Analysis of the Influence of Psychological Contract on Employee Safety Behaviors against COVID-19

Experiences from the international frontlines: An exploration of the perceptions of airport employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aviation industry is one of the sectors that has been heavily impacted by the pandemic. While the major body of literature has focused on passenger experience and behaviour, this study focuses on airport employees instead-their experiences, perceptions, and preferences following the emergence of COVID-19. More than 1000 participants from 4 major airports-Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Singapore Changi Airport, Taipei Taoyuan Airport, and Zurich Airport-representing over 10 different occupations, have provided a variety of sentiments about the airport as an employment ecosystem in the wake of COVID-19. Quantitatively and qualitatively surveying four different airports enabled a cross-border analysis of the results to identify interesting geographic contrasts, as well as global themes, among the responses. Regional differences regarding, the feeling of preparedness, confidence in measures, and optimism are presented. A significant difference in confidence in non-pharmaceutical measures between employees from Asian and European airports is shown. Wants and needs such as better physical/IT workplace infrastructure and more flexibility regarding job scope and hours are pointed out. The results of this research provide insights for future airport employee experience research by outlining areas to study in greater detail. Furthermore, practical implications for airport stakeholders and companies arising from the challenges experienced by the workforce are laid out to provide guidance to prepare for similar circumstances in the future and navigate the aftermath of and recovery from the pandemic.

Breaches and buffers: Can meaningful work impact turnover during COVID-19 pandemic?

The fear and uncertainty created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have strained the employer-employee relationship. This research seeks to understand how psychological contract breach shapes employees' perspectives of meaningful work and its influence on turnover intention. Drawing on event systems theory, we investigated how objective events in the environment (e.g., global pandemic) impact employees. We also argue that the career shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected employees' choices based on their job fit and psychological resources. Findings indicate that experiencing meaningful work reduced turnover intention, especially for those that experienced less psychological contract breach. Also, experiencing meaningful work reduced turnover intention most for individuals whose working hours were not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings show that experiencing meaningful work in a relatively stable job reduces employees' potential turnover during exogenous shocks. The study also highlights the importance of meaningful work and why organizations should collaborate and assist their employees in making work more meaningful.

A social identity approach to COVID-19 transmission in hospital settings

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a substantial risk of disease spread among healthcare workers (HCWs), making it important to understand what impacts perceived risk of COVID-19 spread in hospital settings and what causes HCWs to mitigate COVID-19 spread by following COVID-19 safety measures. One determinant of risk perception and safe behaviors is the influence of seeing others as group members. The current study aims to (a) evaluate how social identification as an HCW and trust in co-workers may influence perceived risk of COVID-19 spread and (b) explore how communication transparency, trust in leaders, and identity leadership are associated with self-reported adherence to COVID-19 safety guidance. Using a correlational design, HCWs of a Scottish hospital were invited to participate in an online questionnaire measuring their perceptions of risk of COVID-19 transmission, measures of social identification as an HCW, perception of leaders as members of the team, trust in co-workers to follow the COVID-19 guidelines and perception of leaders to manage COVID-19 prevention effectively. Results showed that increased trust in co-workers was associated with reduced risk perception of COVID-19 transmission. Perceptions of transparent communication about COVID-19 were found to be associated with increased adherence to COVID-19 safety guidelines. Findings show the importance of the association between social identity processes and reduced risk perception and highlight the relationship between transparent communication strategies and self-reported adherence to COVID-19 guidelines, identity leadership, and trust in leaders to manage COVID-19 appropriately.

The New and Key Roles for Psychological Contract Status and Engagement in Predicting Various Performance Behaviors of Nurses

The study examines the impact of the psychological contract (PC), including the often-studied PC breach in addition to the novel approach of PC status, as predictors of performance among nurses, mediated by engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress. A sample of 177 nurses and midwives from a medium to a large hospital in Australia completed a self-report questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to determine associations between the predictors (i.e., negative affectivity (NA), PC breach, PC status)), mediating variables (i.e., engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress), and three types of performance behaviors: organizational citizenship behavior for the individual, for the organization (OCBI, OCBO) and in-role behavior (IRB) simultaneously. Specifically, psychological contract status positively predicted engagement, whereas breach negatively predicted engagement and positively predicted job satisfaction. NA positively predicted distress, and distress negatively predicted OCBO and IRB. Lastly, engagement positively predicted job satisfaction, OCBI, OCBO, and IRB. The findings indicate that psychological contract status may predict engagement (and in turn, performance) over and above psychological contract breach, and thus this novel construct should be examined further. The importance of engagement for predicting the performance behaviors and mental health of nurses may also offer new insights.

