The role of collective labor contracts and individual characteristics on job satisfaction in Tuscan nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: The role played by remuneration strategies in motivating health care professionals is one of the most studied factors. Some studies of nursing home (NH) services, while considering wages and labor market characteristics, do not explicitly account for the influence of the contract itself. PURPOSE: This study investigates the relationship between the labor contracts applied in 62 Tuscan NHs and NH aides' job satisfaction with two aims: to investigate the impact of European contracts on employee satisfaction in health care services and to determine possible limitations of research not incorporating these contracts. METHODOLOGY: We apply a multilevel model to data gathered from a staff survey administered in 2014 to all employees of 62 NHs to analyze two levels: individual and NH. Labor contracts were introduced into the model as a variable of NH. RESULTS: Findings show that the factors influencing nursing aides' satisfaction occur at both the individual and NH levels. Organizational characteristics explain 16% of the variation. For individual characteristics, foreign and temporary workers emerge as more satisfied than others. For NH variables, results indicate that the labor contract with the worst conditions is not associated with lower workers' satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Although working conditions play a relevant role in the job satisfaction of aides, labor contracts do not seem to affect it. Interestingly, aides of the NHs with the contract having the best conditions register a significantly lower level of satisfaction compared to the NHs with the worst contract conditions. This suggests that organizational factors such as culture, team work, and other characteristics, which were not explicitly considered in this study, may be more powerful sources of worker satisfaction than labor contracts. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Our analysis has value as a management tool to consider alternative sources as well as the labor contract for employee incentives.

An Exploratory, Descriptive Study of Nurse Leaders' Personal and Work Experiences During Union Negotiations and Strike Events.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the experiences, perceptions and emotional state of nurse leaders during union activities to understand the impact on their personal and professional lives. BACKGROUND: Other than anecdotal stories shared during union negotiations and strike preparations, very little evidence exists in nursing and healthcare literature about nursing unions and their impact on nurse leaders and their organizational priorities. METHODS: This study used an exploratory, descriptive design with a convenience and snowball sample of Association of California Nurse Leaders members. RESULTS: The findings indicate nurse leaders experience a range of emotional states in response to union activities with perceptions of increased workload, job stress, and constrained and deliberate communications with their staff. CONCLUSION: This study adds to the body of knowledge about nurse leader experiences and feelings during union activities.

Employees’ psychological capital, job satisfaction, insecurity, and intentions to quit: the direct and indirect effects of authentic leadership / Capital psicológico, satisfacción laboral, inseguridad e intención de abandono de los trabajadores: efectos directos e indirectos del liderazgo auténtico

To investigate the impact of an authentic leader on employees’ psychological capital (PsyCap), job satisfaction, job insecurity, and intentions to quit the organisation, mediation analyses, as well as a conditional process analyses, were conducted using data collected from an offshore organisation. Findings showed that employees who perceived their leader as being authentic reported more job satisfaction and less job insecurity and intentions to quit the organisations. Moreover, results also showed an indirect effect of authentic leadership through PsyCap. Finally, the influence of the captains’ authenticity did not vary depending on whether or not the captain was the employees’ immediate superior. Results from this study suggest that efforts should be made to focus on the components of an authentic leader during recruitment, training, or intervention. Conclusively, employees working in the marine/offshore sector are faced with persistent fluctuations and uncertainties, and having an authentic leader will promote job satisfaction, while reducing both job insecurities and turnover intentions among employees (AU)

Con objeto de investigar la influencia del líder auténtico en el capital psicológico de los trabajadores (cap-psi), la satisfacción en el trabajo, la inseguridad laboral y la intención de abandonar la empresa, se llevaron a cabo análisis de mediación y de procesos condicionales con datos sacados de una empresa offshore. Los resultados muestran que los trabajadores que percibían a su jefe como auténtico estaban más satisfechos y con menor inseguridad laboral e intención de abandonar la empresa. También había un efecto indirecto del liderazgo auténtico a través del capital psicológico. Por último, la influencia de la autenticidad de los jefes no variaba por que el jefe fuera el inmediato superior. Estos resultados indican que habría que hacer hincapié en los componentes del líder auténtico durante el reclutamiento, la formación y la intervención. Como conclusión, los trabajadores del sector marino/offshore se enfrentan a continuas fluctuaciones e incertidumbre, por lo que la existencia de un liderazgo auténtico aumentaría la satisfacción a la par que disminuirían tanto la inseguridad laboral de los trabajadores como su intención de abandono (AU)

Negociar en circunstancias cambiantes: los motivos sociales como moderadores del capital económico y relacional / Negotiating in changing circumstances. Social Motives as moderators of the relational and economic capital

El presente estudio analiza cómo la cantidad de recursos disponibles para la negociación, al aumentar o disminuir a lo largo del tiempo, inciden en las relaciones entre los negociadores y en los resultados alcanzados en la negociación. Los autores predijeron que el capital relacional y los resultados cuantitativos de la negociación dependen de la secuencia de recursos disponibles y están moderados por la motivación social de los negociadores. En un estudio experimental longitudinal, parejas de negociadores se enfrentaban de manera repetida a lo largo de tres semanas. Las ganancias disponibles en cada serie de tres negociaciones iban aumentando o disminuyendo dependiendo de la condición. Aunque consideradas globalmente, las situaciones de negociación eran idénticas, las secuencias decrecientes condujeron a peores resultados en la negociación. Del mismo modo, los negociadores con motivos prosociales a diferencia de los negociadores egoístas mostraron mejores resultados económicos y mayor capital relacional con independencia de la secuencia. Consistente con las hipótesis planteadas, las secuencias crecientes y la motivación prosocial promueven el capital relacional entre las partes, sugiriendo que las relaciones entre las partes dependen de los resultados presentes en la mesa de negociación y del motivo social. Se proponen implicaciones teóricas y prácticas, y tendencias para la investigación futura (AU)

The present study focuses on how the amount of resources available in a negotiation, when they increase or decrease, influences the relational and economic capital in a negotiation. The authors argue the relationships between negotiators and the outcomes they achieve depend on the specific sequence of available resources and on the social motivation of the parties. In an experimental longitudinal study, students participated during three weeks in a distributive negotiation task. Results show that decreasing sequences lead to worse quality agreements and as predicted pro socially motivated reached higher relational outcomes than proself motivated negotiators regardless of the sequence. Consistent with the authors’ hypotheses, increasing sequences and a prosocial motive promoted economic outcomes and relational capital, suggesting that the relationships between negotiators depend on the sequence of the outcomes and the social motivation. Implications and future directions are discussed (AU)