Lyonel Laulié, Ignacio Pavez, Javier Martínez Echeverría, Pablo Cea and Gabriel Briceño Jiménez
The purpose of this article is to explore employee age as a moderating factor in the relationship between leader contingent reward behavior (CRB) and work engagement. In doing so…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore employee age as a moderating factor in the relationship between leader contingent reward behavior (CRB) and work engagement. In doing so, the authors seek to provide a more nuanced understanding of the mediating role of work engagement in the negative effect of leader CRB on turnover intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used online surveys among a sample of employees of a retail company in Chile to capture individual perceptions about supervisor CRB, work engagement and turnover intention. To test the authors’ hypotheses, they modeled a first-stage moderated mediation effect using Hayes’ Process macro.
Findings
The authors’ results confirm the hypothesis that the negative effect of leader CRB on employee turnover intention is partially mediated by employee work engagement. Interestingly, age was a significant moderator of the mediation effect only for individuals working at headquarters, but not for employees working in stores.
Originality/value
This study expands current knowledge about how the leadership–engagement relationship can predict organizational outcomes, including age as a boundary condition. Following the job demands-resources theory, the authors also prove that conceptualizing leader CRB as a job resource can benefit the integration of leadership and work engagement research. The authors’ findings may help organizational researchers and practitioners acknowledge contextual differences in understanding the combined effects of leadership styles and work engagement.
Propósito
El propósito de este artículo es explorar la edad del empleado como un factor moderador en la relación entre el comportamiento de recompensa contingente del líder, engagement laboral, e intención de renuncia.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Usamos encuestas en línea, en una muestra de empleados de una empresa de retail en Chile, para capturar las percepciones individuales sobre los comportamientos de recompensa contingente de los supervisores, el engagement laboral, y la intención de renuncia. Para probar nuestras hipótesis modelamos un efecto de mediación moderada de primera-etapa utilizando el macro Process de Hayes.
Resultados
Los resultados confirman la hipótesis de que las recompensas contingentes del líder están negativamente relacionadas con la intención de renuncia. Este efecto está parcialmente mediado por el nivel de engagement laboral del empleado. Curiosamente, la edad fue un moderador significativo del efecto de mediación sólo para quienes trabajaban en la oficina central, pero no para quienes trabajan en las tiendas.
Originalidad/valor
Nuestro estudio amplía el conocimiento actual sobre cómo la relación liderazgo-compromiso puede predecir resultados organizacionales, incluyendo la edad como condición de borde. Basados en la teoría de las demandas y recursos del trabajo (job demands-resources theory), mostramos que, al conceptualizar el comportamiento de recompensa contingente del líder como un recurso laboral, se puede beneficiar la investigación sobre la integración del liderazgo y el engagement laboral. Nuestros hallazgos pueden beneficiar a investigadores y profesionales de las organizaciones al reconocer las diferencias contextuales en la comprensión del efecto combinado de los estilos de liderazgo y el engagement laboral.
Details
Keywords
- Leadership in Latin America
- Leader contingent reward
- Work engagement
- Turnover intention
- Generational differences
- Liderazgo en Latinoamérica
- Recompensas contingentes del líder
- Compromiso
- Intención de renuncia
- Diferencias generacionales
- Leadership Theory
- Management Style
- Motivation (M540)
- Personnel Management (M120)
- Job Turnover
- Labor Turnover (J630)
- Age Distribution (J110)
- Firm Objectives
- Organization
- and Behavior (Other L29)
James E. Martin, Lyonel Laulié and Ariel M. Lelchook
States with Right-to-Work (RTW) law coverage have increased since 2012, with union membership decreasing. In such states, employees in union-represented positions cannot be…
Abstract
Purpose
States with Right-to-Work (RTW) law coverage have increased since 2012, with union membership decreasing. In such states, employees in union-represented positions cannot be required to be union members and/or pay dues, even though the union must still legally represent them. While union member retention in RTW states provides new challenges for unions, it has not been extensively studied. The purpose of this paper is to extend the literature by testing a model of intent to remain a union member in an RTW context using union loyalty as a mediator.
Design/methodology/approach
The model is based on how different types of exchanges shape intentions to remain a union member. To test the hypotheses, a sample of 475 members was used where an RTW law was about to be implemented in a Midwestern American state.
Findings
Union loyalty mediated the relationships between social and ideological exchanges with the union and employee intent to remain a union member and similarly mediated the organization–employee exchanges. Economic exchanges with the union were not a significant predictor in the full model.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends the employment-relations literature by helping us better understand member intent triggered by RTW laws. Insights are provided for both unions and organizations to better manage their relationships with employees.
Originality/value
This study advanced the employee-relations literature by providing a more holistic theoretically based understanding of how unions may retain members by using multiple forms of exchange, often studied separately in previous literature of member–union relationships.