Examining boss phubbing and employee outcomes through the lens of affective events theory

PurposeIn this study, the impact of boss phubbing, or using a phone during interaction with subordinates, on important employee outcomes — work meaningfulness and employee phubbing behavior — through the mediating role of self-esteem threat was investigated using affective events theory. The moderating role of rejection sensitivity was also examined.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in three time lags from head nurses (N = 178) working in public and private hospitals. The hypothesized relationships were tested using variance-based structural equation modeling with partial least squares.FindingsBoss phubbing negatively affected employees' sense of work meaningfulness and had a positive direct and indirect relationship with employee phubbing behavior through self-esteem threat. The hypothesized moderating role of rejection sensitivity was not supported.Practical implicationsThe authors recommend that organizations develop policies addressing boss phubbing in the workplace, particularly in contexts in which a high leader–member exchange is desired for organizational effectiveness, such as health-related services. Superiors, such as doctors, should review their mobile phone usage during interactions with subordinates because it is detrimental to employee outcomes.Originality/valueThis study is a nascent attempt to test the hypothesized relationships on the emerging phenomenon of phubbing at work in the human–computer interaction domain in Pakistan, a developing country, particularly in hospital settings where a high leader–member exchange is pivotal.

Employee-level consequences of perceived internal and external CSR: decoding the moderation and mediation paths

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether and how internal and external typologies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employees’ CSR participation (CSRP) differentially impact organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and turnover intentions (TI), mediated by meaningful work (MW) and affective commitment (AC) and moderated by CSR motive attributions. Design/methodology/approach Bootstrapped structural equation modeling using AMOS and mediation and moderation analysis using Hayes’ Process macro in SPSS are performed on a sample of 193 employees from diverse industries in India. Findings The CSR-work outcomes relationship is rather multifaceted. Internal CSR (ICSR) and CSRP directly promote the meaningfulness of work and AC. Further, all three kinds of CSR (ICSR, external CSR (ECSR) and CSRP) influence work behaviors (OCB and TI) sequentially via MW and AC. Intrinsic (extrinsic) CSR attributions strengthen (weaken) the positive effect of ECSR on MW. Nevertheless, the conditional indirect effects could not be established, warranting further investigation. Practical implications The management must elevate employees’ CSR awareness allowing them to partake in the planning and execution of CSR programs that are authentic, righteous and seamlessly unified with core business activities to nurture work meaningfulness and positive employee attitudes and behaviors. Originality/value This is the foremost study that involves a bibliometric analysis of employee-based CSR research and a systematic meta-analytic review of the relationship between CSR and meaningfulness from employees’ perspectives. The present study is novel as it divulges an integrative framework about how employees’ CSR perceptions, participation/volunteering and attributions collectively influence the work outcomes at three levels (namely, cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral), drawing on sensemaking, needs and justice-based views, social identity, social exchange and attribution theories. Thus, new nuances are added to extant micro-CSR literature.

The problem of CSR: an exploration of relationship between CSR initiatives and excess work ethic

Purpose The purpose of this study is to bring to light the downside of the positive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerning employee work practices. The focus is on the aspects of excess work ethic (EWE) that are hypothesized as the result of increased organizational identification (OI) due to CSR engagement. This excessive involvement by employees in their work results in neglect of their personal lives. Design/methodology/approach The sample has been taken from employees of various organizational sectors in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the hypothesized relationships among the variables in the conceptual framework. Findings The findings of the study reveal that CSR perception of employees negates the excessive work ethic but the introduction of a higher level of OI due to work meaningfulness indirectly positively affects EWE with pro-environmental orientation (PEO) as a moderator. Originality/value The relationship between CSR and variables such as work engagement has been explored in the recent literature but the heightened level of OI indulging the employees into overwork is rarely been explored. Also, the use of PEO as a mediator adds to the knowledge on the subject.

How Gig Worker Responds to Negative Customer Treatment: The Effects of Work Meaningfulness and Traits of Psychological Resilience

The negative interpersonal interaction between customers and platform gig workers has become a problem for platform owners and government. This study investigates the role of negative customer treatment in the context of gig work and its impact on gig workers’ sabotage behavior. A questionnaire survey approach was used in the study, collected three-wave survey data from 258 Chinese gig workers including food-deliver platform workers and app-based ride-hailing drivers. Both effects of the mediation and moderation were tested, all of which find support, using hierarchical multiple regression by SPSS22.0. Results indicate that negative customer treatment can also predict gig workers’ service sabotage through work meaningfulness. Furthermore, positive customer treatment acted as an effective safeguard against the effects of negative customer treatment on employee service sabotage. Trait psychological resilience can also mitigate the effects of a low level of work meaningfulness. The manuscript’s focus provides an interesting angle to the previous research, especially the inclusion of work meaningfulness and trait resilience, on negative customer treatment in the context of gig work. This study contributes to further broaden the perspective of conservation of resource (COR) theory for individual intrinsic motivation analysis. Practical implications for platform management and government governance have also been discussed in this manuscript.

Predictors of employees’ self-reported future learning ability and disengagement at work

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between job characteristics that foster learning (experience with and demand for continuous learning at work, skills variety and autonomy) as potential predictors of self-reported outcomes, such as future learning ability and employee disengagement at work for a cohort of employees with no or very limited job change experience. Further consideration was given to employees’ experiences at work (meaningfulness and recognition at work) as potential mediators in this relationship between job characteristics and employee outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was applied. Participants (N = 284) were recruited from Northern Germany and asked to complete a paper-and-pencil survey. The results were subsequently analyzed using path models to examine direct and indirect effects associated with mediation. Findings Path model analysis indicated that job characteristics promoting learning at work are positive predictors of self-reported future learning ability and negative predictors of disengagement. Both meaningfulness and recognition predict future learning ability as well. However, these variables only operated as significant mediators in the relationship between job characteristics and employee disengagement (but not self-reported future learning ability). Originality/value The study outlines the importance of job characteristics and employee experience to understand employees’ beliefs about their learning ability and engagement at work. The findings highlight the importance of meaningfulness and recognition for employees, as well as the role of learning-supportive job characteristics.