1,721,112 research outputs found
Perceived employability in relation to psychological functioning: Causality and explaining mechanisms in different contexts
No full textDuring this lunch seminar I will present my PhD “Perceived Employability in Relation to Well-being: Causality and Explaining Mechanisms in Different Contexts”. This PhD includes 4 studies which are mainly grounded in the Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989). During the lunch seminar I would like to receive feedback concerning the theoretical reasoning.
Perceived employability has become an important research topic, with challenges on two levels. Conceptually, there are many different views on employability and perceived employability in particular.
Empirically, several studies have been done on perceived employability, its antecedents and its outcomes. In light of several demographic and economical trends over the last decades, the need to support individuals in preserving their ability to be employed until retirement became more prevalent. This ability is, among other factors, associated with physical and mental health (i.e., well-being). However, studies on the relationship between perceived employability and well-being produced mixed results. Also, most research on this relationship has been cross-sectional which rules out the possibility to establish causality. My PhD will address these issues by doing the following 4 studies.
The first study is a conceptual paper: I elaborate on how perceived employability is situated within the broader psychological literature on employability and how the different views on employability connect in a process model. Building on this process model, studies 2, 3, and 4 are empirical studies which are grounded in the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory (Hobfoll, 1989).
In study 2 I study the causal pathways between perceived employability and well-being in two different contexts: a two-wave sample of unemployed job seekers in outplacement and a two-wave sample of employed workers. The results were different depending on the sample: among the employed perceived employability positively affected well-being while among the unemployed job-seekers well-being positively impacted perceived employability. Studies 3 and 4 build further on these results.
The third study explores the gain spiral idea advanced by the COR Theory among the sample of employed by stating that the job resource of skill utilization acts as a mediator in the positive effect of perceived employability on well-being.
Finally, the fourth study explores the loss spiral idea advanced by the COR Theory among the sample of unemployed job seekers by advancing the loss of networks and lowering of demands concerning a new job at a later point in time (i.e., third wave).status: Publishe
Perceived employability. Antecedents, trajectories and well-being consequences
No full textThis dissertation consists of three studies and they conceive perceived employability (PE) as a personal resource along the lines of conservation of resources (COR) theory. PE refers to an employees perception of how easy it is to find new employment. Following the assumptions of COR theory, antecedents, trajectories and well-being consequences of PE were investigated. Moreover, the relation between PE and perceived job insecurity was examined with specific attention given to contract type. The dissertation uses two different Finnish datasets. The first longitudinal dataset was obtained as part of an interdisciplinary research project, Are Temporary Workers a Disadvantaged group?, and was gathered among employees in two universities between 2008 and 2010 (nTime1 = 2,137, nTime2 = 1,314, nTime3 = 926). The second cross-sectional dataset was part of the Quality of Work Life Survey (QWLS) collected in 2008 (n = 4,392). The university sample was used in Studies I-III and the QWLS sample was used in Study III. The main results revealed, first, that contract type, perceived mobility and optimism interacted in the prediction of PE, and this provided valuable added insight into how PE can be enhanced. More specifically, perceived mobility was an important antecedent of PE only for permanent employees. Second, change in PE across two years was heterogeneous and nonlinear resulting in four trajectories. The stable high PE trajectory was the most common. Third, PE was positively related to several indicators of well-being (i.e., both context-free and work-related, both negative andpositive aspects, and both high and low activation). Moreover, an increase in PE was related to an increase in vigor at work among one small trajectory showing non-linear change. Fourth, the positive relationship between PE and well-being was independent of contract type and level of perceived job insecurity. Altogether these findings suggest that PE can be considered as a personal resource because it is related with well-being and is amenable for changes. However, the trajectory analysis also indicated that the level of PE needs to be relatively high before such relationships occur. Furthermore, change in PE may not have a strong effect on change in well-being, which implies that the importance of PE lies more on its function of maintaining well-being. To conclude, from the perspective of employees well-being, PE seems to be a beneficial resource to be invested in.status: Publishe
Leren en Employability: Een Kwestie van Bounded Agency?
