A two-wave study on the effects of cognitive demands of flexible work on cognitive flexibility, work engagement and fatigue.

Cognitive demands of flexible work are the specific cognitive demands of planning of working times, planning of working places, structuring of work tasks and coordinating with others that arise from flexible work organisation. Although these demands have become increasingly widespread, their consequences are not well understood. We propose that cognitive demands of flexible work are challenge stressors that can benefit employees, by adding to their cognitive flexibility and work engagement, but also impair employees by causing fatigue. Hypotheses were tested using a two-wave study design in a sample that recently switched to a more flexible work organisation (N = 279). Data were analysed using structural equation modelling. We found that planning of working times and planning of working places were related to increases in cognitive flexibility, and coordinating with others was related to increases in work engagement. No significant relations with fatigue were found. Thus, the results suggest that cognitive demands of flexible work helped employees to personally develop and feel motivated at work. However, effects on work engagement were rather small. Future research should control potential confounding variables more thoroughly and examine effects on short-term strain outcomes.

A field experiment on the effects of weekly planning behaviour on work engagement, unfinished tasks, rumination, and cognitive flexibility.

This study concerns research on self-regulation. It examines the effects of planning behaviour, a comprehensive self-regulatory strategy of goal setting, planning work steps, and developing alternative plans. Combining different strategies, rather than testing them in isolation, would strengthen their effects and make them more appropriate for complex work tasks. Drawing on self-regulation theory, we propose that planning behaviour positively affects work engagement, unfinished tasks, rumination, and cognitive flexibility. Considering cognitive flexibility as an outcome provides insight into the cognitive benefits of planning behaviour. We examine person-level cognitive demands of flexible work and predictability as moderator variables to better understand the role of contextual variables in the use of self-regulatory strategies at work. We conducted a field experiment (N = 208 individuals; 947 weekly entries) in which we manipulated employees' weekly planning behaviour in their daily work lives. We found negative effects on unfinished tasks and weekly rumination, and positive effects on weekly cognitive flexibility. No significant moderating effects were found. Our study suggests that a brief planning manipulation at the beginning of the week may have multiple benefits and may be an important tool for improving cognitive flexibility. Future research should examine the role of time and mediating variables.

Conflict at Work Impairs Physiological Recovery during Sleep: A Daily Diary Study.

Sleep plays an essential role in maintaining employees' health and well-being. However, stressors, such as conflict at work, may interfere with employees' sleep. Drawing on previous literature on the relationship between conflict at work and sleep outcomes, we proposed a negative relationship between daily conflict at work and physiological changes during early sleep, particularly nocturnal heart rate variability (HRV). Furthermore, building on the perseverative cognition hypothesis, we proposed that daily work-related rumination mediates the relationship between conflict at work and nocturnal HRV. Ninety-three healthcare employees participated in a daily diary study for five workdays, resulting in 419 observations. Multilevel analysis revealed a significant relationship between daily conflict at work and nocturnal HRV, specifically high-frequency (HF) power. Daily conflict at work was found to predict rumination; however, rumination did not significantly predict nocturnal HRV. Our results suggest that daily conflict at work increases rumination during the off-job time and may directly alter nocturnal HRV, specifically parasympathetic function in early sleep.

Work and home boundary violations during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of segmentation preferences and unfinished tasks.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of employees faced the challenges of telework. However, the current literature has a limited understanding of the implications of employees' obligated home-based telework and their satisfaction with the work and home domains. We use boundary theory to examine work and home boundary violations in relation to satisfaction with domain investment in two daily diary studies, examining both domain-specific and cross-domain effects. In addition, we examine the moderating role of segmentation preferences in both studies and investigate the mediating role of work- and home-related unfinished tasks in Study 2. Both studies provide empirical evidence of the domain-specific relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction and provide limited support for cross-domain effects. Neither study finds support for the notion that segmentation preferences moderate the relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction. Finally, the results of Study 2 highlight the importance of unfinished tasks in the relationship between boundary violations and domain satisfaction. Specifically, work and home boundary violations relate to an increase in unfinished tasks in both domains. Finally, the indirect effects suggest that home-related unfinished tasks may be detrimental to satisfaction in both domains, while work-related unfinished tasks may be detrimental for work-related, but not home-related, satisfaction.

