Leader-member exchange fosters nurses' job and life satisfaction: The mediating effect of job crafting

The association of leader-member exchange and team-member exchange with nurses' innovative behaviours: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To measure the association of leader-member exchange and team-member exchange with nurses' innovative behaviours through social exchange theory.

BACKGROUND

The field of nursing is actively advocating innovation. Other fields have proven that leader-member exchange and team-member exchange can promote innovative behaviour, but such an association is not clear in nursing.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A total of 560 nurses were selected from five tertiary hospitals in Henan Province (China) by multistage sampling. Data were collected from a self-report questionnaire. Thirty nurses in the pre-survey were used to verify the validity of the questionnaire. SPSS PROCESS macro was used to verify the association of leader-member exchange and team-member exchange with nurses' innovative behaviours.

RESULTS

Leader-member exchange and team-member exchange were significantly associated with nurses' innovative behaviours, and team-member exchange had a mediating effect on the relationship between leader-member exchange and innovative behaviour.

CONCLUSIONS

Leader-member exchange and team-member exchange positively affect nurses' innovative behaviours. Leader-member exchange can promote nurses' innovative behaviours through the mediating role of team-member exchange.

IMPACT

This study indicated that leader-member exchange and team-member exchange should be given more attention in promoting nurses' innovative behaviours. This finding has implications for the promotion of innovative behaviours in nurses. Leaders need to focus on the innovative needs of nurses and offer support. Meanwhile, leadership training programs are necessary for managers to create positive team relationships.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public involvement.

Proactive behaviors and health care workers: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Proactive behaviors at work refer to discretionary actions among workers that are self-starting, change oriented, and future focused. Proactive behaviors reflect the idiosyncratic actions by individual workers that shape the delivery and experience of professional services, highlight a bottom-up perspective on workers' agency and motivation that can influence organizational practices, and are associated with a variety of employee and organizational outcomes.

PURPOSE

This systematic review aims to understand the various forms of proactive behaviors in health care workers that have been studied, and how these proactive behaviors are associated with employee-level outcomes and quality of care.

METHODS

Systematic review of articles published to date on proactive behaviors in health care workers.

RESULTS

Based on the identification of 40 articles, we find that job crafting, active problem solving, voice, extra-role behaviors, and idiosyncratic deals have been investigated as proactive behaviors among health care workers. Among these, job crafting is the most commonly studied (35% of articles), and it has been conceptualized and measured in the most consistent way, including as individual- and group-level phenomena, and as organizational interventions. Studies on active problem solving, which refers to workers accepting responsibility, exercising control, and taking action around anticipated or experienced problems at work, have not been consistently investigated as a form of proactive behavior but represent 25% of the articles identified in this review. Overall, this review finds that proactive behaviors in health care is a burgeoning area of research, with the majority of studies being cross-sectional in design and published after 2010, and focused on workers' job satisfaction as the outcome.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Health care workers and managers should consider the distinct influences and contributions of proactive behaviors as ways to improve employee-level outcomes and quality of care.

Influence of servant leadership on the life satisfaction of basic education teachers: the mediating role of satisfaction with job resources

Background

Life satisfaction is essential for teachers' work performance and student learning. Additionally, servant leadership has been shown to be one of the best leadership practices as it promotes employee well-being and satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction with job resources acts as a mediator in the relationship between servant leadership and life satisfaction by influencing individual and collective performance in the organization.

Objective

This research aimed to evaluate the mediating role of satisfaction with job resources in the relationship between servant leadership and life satisfaction.

Methods

The study was cross-sectional and explanatory. 620 teachers aged between 20 and 62 years (M = 35 and SD = 9.49) participated in the study. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to measure life satisfaction, service leadership, and job resource satisfaction through the use of questionnaires.

Results

The results indicated that the model obtained an adequate fit, χ2 = 2,658, df = 551, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.941, TLI = 0.936, RMSEA = 0.079, SRMR = 0.070. The results confirm the positive influence of leadership on satisfaction with resources and life satisfaction. Additionally, a positive influence of satisfaction with job resources on life satisfaction was observed. Moreover, the mediation of job resources in servant leadership and life satisfaction was confirmed.

