Effort-Reward Imbalance and Intention to Retire Early in Australian Healthcare Workers

Objectives – Retaining older workers in the Australian Healthcare System in rural areas is critical in preventing an imminent workforce crisis. Traditionally, healthcare workers have retired earlier than other groups. Using an internationally recognised model of job stress, the aim of this study was to examine the influence of Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) in predicting psychological strain and intention to retire in older Australian healthcare workers. Method – Utilising a cross-sectional design, data was obtained from 295 women and men aged over 55 years, working as professional healthcare workers in a rural Australian setting. ERI was measured using the 23-item scale developed by Siegrist (Siegrist, 2002); psychological strain was measured using the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and a question on retirement intentions was developed. Results – The results confirm that those employees who experience high ERI and higher levels of overcommitment (OVC) experience psychological strain. Support for the three-way interaction was mixed: at low levels of OVC, higher levels of effort and increasing reward decreased strain, yet at high levels of OVC, increasing reward increased strain. This study could not confirm an association between intention to retire early and effort, reward, OVC or strain.

Effects of Cultural Diversity and Emotional Regulation Strategies on Team Member Performance

Research on the effects of cultural diversity on individual team member performance has typically assumed a linear relationship, but has yielded mixed findings. In the study, we address these inconsistencies by hypothesizing an optimal (mid-range) level of diversity that maximizes performance. Given the potential for negative emotions to arise within a diverse team, we also hypothesize that team members who employ emotional self-regulation strategies will demonstrate stronger performance. We adopt an individual-level perspective, assessing diversity as the cultural dissimilarity between each individual and their teammates. Using a sample of 103 postgraduate students (23 teams with 3–6 participants in each), we found evidence of a curvilinear relationship between cultural dissimilarity and individual team member performance. Contrary to our expectations, we found that individual performance is greatest at very low and very high levels of dissimilarity. In terms of emotional regulation strategies, we found that cognitive reappraisal was associated with higher performance, but there was no evidence for the effects of expressive suppression. Together, the present findings challenge the assumption that the diversity-performance relationship is linear. Our findings also indicate individual performance in culturally diverse teams is influenced by individuals’ use of cognitive reappraisal to regulate negative emotions.

The Importance of Stability in the Midst of Change: The Benefits of Consistent Values to Strategic Implementation

Many hurdles, such as inadequate resources, impede the execution of strategies in organizations. These problems could partly be ascribed to the tendency of individuals to feel, in the midst of change, their identity could shift dramatically. Their activities now, therefore, may not seem meaningful to their future. In this state, people become more concerned about their immediate needs, withholding the effort needed to affect future change. Leaders who promote stable, consistent values over time might redress this concern. To assess this possibility, 208 senior managers completed a questionnaire that assesses consistency of values over time, a sense of meaning at work, hurdles that impede the execution of strategy, and firm performance. Consistent with the hypotheses, consistent values over time were positively associated with firm performance, and these relationships were mediated by meaning at work and hurdles that impede strategy. A qualitative study showed that managers utilize many approaches to foster this consistency of values. Specifically, they communicate their strategic plan regularly, redress misalignments between values and practice, encourage the participation of all departments equally, and seek the active support of senior management-all intended to show how perturbations in the organization align to an overarching, enduring vision.

Organisational Climate and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour of Employees in Selected Private Companies in South-East, Nigeria

This paper investigated the relationship between organisational climate and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among employees of selected private companies in south-eastern Nigeria. It examined the relationship between each of the three dimensions of organisational climate (reflexivity, innovation and outward focus) and OCB. A total of 262 (Male = 184; Female = 78) respondents that were randomly selected among employees of private manufacturing companies in Abia state participated in the study. Data were collected through standardised psychological scales viz organisational climate measure (OCM) and organisational citizenship behaviour checklists (OCBC). Data were analysed using Multiple Regression. Results revealed that organisational climate significantly predicted OCB. It further showed a significant positive relationship between reflexivity and OCB, innovation and OCB and a significant inverse relationship between outward focus and OCB. The study concluded that organisational climate had a significant positive relationship with OCB among employees of private companies in Abia state. The study recommended that private organisations need to promote a positive organisational climate as much as possible to facilitate adequate display of OCB.

