Jessica van Wingerden

A test of a job demands-resources intervention

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of a job demands-resources (JD-R) intervention on psychological capital (PsyCap), job crafting, work engagement, and performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a control group. Healthcare professionals (n=67) were assigned to the JD-R intervention or a control group and filled out questionnaires before and after the intervention. To test the hypotheses, multivariate analyses of covariance were conducted. Findings – Results showed that participants’ PsyCap, job crafting, work engagement, and self-ratings of job performance significantly increased after the JD-R intervention. Research limitations/implications – Only healthcare professionals participated in the intervention study, which restricts the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications – The results illustrate that organizations can foster work engagement and improve performance by offering a JD-R intervention ...

The longitudinal impact of a job crafting intervention

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of a job crafting intervention based on job demands-resources (JD-R) theory. We hypothesized that the intervention would influence participants’ job crafting behaviours, as well as their job demands, job resources, and personal resources. In addition, we hypothesized a positive impact of the intervention on work engagement and self-rated job performance. The study used a quasi-experimental design with a control group. Teachers (N = 75) participated in the job crafting intervention on three occasions with 9 weeks in-between the first and second measurement, and 1 year in-between the second and third measurement. Results showed that the intervention had a significant impact on participants’ job crafting behaviours, both at time 2 and time 3. In addition, the results showed a significant increase of performance feedback, opportunities for professional development, self-efficacy, and job performance 1 year after the job crafting intervention. Participants’ levels of job demands, resilience, and work engagement did not change. We discuss the implications of these findings for JD-R theory and practice.

Construction and Validation of the Perceived Opportunity to Craft Scale

We developed and validated a scale to measure employees’ perceived opportunity to craft (POC) in two separate studies conducted in the Netherlands (total N = 2329). POC is defined as employees’ perception of their opportunity to craft their job. In Study 1, the perceived opportunity to craft scale (POCS) was developed and tested for its factor structure and reliability in an explorative way. Study 2 consisted of confirmatory analyses of the factor structure and reliability of the scale as well as examination of the discriminant and criterion-related validity of the POCS. The results indicated that the scale consists of one dimension and could be reliably measured with five items. Evidence was found for the discriminant validity of the POCS. The scale also showed criterion-related validity when correlated with job crafting (+), job resources (autonomy +; opportunities for professional development +), work engagement (+), and the inactive construct cynicism (-). We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

Employees’ perceived opportunities to craft and in-role performance : The mediating role of job crafting and work engagement

The present study was designed to gain knowledge of the relationship between employees’ perceived opportunities to craft, their actual job crafting behavior and, in line with JD-R theory, subsequently their work engagement and performance. Although scholars have suggested that employees’ perceived opportunities to craft their job may predict their actual job crafting behavior, which may have consequences for their well-being and performance, no study has examined the relationships between these variables. We collected data among a heterogeneous group of Dutch employees (N = 2090). Participants of the study reported their perceived opportunities to craft, job crafting behavior, work engagement and performance. Results indicated that individuals who experience a high level of opportunities to craft reported higher levels of job crafting behavior. In turn, perceived opportunities to craft and job crafting behavior related to higher levels of work engagement and subsequently performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.

The motivational potential of meaningful work: Relationships with strengths use, work engagement, and performance

Research in the field of work and organizational psychology increasingly highlights the importance of meaningful work. Adding to this growing body of research, this study examined the complex linkage between meaningful work and performance. More specifically, we hypothesized that meaningful work has a positive relationship with an employee’s performance in several and interrelated ways, via employees’ use of strengths, via work engagement, and via strengths use affecting work engagement. We conducted a structural equation modeling on a sample of 459 professionals working at a global operating organization for health technology. The results provided support for the proposed model which showed a better fit than the sequential mediation model and the direct effects model. This indicates that the meaningful work–performance relationship is predicted best by multiple pathways via employees’ use of strengths and work engagement. The main theoretical, practical, and methodological implications of the results are discussed.

Employees’ Job Characteristics and Job Crafting Behavior: The Mediating Role of Perceived Opportunities to Craft

The present study was designed to gain knowledge about the relationship between job characteristics in the workplace (job demands and job resources), employees’ perceived opportunities to craft, and subsequently their actual job crafting behavior. Specifically, the potential mediating role of perceived opportunities to craft could shed better light on the mechanisms that lead employees to job craft in the context of particular work characteristics. We collected data among a group of Dutch health care professionals working in an organization that offers care for patient with mental disabilities ( N =522). Participants of the study reported their job demands; workload, emotional demands and work-home interference, their job resources; role clarity, communication and team cohesion, their perceived opportunities to craft, and their job crafting behavior. We tested the hypothesized antecedents of job crafting perceptions and behavior model with structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses. Results indicated that perceived opportunities to craft mediates the relationship between job resources and employees actual job crafting behavior. The insights provided in this study do not only build on job crafting literature but are also helpful to understand which aspects of the workplace influence employees’ job crafting behavior. Therefore, these insights may be useful for the deliberate cultivation of job crafting behavior within organizations.

Facilitating interns’ performance: The role of job resources, basic need satisfaction and work engagement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report a study in which central propositions from the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory and self-determination theory (SDT) are used to examine the antecedents of performance during practical internships. The central hypothesis of this study was that job resources foster performance through basic need satisfaction and work engagement (sequential mediation). Design/methodology/approach An empirical multi-source study among Dutch interns and their supervisors in various occupational sectors. The interns reported their level of resources, basic needs satisfaction and work engagement, whereas supervisors rated interns’ task performance (n=1,188 unique supervisor–intern dyads). Findings This study integrates insights of the JD-R theory – by examining the relations between job resources, work engagement and performance – with a central premise of the SDT – which maintains that basic need satisfaction is the fundamental process through which employees’ optimal functioning can be understood. The outcomes of the path analyses revealed that satisfaction of needs indeed accounted for the relationship between job resources and work engagement as supposed in the SDT (Deci and Ryan, 2000). Further, the sequential mediated relation between job resources and performance through basic need satisfaction and work engagement corroborates the JD-R theory (Bakker and Demerouti, 2014). Originality/value As far as the authors know, this is the first study that examined the sequential mediation from job resources to performance via basic need satisfaction and work engagement, among a large sample of intern–supervisor dyads, including the objective performance rating of their (internship) supervisors.

The Changing Role of Health Care Professionals in Nursing Homes: A Systematic Literature Review of a Decade of Change

Although the role of health care professionals is known to have changed over the last years, few formal efforts have been made to examine this change through means of a scientific review. Therefore, the goal of this paper was to investigate the changing role of health care professionals in nursing homes, as well as the conditions that make this change possible. A systematic review of health care literature published in the last decade (2007–2017) was utilized to address these goals. Our findings suggest that although health care in nursing homes is shifting from task-oriented care to relation-oriented care (e.g., through an increased focus on patient dignity), various obstacles (e.g., negative self-image, work pressure, and a lack of developmental opportunities), needs (e.g., shared values, personal development, personal empowerment, team development, and demonstrating expertise), and competences (e.g., communication skills, attentiveness, negotiation skills, flexibility, teamwork, expertise, and coaching and leadership skills) still need to be addressed in order to successfully facilitate this change. As such, this paper provides various implications for health care research, health care institutions, practitioners, HR professionals and managers, and occupational health research.