High Job Demands, Still Engaged and Not Burned Out? The Role of Job Crafting

When high work engagement is negative for family tasks: mechanisms and boundary conditions

Background

Typically, work engagement is positively related to beneficial job outcomes. Earlier studies, however, revealed a "dark side" of work engagement showing negative effects such as more work-family conflict. Using a resource perspective, our study seeks to better understand why and when these negative effects of work engagement occur. Specifically, we test a new model in which the relationship of work engagement with work-family conflict is mediated by organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and work rumination. Moreover, we argue that employees' resource-building strategies (i.e., job crafting) and resource levels (i.e., psychological capital) buffer resource depletion due to high work engagement.

Methods

We tested our assumptions in a field study that involved data collected on three measurement points with 523 employees from Nigeria. The measures consist of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale, Work Rumination Scale, Psychological Capital Scale, Job Crafting Measure, Work-family Conflict Scale, and demographic variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

Results and discussion

Results from latent structure equation modelling confirm that work rumination mediates the positive relationship between work engagement and work-family conflict. Additionally, our findings suggest that behavioral engagement (i.e.,OCB) and work rumination mediate the relationship between work engagement and work-family conflict. Moreover, psychological capital mitigated the relationships of work engagement with work rumination, but not job crafting. Our study helps to better understand the "dark side" of work engagement and offers implications on how to mitigate its detrimental relationship with work-family conflict.

A new perspective on balancing life domains: work-nonwork balance crafting

BACKGROUND

Self-initiated and proactive changes in working conditions through crafting are essential for shaping work and improving work-related well-being. Recently, the research stream of job crafting has been extended to other life domains. The present paper aims to study a novel crafting concept-work-nonwork balance crafting-investigating the role of its antecedents and identifying relevant outcomes. Work-nonwork balance crafting is defined as individuals' unofficial techniques and activities to shape their work-nonwork balance, here considering their life domain boundary preferences.

METHODS

In the study, 1,060 employees in three European countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) were surveyed in a longitudinal three-wave study with three-month intervals. We explored the influences of job/home demands and resources as antecedents of work-nonwork balance crafting. Important constructs for employee health and well-being (i.e., work engagement, work-related burnout, mental well-being and detachment from work) were investigated as outcomes.

RESULTS

The findings suggest that resources and demands in the context of work or home are key antecedents of work-nonwork balance crafting. Work-nonwork balance crafting was also predictive for important employee health and well-being outcomes over three months, mainly in a positive and health-promoting way.

CONCLUSION

This study provides insights into the antecedents of proactive efforts to balance the complex interplay of life domains. By studying work-nonwork balance crafting, we provide a new perspective on crafting beyond job crafting, which may help maintain or improve employees' mental health and well-being.

Co-Active Coping Inventory: Development and Validation for the Chilean Population

Co-active coping is a fundamental construct in organizational and work environments as it allows for the exploration of individual and group behaviors within organizations. The aim of this study was to develop a new scale called the Co-Active Coping Inventory in the Chilean context. The sample was comprised of 1,442 workers with an average age of 30.48 years (SD = 11.13). 55% were public-sector workers, 34.5% were workers in private commercial organizations, and 10.5% belonged to non-profit private organizations. Different exploratory factor analyses were performed, and the best exploratory model was verified with a confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, multiple linear regressions were used to analyze which dimensions of co-active coping helped predict workers' burnout (emotional exhaustion, affective hardening, and personal fulfillment) and symptomatology (psychological and somatic). Based on the exploratory and confirmatory approach, the Co-Active Coping Inventory showed a good fit to a structure of five correlated factors (Reflective Action, Rash Action, Search for Spiritual Support, Search for Affective Support and Evasion), demonstrating measurement invariance in terms of sex and type of organization. The different domains of co-active coping explain between 20% (emotional exhaustion) and 41% (affective hardening) of occupational burnout and around 3-5% of workers' symptomatology, with reflective action being the most important variable. These results indicate that the new scale has suitable psychometric properties; it can assess coping strategies in the Chilean organizational context in a reliable and valid way. These coping strategies have demonstrated certain importance in relation to organizational and clinical variables.