Conclusion

Servant leadership, supported by satisfaction with job resources, can reduce effort and associated costs, stimulate personal growth and learning, and improve the well-being of teachers.

Do personal values and motivation affect women's solo travel intentions in Taiwan?

Female solo travel is experiencing a global increase and specifically, gaining popularity in Asia. This study explores how personal values and female solo travel motivation affect travel behavior. Using a sample comprising 381 single females in Taiwan, partial least squares structural equation modeling was utilized to investigate the hypotheses. The results revealed Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 3 are supported, which verifies personal internal values significantly affect female solo travel motivation, and are identified as significant factors influencing female solo travel intention. Additionally, Hypothesis 5 is partially support, indicating the female solo travel motivations of escape/relaxation, relationship, and self-actualization contribute to the formation of positive female solo travel intention. As Hypothesis 2 and Hypothesis 4 are unsupported, external values have no impact on female solo travel motivation or any significant effect on female solo travel intention. This research adds to the vast gap in tourism literature by identifying the personal values and motivations of female solo travel, and benefits the development of the female solo travel market.

Transformational leaders’ approach to overcapacity: A study in correctional institutions

This research attempts to examine the effect of transformational leadership (TL) on job satisfaction (JS) and job performance (JP) mediated by leader-member exchange (LMX) at all correctional officers in West Java. The quantitative method is adopted by conducting a questionnaire survey on all officers in the West Java area, with a total of 215 respondents. The questionnaire was done through the Google Forms platform and distributed in a time-lagged method. The sample of respondents who were interviewed was obtained through a purposive sampling technique, namely taking samples with certain considerations. The data in this study was then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which was assisted by the AMOS program. The findings revealed that TL has a large impact on JS, JP, and LMX, whereas LMX has a significant impact on JS and JP. This study contributes to the literature by linking TL, LMX, JS, and JP. It examines and analyzes how and why TL and LMX can affect JS and JP.

Job demands-resources, job crafting and work engagement of tobacco retailers

In recent years, the development of tobacco control actions in China and the changes in people's health concepts have slowed the development of the tobacco industry. As an important strategic partner of tobacco sales companies, tobacco retailers are the key link between tobacco commercial enterprises and consumers. How to improve the work engagement level of tobacco retailers is an urgent issue for tobacco business enterprises. On the basis of job demands-resources (JD-R) theory, the mechanisms of the effects of job resources and demands on tobacco retailers' work engagement were explored. Results showed that (1) The negative path of job demands influencing tobacco retailers' work engagement was supported, and job crafting played a mediating role in it. (2) The positive path of job resources influencing tobacco retailers' work engagement was supported, and job crafting played a mediating role in it. (3) Servant leadership moderated the influence of job resources and demands on job crafting. Higher level of servant leadership brings the stronger effect of job resources on job crafting and the weaker effect of job demands on job crafting. (4) The mediating effect of job crafting between JD-R and work engagement was moderated by servant leadership. The higher level of servant leadership strengthened the mediating role of job crafting between job demands and work engagement, whereas it weakened the mediating role of job crafting between job demands and work engagement. This study enriches the research on application fields and boundary conditions of JD-R theory and provides practical guidance for improving the work engagement level of tobacco retailers.

Job crafting and employees' general health: the role of work-nonwork facilitation and perceived boundary control

Background

Job crafting is associated with positive work–related outcomes, but its effects on nonwork–related outcomes are unclear. The conservation of resources theory informed the hypotheses that work–nonwork facilitation mediates the relationship between job crafting and general health, and this mediation process is moderated by perceived boundary control.

Methods

Using a two–wave design, 383 employees from a range of work settings completed questionnaires in which they rated job crafting, work–nonwork facilitation, general health and perceived boundary control.

Results

Moderated mediation analysis showed that work–nonwork facilitation mediated the relationship between job crafting and employee general health. Further, perceived boundary control moderated this indirect effect, such that the indirect effect was stronger for employees with high perceived boundary control than those with low perceived boundary control.

