Amaranta E.A. Karssiens, Claartje van der Linden and Celeste P.M. Wilderom
The purpose of this paper is to address the effects of a unique leadership programme, four years after its delivery: in a Dutch penitentiary organisation. This intervention was…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the effects of a unique leadership programme, four years after its delivery: in a Dutch penitentiary organisation. This intervention was initiated because of a felt lack of safety in an organisation that was characterised by steep hierarchy, forceful authority, constant employee cynicism and indifference. The focus of the intervention lies on actually assuming responsibility and producing the intended, strategically relevant results.
Design/methodology/approach
First we sketch Hoebeke's ideas on “responsibility in one's own work system” (Hoebeke, 2004). We show how these ideas are related to the leadership programme. Next we illustrate the programme's effect with quotes from three in‐depth group interviews with the penitentiary's governor, unit manager, four department heads and six employees.
Findings
The interviews show that acting responsibly has become a living concept in the sense that is now being explicitly used among employees in all layers of the organisation. Employees and managers have learned to translate responsibility into concrete and relevant results. A new strategy for the continuity of the organisation has been co‐created with all management levels and the Workers Council and it has been implemented successfully. The intervention also defeated the cynicism and lack of integrity in the organisation.
Originality/value
This case shows that being trained in the ability “to be present with reality” and actually assuming responsibility for the relationship between one's own “way of being” and the results one produces had a lasting, positive impact on an organisation and its people.
Details
Keywords
Josje S.E. Dikkers, Paul G.W. Jansen, Annet H. de Lange, Claartje J. Vinkenburg and Dorien Kooij
This paper sets out to examine proactive personality in relation to job demands, job resources and engagement.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper sets out to examine proactive personality in relation to job demands, job resources and engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study employed a two‐wave complete panel study among 794 Dutch government employees. Based upon the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model, previous studies, job crafting theories, and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, hypotheses on the associations of proactive personality with job demands, resources, and engagement were developed.
Findings
Analyses revealed that proactive personality was associated with an increase in engagement 18 months later. Moreover, proactive employees perceiving high social support reported the highest levels of engagement over time.
Research limitations/implications
A first shortcoming is that proactive personality was only measured at one point in time, which restricted the testing of causal relationships of proactive personality with engagement. Second, this study only measured engagement as outcome measure and third variables may have affected the associations of proactive personality with job demands and resources and engagement. Third, only small effect sizes of proactive personality (and job demands and resources) on engagement over time were found. With regard to theoretical implications, this study suggests a refinement of the JD‐R model by perceiving proactive personality as a personal resource which coincides with job resources such as social support and/or is triggered by (low) external job demands in increasing engagement.
Practical implications
Since this study's findings suggest that proactive personality is a personal resource with beneficial effects on employees' levels of work‐related engagement, employers are advised to promote the behavior expressed by proactive employees. When employees are under challenged due to a low level of quantitative job demands or when they want to optimize their work environment in case of high job demands, proactive personality may have a positive impact on their engagement over time, in particular when combined with high levels of support from their colleagues and supervisor.
Originality/value
This study's value consists of its innovative effort to relate proactive personality to engagement 18 months later. In addition, the longitudinal design of this study made it possible to examine the associations of proactive personality, job demands and resources with engagement over time.