Development and Initial Validation of a Scale to Measure Cognitive Demands of Flexible Work.

With globalization, digitalization, and the spread of information and communication technologies, rules regulating work have been softened or completely abolished. Consequently, employees face additional cognitive demands to plan, structure, and coordinate their work. To capture these demands of contemporary work, we constructed and initially validated the Cognitive Demands of Flexible Work (CODE) scale. The scale comprises four subscales (i.e., structuring of work tasks, planning of working times, planning of working places, and coordinating with others). We initially validated the scale in three independent studies (overall N = 1,129) in German and English. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the four-factor structure, as well as scalar invariance, of the different language versions. Moreover, the subscales showed convergent and divergent validity with related constructs such as requirements for problem solving or autonomy. The criterion validity for emotional exhaustion, engagement, positive work rumination, negative work rumination, and problem-solving pondering suggested that cognitive demands of flexible work can be construed as challenge demands. However, relationships with emotional exhaustion were not significant. Overall, the CODE scale was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure cognitive demands of flexible work.

Perceived organizational support and perceived safety climate from the perspective of safety professionals: Testing reciprocal causality using a cross-lagged panel design.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to determine the reciprocal relationship between safety professionals perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived safety climate. Safety professionals are most effective when they perceive support from management and employees and they also attribute most of their success to support from the organization. Their work directly improves safety climate, and organizations with a high safety climate show a higher value for the safety professional. The causal direction of this relationship is, however, unclear. METHOD: Using a sample of 162 safety professionals, we conducted a cross-lagged panel study over one year to examine whether safety professionals' POS improves their perceived safety climate and/or whether safety climate also increases POS over time. Data were collected at two points and, after testing for measurement invariance, a cross-lagged SEM was conducted to analyze the reciprocal relationship. RESULTS: Our findings show that safety professionals' POS was positively related to perceived safety climate over time. Perceived safety climate, however, did not contribute to safety professionals' POS. CONCLUSIONS: This study significantly adds to the discussion about the factors influencing safety professionals' successful inclusion in organizations, enabling them to perform their work and, thus, improve occupational safety. Practical Applications: Since safety climate increases in organizations in which safety professionals feel supported, this study points out the kind of support that contributes to improved organizational safety. Support for safety professionals may come in classical forms such as approval, pay, job enrichment, and information on or influence over organizational policies.

Does Intragroup Conflict Intensity Matter? The Moderating Effects of Conflict Management on Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement.

To elucidate the distinct effects of relationship conflict (RC) and task conflict (TC), we investigated the intensity (low vs. high) of the two types of conflict on emotional exhaustion and work engagement. Furthermore, we examined how cooperative vs. competitive conflict-handling styles moderate the relationship between the two types of conflict and emotional exhaustion and work engagement. We also examined the role of emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal and distraction) as a covariate to control its effects on the study variables. Utilizing two separate 2 × 2 between-subject experimental designs, we recruited 120 employees from several companies in Austria. The results suggest that higher levels of both RC and TC are positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively to work engagement. A cooperative conflict management style moderated the effects of both RC and TC on work engagement. The results suggest decoupling RC and TC and examining the interplay between the intensity of intragroup conflict types and conflict management styles provides insights into the connection between the levels of conflict, conflict management, emotional exhaustion, and work engagement. Additionally, it supports the usage of distraction as a viable regulation strategy for managing the effects of high levels of RC on emotional exhaustion.

From Shock to Shift-A Qualitative Analysis of Accounts in Mid-Career About Changes in the Career Path.