No full textEmployability (i.e., the individual's chance in the labour market) is often advanced as a critical asset in the current labour market and central in debates on labour market flexicurity (i.e., how to combine the employer's need for flexibility with the employee's desire for security). To foster individual employability, policy-makers often advance learning as the key mechanism. Yet, the existing evidence on the relation between learning and employability is rather inconclusive. Furthermore, the underlying assumption is fairly agentic, with the idea that all individuals are equally able to enhance their employability. We question this assumption and highlight the notion of bounded agency in relation to work-related learning and employability. Bounded agency entails that agency is influenced by the interplay of boundaries that individuals encounter (Desjardins & Rubenson, 2009): If specific groups experience more or stronger boundaries than others, the relation between work-related learning and employability might be less strong for them.
With the four studies in this dissertation, we aimed at providing a clearer image of the relation between learning and employability (Objective 1), while also considering bounded agency (Objective 2). In Study 1, we challenged the assumed one-to-one relationship between work-related learning and employability. Our meta-analysis showed that the relation was less strong than is generally assumed. In Study 2, we investigated the reciprocal relation between (formal and informal) work-related learning and perceived (internal and external) employability (i.e., the individuals' estimation of their employment chances with their current employer or elsewhere). The relations were not significant, with one exception: A positive and reciprocal relation between formal work-related learning and perceived internal employability was found. This signals again that the relationship is not that straightforward and that the picture is somewhat complex: The reciprocal relation might give rise to a growing inequity between higher and lower perceived internally employable workers might establish over time.
In Study 3, we investigated whether educational level functions as a boundary that inhibits the agentic relation between work-domain learning goal orientation (i.e., one's orientation toward seeking development opportunities) and the development of perceived external employability. We found that work-domain learning goal orientation only influenced the initial value (but not the development) of lower (but not higher) educated workers' perceived external employability. In Study 4, we approached boundaries using the concept of workplace lock-in (i.e., high mobility willingness in combination with low perceived external employability), which may represent strong boundaries for working individuals. We probed, and found, four different profiles of high versus low perceived external employability and mobility willingness, and concluded that they all differed in terms of career satisfaction and learning patterns.status: Publishe
Gepercipieerde inzetbaarheid, een voordeel in termen van werknemerperformantie? Waarom en wanneer (niet)
No full textPerceived employability (PE; an employee’s perceived chance to finding a new job elsewhere) has gained resonance in a labor market context in which employers can no longer ensure lifelong employment: They feel a pressure to pursue flexible personnel staffing in order to stay competitive. While PE is an established asset to employee health and career success, it is not clear if it also benefits employers, especially in terms of higher employee performance. To date, empirical inquiry into the PE-performance relationship is scarce and leaves questions unanswered as to a) whether PE affects performance and b), if so, whether PE always boosts performance.
In response, we aimed to test whether (i.e., with which directionality), why (i.e., via which mechanisms) and when (i.e., upon which conditions) PE does (not) enhance performance in the current job/organization. We took a broad approach to PE and performance: We included the perceived chances to another and a better job elsewhere (i.e., quantitative vs. qualitative PE) and task performance, citizenship and counter-productivity. Moreover, we also took a look at the effects of PE on employees’ workgroup functioning: This stakeholder has so far received little attention in employability research.
More specifically, across four empirical studies with different designs (i.e., cross-sectional and repeated-measure survey; experimental research), we established that PE has the potential of being an asset to performance (cf., whether). Moreover, PE related positively to performance via stronger feelings of control, power and particularly affective commitment to the current organization and workgroup (cf., why). Still, caution is warranted. The performance win to PE was smaller when employees felt treated less fairly: Then the feelings of control and power associated with PE no longer related (as strongly) to higher performance. Importantly, the win turned into a loss when employees perceived chances to better (i.e., qualitative PE) rather than merely other (i.e., quantitative PE) jobs elsewhere (cf., when (not)).
