How to foster nurses' well-being and performance in the face of work pressure? The role of mindfulness as personal resource.

AIM: The aim of this study was to study the simultaneous relationships of work pressure with the performance and well-being of nurses and to explore whether mindfulness moderates these relationships. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey design. METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1,021 nurses from 103 Belgian care homes for older people, in 2017. Data were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression and simple slope analyses. RESULTS: Work pressure was positively associated with empathetic care, job performance and emotional exhaustion and negatively associated with work engagement. Mindfulness was positively related to empathetic care, job performance and work engagement and negatively related to emotional exhaustion. Regarding the moderations, mindfulness moderated the relationships between work pressure and both performance outcomes, as well as between work pressure and work engagement. Contrary to what we expected: (a) mindfulness showed no significant buffering effect of work pressure on emotional exhaustion; (b) the relationship between work pressure and both empathic care and job performance was stronger when mindfulness was low (vs. high); and (c) mindfulness strengthened instead of weakened the negative relationship between work pressure and work engagement. However, in high work pressure settings, more mindful individuals still had better job performance and work engagement outcomes than less mindful individuals. CONCLUSION: Our findings explain conflicting outcomes on the effects of work pressure by suggesting that work pressure can function both as a hindrance and a challenge job demand depending on the outcome. Furthermore, by exploring the role of mindfulness as a personal resource, we add to the literature on the role of personal resources in the job demands-resources (JD-R)-model which is particularly relevant in the context of increasing work pressure. IMPACT: Nurses are confronted with increasing work pressure. The present findings indicate that the implementation of mindfulness strategies can be beneficial for nurses dealing with work pressure, contributing to nursing practice and JD-R theory.

Leader Psychological Need Satisfaction Trickles Down: The Role of Leader-Member Exchange.

This article addresses the impact of leader psychological need satisfaction on employees. We draw on the self-determination theory (SDT) and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory to investigate if and how leader psychological need satisfaction trickles down to employee psychological need satisfaction. Adopting a multi-actor, multilevel design, results from 1036 leader-employee dyads indicate that employee-rated LMX mediates the trickle-down effect of leader psychological need satisfaction. Additional analyses of leader psychological needs show that leader competence is the main psychological need that underlying this relationship. We also found an unexpected negative association between leader autonomy need satisfaction and employee competence need satisfaction. Overall, this study shows the importance of both (1) leaders' psychological need satisfaction and (2) employee perceptions of the relationship quality for employee psychological need satisfaction.

Reducing Red Tape's Negative Consequences for Leaders: The Buffering Role of Autonomous Motivation.

In a context where the amount of red tape in healthcare organizations continues to rise, head nurses' job satisfaction is constantly under pressure. By building on the Job Demands-Resources model, we developed a theoretical model investigating the relationship between red tape and job satisfaction. By investigating the mediating role of discretionary room and the moderating role of autonomous motivation in this relationship, this study does not only aim to provide additional knowledge regarding the underlying mechanisms in this relationship, but also to increase our understanding of how this suffering at work can be mitigated. Our conditional process analyses (N = 277 head nurses) indicate that red tape undermines head nurses' job satisfaction and that discretionary room acts as an underlying mechanism in this process. By revealing the mediating role of discretionary room, this study advances our understanding of the risks originating from red tape for leaders. Furthermore, our findings also indicate that autonomous motivation mitigates the negative relation between red tape and discretionary room and between red tape and job satisfaction. As autonomous motivation turns out to be an important protection mechanism against the negative consequences of red tape, organizations should put extra effort into stimulating the autonomous motivation of their leaders. When organizations make sure that their leaders' job designs and work environments meet the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, leaders will become more autonomously motivated, which will buffer the negative impact of red tape.

How to foster employee quality of life: The role of employee performance management and authentic leadership.

Although employee performance management (EPM) enhances performance, the effects that these systems have on employee quality of life remain unclear. Such information is particularly relevant for 'vulnerable' workers, whose employment situation has the potential to alter their social and economic position in life. Based on data gathered from 111 leaders and 547 vulnerable workers in 36 social profit organizations, multilevel regression analysis demonstrates that EPM is related to vulnerable workers' quality of life. Moreover, authentic leadership and psychological empowerment buffer the negative relationship between EPM and vulnerable workers' quality of life. These findings imply that organizations that employ vulnerable workers need authentic leaders to foster a positive impact not only on performance through EPM but also on vulnerable workers' quality of life. In addition, organizations can also pursue vulnerable workers' psychological empowerment by providing tasks that are meaningful to them and in which they experience self-efficacy to reduce the potential negative effects of EPM on vulnerable workers' quality of life.

When Mindfulness Interacts With Neuroticism to Enhance Transformational Leadership: The Role of Psychological Need Satisfaction.

Transformational leadership is a popular and well-researched leadership style. Although much is understood about its positive consequences, less research has focused on antecedents of transformational leadership. In this research we draw upon self-determination theory and incorporate a self-regulatory approach to investigate if and how leader mindfulness influences transformational leadership. The analyses show that autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction mediate between mindfulness and transformational leadership, indicating that mindfulness is associated with psychological need satisfaction. Furthermore, the data show that neuroticism moderates the relationship between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction. Generally speaking, the association between mindfulness and relatedness need satisfaction is positive. When neuroticism is also high, mindfulness has the largest impact. Or conversely, when emotional stability is high, mindfulness has the smallest association with relatedness need satisfaction. This is in line with evidence suggesting that mindfulness may primarily exert its influence through emotional self-regulation. Furthermore, the moderated mediation model for relatedness need satisfaction is significant, indicating that neuroticism is a boundary condition for the indirect effect of mindfulness on transformational leadership through relatedness need satisfaction.

How to foster the well-being of police officers: The role of the employee performance management system.

This study focuses on employee performance management in policing. We specifically aim to contribute to a better understanding of how the combined effect of performance planning and performance evaluation fosters the well-being of police officers. In the slipstream of public sector reforms many public organizations adopted employee performance management. Although such system is found to increase performance, it might simultaneously elevate job demands, jeopardizing employees' well-being. Based on data gathered in one of the largest police departments of Belgium, structural equation modelling results demonstrate that the combination of performance planning and evaluation positively affects police officers' well-being. Satisfaction with the system was found to explain this relationship. The findings imply that police forces should ensure that performance evaluations are preceded and combined by performance planning in order to foster well-being.

Does performance management affect nurses' well-being?

AIM: This article focuses on employee performance-management practices in the healthcare sector. We specifically aim to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of employee performance-management practices on affective well-being of nurses in hospitals. Theory suggests that the features of employee-performance management (planning and evaluation of individual performances) predict affective well-being (in this study: job satisfaction and affective commitment). METHODS: Performance-management planning and evaluation and affective well-being were drawn from a survey of nurses at a Flemish hospital. Separate estimations were performed for different aspects of affective well-being. RESULTS: Performance planning has a negative effect on job satisfaction of nurses. Both vertical alignment and satisfaction with the employee performance-management system increase the affective well-being of nurses; however, the impact of vertical alignment differs for different aspects of affective well-being (i.e. job satisfaction and affective commitment). CONCLUSION: Performance-management planning and evaluation of nurses are associated with attitudinal outcomes. The results indicate that employee performance-management features have different impacts on different aspects of well-being.