Linking Empowering Leadership and Employee Work Engagement: The Effects of Person-Job Fit, Person-Group Fit, and Proactive Personality

Effect of empowering leadership on employees' workplace loneliness: a moderated mediation model

Background

Workplace loneliness has become a prevalent experience among employees in organizations; however, there is limited empirical research on how leaders can address and mitigate this issue. Drawing upon self-determination theory and empowering leadership theory, this study examines the impact of empowering leadership on workplace loneliness by exploring the mediator of role breadth self-efficacy and the moderator of leader-member conversational quality.

Methods

A time-lagged research design was used, collecting data through a two-wave online survey involving 531 employees in Chinese public sectors. The participants consisted of 321 males and 210 females, with an average age of 35 years (SD = 7.36).

Results

Our findings indicate that empowering leadership positively influences employees' role breadth self-efficacy, reducing their workplace loneliness. Moreover, leader-member conversational quality strengthens this indirect effect, suggesting that empowering leadership is more effective in reducing workplace loneliness when leader-member conversational quality is high.

Conclusion

This study expands and enriches research on the antecedents of workplace loneliness from the leadership approach, providing valuable insights for organizations to implement interventions that effectively alleviate employees' workplace loneliness.

How Does Empowering Leadership Relate to Work Engagement? The Roles of Organisational Identification and Workplace Well-Being

Scholars tend to believe that effective leadership contributes to facilitating employee work engagement. Based on social identity theory and self-determination theory, this study explored how empowering leadership affects employee work engagement through the mediating roles of organisational identification and workplace well-being. A sample of 3645 front-line employees in China participated in this study. A structural equation model analysis was performed to examine the hypothetical model. Sex, age, degree of education, wage income per month (RMB), and subjective social class were covariables. The results indicated that (a) empowering leadership was positively related to work engagement, (b) organisational identification and workplace well-being played a partial mediating role in the relationship, and (c) organisational identification and workplace well-being had a chain mediating effect on empowering leadership and work engagement. These findings advance the understanding of the effect of empowering leadership on employees' working attitudes and behaviours. They also contribute to potential interventions that boost employee work engagement.

Mental health disparities between physicians and nurses: Analyzing the impact of occupational stress and work environment fitness using random forest algorithm

BACKGROUND

The impact of occupational stress and work environment fitness on mental health disparities between physicians and nurses are not well understood. This study aims to identify and rank key determinants of mental health in physicians and nurses in China and compare the differences in their impact on mental health between physicians and nurses.

METHODS

A large cross-sectional survey with multistage cluster sampling was conducted. The survey included the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS Scale), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale), the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and the Person-Environment (PE) Fit. We applied a principled, machine learning-based variable selection algorithm, using random forests, to identify and rank the determinants of the mental health in physicians and nurses.

RESULTS

In our study, we analyzed a sample of 9964 healthcare workers, and 2729 (27 %) were physicians. The prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders among physicians and nurses was 31.0 % and 53.3 %, 30.8 % and 47.9 %, respectively. Among physicians with anxiety disorder, we observed a higher likelihood of cynicism, emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and poor organization fitness, job fitness, group fitness, and supervisor fitness, in order of importance. When comparing the effects on depressive disorder in physicians, group fitness and supervisor fitness did not have significant impacts. For nurses, emotional exhaustion had a more significant effect on depressive disorder compared to cynicism. Supervisor fitness did not have a significant impact on anxiety disorder in nurses.

LIMITATIONS

Cross-sectional design, self-reporting screening scales.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared to individual and hospital characteristics, the primary factors influencing mental health disorders are occupational burnout and the compatibility of the work environment. Additionally, the key determinants of depressive and anxiety disorders among doctors and nurses exhibit slight variations. Employing machine learning methods proves beneficial for identifying determinants of mental health disorders among physicians and nurses in China. These findings could help improve policymaking aimed at addressing the mental well-being of healthcare professionals.

Status and influencing factors of elder neglect by geriatric nursing assistants in Chinese nursing homes: a cross-sectional survey

Background

In nursing homes, elder neglect has come to the forefront. Currently, few studies have examined the impact of personal and organizational factors of geriatric nursing assistants on elder neglect. From the perspective of geriatric nursing assistants, this study aims to explore the current situation and influencing factors of elder neglect in Chinese nursing homes.