General Self-Efficacy and Psychological Resilience Promote Skill Acquisition Rate Under Psychological Pressure

This study extends the limited body of research exploring the association between psychological resources and performance under pressure. It was anticipated that participants’ general self-efficacy and resilience would positively influence skill acquisition rate more under high pressure, than low pressure. Eighty-one undergraduate students (Mage = 22.93; SD = 7.53; 50.6% female) participated in a learning task: to fly a flight simulator. The within-subjects variable was the participant's ability to steadily control the aircraft roll across six trials. Psychological pressure was manipulated between-subjects and general self-efficacy and resilience were measured moderator variables. Findings indicated that under high pressure, higher levels of general self-efficacy and perceived resilience predicted faster initial skill acquisition compared to those with lower levels of these resources. In contrast, in the low-pressure condition, the skill acquisition rate was the same irrespective of psychological resources. This research highlights the importance of psychological resources in pressured training contexts.

Which Cognitive Biases can Exacerbate our Workload?

Despite the advent of technologies that enhance productivity, the workload of many individuals, including psychologists, remains onerous, provoking burnout and similar complications. Although the circumstances that mitigate or exacerbate the effects of workload have been studied extensively, the antecedents of these demands have not been established definitively. Without this insight, managers cannot be sure of which practices are likely to contain the workload of individuals. To resolve this shortfall, we first pose the possibility that many cognitive biases, heuristics, and illusions may, at least partly, explain elevated levels of workload. Specifically, we demonstrate that 14 established biases, such as the restraint bias and IKEA effect, are likely to prolong work hours and increase the demands on individuals. For example, according to research on the restraint bias, individuals tend to inflate their capacity to inhibit their temptations and, therefore, may overestimate their ability to work extensive hours. Second, we show that all these biases can be divided into four constellations—self-enhancement, stable worldviews, need for closure, and just world—each of which tends to dissipate whenever people experience a sense of meaning in their lives. These observations, therefore, imply that attempts to foster meaning may contain the workload of workers.

Perceived Organisational Support: A Cross-National Comparative Study Between Ghanaian and Finnish Industrial Workers–RETRACTION

Australian Journal of Organisational Psychology wishes to inform its readers that this paper has been retracted due to the misrepresentation of research data and non-compliance with accepted procedures in relation to publication of research by the first author, Seth Ayim Gyekye.

Bridge Individuals in Multinational Organisations

In multinational organisations, individuals who mediate or bridge between different national and cultural groups, such as headquarters (HQ) and foreign subsidiaries, play a critical role and are known as ‘bridge individuals’. This perspective article reviews the recent literature on bridge individuals and offers future research directions in which organisational psychology can contribute to the deeper understanding of the individuals in this role. I propose the interdisciplinary approach, in which knowledge of organisational psychology and other academic fields, such as cognitive linguistics, cross-cultural communication, and social network theory, are integrated when studying bridge individuals.

Burnout and Engagement in Health Profession Students: The Relationships Between Study Demands, Study Resources and Personal Resources

Burnout has been related to increased suicidal thoughts, lower self-esteem and dropout in university students. Engagement in students, however, has been underexplored. This study uses the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the Conservational of Resources (COR) model to contribute to the knowledge about burnout and engagement in health profession university students. In particular, the role of personal resources, including psychological flexibility, was examined. Participants were 260 nursing, social work, occupational therapy and psychology students from 10 Australian universities. Regression analyses were used to test the JD-R model with a health profession student sample. The model was extended by including personal resources and testing mediation and moderation hypotheses. Personal resources contributed significant additional variance to the model. Mediation effects of study demands and resources with psychological flexibility were found, while moderation effects were not. The results indicate the validity of the JD-R model in a health profession student population and the important role of personal resources. Further design and evaluation of interventions targeting personal resources and study demands and resources are indicated.

Evaluation of the Work Safety and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Disability Support Workers

This study investigated organisational factors impacting disability support worker (DSW) psychosocial wellbeing and work safety to understand the relationship between wellbeing, using measures of burnout and job satisfaction, and work conditions and safety performance. This study also investigated factors predicting wellbeing using the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model. A sample of 87 DSWs completed normed measures of burnout, work conditions, and safety climate. Results showed DSWs experienced significantly higher personal and work-related burnout but significantly lower client-related burnout. Although the JDCS model components did not all predict any single wellbeing measure, they each predicted aspects of burnout and job satisfaction, with these wellbeing measures associated with safety performance. Findings highlighted the importance of monitoring worker job demands, support availability, and job control to improve safety performance. Compared to normative data, DSWs were experiencing significantly higher role conflict, the negative impact of which was effectively moderated by support for personal and work-related burnout and job satisfaction. Findings suggest the need to consider DSW work conditions, and particularly work practices contributing to role conflict, as well as increasing support for DSWs to prevent the development of personal and work-related burnout. Findings suggest further research associated with client-related burnout is required.