Organizational context matters: Psychosocial safety climate as a precursor to team and individual motivational functioning

El propósito de esta investigación fue probar empíricamente la hipótesis de que el clima de seguridad psicológica de la organización y la percepción de las políticas de la organización predicen hasta qué punto los empleados se sienten comprometidos con su trabajo. El uso de modelos jerárquicos lineales y los datos recopilados de 1,244 empleados en 64 organizaciones, el clima de seguridad psicológica a nivel organizativo y la percepción de la política organizacional a nivel de los empleados predijo la participación laboral de los empleados. También hubo una interacción significativa en todos los niveles, de modo que el efecto negativo de la percepción de las políticas organizacionales se amplificó en organizaciones con un clima de seguridad psicológica positivo. En otras palabras, la seguridad psicológica organizacional beneficia más el compromiso laboral de los individuos cuando perciben la existencia de políticas organizacionales bajas. Los resultados ofrecen información sobre los mecanismos por los cuales el contexto organizativo percibido puede influir en el compromiso laboral de los empleados y resaltar la importancia de la coherencia organizativa percibida en la promoción del compromiso laboral dentro de su organización. Los profesionales y gerentes de Recursos Humanos deben promover reuniones frecuentes con los trabajadores y aplicar otras prácticas que puedan impulsar un clima seguro para los empleados. The purpose of this research was to empirically test the hypothesis that the organizational psychological safety climate and the perception of organizational politics predict the extent to which employees feel engaged in their work. Using hierarchical linear modeling and data collected from 1,244 employees in 64 organizations, organizational level psychological safety climate and employee-level perception of organizational politics predicted employee work engagement. There was also significant cross-level interaction, so that the negative effect of the perception of organizational politics was amplified in organizations with a positive psychological safety climate. In other words, organizational psychological safety benefits the work engagement of individuals more when they perceive the existence of low organizational politics. The results offer insight into the mechanisms by which the perceived organizational context may influence employees’ work engagement and highlight the importance for the perceived organizational consistency in the promotion of work engagement within their organization. Human Resource professionals and managers should promote frequent meetings with the workers and apply other practices that can boost a safe climate for the employees.

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Upward Voice: Participative Decision Making, Trust in Leadership and Safety Climate Matter

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12093672 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 3672 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Inmaculada Silla ◽

Francisco J. Gracia ◽

José M. Peiró

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Power Plants ◽

Nuclear Power Plants ◽

Organizational Context ◽

Safety Climate ◽

High Reliability ◽

Trust In Leadership

A supportive upward voice environment is critical in nuclear power plants in order to provide energy in a sustainable manner. In high–reliability organizations, front–line employees’ suggestions and concerns enable the early identification of potential problems that might have catastrophic consequences (e.g., a nuclear accident). Despite this, previous research has mostly focused on person–centered antecedents of upward voice and, to a lesser extent, the influence of the supervisor–subordinate relationship, while neglecting the importance of the organizational context. This study responds to the aforementioned research lacuna. It examined the relationship between participative decision making and upward voice, and the mediating role of trust in leadership in this relationship. Moreover, it further extends previous research by examining the role of safety climate, which is expected to moderate both the direct and the indirect effect of participative decision making on upward voice. The sample was composed of 495 workers from two nuclear power plants from the same organization. Findings supported the hypothesized moderated mediation model: the indirect effect of participative decision making (PDM) on upward voice via trust in leadership was contingent upon the level of the safety climate. The indirect effect became weaker as the safety climate increased. These findings support the relevance of the organizational context.

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Development and Construct Validation of the German Workplace Trust Survey (G-WTS)

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000002 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 3-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock ◽

Simone Kauffeld

Keyword(s):

Convergent Validity ◽

Affective Commitment ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Organizational Context ◽

Organizational Trust ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Future Research ◽

Work Related ◽

Reliable Assessment ◽

Workplace Trust

In research on trust in the organizational context, there is some agreement evolving that trust should be measured with respect to various foci. The Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) by Ferres (2002) provides reliable assessment of coworker, supervisor, and organizational trust. By means of a functionally equivalent translation, we developed a German version of the questionnaire (G-WTS) comprising 21 items. A total of 427 employees were surveyed with the G-WTS and questionnaires concerning several work-related attitudes and behaviors and 92 of these completed the survey twice. The hypothesized three-dimensional conceptualization of organizational trust was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The G-WTS showed good internal consistency and retest reliability values. Concerning convergent validity, all of the three G-WTS dimensions positively predicted job satisfaction. In terms of discriminant validity, Coworker Trust enhanced group cohesion; Supervisor Trust fostered innovative behavior, while Organizational Trust was associated with affective commitment. Theoretical and practical contributions as well as opportunities for future research with the G-WTS are discussed.

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