Latent burnout profiles of veterinarians in Canada: Findings from a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Although burnout is often discussed as 'present' or 'not-present', the conceptual framework of an engagement-burnout continuum is more accurate and useful. Recognition of individuals' transitional states of burnout also allows for earlier detection of issues and tailored interventions to address the full burnout spectrum.

METHODS

Previously reported Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Scale (MBI-HSS) data from a 2017 national survey of 1272 veterinarians across Canada were re-analysed using a latent profile analysis to classify individuals along the engagement-burnout continuum.

RESULTS

Four clusters were identified: engaged (10.8%), ineffective (18.9%), overextended (29.6%) and burnout (40.7%). These results indicate that most participants (89.2%) had one, or a combination, of high exhaustion, high depersonalisation and low professional efficacy.

LIMITATIONS

This cross-sectional study represents data from one point in time and may be subject to response bias.

CONCLUSION

We discuss strategies-particularly long-term, organisational-level interventions-to promote engagement and help address workplace issues contributing to inefficacy, overextension and burnout in the veterinary profession. We also recommend MBI data be analysed via latent profiles to provide a more nuanced view of burnout, allow for earlier recognition of workplace issues and facilitate more meaningful interventions and comparisons across populations.

Impact of Inclusive Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of Job Crafting

The study aims to examine the mediating role of job crafting between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. The data were collected from 314 workers employed in China’s small and medium-sized industries. The data collection was done through survey design. The data analysis was done using Spss 26.0 and through structural equation modeling by Mplus 8. Inclusive leadership was found to be related to job crafting and innovative work behavior of the employees. Job crafting was found to be mediating between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. The study delineated the link mechanism between inclusive leadership and innovative work behavior. Studying inclusive leadership in the context of Chinese culture is a powerful complement to inclusive leadership theory. This paper provides the managers of SMEs with significant managerial insights into how inclusive leadership can effectively motivate employees’ innovative work behaviors.

The Mediation Chain Effect of Cognitive Crafting and Personal Resources on the Relationship between Role Ambiguity and Dentists' Emotional Exhaustion

Based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), Conservation of Resources (COR) and self-regulation theories integration, this study investigated the association between role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion among 191 Romanian dentists, as well as the chain mediating role of cognitive crafting and three personal resources (resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy). Three conceptual models which included, separately, the three personal resources were proposed. PROCESS macros were used to verify the hypotheses related to the testing of the path mediation models. The results indicated that role ambiguity was directly and positively associated with dentists' burnout. More importantly, the sequential indirect effect of role ambiguity on burnout via mediators in chains (cognitive crafting and resilience for the first model; cognitive crafting and optimism for the second model; cognitive crafting and self-efficacy for the third model) was significant. The findings provide a direction for dentists' health intervention because it reveals how the negative impact of role ambiguity on emotional exhaustion increasing can be buffered by the cumulative effect of cognitive crafting and different personal resources, as a result of their chain reinforcement.

Job demands-resources theory in times of crises: New propositions

This theoretical paper presents an extended Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) theory aimed at understanding how organizations and their employees can best deal with COVID-19 and other crises in the workplace. The crisis showed that job characteristics alone are insufficient to explain employee health and motivation, i.e., the two focal outcomes of the JD-R theory. Rather, demands and resources of the individual, the family, the job and the organization interact with each other to predict outcomes. Moreover, next to individual regulatory strategies also the regulatory strategies of the family, the leader and organization/team are suggested to modify the impact of demands and resources on outcomes. This was possible by integrating the crisis management literature in JD-R theory. Viewing the crisis from a job design perspective helped us to introduce several new and testable propositions that specify how employee well-being and functioning are impacted by crises and turbulent times.

Plain Language Summary

Organizations have been struggling to find out how their employees are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and what they can do to support their well-being and improve their functioning during the pandemic and beyond. The well-being and job performance of individual employees are difficult to predict which becomes even more complicated during times of crisis. The Job Demands–Resources theory is a helpful means because it suggests that employee health and motivation are outcomes of two different processes, i.e., the health impairment process and the motivational process. Job demands, such as work pressure and demanding customers, exhaust the energy of employees and consequently diminish their health, whereas job resources, such as autonomy and social support, help employees to deal with the demands and to develop themselves. The pandemic showed that the interplay between demands and resources of the individual, the job, the family and the organization predict outcomes. Moreover, next to individual regulatory strategies also the regulatory strategies of the family, the leader and organization/team are suggested to modify the impact of demands and resources on outcomes. Viewing the crisis from a job design perspective helped us to introduce in the Job Demands–Resources theory several testable propositions that specify how employee well-being and functioning are impacted by crises and turbulent times.