Methods

A convenience sampling method was used to recruit 412 geriatric nursing assistants from 50 nursing homes in China. Participants were surveyed using a demographic questionnaire, the Elder Neglect Scale for Geriatric Nursing Assistants, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Proactive Personality Scale (PPS). Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the factors influencing elder neglect.

Results

Geriatric nursing assistants scored a median of 74 out of 85 on the Elder Neglect Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that the main personal factors influencing geriatric nursing assistants' elder neglect were general self-efficacy (β = 0.312), proactive personality (β = 0.180), and advanced qualification (β = 0.084), while the main organizational factors included monthly salary ≤ 1,900 RMB (β = -0.256), no regular training after induction (β = -0.253), and the number of days off per month (3-4 days off β = 0.192, ≥ 5 days off β = 0.101).

Conclusion

Although geriatric nursing assistants are at low levels of elder neglect, it remains a cause for concern. Among the personal factors, geriatric nursing assistants who possessed proactive personalities, high self-efficacy and advanced qualifications, exhibited low levels of elder neglect. Among the organizational factors, those who possessed a high number of days off per month portrayed low levels of elder neglect. Conversely, those who received low monthly salaries and no regular training after induction portrayed high levels of elder neglect. To reduce the risk of elder neglect, nursing homes should give due consideration to candidates' self-efficacy and proactive personality traits when recruiting, and focus on fostering these personality traits in their employees during their work. In addition, strengthening regular training for geriatric nursing assistants, optimizing the salary structure, and arranging rest days in a reasonable manner are also necessary measures.

The effect of family boundary flexibility on employees' work engagement: a study based on person-environment fit theory perspective

Under the impact of the era of big data and public emergency, the blurring of family-work boundaries and the increasing burden of family responsibilities will pose a great challenge to employee resilience and family work balance, which in turn will affect employees' work engagement. Therefore, based on the person-environment fit theory, this study aims to explore the potential mechanism and boundary conditions of employee family boundary flexibility fit on work engagement. This study conducted a random sampling of enterprise employees in China. A sample of 433 participants completed a questionnaire to provide data. We conduct hierarchical regression and Bootstrap analysis to verify the hypothesis model. The study found that employees' work engagement is significantly improved when their family boundary flexibility is matched. Family-work enrichment plays a role in mediating the impact of employees' family boundary flexibility on work engagement. The relationship between family-work enrichment and work engagement is moderated by family support. Therefore, enterprises should respect and value each employee's family boundary flexibility, establish family-friendly policies, and consider personal family boundary flexibility in employees' career development planning. This will promote the enhancement of employee resilience, enable better engagement in work, improve work efficiency, and enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises.

The Relationships among Proactive Personality, Work Engagement, and Perceived Work Competence in Sports Coaches: The Moderating Role of Perceived Supervisor Support

Grounded in the job demands-resources model, this study examines the moderating role of supervisor support and the mediating role of sports coaches' work engagement in the relationship between proactive personality and perceived work competence. A total of 261 school sports coaches in Taiwan participated in the study. The results indicated that work engagement positively mediates the relationship between sports coaches' proactive personality and perceived work competence. Separately, supervisor support weakens the link between proactive personality and work engagement but strengthens the relationship between work engagement and perceived work competence; however, taken together, supervisor support weakens the indirect effects of proactive personality on perceived work competence through job engagement. Under the boundary condition of perceived supervisor support, the sports coaches' proactive personality is a critical antecedent of perceived work competence through work engagement. We suggest that proactive sports coaches are assets for schools because they possess the drive and energy for self-improvement, promoting organizational progress automatically.

How daily supervisor abuse and coworker support affect daily work engagement

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamic and intervention mechanisms of daily abusive experience affecting daily work engagement. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the effect of daily abusive supervision on daily work engagement through daily negative emotions from the resource consumption perspective, and the moderation effect of coworker support from the resource provision perspective. Using a daily diary approach and based on a sample of 73 employees for 5 consecutive days in China. The results reveal that daily abusive supervision has a significant negative effect on daily work engagement, daily negative emotions mediate this relationship, and coworker support had a cross-level moderating effect between daily abusive supervision and daily negative emotions. Our study shows ways to boost employees’ daily work engagement and especially ways buffer the negative effect of abused experience on work engagement.

