Remaining time and opportunities at work: Relationships between age, work characteristics, and occupational future time perspective

The authors adapted the concept of future time perspective (FTP) to the work context and examined its relationships with age and work characteristics (job complexity and control). Structural equation modeling of data from 176 employees of various occupations showed that age is negatively related to 2 distinct dimensions of occupational FTP: remaining time and remaining opportunities. Work characteristics (job complexity and control) were positively related to remaining opportunities and moderated the relationship between age and remaining opportunities, such that the relationship became weaker with increasing levels of job complexity and control.

Creativity and innovation at work : The role of work characteristics and personal initiative

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Building health promoting work settings : identifying the relationship between work characteristics and occupational stress in Australia

Occupational stress is a serious threat to the health of individual workers, their families and the community at large. The settings approach to health promotion offers valuable opportunities for developing comprehensive strategies to prevent and reduce job stress. However, there is evidence that many workplace health promotion programs adopt traditional, lifestyle-oriented strategies when dealing with occupational stress, and ignore the impact that the setting itself has on the health of employees. The aim of the present study was to address two of the barriers to adopting the settings approach; namely the lack of information on how psycho-social work characteristics can influence health, and not having the confidence or knowledge to identify or address organizational-level issues. A comprehensive occupational stress audit involving qualitative and quantitative research methods was undertaken in a small- to medium-sized public sector organization in Australia. The results revealed that the work characteristics ‘social support’ and ‘job control’ accounted for large proportions of explained variance in job satisfaction and psychological health. In addition to these generic variables, several job-specific stressors were found to be predictive of the strain experienced by employees. When coupled with the results of other studies, these findings suggest that work characteristics (particularly control and support) offer valuable avenues for creating work settings that can protect and enhance employee health. The implications of the methods used to develop and complete the stress audit are also discussed.

Which work characteristics predict employee outcomes for the public-sector employee? An examination of generic and occupation-specific characteristics

The wide-ranging changes that have occurred in the public sector over recent years have placed increasing demands on public-sector employees. A survey of employees within a relatively commercially-oriented public-sector organization in Australia was used to test a demand-oriented generic model of employee well-being and a variety of situation-specific variables. The presence of support at work and the amount of control an employee had over their job were found to be key predictors of employee-level outcomes. Perceptions of pay and the perception of a lack of human resources (HR) were also found to predict employee outcome variables. The results emphasize the impact that middle managers and HR managers can have in terms of reducing the detrimental employee effects that can be caused by the introduction of new public management (NPM) and the potential for a positive impact on employees. In particular, public-sector managers can use the design of jobs and the development of social support mechanisms, such as employee assistance programmes, to maintain, if not improve, the quality of working life experienced by their employees. More broadly, this study has found that the job strain model is a useful tool in a public-sector environment and is likely to be of increasing utility with the continuing introduction or consolidation of NPM over time. Managing these issues in the new public sector could be a key means of protecting the key resource of the Australian public sector - the employees.

Work characteristics and employee outcomes in local government

The overall objective of this study was to examine the work characteristics that make significant contributions to extra-role performance (as measured by the helping dimension of citizenship behaviour) and employee wellbeing (measured by job satisfaction and psychological health) in a local government. The work characteristics examined were based on the demand-control-support (DCS) model, augmented by organization-specific characteristics. The results indicate that characteristics described in the core DCS are just as relevant to extra-role performance as they are to more traditional indicators of job stress. Although the more situation-specific conditions were not predictive of citizenship behaviour, they made unique contributions to job satisfaction

Promoting employee wellbeing : the relevance of work characteristics and organizational justice

Research focusing on the relationship between organizational justice and health suggests that perceptions of fairness can make significant contributions to employee wellbeing. However, studies examining the justice–health relationship are only just emerging and there are several areas where further research is required, in particular, the uniqueness of the contributions made by justice and the extent to which the health effects can be explained by linear, non-linear and/or interaction models. The primary aim of the current study was to determine the main, curvilinear and interaction effects of work characteristics and organizational justice perceptions on employee wellbeing (as measured by psychological health and job satisfaction). Work characteristics were measured using the demand–control–support (DCS) model (Karasek and Theorell, 1990) and Colquitt's (2001) four justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational) assessed organizational justice (Colquitt, 2001). Hierarchical regression analyses found that in relation to psychological health, perceptions of justice added little to the explanatory power of the DCS model. In contrast, organizational justice did account for unique variance in job satisfaction, the second measure of employee wellbeing. The results supported linear relationships between the psychosocial working conditions and the outcome measures. A significant two-way interaction effect (control x support at work) was found for the psychological health outcome and the procedural justice by distributive justice interaction was significant for the job satisfaction outcome. Notably, the findings indicate that in addition to traditional job stressors, health promotion strategies should also address organizational justice.

Supervisors are central to work characteristics affecting nurse outcomes

Purpose: To examine the predictive capability of the demand-control-support (DCS) model, augmented by organizational justice variables, on attitudinal- and health-related outcomes for nurses caring for elderly patients.

Design: The study is based on a cross-sectional survey design and involved 168 nurses working with elderly patients in facilities of a medium to large Australian organization.

Method: Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of scales designed for measuring independent (e.g., demand, control, support, organizational justice) and dependent (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, wellbeing and psychological distress) variables. Multiple regression analyses were undertaken to identify significant predictors of the outcome variables.