In all, this dissertation informs employability research on the directionality, nature and underlying mechanisms of, and the conditions to, the PE-performance relationship. Employers may use this knowledge to make most out of employability, for themselves and their employees. That is, they may want to ensure that their staff perceives high quantitative, but not qualitative, employability and meanwhile invest in fair treatment.status: Publishe
Human resource management in triangular employment relationships
No full textTese de doutoramento (co-tutela), Psicologia (Psicologia dos Recursos Humanos do Trabalho e das Organizações), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Universidade de Lisboa, 2013This dissertation concerns the triangular employment relationships of agency workers and outsourced workers. In particular, the aim was to investigate the relationship between employees’ perceptions and attributions of human resource management (HRM) practices and their dual affective organisational commitment, i.e., their commitment towards both the agency/outsourcer and the client organisation. We developed three empirical studies. In the first study, we found that commitmentfocused HRM attributions are positively and control-focused HRM attributions are negatively related to the two foci of affective commitment among a sample of outsourced IT workers. Affective commitment to the outsourcer mediates the relationships between HRM attributions and affective commitment to the client organisation. In the second study, we used a longitudinal design and contrasted the employment relationships of temporary and permanent agency workers. We found that a permanent contract with an agency is negatively related to employees’ HRM perceptions, to their psychological contract fulfilment and ultimately to their affective commitment to the client organisation. A permanent contract with the agency is not perceived as an inducement, since it decreases the chances of a direct contract with the client. In our third study, we contrasted temporary agency workers and outsourced workers from the manufacturing sector. We found that for temporary agency workers, affective commitment to the client mediated the relationship between commitment-focused HRM and performance. For outsourced workers, affective commitment to the contractor mediated this relationship, reflecting the different salience in organisational roles. Overall, our results provide evidence on the heterogeneity of the contingent workforce, regarding contractual arrangements (permanent vs. temporary agency workers) and externalization strategies (temporary agency work vs. outsourcing). Although some previous management theories claim that contingent employees are more expendable, our results also hint at the relevant role of HRM practices as antecedents of favourable employee attitudes and behaviours.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, SFRH/BD/47633/2008
Inzetbaarheid in 4D: Determinanten, Dimensies, Dualiteit, en Dienstbeëindiging
No full textEmployability in 4D: Determinants, Dimensions, Duality, and Dismissal
Perceived employability concerns the employees’ perceived future employment possibilities (Vanhercke et al., 2014). It has been advanced as critical in today’s dynamic labour market: This is based on the implicit assumption that perceived employability is at the core of a positive process that leads to optimal employee functioning. The main aim of this dissertation is to test this assumed positive process associated with perceived employability. We achieve this aim through two objectives, namely through a focus upon (1) movement capital as determinant of perceived employability (Studies 1 & 2), and (2) employee functioning as consequence of perceived employability (Studies 3 & 4). Movement capital concerns the set of personal factors that enhance individuals’ likelihood of obtaining and retaining employment (Forrier et al., 2009). Employee functioning is broadly defined as the extent to which individuals feel (i.e., burnout and engagement) and perform (i.e., in-role and extra-role performance) well.
Concerning (1) antecedents: Our first study concerned a test of causal paths between movement capital and perceived employability among employees from private and public sector organizations. Surprisingly, the strength of associations was overall quite weak. Our second study started from this observation: the overall weak pattern of results inspired us to have a closer look at the notion of movement capital. Our idea was that the indicators of movement capital were perhaps ill-defined in the sense that they were less about potential for mobility than previously thought. In response, we developed a conceptual framework for what we coined ‘employability capital’. This conceptual framework consisted of two dimensions: capital (human capital and social capital) and employability (job-related, career-related and development-related employability competencies). We tested this framework through a sorting study of measurements involving 29 subject matter experts. Even though our conceptual model found support, results also indicated that it was perhaps somewhat too complex. The simplified model included four aspects: job-related expertise, job-related attitudes, career-related employability capital, and development employability capital.
Concerning (2) consequences: Previous studies advanced a positive association between perceived employability and employee functioning outcomes but found weak to moderate support. In the third study, we challenged the assumed positive association between perceived employability and employee functioning in terms of work engagement and burnout by testing linear and curvilinear associations. The relationship between perceived employability and work engagement was linear, while the relationship between perceived employability and burnout was curvilinear. In the fourth study, we tested the assumed positive relationship between perceived employability and employee functioning (work engagement, in-role and extra-role performance) in a sample of 213 employees who were dismissed or resigned themselves, yet still at work (i.e., period of notice). We found a positive relationship between perceived employability and work engagement and performance for voluntarily dismissed employees and a negative relationship between perceived employability and work engagement and performance in case of forced dismissal.
Overall, we found positive effects of perceived employability on employee functioning in terms of well-being and performance which encourages further investments in individuals’ perceived employability and we were able to identify some ‘conditions’ or ‘precursors’ of a positive association with positive outcomes: Moderate levels of perceived employability and a voluntary career step. The conceptual framework allows future research to test and identify antecedents of perceived employability and offers a framework through which this association can be studied.