How Should Job Crafting Interventions Be Implemented to Make Their Effects Last? Protocol for a Group Concept Mapping Study

BACKGROUND

By means of job crafting (JC) employees shape and customize their job design to align it with their preferences. Research has so far shown that such bottom-up proactivity can be stimulated via JC interventions. While the overall effectiveness behind these interventions has been supported, it is unclear how to implement these interventions to make their effects lasting.

METHODS

The overall aim of this project will be to investigate how to implement JC interventions with lasting effects. We will apply a group concept mapping (GCM) methodology, which is a mixed methods approach of exploratory nature for engaging stakeholder groups in a structured conceptualization process. As part of concept mapping procedures, brainstorming sessions will be conducted with experts in job crafting to identify factors expected to make job crafting intervention effects lasting. These factors will be sorted by similarity and rated by each participant in regard to their perceived importance and feasibility to ensure lasting, sustainable effects. The data will be analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS), hierarchical cluster analysis, and descriptive and inferential statistics, resulting in a visual representation of conceptually distinguished clusters representing the factors influencing the sustainability of JC interventions. In the final step, a workshop will be conducted with the participants to facilitate the interpretation of the results.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

This study will provide knowledge relevant to organizational practitioners and scholars who want to implement JC interventions with lasting effects. Although data collected following the group concept mapping procedure is self-reported and at risk of being simplified, the method allows for a structured conceptualization process integrating different perspectives and uncovering implicit knowledge making it suitable for studying complex phenomena. The results will not only enrich the current literature concerning the effectiveness of JC interventions but also be used to develop a practitioner-oriented toolkit outlining evidence-based recommendations concerning designing and implementing, as well as evaluating JC interventions.

The Role of Staff-Assessed Care Quality in the Relationship between Job Demands and Stress in Human Service Work: The Example of Dentistry

The aim of this study was to investigate staff-assessed care quality at the clinic as a predictor of stress and as a moderator between job demands (quantitative demands and role conflict) and stress among dental professionals as an example of human service workers. Cross-sectional questionnaire data from 1012 dental professionals (i.e., dentists, dental hygienists and dental nurses) working at 99 clinics were analysed by confirmatory factor analysis and a two-level hierarchical linear model. Stress, quantitative demands and role conflict were measured by the Swedish standard version of COPSOQ III and care quality was measured by three proprietary items. The results showed that staff-assessed care quality at the clinic was of importance for the individual workers' experiences of stress. Furthermore, the staff's joint assessment of the care quality at the clinic mitigated the negative effect of role conflict on stress among dental nurses. These results indicate that a high level of staff-assessed care quality at the clinic can contribute to reduced stress in dental professionals.

Organisational support and teachers’ performance: The moderating role of job crafting

Orientation: Teachers fulfil an essential role in students’ learning and the prosperity of nations. Hence, teacher performance, and the determinants thereof, are vital to understand.Research purpose: To extend the conversation on teacher performance in a non-WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialised and democratic) nation, the authors aimed to investigate potential factors that may influence teachers’ performance, specifically from the perspective of perceived organisational support (POS) and job crafting.Motivation for the study: Due to the widespread impact of teacher performance and the potential of both POS and job crafting to enable it, it is valuable to investigate the collective effect of these variables on individual work performance.Research approach/design and method: This quantitative cross-sectional study involved 207 teachers conveniently sampled from private educational organisations in Gauteng. The Survey of Perceived Organisational Support, Job Crafting Questionnaire and an Individual Work Performance Subscale were administered to assess the study variables. Structural equation modelling was employed to confirm the dimensionality of the scales, followed by moderation analysis for hypothesis testing.Main findings: The results of the moderation analysis showed that the effect of POS on teachers’ performance is conditional upon teachers’ job crafting behaviours in the organisation. More specifically, organisational support matters for teachers’ performance but only for those with low to moderate levels of job crafting.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations could implement interventions to enhance teachers’ perceptions of support from the organisation to improve their performance. Simultaneously, organisations can invest in interventions that teach teachers to craft their jobs and create organisational environments that foster job crafting behaviours.Contribution/value-add: The study contributes to the limited body of literature on teachers’ performance in a developing context and literature on organisational support and job crafting.

