Leisa D. Sargent

The moderating role of social support in Karasek's job strain model

This paper examines whether social support is a boundary-determining criterion in the job strain model of Karasek (1979). The particular focus is the extent to which different sources of social support, work overload and task control influence job satisfaction, depersonalization and supervisor assessments of work performance. Hypotheses are tested using prospective survey data from 80 clerical staff in a university setting. Results revealed 3-way interactions among levels of support (supervisor, co-worker, non-work), perceived task control and work overload on levels of work performance and employee adjustment (self-report). After controlling for levels of negative affect in all analyses, there was evidence that high levels of supervisor support mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of job satisfaction and reduced reported levels of depersonalization. Moreover, high levels of non-work support and co-worker support also mitigated against the negative effects of high strain jobs on levels of work performance. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of social support networks both at, and beyond, the work context.

High Performance Work Systems and Employee Experience of Work in the Service Sector: The Case of Aged Care

In spite of the growing body of research on high performance work systems (HPWS), there is little evidence on their application in the service sector. It is commonly argued, however, that occupational segmentation in services is a barrier to HPWS. Analysis of data from aged-care workers indicates that: HPWS have positive outcomes for workers; highly skilled nurses are no more likely than lowly skilled personal care workers to be subject to HPWS; and in some cases, HPWS are associated with more positive outcomes for low-skilled than high-skilled workers. These findings suggest that HPWS may well be widely applicable in service settings.

Boundary/Border Theory and Work-Family Integration1

This article does not have an abstract.

Exploring the development of a protean career orientation: values and image violations

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the development of a protean career orientation. In doing so, the paper also aims to assess how work experience, parents and peer networks co‐influence the development of a protean career orientation.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses semi‐structured interviews with young adults and explores their past, present and future work and career experiences. They were also asked them to explain what career success meant to them. Interview transcripts were reviewed and coded based on two main categories representing protean orientation: self‐directed career management and the expression of personal values as a mechanism for career decisions. The paper also process mapped how a protean career orientation developed in the interviewees. Those who reported a protean career orientation were interviewed two‐and‐a‐half years later so as to further explore their career experiences and the extent to which self‐directedness and value congruence influenced career de...

Reinventing retirement: New pathways, new arrangements, new meanings:

Retirement involves a set of institutional arrangements combined with socio-cultural meanings to sustain a distinct retirement phase in life course and career pathways. In this Introduction to the Special Issue: ‘Reinventing Retirement: New Pathways, New Arrangements, New Meanings,’ we outline the historical development of retirement. We identify the dramatic broad-based changes that recently have shaken this established construct to its core. We describe the main organizational responses to these changes, and how they have been associated with shifting, multiple meanings of retirement. Finally, we present a model that frames two general forms of reinvention of retirement. The first involves continuation of the idea of a distinct and well-defined period of life occurring at the end of a career trajectory, but with changes in the timing, the kinds of post-retirement activities pursued, and meanings associated with this period of life. The second represents a more fundamental reinvention in which the overall concept of retirement as a distinct period in an individual’s life is challenged or rejected, whether because it is not appealing or no longer realistic. We provide examples of how both types of reinvention may manifest in individuals’ careers and lives, and suggest future research directions that follow from our model.

Differential Effects of Task and Reward Interdependence on Perceived Helping Behavior, Effort, and Group Performance

The effects of task and reward interdependence on perceived effort, helping behavior, and group performance were investigated in a laboratory setting. Fifty-seven groups with 3 undergraduate students in each group completed two consecutive copyediting activities. Helping behavior was highest in groups with high task interdependence. However, no support was found for the interactive effects of task and reward interdependence. Differences across time were found for perceived effort, helping behavior, and performance. The implications of these findings suggest that the increased task complexity, introduced through the presence of high levels of task interdependence, can mitigate the positive performance effects of high levels of helping behavior and effort.

Employee responses to ‘high performance work system’ practices: an empirical test of the disciplined worker thesis

This article considers the possibility that ‘high performance work system’ (HPWS) practices generate positive outcomes for employees by meeting their interests (specifically their interest in an orderly and predictable working environment). Utilising survey data on employees working in the Australian aged-care industry, statistical analysis is used to test the mediating effect of order and predictability on associations between HPWS practices and employee experience of work. The results suggest that positive outcomes arise in part because HPWS practices contribute to workplace order and predictability. In explaining this finding, the article highlights the importance of contextual factors, notably industry and employee characteristics, in shaping outcomes. The article concludes that socio-logically oriented analyses which apprehend the importance of employee interests provide a useful supplement to conventional psychologically oriented accounts of HPWS and provide a basis for continued development of labour process theory.

Enhancing the Experience of Student Teams in Large Classes Training Teaching Assistants to be Coaches

To address the increasing demand for mass undergraduate management education and, at the same time, a greater emphasis on student teamwork, this study outlines the development, delivery, and evaluation of a training intervention designed to build team-coaching skills in teaching assistants. Specifically, practice-centered and problem-centered techniques were used to provide teaching assistants with experiential learning opportunities to help them develop their skills. The authors evaluated the training intervention using a mixed-method multiple-data source design. Both the teaching assistants being trained as well as the student teams’ experiences and perceptions of their coaches’ performance were assessed. The evaluation showed that teaching assistants reported finding the program a positive experience. Importantly, students with trained coaches reported higher levels of coaching performance, team functioning, and productivity than those with untrained coaches. The implications of this intervention are discussed.

Career development for going beyond the call of duty: is it perceived as fair?

The present study examined the effects of rewarding contextual performance with career development activities on perceptions of justice. Participants (264) read vignettes which gave information regarding two colleagues in a large retail store who applied for a career development activity. Type of career development activity, level of contextual performance, and the development activity recipient was varied across the vignettes. Results indicated that participants believed there was greater justice when they themselves received the development activity, irrespective of whose performance was higher. Participants were also more satisfied and had greater interest in pursuing a career in the organization when they themselves received the development opportunity, especially for organizationally‐oriented activities. Happiness completely mediated the relationship between who received the career development activity and both procedural and distributive justice. Implications of these findings for organizational justice and careers research, as well as for managers, are discussed.

What went wrong at university hospital? An exercise assessing training effectiveness

Many organizations struggle with effective training interventions—in particular, the transfer of skills learned in the classroom to the workplace. The present experiential exercise allows students, who are asked to play the role of consultants, to assess training effectiveness from pretraining to posttraining. Student feedback demonstrates that this exercise provides a practical and realistic simulation that aids in the understanding of effective training interventions. This article presents the University Hospital exercise, its linkage to Goldsteins Instructional Systems Design framework, instructor notes, and questions for students. The exercise can be used for undergraduate, graduate, and professional courses.