References:
Forrier, A., Sels, L., & Stynen, D. (2009). Career mobility at the intersection between agent and structure: A conceptual model. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82, 739–759.
Vanhercke, D., De Cuyper, N., Peeters, E., & De Witte, H. (2014). Defining perceived employability: a psychological approach. Personnel Review, 43(4), 592-605.status: Publishe
Een COR perspectief op gepercipieerde inzetbaarheid en psychisch functioneren bij werkenden en werklozen
No full textIndividual employability (i.e., the ability to be employed) has gained resonance against the background of increasing job insecurity. Being employable helps to acquire employment for those unemployed and helps to stay employed for those employed, and to realize career goals (i.e., making job-to-job transitions). A plausible assumption then is that individual employability fosters psychological functioning (i.e., the presence of well-being and the absence of ill-being).
Though employability research is progressing quickly, we see a number of shortcomings in existing studies. First, there is confusion about the very notion of individual employability. Second, relationships with psychological functioning have not yet been probed in much detail. In response, we aim to clarify individual employability at the conceptual level and its relation with psychological functioning among employed workers and unemployed job seekers at the empirical level with a collection of five papers.
The first paper clarifies and defines individual employability within the psychological literature through the notion of “perceived employability” (PE). PE concerns the individual’s perception of his or her possibilities of obtaining and maintaining employment, be it with the current employer (i.e., internal PE) and/or with other employers (i.e., external PE). The second paper provides an overview of research, theoretically and empirically, on the causal relationship between PE and psychological functioning. From this overview we choose to use the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory as it provides an integrative framework for this relationship accounting for all possible causal pathways (i.e., normal, reversed, and reciprocal) and potential mediating processes. The third paper probes the causal relationship between PE and psychological functioning among the employed workers and among the unemployed job seekers. Results indicate that external PE positively impacts well-being among the employed workers in line with the COR gain cycle idea while ill-being negatively affects external PE among the unemployed job seekers in line with the COR loss cycle idea. The fourth paper establishes that the job resource of skill utilisation explains the positive effect of external PE on well-being among the employed workers and the fifth paper establishes that the resource of networks explains the negative effect of ill-being on external PE among the unemployed job seekers.
In all, this dissertation shows that individuals with a strong resource pool are prone to develop a stronger resource pool and that those with a weak or weakened resource pool, for example due to involuntary dismissal, tend to experience their resource pool to become weaker. Especially for those who are at risk for developing a resource loss cycle it is important to install processes, such as outplacement, that replenish the resources that have been lost and build a more resilient resource pool that enables to cope better with future (career related) challenges.status: Publishe
Human resource management in triangular employment relationships
No full textTese de doutoramento (co-tutela), Psicologia (Psicologia dos Recursos Humanos do Trabalho e das Organizações), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Universidade de Lisboa, 2013This dissertation concerns the triangular employment relationships of agency workers and outsourced workers. In particular, the aim was to investigate the relationship between employees’ perceptions and attributions of human resource management (HRM) practices and their dual affective organisational commitment, i.e., their commitment towards both the agency/outsourcer and the client organisation. We developed three empirical studies. In the first study, we found that commitmentfocused HRM attributions are positively and control-focused HRM attributions are negatively related to the two foci of affective commitment among a sample of outsourced IT workers. Affective commitment to the outsourcer mediates the relationships between HRM attributions and affective commitment to the client organisation. In the second study, we used a longitudinal design and contrasted the employment relationships of temporary and permanent agency workers. We found that a permanent contract with an agency is negatively related to employees’ HRM perceptions, to their psychological contract fulfilment and ultimately to their affective commitment to the client organisation. A permanent contract with the agency is not perceived as an inducement, since it decreases the chances of a direct contract with the client. In our third study, we contrasted temporary agency workers and outsourced workers from the manufacturing sector. We found that for temporary agency workers, affective commitment to the client mediated the relationship between commitment-focused HRM and performance. For outsourced workers, affective commitment to the contractor mediated this relationship, reflecting the different salience in organisational roles. Overall, our results provide evidence on the heterogeneity of the contingent workforce, regarding contractual arrangements (permanent vs. temporary agency workers) and externalization strategies (temporary agency work vs. outsourcing). Although some previous management theories claim that contingent employees are more expendable, our results also hint at the relevant role of HRM practices as antecedents of favourable employee attitudes and behaviours.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, SFRH/BD/47633/2008
