Sarah Bankins, Maria Tomprou and ByeongJo Kim
Although the physical environment provides an important context for employees' work, there remain divergent findings regarding how different spatial settings, such as more open or…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the physical environment provides an important context for employees' work, there remain divergent findings regarding how different spatial settings, such as more open or more closed workspaces, impact employees. Employing research on the functions of the physical work environment, we contribute to a growing body of research on employees' interactions with their workspace by developing and measuring the notion of person–space fit (P-S fit). This construct affords examination of the multi-dimensional nature of employees' interactions with their workspaces, to understand how their perceived fit with the key functions of their workspace impacts their experiences and social network activity at work.
Design/methodology/approach
We first develop a new P-S fit scale and test its factorial, convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity over other person–environment fit concepts (N = 155). Next, in a naturally-occurring, quasi-field experiment of a workspace change intervention moving employees from predominantly closed workspace to more open workspace (N = 47 pre-move; N = 37 post-move), we examine how changes in both workspace layout and P-S fit impact workers' experiences of their workspaces (needs for task privacy and spaciousness) and collaborative behaviors (social network activity).
Findings
Our P-S fit scale consists of theoretically and empirically validated dimensions representing fit with four workspace functions: aesthetic fit; identity fit; instrumental fit; and collaboration fit. Instrumental fit is positively associated with experiences of task privacy, whereas aesthetic fit and identity fit positively associated with experiences of spaciousness, but no forms of fit were related to social network activity. However, the findings show that work-related social network ties tended to decrease, and new ones were less likely to form, in open office spaces.
Originality/value
Contributing to a growing body of research linking person–environment fit literature to workspace design, this study offers a new scale assessing P-S fit and provides some empirical evidence of its importance for understanding the complexity of the employee-work environment interaction.
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Ioannis Nikolaou, Maria Tomprou and Maria Vakola
The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify relationships between psychological contract inducements and the five‐factor model of personality (FFM) in Greece.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify relationships between psychological contract inducements and the five‐factor model of personality (FFM) in Greece.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey questionnaire that incorporated measures of intrinsic and extrinsic psychological contract inducements and a Greek personality measure of the FFM was completed by 299 respondents. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore the hypotheses.
Findings
The paper finds that extroversion and conscientiousness are associated with intrinsic but not extrinsic psychological contract inducements and that neuroticism is associated with extrinsic but not intrinsic inducements. The hypothesis pertaining to openness to experience was rejected, because it was not associated with intrinsic psychological contract inducements, as expected.
Research limitations/implications
The study design was cross‐sectional and used only self‐report measures. Therefore, it should be cross‐validated with different research designs (e.g. longitudinal research) and in other countries.
Practical implications
The findings provide further support on the significance of personality measures for the selection, development and motivation of employees.
Originality/value
The most significant contribution of the study is that it explores the relationship between personality and psychological contract inducements rather than psychological contract types. Another contributing factor is that the study is carried out in Greece.
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Maria Tomprou and Ioannis Nikolaou
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of a number of factors in newcomers' psychological contract development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of a number of factors in newcomers' psychological contract development.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken is a literature review with the development of a conceptual model.
Findings
The paper contributes to the psychological contract literature by adopting a sensemaking perspective and focusing on the role of newcomers' pre‐entry expectations and emotions on the psychological contract creation process. The authors also discuss the differential role of contract makers and facilitators and the modes they employ to influence newcomers' psychological contract creation.
Originality/value
Psychological contract research has emphasized the consequences of psychological contract breach and violation. The paper's aim is to direct attention at understanding the psychological contract in its very initial stages. The authors discuss implications for research and practice on managing psychological contract creation.
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Madeleine Kendrick, Kevin B. Kendrick, Nicholas F. Taylor and Sandra G. Leggat
The authors explored clinical staff perceptions of their interactions with middle management and their experiences of the uncongeniality of their working environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors explored clinical staff perceptions of their interactions with middle management and their experiences of the uncongeniality of their working environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews of clinical staff from an Australian public health service's Emergency, Surgery and Psychiatry departments. Volunteer interview transcripts were inductively coded using a reflexive thematic content analysis.
