If it isn't finished at five, then I'll continue until it is. A qualitative study of work pressure among employees in vocational education

The role of time in the relation between perceived job insecurity and perceived job performance

BACKGROUND

Insufficient evidence exists that can explain two conflicting views (i.e. positive and negative relationship) regarding the effect of job insecurity on job performance.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the importance of time in explaining these ambiguous views. A positive association was expected cross-sectionally and a negative relationship longitudinally. I hypothesized that available coping resources may delay the negative effect on job performance until being exhausted.

METHODS

Longitudinal self-reported data of 928 participants were used. Job performance was operationalized as core task performance and productivity loss. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were analyzed using linear and logistic regressions. Duration analyses were performed using the two-year duration of job insecurity.

RESULTS

Short-term and long-term, job insecurity was only related with increased productivity loss. No evidence was found for core task performance. The duration of job insecurity, and chronic job insecurity in particular, did not predict core task performance or productivity loss two years later.

CONCLUSIONS

The factor time, operationalized as the time of follow-up and the duration of exposure to job insecurity, did not clarify the conflicting views. Managers should be more aware of the adverse effects of using job insecurity as a motivational strategy to increase job performance.

Chronic Regulatory Focus and Work-Family Conflict among Chinese Workers

Survey data from 226 service employees were used to test the hypothesized moderating role of chronic self-regulatory focus on the relationships between work–family conflict (WFC) and challenge/hindrance strain. A follow-up scenario-based experiment (N = 93 executives) confirmed the results of the hypothesized model. Results from the two studies together demonstrated the moderating role of self-regulatory processes: chronic promotion-focused individuals perceived WFC as a challenge-type strain, while chronic prevention-focused individuals viewed WFC as a hindrance-type strain. Individuals use self-regulation strategically: in work domains, they regulate themselves so that family does not interfere with work. Individuals’ stress perceptions differ depending on the two dimensions of WFC as they regard interferences from (WIF) as a personal challenge, perhaps affording them an opportunity to balance work and life and to refine their abilities, but interferences from family to work (FIW) act as a barrier preventing them from achieving career success. When two-way interactions between WIF/FIW and chronic promotion/prevention foci were taken into consideration, the WIF/FIW main effects on challenge/hindrance stress became insignificant, suggesting that chronic self-regulation fully moderated the relationship. The results extend the current work–family research by incorporating self-regulatory processes as an important moderating variable, suggesting new research directions. The findings can help human resource management establish policies and benefit programs that take individual differences into account.

The relations between Principal support and work engagement and burnout: Testing the role of teachers' emotions and educational level

BACKGROUND

One of the resources that may prevent burnout and foster the work engagement of teachers is Principal support. In this study we aimed to further explore the links between Principal support and work engagement and burnout, by testing the role of the teachers' emotions and the educational levels of primary schools.

OBJECTIVES

Testing 1) the mediating role of teachers' emotions in explaining the relationship between perceived Principal support and work engagement and burnout, 2) differences in tested constructs, and the structural equivalence of the proposed relationship among constructs, between teachers from two educational levels of primary schools.

METHODS

The study included subsamples of 868 class teachers (lower grades) and 1057 subject teachers (upper grades) employed at 104 primary schools in Croatia. Teachers filled out self-report scales measuring burnout, work engagement, perceived Principal support and the positive and negative emotions experienced in relation to students.

RESULTS

Emotions partially mediate the relationship between perceived Principal support and work engagement and burnout among teachers. Although class teachers experience higher levels of positive emotions and work engagement compared to subject teachers, the results confirmed the structural equivalence of the hypothesized model across two education levels of primary school.

CONSLUSION

The Principal support predicts work engagement and burnout in teachers both directly and indirectly via emotions.