Career shocks are the norm, not the exception. Yet, much of research and counseling on career-development holds unrealistic assumptions of a makeable career. Little is understood about the role of shocks on the career path and how the interplay of individual reactions to shocks shapes careers. The purpose of this study is to provide understanding of responses to different attributes of career shocks and career shocks as antecedents to career and job change. A qualitative approach was chosen and data were obtained from 25 semi-structured interviews with a sample of mid-career individuals who had experienced shocks in their work lives. The analysis was 2-fold and aimed at unearthing of individual responses to shocks and the question of the role of shocks on changes in the career path. Firstly, the analysis of career shocks revealed a pattern of distinct agentic responses in relation to shocks of different attributes. Secondly, from the analysis of shock attributes and corresponding responses over time career changer profiles emerged which differ in regard to career change behavior and magnitude of changes in the career (e.g., major career changes into another field). A process model which depicts how post-shock careers are shaped distinctively in relation to different shock attributes and corresponding responses is presented. This study underlines the importance of understanding the unplannable in career development and shows a variety of options for individuals to develop their careers despite shocks. Limitation stems from the investigation of a sample limited to mid-career individuals. The findings provide a new conceptual lens to theorize and conduct research on career shocks and career changes and facilitate the development of coping strategies for career shocks. The originality lies in the investigation of the momentum of career shocks on career paths with detail to different attributes of career shocks and how they impact the career path.

Activity-based flexible offices: effects on work-related outcomes in a longitudinal study.

A recent popular trend in office re-design is the activity-based flexible office (A-FO). Initially, assumptions about the effects of A-FOs were drawn from research into open-plan offices where lack of privacy, concentration opportunities, and an increase in distractions are identified as main downsides. These aspects have not been explored sufficiently in the context of A-FOs. Using a longitudinal within-subjects design with three measurement times, we focussed on analysing the change in distraction after moving to an A-FO, how distraction-affected important work-related outcomes, and what factors moderated these relationships. Results showed that moving to the A-FO had negative effects on distraction, work engagement, job satisfaction, and fatigue. The negative effects of distraction were more pronounced in situations of increased time pressure and unpredictability. The obtained results highlight the harmful effects of the interaction of work stressors for employees' motivation and well-being. Practitioner summary: The results of our research provide important insight into how moving to an activity-based flexible office impacts the employees. Besides having quiet zones for concentrated work to avoid distractions managers and leaders should also focus on taking care of work stressors to avoid fatigue and loss of motivation.

Procrastination in Daily Working Life: A Diary Study on Within-Person Processes That Link Work Characteristics to Workplace Procrastination.

Procrastination is a form of self-regulation failure characterized by the irrational delay of tasks despite potentially negative consequences. Previous research on procrastination was mainly conducted in academic settings, oftentimes combined with a focus on individual differences. As a consequence, scholarly knowledge about how situational factors affect procrastination in work settings is still scarce. Drawing on job stress literature, we assumed that work characteristics go along with cognitive appraisals of the work situation as a challenge and/or hindrance, that these cognitive appraisals affect employees' self-regulation effort to overcome inner resistances, and that self-regulation effort should in turn be related to workplace procrastination. In our study, we focused on three specific work characteristics that we expected to trigger both challenge and hindrance appraisal simultaneously: time pressure, problem solving, and planning and decision-making. We hypothesized serial indirect effects of these work characteristics on workplace procrastination via cognitive appraisal and self-regulation processes that unfold within individuals over short periods of time. Consequently, we conducted a diary study with three measurement occasions per workday over a period of 12 days. Overall, 762 day-level datasets from 110 employees were included in Bayesian multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM; controlled for sleep quality and occupational self-efficacy). Our results revealed negative serial indirect effects of all three work characteristics on workplace procrastination via increased challenge appraisal and subsequently reduced self-regulation effort. Further, our results showed a positive serial indirect effect of time pressure (but not of problem solving or planning and decision making) on workplace procrastination via increased hindrance appraisal and subsequently increased self-regulation effort. Overall, our study showed that work characteristics are linked to workplace procrastination via within-person processes of cognitive appraisal and self-regulation. Because not all work characteristics triggered hindrance appraisal, we argue that it may make sense to further differentiate challenge stressors in the future. Moreover, cognitive appraisals affected self-regulation effort only on the within-person level. On the between-person level self-regulation effort was strongly negatively related with occupational self-efficacy. Thus, we conclude that depending the perspective on procrastination (e.g., differential psychology perspective vs. situational perspective) different variables will be considered relevant to explain the emergence of procrastination.