How Work-Family Conflict Influenced the Safety Performance of Subway Employees during the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic: Testing a Chained Mediation Model

This study examined the impact of work-family conflict on subway employees' safety performance during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We proposed a chain mediation model in which job burnout and affective commitment play mediating roles in this process. Using questionnaire data from 632 Chinese subway employees during February 2020, structural equation modeling analyses were performed. The analyses showed that work-family conflict had a significant negative impact on subway employee safety performance. Moreover, job burnout completely mediated the influence of work-family conflict on safety performance, while affective commitment only partially mediated the influence of job burnout on safety performance. These findings suggest the important role played by Work-Family balance during the pandemic and contribute to a deeper understanding of the inner mechanisms. We also discussed several practical implications for organizations to reduce the negative impact of work-family conflict on safety performance.

The Mediating Role of Organisational Identification between Psychological Contract and Work Results: An Individual Level Investigation

The aim of this article is to identify the relationship between the fulfilment of relational and transactional psychological contracts and work results, taking into account the mediation effect expressed in organisational identification. The empirical research was conducted on a group of 402 HR professionals responsible for designing and implementing HR practices in one of the leading companies of the Polish energy sector. Hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique (PLS-SEM). Based on our research, we found that the implementation of both relational and transactional psychological contracts positively influenced the results achieved by HR professionals, both directly and indirectly, through the mediating role of organisational identification. The results indicate that the relationship between the psychological contract and work results is stronger when mediated by organisational identification. It plays an important role, especially in relation to the transactional contract. The collected results lead to the conclusion that organisations, wishing to increase the level of work results achieved by HR professionals, should as much as possible fulfil the expectations of employees and meet the commitments made to them within the framework of the established psychological contract. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of the “priority” importance of organisational identification in enhancing the efforts of HR professionals to deliver work results that benefit both employees and the organisation.

Returning to Work after the COVID-19 Pandemic Earthquake: A Systematic Review

Background: The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has disrupted life and work habits and has produced landmark changes worldwide. This systematic review aimed to analyse the management of Return to Work (RTW) by work organisations following the virus spread. Methods: A selection of 2477 papers, using string research on PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus from January 2020 to October 2021, were analysed. Results: Fifty-one articles were finally included, and the results obtained were discussed from three different points of view. Twenty articles concerning ‘Remodelling of Work Organization’ proposed some model strategies for resumption to work. Twenty-one papers, including ‘Clinical Evaluation of Workers’, mostly explored the psychosocial impact of returned workers. Finally, twelve articles explored the best ‘Testing Strategies related to RTW’. Despite the heterogeneity of included articles, several interesting approaches have emerged in managing RTW. Conclusions: The reported experiences could help to develop an RTW model for COVID-19 and future pandemics.

How dialogic internal communication fosters employees' safety behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

As employees return to the workplace amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring safety and health at work remains a top priority for organizations. Grounded in dialogic theory and protection motivation theory, this study examines how dialogic communication, as a type of strategic internal communication, can encourage employees to engage in safety behaviors in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic via heightened efficacy and perceived threat. An online survey of full-time employees of different industries returning to the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic is conducted. Results suggest that the communal relationship of employees with their organization, influenced by dialogic internal communication, fosters their efficacy and perceived threat of COVID-19 in the workplace, which in turn increases their safety behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications for public relations and internal communication studies are discussed.