Findings
Of 73 interviews, 66 participants discussed their interactions with management. Most clinicians considered their interactions with middle management to be negative based on a violation of their expectations of support in the workplace. Collectively, these interactions formed the basis of clinical staff perceptions of management's lack of capacity and fit for the needs of staff to perform their roles.
Practical implications
Strategies to improve management's fit with clinicians' needs may be beneficial for reducing uncongenial workplaces for healthcare staff and enhanced patient care.
Originality/value
This article is among the few papers that discuss interactions with management from the perspective of clinical staff in healthcare. How these perspectives inform the perception of workplace uncongeniality for clinicians contributes greater understanding of the factors contributing to adversarial relationships between clinicians and managers.
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Emmanuel Abord de Chatillon, Fabienne Bornard, Jean-Yves Ottmann and Cindy Felio
It seems that some aspects of employees' experience can lead to their “losing faith in the system of paid employment”. This disillusion can be studied and measured through the…
Abstract
Purpose
It seems that some aspects of employees' experience can lead to their “losing faith in the system of paid employment”. This disillusion can be studied and measured through the theoretical construct of a psychological contract breach experienced by the employee. This exploratory article thus examines whether the conditions of paid employment could lead to a new dimension of psychological contract breaches: a breach with paid employment itself that could drive to self-employment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a structural equation modeling on a sample of 403 people who have declared their intention to leave paid employment for self-employment.
Findings
The study's results show that working conditions affect psychological contract breaches in various dimensions. The authors propose a dimension of psychological contract breaches linked to paid employment, which can lead to the choice to leave paid employment and become self-employed. The authors also confirm the importance of working conditions as antecedents of psychological contract breaches.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations of this exploratory research are the use of unvalidated scales and a small sample size, with a population that could be better defined. As Murgia et al. (2020) point out, it is not yet clear at the moment whether this category is a special group, equivalent to traditionally distinguished groups of working people. The study's assumptions and these limitations lead us to propose the following avenues for future research.
Practical implications
For managers and the development of management, the possible relationship between working conditions and psychological contract breaches seems to be very important. In fact, a whole range of best management practices could be developed if this relationship is confirmed. Improving working conditions could thus be a way to repair psychological contracts.
Social implications
This research field is still quite underdeveloped in comparison to its importance to organizations because the increase in self-employment challenges traditional models and assumptions in human resources management.
Originality/value
This study aims to expand the theoretical frameworks of psychological contracts and breaches. It thus responds to recent calls for research on psychological contracts (Bankins et al., 2020); Moreover, this research suggests, in line with the work of Aubert and de Gaulejac (2018), that there are relationships between poor working conditions and psychological contract breaches. To the authors' knowledge, this approach is missing from international research into psychological contracts, which focuses only on job characteristics and individual determinants (personality traits, etc.).
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Justin B. Keeler, Noelle F. Scuderi, Meagan E. Brock Baskin, Patricia C. Jordan and Laura M. Meade
The purpose of this study is to investigate the complexity of how demands and stress are mitigated to enhance employee performance in remote working arrangements.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the complexity of how demands and stress are mitigated to enhance employee performance in remote working arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
A time-lagged snowball sample of 223 full-time remote working adults in the United States participated in an online survey. Data were analyzed using R 4.0.2 and structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results suggest remote job resources involving organizational trust and work flexibility increase performance via serial mediation when considering information communication technology (ICT) demands and work–life interference (WLI). The findings provide insights into counterbalancing the negative aspects of specific demands and stress in remote work arrangements.
Practical implications
This study provides insights for managers to understand how basic job resources may shape perspectives on demands and WLI to impact performance. Specific to remote working arrangements, establishing trust with the employees and promoting accountability with their work flexibility can play an important part in people and their performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes theoretically to the literature by evidencing how components of the E-Work Life (EWL) scale can be used with greater versatility beyond the original composite measurement because of the job-demand resource (JD-R) framework and conservation of resources theory (COR). This study answers several calls by research to investigate how ICT demands and WLI play a complex role in work performance.