The Influence of Person–Job Fit on Health Status and Depression Among Chinese Domestic Workers: Mediating Effect of the Employer–Employee Relationship

Domestic workers usually perform manual work in households. Unlike fixed work, their work tends to be individualized and atomized. Their person–job fit and relationship with employers might exert some influence on their health, both physical and psychological. This quantitative study explores the association between person–job fit, health status, and depressive symptoms among Chinese domestic workers by identifying the employer–employee relationship as a mediator. Data is collected from a survey of Chinese domestic workers conducted in four cities of Nanjing, Wuxi, Guangzhou, and Foshan (N = 1,003) in 2019. We test our theoretical model by conducting structural equation modeling. The results show that demand–ability fit is indirectly related to heath status and depressive symptoms via the employer–employee relationship. Need–supply fit is significantly associated with health status and depressive symptoms both directly (70% for health status and 72% for depressive symptoms, separately) and indirectly, via the mediating effect of the employer–employee relationship (30% for health and 28% for depressive symptoms, separately). Our findings suggest that appropriate policy and vocational training should be implemented to improve the health status of Chinese domestic workers.

The Impact of Authentic Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior: Mediating Roles of Proactive Personality and Employee Engagement

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of authentic leadership and proactive personality on innovative work behavior through dual mediation approach. This study applied a judgment sampling technique and data were gathered from 311 high-tech manufacturing industries of Shenzhen, China. The measurement model and structural model were tested using structural equation modeling technique through AMOS 24 software. The results indicate that authentic leadership has a positive and significant effect on proactive personality. Meanwhile, findings show that proactive personality has a significant impact on innovative work behavior. Moreover, findings show that proactive personality positively mediates the relationship between authentic leadership and innovative work behavior. Furthermore, findings illustrate that work engagement positively mediates the relationship between proactive personality and innovative work behavior. This study provides insightful and valuable implications to high-tech manufacturing industries executives and regulators interested in organizational productivity.

The Relationship Between Feedback Quality, Perceived Organizational Support, and Sense of Belongingness Among Conscientious Teleworkers

The belongingness literature has largely examined the antecedents of non-teleworkers’ sense of belongingness, but little attention has been paid to what job-related factors could affect teleworkers’ sense of belongingness. Grounded in organizational support theory, our research focuses on why feedback quality from the direct leader brings sense of belongingness and considers how conscientiousness of teleworkers shapes this effect. Based on data from 329 participants obtained at three different time points from one technology service organization in China, our results indicated that teleworkers’ perceived organizational support serves as an essential mediator of the positive relationship between feedback quality from the direct leader and sense of belongingness. Additionally, the teleworkers’ conscientiousness strengthened the positive direct effect of feedback quality on perceived organizational support and the indirect effect on sense of belongingness. The moderating role of conscientiousness in strengthening the link between feedback quality and perceived organizational support was significant for high levels of conscientiousness and not significant for low levels. Finally, we discussed theoretical and practical implications.

The Effects of Congruence Between Person and Environment on Innovation Performance in Ports

The projected growth and rapid technological development in maritime transportation will create demand for a newly skilled and motivated workforce in the port sector. Thus, it is important for ports to attract, recruit and retain talented employees to promote innovation and enhance competitive advantages. This manuscript focuses on the welfare and talent of port staff from the perspective of person-environment (P-E) fit. Using polynomial regression with response surface analysis, this study explores the effect of P-E fit on job satisfaction, work engagement and innovation performance, and bootstrapping is applied to confirm the mediating roles of job satisfaction and work engagement in the relationship between P-E fit and innovation performance. Results show that (1) need-supply (N-S) fit and demands-abilities (D-A) fit improved port employees’ job satisfaction, work engagement and innovation performance, and the impacts on work engagement and innovation performance show an inverted “U” and “U” shape, respectively; (2) D-A fit is more important when job satisfaction plays a mediating role; and (3) N-S fit makes a greater contribution when work engagement mediates the effect of P-E fit on the innovation performance. These findings contribute to P-E fit research as well as to human resource management practices in ports.