Findings: The DCS model explains the largest amount of variance across both the attitudinal and health outcomes with 27% of job satisfaction and 49% of organizational commitment, and 33% of psychological distress and 35% of wellbeing, respectively. Additional variance was explained by the justice variables for job satisfaction (5%), organizational commitment (4%), and psychological distress (23%).

Conclusions: Using organizational justice variables to augment the DCS model was valuable in better understanding the work conditions experienced by nurses caring for elderly patients. Inclusion of curvilinear effects added clarity to the potentially artifactual nature of certain interaction variables.

Clinical Relevance: The results indicated practical implications for managers of nurses caring for elderly patients in terms of developing and maintaining levels of job control, support, and fairness, as well as monitoring levels of job demands. The results particularly show the importance of nurses' immediate supervisors.

Work environment, job satisfaction, stress and burnout among haemodialysis nurses

Aim To examine the relationships among nurse and work characteristics, job satisfaction, stress, burnout and the work environment of haemodialysis nurses. Background Haemodialysis nursing is characterised by frequent and intense contact with patients in a complex and intense environment. Method Cross-sectional online survey of 417 haemodialysis nurses that included nurse and work characteristics, the Brisbane Practice Environment Measure, Index of Work Satisfaction, Nursing Stress Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results Haemodialysis nurses reported an acceptable level of job satisfaction and perceived their work environment positively, although high levels of burnout were found. Nurses who were older and had worked in haemodialysis the longest had higher satisfaction levels, experienced less stress and lower levels of burnout than younger nurses. The in-centre type of haemodialysis unit had greater levels of stress and burnout than home training units. Greater satisfaction with the work environment was strongly correlated with job satisfaction, lower job stress and emotional exhaustion. Conclusion Haemodialysis nurses experienced high levels of burnout even though their work environment was favourable and they had acceptable levels of job satisfaction. Implications for Nursing Management: Targeted strategies are required to retain and avoid burnout in younger and less experienced nurses in this highly specialised field of nursing.

Haemodialysis work environment contributors to job satisfaction and stress: A sequential mixed methods study

Background: Haemodialysis nurses form long term relationships with patients in a technologically complex work environment. Previous studies have highlighted that haemodialysis nurses face stressors related to the nature of their work and also their work environments leading to reported high levels of burnout. Using Kanters (1997) Structural Empowerment Theory as a guiding framework, the aim of this study was to explore the factors contributing to satisfaction with the work environment, job satisfaction, job stress and burnout in haemodialysis nurses. Methods: Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the first phase involved an on-line survey comprising demographic and work characteristics, Brisbane Practice Environment Measure (B-PEM), Index of Work Satisfaction(IWS), Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The second phase involved conducting eight semi-structured interviews with data thematically analyzed. Results: From the 417 nurses surveyed the majority were female (90.9 %), aged over 41 years of age (74.3 %), and 47.4 % had worked in haemodialysis for more than 10 years. Overall the work environment was perceived positively and there was a moderate level of job satisfaction. However levels of stress and emotional exhaustion (burnout) were high. Two themes, ability to care and feeling successful as a nurse, provided clarity to the level of job satisfaction found in phase 1. While two further themes, patients as quasi-family and intense working teams, explained why working as a haemodialysis nurse was both satisfying and stressful. Conclusions: Nurse managers can use these results to identify issues being experienced by haemodialysis nurses working in the unit they are supervising.

Was wollen jüngere und ältere Erwerbstätige erreichen? Altersbezogene Unterschiede in den Inhalten und Merkmalen beruflicher Ziele [What do younger and older workers want to accomplish? Age-related differences in content and characteristics of occupational goals ]

Demographic changes necessitate that companies commit younger workers and motivate older workers through work design. Age-related differences in occupational goals should be taken into account when accomplishing these challenges. In this study, we investigated goal contents and goal characteristics of employees from different age groups. We surveyed 150 employees working in the service sector (average age = 44 years, age range 19 to 60 years) on their most important occupational goals. Employees who stated goals from the area of organizational citizenship were significantly older than employees with other goals. Employees who stated goals from the areas of training and pay/career were significantly younger than employees with other goals. After controlling for gender, education, and work characteristics, no age-related differences were found in the goal areas teamwork, job security, working time, well-being, and new challenges. In addition, no relationships were found between age and the goal characteristics specificity, planning intensity, as well as positive and negative goal emotions. We recommend that companies provide older workers with more opportunities for organizational citizenship and commit younger workers by providing development opportunities and adequate pay

Losing innocence : finding the line between emotional bonds and boundaries in protective service work

This paper builds on existing literature on the notion of emotional labour by investigating work in a child protective service environment. Notable characteristics of formal organisations, such as child protective services, are that they operate within a legal framework and that workers' professional duties have great influence on clients. This paper examines the intricacies of the worker-client relationship and the emotional dynamics of the service interactions by interviewing a group of workers in a public hospital in Victoria, Australia. This research extricates the complexities in the client-worker relationship by examining a range of work characteristics including their roles as professional caregivers, the emotional bonds and boundaries in the workers-client relationship, the intensity and magnitude of felt and displayed emotions, as well as the self-management of emotions and clients' emotions. This study adds to existing knowledge on the emotional expressions, experiences and regulation of emotions of the professional work lives in a child protective service work environment.
This paper is divided into the following sections. The first section details protective service work within the larger framework of human service work, and how the worker-client interface is different from other front-line service work. This is followed the need to examine the emotional dynamics of work in a child protective service organisation. Next, a study of these emotional dynamics in a child protective service organisation is reported. The paper concludes with a consideration of the wider implications for the sociology of protective service work, and how affective issues differ other service work roles.