How Work Intensification Relates to Organization-Level Safety Performance: The Mediating Roles of Safety Climate, Safety Motivation, and Safety Knowledge.

Recent changes in the world of work have led to increased job demands with subsequent effects on occupational safety. Although work intensification has been linked to detrimental safety behavior and more accidents, there is so far no sufficient explanation for this relationship. This paper investigates the mediating roles of safety climate, safety motivation, and safety knowledge in the relationships of work intensification with components of safety performance at an organizational level. Safety engineers and managers from 122 Austrian high-accident companies participated in a cross-sectional survey. In line with our hypotheses, work intensification negatively related to both components of safety performance: safety compliance and safety participation. The results of a serial multiple mediation analysis further revealed safety climate and safety motivation to be serial mediators of the relationship between work intensification and safety performance. Unexpectedly, safety knowledge and safety climate only serially mediated the relationship between work intensification and safety compliance, but not the relationship between work intensification and safety participation. This study provides evidence for the detrimental effect of work intensification on safety performance across organizations. Additionally, this study offers an explanation as to how work intensification affects safety performance, enabling practitioners to protect their occupational safety procedures and policies from work intensification.

Thriving on challenge stressors? Exploring time pressure and learning demands as antecedents of thriving at work.

In the conceptualization of thriving at work, it is emphasized that employees' learning and vitality are two equally important components of thriving and that thriving is facilitated by contextual features and available resources. In this study, we examined the effects of two challenge stressors (time pressure and learning demands) on thriving at work. Based on the literature on challenge and hindrance stressors, we proposed that challenge stressors positively affect learning and negatively affect vitality. To uncover underlying mechanisms, we measured challenge appraisal and hindrance appraisal of work situations in a diary study. A sample of 124 knowledge workers responded to three daily surveys (before the lunch break, during the afternoon, and at the end of the workday) for a period of five workdays. Results indicate that the indirect effects of learning demands and time pressure on learning are mediated by challenge appraisal, whereas indirect effects of learning demands on vitality are mediated by hindrance appraisal. Overall, our study shows that challenge stressors have a positive total effect on learning but no total effect on vitality. These differential relationships call for a finer distinction between the two components of thriving at work in future research.

Coworking Spaces: A Source of Social Support for Independent Professionals.

Coworking spaces are shared office environments for independent professionals. Such spaces have been increasing rapidly throughout the world, and provide, in addition to basic business infrastructure, the opportunity for social interaction. This article explores social interaction in coworking spaces and reports the results of two studies. Study 1 (N = 69 coworkers) finds that social interaction in coworking spaces can take the form of social support. Study 2 further investigates social support among coworkers (N = 154 coworkers) and contrasts these results with those of social support among colleagues in traditional work organizations (N = 609). A moderated mediation model using time pressure and self-efficacy, based on the conservation of resources theory, is tested. Social support from both sources was positively related to performance satisfaction. Self-efficacy mediated this relationship in the employee sample, while in the coworking sample, self-efficacy only mediated the relationship between social support and performance satisfaction if time pressure was high. Thus, a mobilization of social support seems necessary in coworking spaces. We conclude that coworking spaces, as modern social work environments, should align flexible work infrastructure with well-constructed opportunities for social support.

Does job complexity mitigate the negative effect of emotion-rule dissonance on employee burnout?

