomes with the programs, including the bonus. Teachers expressed a relatively high level of commitment to program goals. Teacher expectancy was an important predictor of school success, and expectancy was related to the presence of enabling conditions, prior success, and perceived fairness of the program. The findings suggest that program designers need to focus on setting realistic goals, providing enabling conditions for success, maximizing perceptions that achieving the goals will lead to positive outcomes, and minimizing stress reactions.

Expectancy theory and operant conditioning predictions of performance under variable ratio and continuous schedules of reinforcement.

Abstract Directionally different predictions were derived from operant conditioning and expectancy theory, and were tested in a 3 × 5 split-plot repeated measures design. Fifteen female subjects were randomly assigned to three schedule and magnitude of reinforcement conditions (25¢-CRF; 25¢-VR-2; 50¢-VR-2). Expectancy theory constructs also were measured at several points during the experiment. Neither model was clearly superior. When additional pay was contingent upon performance, performance increased significantly. However, response levels and response rates were not significantly different between the three experimental groups. Composite scores derived from an additive expectancy model accounted for significant additional increments in explained variance after controlling for baseline performance and schedule of reinforcement. These results were interpreted as indicating a need to include both environmental and perceptual variables in accounts of work behavior.

Arbitrators’ backgrounds and behavior

Evidence indicates that when choosing arbitrators biographical information about them is used by labor and management representatives. Presumably, this helps ensure selection of the “right” arbitrator, behaviorally speaking. The present study assessed the general utility of this practice by examining the relationship between biographical information and arbitrator behavior for 250 arbitrators. It was found that the biographical information accounted for only small portions of the variance in four measures of arbitrator behavior. Implications are discussed in terms of arbitrator selection practices and future research needs.

Age and satisfaction with dimensions of work

Abstract Relationships between age and employee satisfaction with intrinsic and extrinsic outcomes were investigated in samples of female (n = 177) and male (n = 96) blue-collar operatives, holding organizational experience constant. The results, using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and Cornell Job Descriptive Index, indicated that a linear approximation of the age-satisfaction relationships is adequate, and that only satisfaction with intrinsic outcomes is consistently related to age. These results, along with the results of other recent studies that have also controlled for experience, suggest that the conventional wisdom regarding age-satisfaction relationships may require modification.

Union characteristics and organizing success

Using archival data, 12 independent variables pertaining to organizing strategy, organizing resources, and financial resources were used to predict the NLRB certification election success rates of national unions in three different time periods. The more than 50 unions participated in more than 75 percent of such elections. Relative to the hypothesized relationships, a mixed set of results was obtained. Possible explanations for these results, along with suggestions for more refined measurement procedures, are offered in terms of future research needs.

Analysis and Prediction of Top National Union Officers' Total Compensation1

Relationships among, and correlates of, the total compensation of the top three officers in the 100 largest national unions were examined in three time periods (1962, 1967, 1973). Results were high...