Conclusions

This study is an important step forward in understanding the effect of job crafting on nonwork domains, and in clarifying “how” and “when” job crafting might affect employees’ general health. Further, the results have practical implications for fostering employee general health.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13569-z.

What do expectations change? Optimistic expectations, job crafting, job satisfaction and a new theoretical model

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of optimistic expectations on job satisfaction at work and whether job crafting behaviour plays a mediating role in this effect. At the same time, this model presents the need for “expectation management” in the context of work psychology to the attention of all academics and practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypotheses of the study, data were obtained from 475 health-care workers in a public hospital. Hypotheses were tested using Process Macro Model of Hayes (2018).

Findings

The result of the analyses determined that the optimistic expectations for the organization as a whole have a positive effect on job satisfaction, both directly and indirectly, and that job crafting behaviour has a partial mediating role in this effect.

Research limitations/implications

The first limitation is that the data were obtained only by a cross-sectional method. The second is that among the various workplace behaviours and workplace psychologies job crafting and job satisfaction were examined in the study. The partial mediation effect between the research variables reveals the existence of many other variables and constitutes the third limitation. The fourth is that only optimistic expectations effects on positive behaviours and positive psychological states were evaluated in this study. Finally, a fifth limitation of this study is that the sample is limited to those working in the health sector and public hospitals.

Practical implications

First, the data were obtained only by a cross-sectional method, and the longitudinal method was not implemented in how the study was designed. Second, among the workplace behaviours, only job crafting behaviour and only job satisfaction as a workplace psychology were analysed. Third, partial mediation effect was found to be among the other variables might indicate the role of additional variables that could be uncovered by further research. Fourth, only optimistic expectations and their effects on positive behaviours and positive psychological states at the workplace were evaluated. Fifth, the sample is limited to those working in the health sector and public hospitals.

Social implications

This study draws attention to “Expectation Management” as a management activity worth exploring and its potential in terms of social and working relations.

Originality/value

This study provides versatile answers to the question of why individuals perform differently despite working under the same conditions. The model suggested in the study takes the conventional way of thinking in the literature one step further by offering an alternative answer to this critical question, whose answers we have been discovering step by step since the Hawthorne studies. In addition, the proposed model draws attention to the need for “expectation management” in the context of business psychology in theory and practice.

Job crafting and employee life satisfaction: A resource-gain-development perspective

Job crafting has been shown to be associated with multiple positive work-related outcomes. However, whether and how it affects nonwork-related outcomes has been less examined. Grounded on the resource-gain-development perspective and conservation of resources theory, the present study investigated the effects of job crafting on employee life satisfaction via work-nonwork facilitation and work-nonwork conflict. Further, the present study examined the moderating roles of workload on these relationships. We collected two waves of data with a 1-month lag from 481 fulltime Chinese employees. The results of regression analyses revealed that job crafting was positively related to employee life satisfaction through higher work-nonwork facilitation and lower work-nonwork conflict. In addition, these indirect effects were stronger for employees with higher workload than those with lower workload. The results extend job crafting research by examining the effects of job crafting on employee life satisfaction and have clear applied value for employers who have high workload.

Divergent effects of transformational leadership on safety compliance: A dual-path moderated mediation model

Research on the relationship between transformational leadership and safety compliance has yielded equivocal results. This study investigates how and when transformational leadership produces divergent effects on safety compliance. Using a time-lagged research design, we collect data from a sample of 309 employees in the Chinese construction industry to examine the hypothesized relationship. We find that transformational leadership positively affects safety compliance through employees’ felt obligation toward their leader. However, transformational leadership also negatively impacts safety compliance through safety risk tolerance. We further show that employees’ perception of the safety climate plays a contingent role in the above processes. Specifically, a high-level perceived safety climate strengthens the positive indirect effect of transformational leadership on safety compliance through felt obligation, while a low-level perceived safety climate strengthens the negative indirect effect of transformational leadership on safety compliance through safety risk tolerance. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.