Teacher Confidence in Professional Training: The Predictive Roles of Engagement and Burnout

Modelling the significance of organizational conditions on quiet quitting intention among Gen Z workforce in an emerging economy

The phenomenon of "quiet quitting" has gained significant attention globally through various platforms, raising concerns about the impact of workplace stress on individuals' personal lives and sparking social movements and investigations. As the number of Generation Z individuals is projected to surpass millennials by 2050, understanding and addressing the quiet quitting behaviour of this generation becomes crucial, considering their negative experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and their preference for a work-life balance, which has led to a rejection of intense competition and a desire for a more relaxed lifestyle. Thus, this study investigated the factors (work conditions, job security, perceived career development opportunities, affective organizational commitment, and perceived organizational support on job burnout and employee well-being) determining the quiet quitting intention among Chinese Gen Z employees. It used an online survey to obtain cross-sectional data from 683 respondents, which were then tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results showed that work conditions, job security, perceived career progression opportunities, affective organizational commitment, and perceived organizational support had a significant positive effect on employee well-being and that job burnout had a major negative effect. Furthermore, employee well-being had a significant negative impact on China's Gen Z employees' quit quiting decision and job burnout had a significant positive influence on China's Gen Z employees' quit quiting decision. The findings provide valuable insights for organizations and practitioners, enabling them to address these factors and effectively reduce quiet quitting intentions. Moreover, this study aligns with the Social Exchange Theory (SET), which explains how the interactions between employees and their organizations influence expectations and outcomes. By considering the SET framework, organizations can understand the motivations behind employees' behaviours and make informed decisions to foster a positive work environment and enhance employee well-being.

A Pre-Implementation Enhancement Strategy to Increase the Yield of Training and Consultation for School-Based Behavioral Preventive Practices: a Triple-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

As the most common setting where youth access behavioral healthcare, the education sector frequently employs training and follow-up consultation as cornerstone implementation strategies to promote the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). However, these strategies alone are not sufficient to promote desirable implementation (e.g., intervention fidelity) and youth behavioral outcomes (e.g., mitigated externalizing behaviors). Theory-informed pragmatic pre-implementation enhancement strategies (PIES) are needed to prevent the lackluster outcomes of training and consultation. Specifically, social cognitive theory explicates principles that inform the design of PIES content and specify mechanisms of behavior change (e.g., "intentions to implement" (ITI)) to target increasing providers' responsiveness to training and consultation. This triple-blind parallel randomized controlled trial preliminarily examined the efficacy of a pragmatic PIES based on social cognitive theories (SC-PIES) to improve implementation and youth behavioral outcomes from universal preventive EBPs in the education sector. Teachers from a diverse urban district were recruited and randomly assigned to the treatment (SC-PIES; ntreatment = 22) or active control condition (administrative meeting; ncontrol = 21). Based on the condition assigned, teachers received the SC-PIES or met with administrators before their EBP training. We assessed teachers' ITI, intervention fidelity, and youth behavioral outcome (academic engagement as an incompatible behavior to externalizing disorders) at baseline, immediately after training, and 6 weeks afterward. A series of ANCOVAs detected sizeable effects of SC-PIES, where teachers who received SC-PIES demonstrated significantly larger improvement in their ITI, intervention fidelity, and youth behaviors as compared to the control. Conditional analyses indicated that teachers' ITI partially mediated the effect of SC-PIES on intervention fidelity, which in turn led to improved youth behaviors. Findings suggest that theory-informed pragmatic PIES targeting providers' ITI can boost their responsiveness to implementation strategies, as reflected in improved implementation behaviors and youth behavioral outcomes. The results have implications for targeting motivational mechanisms of behavior change and situating preventive implementation strategies at the intersection between the preparation and active implementation stages of an implementation process. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05240222. Registered on: 2/14/2022. Retrospectively registered.  https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT05240222.

Teachers’ Work Engagement, Burnout, and Interest toward ICT Training: School Level Differences

Teachers’ work engagement is associated with positive outcomes regarding work-related well-being. Conversely, burnout menaces teachers’ work and attitudes toward professional development. As indicated in the literature, burnout can influence teachers’ work engagement. Considering the impact of ICT on school activities, interest toward ICT training can also affect teachers’ work engagement. The present study aims to explore the differences among different school levels concerning work engagement, burnout, and interest toward ICT training. Furthermore, we study the extent to which teachers’ burnout and interest toward ICT training predict work engagement, taking into account the school level. The participants were 358 Italian teachers of primary, middle, and high school. We proposed to fill out the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and three ad hoc items assessing interest toward ICT training among 358 Italian teachers. To compare the school levels, an ANOVA and a Multiple regression analysis for each group corresponding to a different school level has been used. Results showed that: (a) primary school teachers have a higher level of work engagement and interest in ICT training compared to their colleagues at high schools; (b) burnout predicts work engagement in all school levels; (c) interest toward ICT training influences work engagement only in primary and high school. Cultural and contextual dimensions are considered when interpreting the results. Implications for teachers’ enhancing their commitment at work are discussed, as well as limitations of this study and possible further development.

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.

Predicting Job Burnout and Its Antecedents: Evidence from Financial Information Technology Firms

Job burnout is a continuing concern for human resource management and mental health at work, as it affects employee productivity and well-being. The present study conceptualizes Kahn’s job engagement theory to predict job burnout through a latent growth model. To test the proposed model, data were collected by surveying 710 employees of R&D departments of financial information technology firms of Taiwan at multiple points in time over 6 months. Therein, this study found that as employees perceived more ethical leadership, corporate social responsibility, and self-efficacy at Time 1, they were more likely to show increases in job engagement development behavior over time. Further, increases in job engagement development behavior demonstrate their positive relationship with the decrease in job burnout development behavior over time. These findings highlight that the potential dynamic consequences of organizational behaviors can lead to employee career development and occupational mental health.