The curvilinear relationship between hindrance stressors and bootlegging: the moderate role of state ownership

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide insights into bootleg innovation by investigating whether perceived hindrance stressors play an important role in bootlegging and how different organizational ownership types (state-owned enterprises (SOEs) vs non-SOEs) affect this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The study samples comprised 3,967 employees from 674 knowledge-intensive companies in southern China. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the results show that hindrance stressors have a curvilinear (U-shaped) influence on bootleg innovation, and that the curve relationship between the hindrance stressors and bootlegging is more pronounced among employees in non-SOEs.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that either a low or high level of hindrance stressors can activate a high level of bootlegging activities among employees. These results suggest that managers need to be vigilant in detecting the level of hindrance because different motivations predominate at different stressor levels.

Originality/value

Based on the COR theory, the findings cast perceived hindrance stressors as an antecedent of bootlegging at the individual level. The inquiry into state ownership types further provides a comprehensive understanding of the non-linear relationship between hindrance stressors and bootlegging.

Does Servant Leadership Stimulate Work Engagement? The Moderating Role of Trust in the Leader

A positive leadership style can promote work engagement. Using social exchange theory, this study examines the impact of employee leadership styles on work engagement. In addition, the link also considered the mitigating role of trust in leaders. Preliminary data were collected from the educational and non-educational staff of the Business Management Sciences and Education Department at different universities. We collected responses from 242 employees from selected universities using the purposive sampling technique. We tested the proposed hypothesis using linear regression. Research has shown that there is a positive link between employee leadership and work engagement. When trust in leaders as facilitators was introduced, the relationship between leadership and work engagement was relaxed to increase trust in leaders. Practical and theoretical contributions to the study were provided with recommendations for further study.

Job and work context elements in fostering employee creative behavior: exploring the moderating role of work passion

How does employees' work context and job characteristics influence their creative behavior? To explore this question, this study draws on the Job Demands – Job Resources (JD-R) model to examine the role of excessive work overload and training and development on employee creative behaviors. Additionally, the study explores whether employees' work passion mitigates or enhances the effects of work overload and training and development on their creative behavior. Data from 142 employee–supervisor dyads in a Singaporean telecommunications organization showed that work overload had a marginally significant positive effect on employee creative behavior. Additionally, employees' work passion was found to enhance the effects of training and development on their creative behavior. The study contributes to ongoing debates in the literature regarding how specific characteristics of one's job and targeted human resource practices may foster employee creativity.

Burn-out and employability rates are impacted by the level of job autonomy and workload among Dutch gastroenterologists

Background

Increasing burn‐out rates among gastroenterologists make it necessary to find ways to prevent burn‐out and to stimulate their ability and willingness to continue working (i.e., their employability). Understanding their antecedents might help organizations to prevent burn‐out and to enhance employability among this occupational group.

Objective

The purpose of this study is to provide insight in the relationship between job characteristics and job crafting behavior on the one hand and job outcomes (burn‐out symptoms and employability) on the other hand.

Methods

Data from two surveys in 2020 and 2021 were collected in a longitudinal study among 238 Dutch gastroenterologists. The data were analyzed with multiple linear regression analyses and paired‐samples t‐tests.

Results

Job characteristics, specifically job aspects that require sustained physical and/or psychological effort or skills (i.e., job demands), are important predictors of burn‐out symptoms among gastroenterologists. Specifically, high quantitative and emotional workload are significantly related to more burn‐out symptoms. No strong relationship was found between job crafting and burn‐out symptoms. Furthermore, job aspects that reduce the negative impact of these demanding aspects and that help to achieve work goals (i.e., job resources), and job demands to some extent, significantly predict employability. In particular, high job autonomy is related to higher employability, and high quantitative workload is associated with lower employability. Job crafting does not significantly affect employability. Furthermore, levels of burn‐out symptoms and employability differed only little across time.