In interactions with clients or patients, human service workers are at risk of experiencing discrepancies between felt and organizationally mandated emotions (i.e. emotion-rule dissonance). Given the documented detrimental effects of such discrepancies on employee strain, the present study investigated whether job complexity mitigates the relation between emotion-rule dissonance and employee burnout using data from a two-wave panel study of eldercare workers (N = 583, 16-month time lag). Structural equation modelling revealed that emotion-rule dissonance at Time 1 preceded emotional exhaustion and depersonalization at Time 2. Beyond that, employees whose work offered job complexity were found to suffer less from emotional exhaustion and depersonalization when encountering discrepancies between felt and stipulated emotions compared to employees who conducted noncomplex work. Thus, designing complex tasks appears to be a crucial starting point for alleviating employee burnout in jobs that provoke emotion-rule dissonance.

Too much job control? Two studies on curvilinear relations between job control and eldercare workers' well-being.

BACKGROUND: Longer life expectancy and changes in family patterns in Western societies have increased the need for professional caregivers to the elderly. A detailed understanding of job resources, especially of job control, may help preserve eldercare workers' work-related well-being. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to determine optimal levels of job control for eldercare workers' work-related well-being. DESIGN: Cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) data were used to assess the linear and non-linear relations between job control and eldercare workers' work-related well-being. As indicators of well-being, irritation was examined cross-sectionally, whereas burnout and engagement were used in the longitudinal study. In both studies, demographic variables and time pressure were included as controls. In Study 2, results were additionally controlled for baseline levels of the outcome variables. PARTICIPANTS: Study participants were recruited from the nursing staff of 10 publicly financed nursing homes for the elderly (Study 1) and from 18 privately and 20 publicly financed nursing homes for the elderly (Study 2). In both studies, eldercare workers (i.e., registered nurses, orderlies, and nursing assistants) were invited to answer paper-pencil questionnaires. In Study 1, 606 persons followed this invitation (response rate: 65%). In Study 2, 591 persons provided data on both measurement points (response rate: 35% of Time 1 participants). The samples of both studies were predominantly female and between 20 and 65 years of age. METHODS: Hierarchical multiple regressions with linear and quadratic terms were conducted. RESULTS: Curvilinear effects of job control were found in both studies. In Study 1, low as well as high levels of job control were associated with higher levels of irritation compared to medium levels of job control. The longitudinal data from Study 2 supported these results. Eldercare workers with higher and lower levels of job control reported a higher tendency to depersonalize care recipients and a lower tendency to feel dedicated to, absorbed by and vigorous at work than those with medium levels of job control. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of job control are not necessarily advantageous for work-related well-being of eldercare workers.

Validating a safety climate model in metal processing industries: a replication study.

This paper attempts to replicate a safety climate model originally tested in Australia to assess its applicability in a different context: namely, across production workers in 22 medium-sized metal processing organizations in Austria. The model postulates that safety knowledge and safety motivation mediate the relation between safety climate on the one hand and safety compliance and participation on the other. Self-report data from 1075 employees were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the replication study largely confirmed the original safety climate model. However, in addition to indirect effects, direct links between safety climate and actual safety behavior were found.

Does trait affectivity predict work-to-family conflict and enrichment beyond job characteristics?

The present study examines whether negative and positive affectivity (NA and PA, respectively) predict different forms of work-to-family conflict (WFC-time, WFC-strain, WFC-behavior) and enrichment (WFE-development, WFE-affect, WFE-capital) beyond job characteristics (workload, autonomy, variety, workplace support). Furthermore, interactions between job characteristics and trait affectivity while predicting WFC and WFE were examined. Using a large sample of Slovenian employees (N = 738), NA and PA were found to explain variance in WFC as well as in WFE above and beyond job characteristics. More precisely, NA significantly predicted WFC, whereas PA significantly predicted WFE. In addition, several interactive effects were found to predict forms of WFC and WFE. These results highlight the importance of trait affectivity in work-family research. They provide further support for the crucial impact of job characteristics as well.

Acceleration in the care of older adults: new demands as predictors of employee burnout and engagement.