The Psychological Effects of Digital Companies’ Employees during the Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic Extracted from Online Employee Reviews

The ways people use words online can furnish psychological processes about their beliefs, fears, thinking patterns, and so on. Extracting from online employees’ reviews on the workplace community websites, we can quantify the psychological effects of employees during the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collect the anonymous employees’ reviews of Top 100 digital companies from the Glassdoor website which allows people to evaluate and review the companies they have worked for or are working for. Here, based on the data of numerical evaluations and textual reviews, we firstly use Z-score to investigate the psychological effects of employees in digital companies during the phase of COVID-19 pandemic. Next, we use a text analysis application called Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), which provides an efficient and effective method for studying the various emotional, cognitive, and structural components existing in individuals’ verbal and written speech samples, to mine these reviews to obtain changes in personal pronouns and 10 dimensions of psychological processes. Finally, we use Z-score to count on all aspects of drives and personal concerns in psychological processes.

The Impact of Job Burnout on Employees' Safety Behavior Against the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Psychological Contract

Employee safety behavior is critical for occupational health in work environments threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the widespread and increasingly serious job burnout of employees is a complex and difficult problem for enterprises to handle during any epidemic. Therefore, it is helpful to identify and discuss job burnout and other main psychological factors that affect safety behavior to find appropriate solutions. Using the PLS-SEM method, the study explored the relationship between job burnout and safety behavior against the epidemic, as well as the mediating role of psychological contract. According to the local guidelines for controlling COVID-19, this study revised the safety behavior scale. Data were collected by structured questionnaires in May to July 2020 from Chinese employees (N = 353) who resumed their work after the outbreak of the pandemic. The findings confirmed that job burnout has a negative impact on safety behavior, and psychological contract play a partial mediating role in mitigating the negative impact. Specifically, the transaction dimension and relationship dimension of psychological contract negatively affected safety behavior while the development dimension of the psychological contract was not directly related to safety behavior. It is suggested that enterprises should take effective measures to reduce employees' job burnout and implement flexible psychological contract management and intervention, so as to effectively improve the performance of work safety behavior. Based on the multidimensional model, the findings of this study shed light on promoting safety behavior to prevent the spread of epidemics.

COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for Corporate Sustainability and Society: A Literature Review

The paper revises the ample empirical and theoretical literature on sustainable organizational growth and strategic leadership relating to the critical aspects of the ongoing pandemic, including poverty, social responsibility, public health, and organizational and managerial innovation. Drawing from available COVID-19, management, and sustainable leadership publications released from 2020 to 2021, this paper considers influential studies exploring core business concepts, principles, philosophies, and activities for accelerating, stimulating, and nurturing social and corporate sustainability. The study analyzed the characteristics and interrelation of 133 articles through bibliometric and literature systemization techniques. We shed light on the significant influence COVID-19 has had on financial, operational, and psychological solvency and organizational health to elucidate expectations and implications for businesses worldwide concerning the long-term financial and functional impact of COVID-19. An overview of the relevant studies on the individual, organizational, and external factors relating to novel disease’s relation to sustainability are provided. We emphasize the need for digital transformation following the COVID-19 upheaval and throughout the upcoming years. Some of the generally employed techniques in response to adversity entail portfolio diversification, service delivery innovation, product redesigning, new market development, partnering with competitors and/or complementary service providers, synergizing with other stakeholders, and open innovation.

Transforming the Emotional Intelligence of the Feeders in Agribusinesses into the Development of Task Performance and Counterproductive Work Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simple Summary

This research proposes a psychological model to describe how leadership can deal with the work burnout of feeders in livestock production agribusinesses to solve the important problems of mental health and well-being, thereby increasing the sustainable work of feeders. The empirical evidence comes from 240 livestock feeders from 80 Taiwanese livestock production agribusinesses. The research results can push the literature of emotional intelligence and implementation methods to livestock production agribusinesses.

Abstract

The present research poses a novel multilevel model to describe how transformational leadership can significantly affect task performance and counterproductive work behavior through intermediary effects of emotional intelligence, work engagement, and work burnout. The empirical data is from 240 livestock feeders from 80 Taiwanese livestock production agribusinesses. The empirical results demonstrate that leadership could indeed transform the emotional intelligence of livestock feeders into positive task performance and negative counterproductive work behavior. The research results can provide an implementation method for livestock production agribusinesses to achieve the sustainable work of feeders in agribusinesses through handling task performance and counterproductive work behavior of feeders.