Investigating the relationship between person-environment fit and safety behavior: A social cognition perspective

INTRODUCTION

This study explored the relationship between person-job fit and safety behavior, as well as the mediating role played by psychological safety, from the perspective of social cognitive theory and person-environment fit theory.

METHOD

A total of 800 employees from petroleum enterprises were recruited, with cluster random sampling used to collect data in two stages.

RESULTS

The results showed that employees' safety behavior is higher under the condition of "high person-job fit-high person-organization fit" than under that of "low person-job fit-low person-organization fit." In other words, the more congruent the level of person-job fit and person-organization fit for a given employee, the higher their level of safety behavior. Practical Applications: Psychological safety plays a mediating role between the congruence of both person-job fit and person-organization fit and employees' safety behavior.

Impact of Empowering Leadership, Innovative Work, and Organizational Learning Readiness on Sustainable Economic Performance: An Empirical Study of Companies in Russia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the global economy, with numerous companies suffering losses and shutting down. However, some companies proved to be resilient, being able to sustain their economic performance despite the pandemic. The study aims to explain the sustainable economic performance of companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The relationships between empowering leadership, innovative work behavior, organizational readiness to change, and sustainable economic performance were assessed. The data were collected via an online questionnaire from January 2021 to March 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. The respondents were Russian companies’ employees holding management positions, competent to objectively assess organizational circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 337 was used in the analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with maximum likelihood estimation was conducted using SPSS AMOS. The structural model was tested with standardized parameter estimates, standard errors, and p-values calculated. The findings of the study suggest that innovative work behavior and organizational readiness to learn have a direct influence on sustainable economic performance. The findings also suggest that empowering leadership impacts innovative work behavior but not sustainable economic performance. The mediation analysis indicates that innovative work behavior is a mediator between empowering leadership and sustainable economic performance, whereas organizational readiness to learn is not a moderator. The study adds to the leadership and sustainability body of knowledge and contributes to the research on the COVID-19 pandemic in the organizational context.

Leadership empowering behaviour as a predictor of employees' psychological well-being: Evidence from a cross-sectional study among secondary school teachers in Kohat Division, Pakistan

In this technologically developed scenario, many organizations in developing countries including Pakistan have expanded the enthusiasm for understanding and creating an encouraging administrative and managerial environment. Numerous organizations are struggling for structural changes by deserting the old-fashioned organizational management style and implementing an empowering leadership where leaders give more authority to subordinates in decision making and responsibilities with the aim to increase organizational productivity. Therefore, the study examined the leadership empowering behaviour as a predictor of employees’ psychological well-being of the educational institutions at secondary level in Kohat Division, Pakistan. A total sample of 564 secondary school teachers (male n = 379; female n = 185) was carefully chosen through a stratified random sampling technique. In this study, a non-experimental predictive correlational design was adopted. In order to collect data from the participants, two different standardized research tools i.e., the Leader Empowering Behaviour Questionnaire and Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scale were used. After the collection of data, it was analyzed on the basis of mean, standard deviation, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple linear regression model. In conclusion, the study confirmed a significant positive correlation between leadership empowering behaviour and employees’ psychological well-being. Leadership empowering behaviours predict employees’ psychological well-being positively. Therefore, it was recommended that empowering behaviour might be adopted by the school leaders to improve the employees’ psychological well-being for better organizational productivity.

The Bottom-Up Impact of Proactive Personality on Employee Job Crafting: A Serial Mediation Model

Explanatory mechanisms of the positive impact of proactive personality on relevant individual outcomes have been thoroughly discussed in the literature. That being said, few studies have investigated the supervisor's leadership style as an explanatory mechanism through which the outcomes of proactive individuals are affected. Drawing insight from Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and followership theory, this paper examines a serial mediation model in which the relationship between proactive personality and two types of job crafting (approach role and resource crafting) is mediated by empowering leadership and work engagement. More specifically, we argue for the capacity of proactive individuals to increase their work engagement by influencing their leaders to embrace an empowering leadership style. Furthermore, empowering leaders are argued to increase employee approach role and resource crafting through increasing employee work engagement. A sample of 298 full-time workers, mainly from Saudi Arabia, participated in the study. The hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM). The findings support the hypothesized relationships. A discussion of the findings, contributions, limitations, and future directions is provided.