AIM: This paper introduces the concept of acceleration-related demands in the care of older adults. It examines these new demands and their relation to cognitive, emotional, and physical job demands and to employee well-being. BACKGROUND: Various changes in the healthcare systems of Western societies pose new demands for healthcare professionals' careers and jobs. In particular today's societal changes give rise to acceleration-related demands, which manifest themselves in work intensification and in increasing requirements to handle new technical equipment and to update one's job-related knowledge. It is, therefore, of interest to investigate the effects of these new demands on the well-being of employees. DESIGN: Survey. METHOD: Between March-June 2010 the survey was conducted among healthcare professionals involved in care of older adults in Austria. A total of 1498 employees provided data on cognitive, emotional, and physical job demands and on acceleration-related demands. The outcome variables were the core dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) and engagement (vigour and dedication). RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses show that acceleration-related demands explain additional variance for exhaustion, depersonalization, vigour, and dedication when controlling for cognitive, emotional, and physical demands. Furthermore, acceleration-related demands associated with increasing requirements to update one's knowledge are related to positive outcomes (vigour and dedication). Acceleration-related demands associated with an increasing work pace are related to negative outcomes such as emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSION: Results illustrate that new demands resulting from social acceleration generate potential challenges for on-the-job learning and potential risks to employees' health and well-being.

The more you give, the more you get: reciprocal relationships between work engagement and task-related, interpersonal, and organizational resources / ¿Mientras más das, más recibes: relaciones recíprocas entre el engagement laboral y los recursos asociados a las labores, interpersonales y organizacionales

Drawing on broaden-and-build theory and conservation of resources theory, this study disentangles the reciprocal relationship between employee work engagement and job resources by separately examining task-related, interpersonal, and organizational job resources. More specifically, it hypothesizes that work engagement is not only a consequence of, but also antecedes, job control, esteem reward, and job security. Using data from a full two-wave panel study with a 15-month time lag among 591 eldercare workers, the authors examined normal, reversed, and reciprocal causation by means of structural equation modeling. They found that the reciprocal model best fits the data. As hypothesized, job security was mutually related to work engagement over time. By contrast, job control was shown to precede, and esteem reward was shown to follow from, work engagement. Theoretically speaking, these findings suggest that divergent mechanisms account for the relationships between job resources of various types and work engagement. Practically speaking, the development of a reciprocal cycle between work engagement and job security may represent an active coping process in an unstable economic situation, since data collection for this panel study commenced shortly after the onset of the global economic crisis.

Al utilizar la teoría abierta y construida junto con la teoría de la conservación de los recursos, este estudio desenmaraña la relación recíproca entre el engagement laboral de los trabajadores y los recursos laborales; esto, al examinar por separado los recursos laborales relacionados a las tareas interpersonales y organizacionales. Más específicamente, plantea que el engagement laboral no es sólo una consecuencia de, sino que antecede al control laboral, recompensa a la estima y a la seguridad laboral. Al utilizar los datos de un estudio completo de dos ondas con un desfase de 15 meses entre 591 personas que trabajan al cuidado de personas de la tercera edad, los autores examinan la causalidad normal, invertida y recíproca por medio del modelo de ecuaciones estructural. Los autores descubrieron que el modelo recíproco fue el que mejor se adaptaba a los datos. Tal y como se había planteado, la seguridad laboral se encontraba relacionada mutuamente con el engagement laboral a través del tiempo. En contraste, se encontró que el control laboral precedía al engament laboral, mientras que la recompensa a la estima era posterior. Hablando teóricamente, estos hallazgos sugieren que mecanismos divergentes explican las relaciones entre varios tipos de recursos laborales y engagement laboral. De manera práctica se podría decir que el desarrollo de un ciclo recíproco entre engagement y seguridad laboral podría representar un proceso de copia activo en un escenario económico inestable, debido a que la recolección de datos para este estudio de panel comenzó poco después del principio de la crisis económica mundial.

Recovery and detachment between shifts, and fatigue during a twelve-hour shift.

The study investigated the role of recovery and detachment in the break period between two shifts for fatigue in the current shift. A time-based paper-and-pencil diary study was carried out observing sixty-four railway controllers over ten consecutive working shifts. The results demonstrated that fatigue in the current shift was not only affected by recovery and psychological detachment during break phases before a shift, but also by fatigue at shift onset and perceived workload during the shift.