Ageism in Hiring Decisions: Sense of Purpose as a Mitigating Strategy

Discrimination against older adults in the workplace is a pervasive issue that has important consequences for older adults, leading to lower well-being (Stokes & Moorman, 2020) and worse job outcomes (Macdonald & Levy, 2016). One area where discrimination manifests is in hiring practices, and thus research is needed to understand factors that impact willingness to hire older adults. One potential intervention target to reduce age discrimination in hiring is sense of purpose. Sense of purpose manipulations have previously been successful in increasing one’s comfort with diversity (Burrow & Hill, 2013), and thus may prove successful in combatting age discrimination in the workplace. Therefore, the current studies sought to understand whether sense of purpose was related to ageist attitudes and hiring decisions, and how a purpose manipulation might serve as a tool to combat discrimination in hiring. Across two studies (n = 594, MAge = 27.20), participants were shown the resumé of either an older adult applicant (62-years-old) or younger adult applicant (32-years-old), and were asked how hireable they would rate the applicant. The research found that the purpose manipulation did effectively increase individuals’ sense of purpose. In addition, the research found that sense of purpose was negatively related to ageist attitudes. However, the purpose manipulation was unsuccessful in reducing ageist attitudes, and had no effect on ageist discrimination in hiring. These results suggest that while sense of purpose is negatively related to ageist attitudes, manipulating purpose may not be an effective tool to reduce ageist attitudes or discrimination.

Predicting employee telecommuting preferences and job outcomes amid COVID-19 pandemic: a latent profile analysis

In this two-study research using latent profile analysis (LPA), we investigated intra-individual combinations of conscientiousness, autonomy, self-regulation, and extraversion. Based on these combinations, we designed profiles and explored telecommuting preferences and job outcomes of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, we recruited 199 participants (77 females, ages ranging from 18 to 65). Results of this study revealed three profiles. One profile scored high on all of the variables and displayed preferences for working on-site more than the other profiles. Additionally, this profile showed higher work engagement, job satisfaction, and perceived productivity than the other two profiles. To validate these findings, we conducted a second study with a sample of 492 participants (169 females; age ranged from 18 to 65). The results yielded five profiles, one scoring high on all of the variables. Similar to Study 1, this profile exhibited higher work engagement, job satisfaction, and perceived productivity than the other four profiles. Individuals in this profile preferred to work on-site compared to individuals in other profiles. Our findings add to the research demonstrating the importance of personality characteristics for telecommuting preferences and work-related outcomes.

Stressors, Organization Citizenship Behavior and Islamic Work Ethics

In response to the need of study fulfilling the interplay between stressors and job outcomes, the present study has been carried out. We also examined the moderating role of Islamic Work ethics in the proposed relationship. Based on the purposive sampling technique, a sample of 287 employees working in Public sector organizations were selected. Results of the study supported the proposed hypotheses, indicating that the challenge stressors have positive and hindrance stressors have negative relation with organizational citizenship behavior. We also found that the Islamic Work Ethics moderates the said relationship in such a way that higher level of Islamic Work Ethics strengthen the relationship between challenge stressors and organization citizenship behavior and weaken the relationship between hindrance stressors and organization citizenship behavior.

Organizational Politics and Work Outcomes: Moderating Role of Top Management Political Skills

This quantitative research was conducted to investigate the direct effects of Organizational Politics and moderating role of Top Management Political Skills on job outcomes such as Job Satisfaction and Employee Job Performance. The data was collected from 151 employees working in a private multinational tobacco manufacturing organization Phillip Morris Swabi Pakistan. Organizational Politics with others job outcomes were also studied in Pakistani context but the moderating effect of Political Skills needs to study for minimizing the negative consequences on employees and organizational goals. Self-administered questionnaire on 5-pointLikert scale was used for data collection. SPSS 21 was used for analysis and Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Correlation and Regression analysis were run for hypotheses testing. A letter was forwarded to IR manager for questionnaire filling assuring the confidentiality of the responses made by individuals and the reason choosing their organization for the study. The results revealed negative significant positive between Organizational Politics and Employee job performance and job satisfaction. The results also revealed that there is positive significant effect between the relationship of Organizational Politics and job outcomes i.e. Job Satisfaction and Employee Job Performance for the moderating role of Top Management Political Skills. Managerial implication and future research directions are suggested for further research.

Knowledge Diversity and Employee Outcomes

This research investigates the impact of perceived knowledge diversity (PKD) on job outcomes such as job satisfaction (JS) and job performance (JP). Next, this study also explores the moderating role of workforce diversity management (WFDM) on the relationship between PKD and employee job outcomes (EJO). SPSS and AMOS-SEM are used to analyze the data. The findings show that PKD is positively related to JS and negatively associated with JP. WFDM moderates the relationship between PKD and EJO (JS and JP). There are many studies related to diversity and its management, but most of the studies are from an American perspective that deals with diversity related to age, gender, race, ethnicity, etc. (surface-level diversity). The study in diversity in knowledge, value, personality, belief, etc. (deep-level diversity) is scanned in the literature. This study aims to address this void, particularly investigating knowledge diversity in research by establishing how WFDM moderates the relationship between PKD and employee outcomes.

Extroversion and Conscientiousness Predict Deteriorating Job Outcomes During the COVID-19 Transition to Enforced Remote Work

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations around the world rapidly transitioned to enforced remote work. We examined the relationship between personality and within-person changes in five job outcomes (self-reported performance, engagement, job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intentions) during this transition. We conducted a four-wave longitudinal study, from May to August 2020, of employees working from home due to COVID-19, N = 974. On average, self-reported performance decreased over the course of the study, whereas the other outcomes remained stable. There was also significant between-person variability in job outcomes. Extroversion and conscientiousness, two traits traditionally associated with desirable outcomes, were associated with deteriorating outcomes over time. Extroverted employees and conscientious employees became less productive, less engaged, and less satisfied with their jobs; and extroverted employees reported increasing burnout. These results add to our understanding of how personality predicts within-person changes in performance, well-being, and turnover intentions during the pandemic.