Conclusion

In gastroenterologists, a high quantitative workload and emotional workload are associated with a higher burn‐out risk, while low job autonomy and high quantitative workload are associated with more negative perceptions of employability. To prevent burn‐out and to create positive perceptions of employability, it is important to take these aspects into account.

Don't Call It Smart: Working From Home During the Pandemic Crisis

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and related social distancing measures have significantly changed worldwide employment conditions. In developed economies, institutions and organizations, both public and private, are called upon to reflect on new organizational models of work and human resource management, which - in fact - should offer workers sufficient flexibility in adapting their work schedules remotely to their personal (and family) needs. This study aims to explore, within a Job Demands-Resources framework, whether and to what extent job demands (workload and social isolation), organizational job resources (perceived organizational support), and personal resources (self-efficacy, vision about the future and commitment to organizational change) have affected workers’ quality of life during the pandemic, taking into account the potential mediating role of job satisfaction and perceived stress. Using data from a sample of 293 workers, we estimate measurement and structural models, according to the Item Response Theory and the Path analysis frameworks, which allow us to operationalize the latent traits and study the complex structure of relationships between the latent dimensions. We inserted in the model as control variables, the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the respondents, with particular emphasis on gender differences and the presence and age of children. The study offers insights into the relationship between remote work and quality of life, and the need to rethink human resource management policies considering the opportunities and critical issues highlighted by working full-time remotely.

Leading the Challenge: Leader Support Modifies the Effect of Role Ambiguity on Engagement and Extra-Role Behaviors in Public Employees

The assumption of new challenges and services to provide, and the evolution of new technologies in public administration, give employees an important perception of ambiguity when carrying out their work. Role ambiguity has been conceptualized as one of the main impeding demands at work with negative consequences. The objective of the present study is to analyze the moderating effect of the support by the department head in the negative influence of the role ambiguity on the engagement and the extra-role performance behaviors of the employees. The hypothesis is proposed that the support of the department head will mean the transformation of role ambiguity into a challenging job demand with positive results. A total of 315 public employees with administrative staff have participated in this study. Results confirmed that the support of the leader moderates the effects of role ambiguity. The inclusion of this variable as a moderator transforms the influence of role ambiguity on the employees' engagement into a positive one and reduces their negative effect on extra-role performance behaviors. These results reinforce the role of leader support as a protective element against job demands in public administrations. Theoretical and practical implications and future lines of research are discussed at the end of the work.

Workload, Techno Overload, and Behavioral Stress During COVID-19 Emergency: The Role of Job Crafting in Remote Workers

The radical changes deriving from the COVID-19 emergency have heavily upset some of the most familiar routines of daily work life. Abruptly, many workers have been forced to face the difficulties that come with switching to remote working. Basing on the theoretical framework proposed by the Job Demands-Resources model, the purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of work overload (workload and techno overload), on behavioral stress, meant as an outcome linked to the health impairment process. Furthermore, the aim of the study was to explore the mediating role of job crafting, considered as a second-order construct consisting of two dimensions (increasing structural resources and increasing challenging demands) in the abovementioned relation. Participants were 530 workers experiencing remote working or work-from-home during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy (March–May 2020). Hypotheses were explored by using three different latent variables, measured reflexively through indicators on a 5-point scale, extracted from validated questionnaires. Data analysis was performed through Structural Equation Modeling; to test the mediation, bootstrap validation was computed (n = 2,000). Results showed that the mediation of job crafting was partial. More specifically, the direct effect between work overload and behavioral stress was positive; moreover, the indirect, negative effect through the mediation of job crafting was also significant. Therefore, results showed that job crafting can play a crucial role as a protective factor supporting the activation and adjustment of suitable resources; these resources can be useful to deal with the negative effects of work overload, particularly under the condition of heavy remote working and use of technologies, on individual outcomes. Starting from the current global scenario of the pandemic that has not yet ceased its effects, the study suggested decisive theoretical and practical implications. Accordingly, findings extended the current trends in occupational health psychology research, with special reference to the mainstream topic “work and COVID-19” in the Italian context. Finally, results can give suggestions to companies engaged in managing change, recommending that they build a collaborative workplace at the individual and collective level to implement job crafting interventions and enrich the personal and organizational resources of workers, which is useful cope with the current demands.