Work Flow Experience in the Light of Leader-Member Exchange and Person-Job Fit Theories

Based on the positive psychology approach, the present study claims that Leader-Member Exchange Theory and Person-Job Fit Theory could be significant antecedents of flow experience in the workplace, as individuals living in the 21st century spend most of their lives at work. Flow experience is a source of high motivation for employees in terms of both cognitive and emotional functions. Therefore, the concept can cause many psychological states of well-being, such as having fun, feeling happy, or optimism. For this reason, it is quite important for the organizational behavior discipline to define the concept in detail and to focus on possible antecedents. In accordance with this purpose, a cross-sectional research study has been performed in Turkey with the participation of 711 white-collar employees from various companies in the service sector in Istanbul, Turkey. The findings of the research show that high quality manager-employee relationships had significant positive impacts on employees' flow experience (β = 0,801; t = 35,664; p = ,000). In addition, a good match between person and job had significant positive impacts on employees' flow experience (β = 0,559; t = 17,968; p = ,000). Thus, the proposed hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2 of the study were supported. The results indicated that leader-member exchange and person-job fit are antecedents of flow experience in the workplace (p < 0,05). In the present study, all study variables are reviewed and the possible relationships among the study variables are discussed in the literature review part. Finally, the implications of the study for both the individual and the organization are presented in the conclusion and discussion section.

Career Success Criteria Clarity as a Predictor of Employment Outcomes

Drawing on the goal-setting theory and social cognitive career theory (SCCT), this study empirically proposes an operational definition of career success criteria clarity (CSCC) and further explores its impact on career satisfaction, person–job fit, and subjective well-being through the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE). A pilot study of 231 samples showed that the CSCC scale had good reliability and validity. To further test the effects of CSCC on crucial employment outcomes, as well as the mediating role of CDSE, 240 employees were included in an additional survey. Structural equation modeling path analysis supported all the expected hypotheses. Results indicated that: (1) CSCC was positively correlated to career satisfaction; (2) CSCC was positively correlated to person–job fit; (3) CSCC was positively correlated to subjective well-being; (4) CSCC was positively correlated to CDSE; (5) CDSE fully mediated the relationship between CSCC and career satisfaction; (6) CDSE fully mediated the relationship between CSCC and person–job fit; and (7) CDSE partly mediated the relationship between CSCC and subjective well-being. The results contributed to social cognitive career theory model and provided suggestions for both the career educators and consultants.

Organizational Cronyism as an Antecedent of Ingratiation: Mediating Role of Relational Psychological Contract

The present study investigates the relatively less explored construct organizational cronyism as an antecedent of employees' ingratiation. Moreover, the role of the relational psychological contract as a mediator between organizational cronyism and ingratiation is also examined. The data were collected from employees working in different ministerial offices, such as the ministry of defense production, human rights, parliamentary affairs, petroleum, and natural resources, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Through a convenience sampling approach, 250 employees provided data for this study. Due to sensitivity and less approachability to these organizations, the convenience sampling technique was used. The data were collected in two waves with 12-week intervals. The results confirm that organizational cronyism is significantly related to the relational psychological contract, which in turn results in employees' ingratiation. The employees who have close ties with their leaders and enjoy extraordinary favors from their leaders, display more compliance behavior as compared to those employees who have distance from their leaders.

Person-Job Fit and Innovation Behavior: Roles of Job Involvement and Career Commitment

This study examines the effect of person–job fit on innovation behavior, highlighting the mediating role of job involvement and the moderating role of career commitment in this relationship. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 474 employees from 30 IT enterprises in China’s Pearl River Delta region. The results reveal that person–job fit influences innovation behavior by enhancing job involvement. In addition, career commitment strengthens the positive influence of person–job fit on both job involvement and innovation behavior. These findings are consistent with person–environment fit theory and identity theory. This research increases understanding of how person–job fit influences innovation behavior via job involvement and career commitment. Implications and managerial practice are also discussed at the end of the research.