Interactions of Approach and Avoidance Job Crafting and Work Engagement: A Comparison between Employees Affected and Not Affected by Organizational Changes

Job crafting describes proactive employee behaviors to improve the design of their work and working conditions, and to adapt their job to better suit their abilities and needs. During organizational changes, employees may use job crafting to adjust to the changes in their work and protect their well-being and motivation, i.e., work engagement. However, research shows that although the effects of job crafting strategies that expand the design of work (approach job crafting) have been positive on work engagement, the effects of job crafting strategies that diminish the scope of work (avoidance job crafting) have often been negative. This study investigated the effects of the interactions between different job crafting strategies on work engagement, an aspect that has not thus far been studied. Specifically, we hypothesized that avoidance job crafting is not harmful for work engagement when it is conducted in combination with approach job crafting, particularly during times of organizational change. A two-wave, 18-month follow-up study was conducted among public sector workers who either experienced (n = 479) or did not experience (n = 412) changes in their work. Latent moderated structural equation modeling revealed that avoidance job crafting did not reduce work engagement when combined with approach job crafting behaviors. Moreover, job crafting best benefited work engagement when it was combined with these opposing strategies. However, job crafting was beneficial for work engagement only among employees who were affected by organizational changes, that is, among employees whose job design had changed. Practically, organizations implementing changes could encourage proactive job redesign approaches among their employees—particularly both approach and avoidance types of job crafting strategies.

The Crossover Effects of Supervisors' Workaholism on Subordinates' Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Two Types of Job Demands and Emotional Exhaustion

Although much research has been conducted on workaholism, its crossover effects remain uninvestigated, especially in the context of organizations. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of burnout and the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we established a dual-path structural model to examine the effects of supervisors’ workaholism on subordinates’ turnover intention through two types of job demands (perceived workload and interpersonal conflict) as well as subordinates’ emotional exhaustion. The results revealed that supervisors’ workaholism is positively related to subordinates’ emotional exhaustion through increased perceived workload and interpersonal conflict, which result in subordinates’ turnover intention. This study has made a contribution to the literature by extending the scope of workaholism research from self-perspective to other-perspective. The findings also have practical implications for organizations and their human resources (HR) practitioners.

Trends in Work Conditions and Associations with Workers' Health in Recent 15 Years: The Role of Job Automation Probability

Job automation and associated psychosocial hazards are emerging workplace challenges. This study examined the trends in work conditions and associations with workers’ health over time in jobs with different automation probabilities. We utilized data from six waves of national questionnaire surveys of randomly selected 95,762 employees between 2001 and 2016. The Job Content Questionnaire, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and the Self-Rated Health Scale were applied, and working time was self-reported. Automation probability was derived for 38 occupations and then categorized into three groups. Trends in work conditions and the associations between automation probability, work conditions and health were examined. We observed a 7% decrease in high automation probability jobs, an overall increase in job demands for and prevalence of shift work, and a decrease in job control. Workers with high automation probability jobs had low job demands, low job control and high job insecurity. Low automation probability was associated with burnout in logistic regression models. The odds ratio of job insecurity, long working hours, and shift work relating to health was higher in the later years of the surveys. In conclusion, there has been a decrease in high automation probability jobs. Workers employed in jobs with different levels of automation probability encountered different work condition challenges.

Key determinants of health and wellbeing of dentists within the UK: a rapid review of over two decades of research

Aim To review the key determinants of health and wellbeing among dentists working in the UK.Methods Rapid review of the literature (1996-2018) across seven health and social science databases through OVID and the Cochrane Library, professional and health system sources. Records were screened according to agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria by title, abstract and full text. Data extraction and qualitative synthesis of the included studies were performed. Quality assessments for risk of bias were made using a mixed methods appraisal tool.Results Thirty-eight studies met the criteria for inclusion. Fourteen were assessed as high, 22 as medium and two of low quality, most involving cross-sectional research in the form of questionnaire surveys. Whereas overall, the health and wellbeing of dentists within the UK is reported as 'good', recently published evidence suggests a less positive view may be emerging. The health and wellbeing of dentists is associated with a wide range of factors: personal, professional career, relationships, job specification, workplace and system. Emerging evidence suggests additional concerns about the regulation of dentistry. Workplace characteristics were most often explored among researchers and reported as being a key issue.Conclusion Evidence highlights multiple determinants of health and wellbeing, most notably related to workplace characteristics; however, while there is a relative lack of well-founded prospective research investigating the nature and direction of the relationships and comparison across UK health systems, there is increasing evidence of health and wellbeing concerns that require further investigation.

Cognitive, relational and task crafting: Spanish adaptation and analysis of psychometric properties of the Job Crafting Questionnaire

Even though classic job design theories have evolved over the years and become more focused on employees' ability to autonomously change their job characteristics, tools to assess job crafting are still limited. The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Job Crafting Questionnaire (JCQ), taking into account the valuable contribution made by Wrzesniewski and Dutton's model to the understanding of the job crafting concept. The total sample consisted of 768 employees (participants' mean age was 41.63 and 49.7% of them were women). The sample was randomly divided into two halves in order to conduct two factor analyses (Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis). Concurrent and convergent validity was assessed by computing correlations with validated questionnaires for measuring job crafting (Job Crafting Scale, JCS), engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-9) and job burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, MBI-GS). The results indicated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .880) which was similar to the original scale, and provided a good fit to the three-dimensional model tested. Appropriate evidence of construct validity was also shown (r = .45 with total JCS; r = .52 with total UWES-9 and r-values between -.33 and .45 with MBI dimensions). The results confirmed that the Spanish translation of the JCQ is a suitable tool for measuring job crafting and enabling practitioners and researchers to further expand the existing knowledge of this concept.

No Job Demand Is an Island - Interaction Effects Between Emotional Demands and Other Types of Job Demands

Emotional demands are an inevitable feature of human services, and suggested to be a defining antecedent for workers’ stress and ill health. However, previous research indicate that emotional demands can have a favorably association to certain facets of human service workers’ motivation and well-being. Furthermore, recent research report that the effect of emotional demands on workers’ health and well-being seem to be contingent on the parallel level of other job demands. Still, initial investigations of interaction effects between emotional demands and other types of job demands have primarily focused on negative outcomes in terms of stress-related concerns and absenteeism. The present study investigated interaction effects between emotional demands and other types of job demands in relation to positive outcomes. In a larger sample of human service workers (social workers, n = 725), interaction effects were investigated between emotional demands and other job demands (quantitative demands, work pressure, and role conflict) for meaning in work and quality of work. Hypotheses stated that other job demands would moderate the relationship between emotional demands and positive outcomes, so that emotional demands would have a positive relation (i.e., act as a challenge) when the level of other demands is lower, but have a negative relation (i.e., act as a hindrance) when the level of other demands is high. Overall, the results provided support for the idea that emotional demands may act as a challenge. We found small but significant interaction effects between emotional demands and work pressure – in relation to meaning of work, as well as between emotional demands and quantitative demands, work pressure, and role-conflict, respectively – in relation to quality of work. Yet, the results did not support the assumption that emotional demands act as a hindrance when the level of other types of job demands is high. In sum, the results contribute by showing that emotional demands may promote human-service workers’ job attitudes when the level of parallel job demands is lower. We discuss the contribution of the study and the potential practical implications of the results, and give some suggestions for future research.

A multilevel study on servant leadership, job boredom and job crafting

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine cross-level effects of team-level servant leadership on job boredom and the mediating role of job crafting. Cross-level moderating effects of team-level servant leadership were also investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

This longitudinal study employed a multilevel design in a sample of 237 employees, clustered into 47 teams. Servant leadership was aggregated to the team-level to examine the effects of shared perceptions of leadership at T1 on individual-level outcome, namely job boredom, at T2. In addition, mediation analysis was used to test whether team-level servant leadership at T1 can protect followers from job boredom at T2 by fostering job crafting at T2. Cross-level moderating effects of team-level servant leadership at T1 on the relation between job crafting at T2 and job boredom at T2 were also modeled.

Findings

Job crafting at T2 mediated the cross-level effect of team-level servant leadership at T1 on job boredom at T2.

Research limitations/implications

The findings suggest that team-level servant leadership predicts less job boredom by boosting job crafting.

Originality/value

This study is the first to assess the effects of servant leadership on job boredom and the mediating role of job crafting. This paper examines job boredom in a multilevel design, thus extending knowledge on its contextual components.