Towards an explanation of the job insecurity-outcome relationship: The role of perceived control
No full textJob insecurity is the perceived threat to the continuity of the currentjob situation. It more specifically refers to the threat of losing the job as such (i.e., quantitative job insecurity) or valued job characteristics such as promotion possibilities and the support of colleagues (i.e., qualitative job insecurity). Although job insecurity is a well-known stressor in work life and its negative consequences for both the employee and the organization have been investigated extensively (e.g., decreased job satisfaction, psychological distress, burnout and turnover), it still remains unclear why job insecurity results in these negative outcomes. In the current PhD, we mainly aim to address this gap by investigating whether perceived control is a theoretical explanation of the negative consequences of job insecurity, as suggested by appraisal theory (Folkman, 1984; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In this respect, perceived control is defined as employees evaluation of their resources to deal with things that might affect the current job situation. Overall, perceived control is predicted to mediate the relationship between job insecurity and its negative outcomes. This PhD project contributesto the literature on job insecurity and the mechanisms through which itresults in negative outcomes in multiple ways: First, as the use of a valid and reliable job insecurity measure is a requisite for the investigation of job insecurity and its outcomes, we evaluated the psychometric quality of the (quantitative) Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) of De Witte (2000) (Study 1). Cross-sectional data from five European countries (i.e., Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) demonstrated the construct validity, the reliability, and the concurrent validity of (the different translations of) the JIS. Second, the results supported the idea that job insecurity and perceived control are different constructs, which is a precondition for the mediation hypothesis (Studies 2 to 5). Third, support was found for the explanatory role of perceived control regarding the outcomes of both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity (Studies 2 to 5). Fourth, the results overall showed that perceived control also mediated the job insecurity-outcome relationship while controlling for another dominant theoretical explanation, i.e., psychological contract breach (Study 5). Fifth, across all tests of mediation by perceived control, a wide range of job insecurity outcomes were considered, covering both work-related (e.g., emotional exhaustion) and general strain (e.g., mental health complaints), and psychological (e.g., affective organizational commitment) and behavioural coping reactions (e.g., performance) (Studies 2 to 5). Different results were found for different types of outcomes: Overall, job insecurity was indirectly related to coping reactions via perceived control. Some evidence was found with respect to work-related strain. Perceived control, however, did not explain the association of job insecurity with employees general strain. Finally, using two-wave longitudinal designs, job insecurity was found to affect futureemotional exhaustion and affective organizational commitment through perceived control (Studies 3 and 4). There were no indications for reversed causation from outcomes to perceived control (with one exception) and from perceived control to job insecurity. In sum, this PhD project demonstrated the role of perceived control as a significant theoretical explanation of the negative consequences ofjob insecurity in terms of work-related strain and negative coping reactions.status: Publishe
Human resource management in triangular employment relationships
No full textTese de doutoramento (co-tutela), Psicologia (Psicologia dos Recursos Humanos do Trabalho e das Organizações), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Universidade de Lisboa, 2013This dissertation concerns the triangular employment relationships of agency workers and outsourced workers. In particular, the aim was to investigate the relationship between employees’ perceptions and attributions of human resource management (HRM) practices and their dual affective organisational commitment, i.e., their commitment towards both the agency/outsourcer and the client organisation. We developed three empirical studies. In the first study, we found that commitmentfocused HRM attributions are positively and control-focused HRM attributions are negatively related to the two foci of affective commitment among a sample of outsourced IT workers. Affective commitment to the outsourcer mediates the relationships between HRM attributions and affective commitment to the client organisation. In the second study, we used a longitudinal design and contrasted the employment relationships of temporary and permanent agency workers. We found that a permanent contract with an agency is negatively related to employees’ HRM perceptions, to their psychological contract fulfilment and ultimately to their affective commitment to the client organisation. A permanent contract with the agency is not perceived as an inducement, since it decreases the chances of a direct contract with the client. In our third study, we contrasted temporary agency workers and outsourced workers from the manufacturing sector. We found that for temporary agency workers, affective commitment to the client mediated the relationship between commitment-focused HRM and performance. For outsourced workers, affective commitment to the contractor mediated this relationship, reflecting the different salience in organisational roles. Overall, our results provide evidence on the heterogeneity of the contingent workforce, regarding contractual arrangements (permanent vs. temporary agency workers) and externalization strategies (temporary agency work vs. outsourcing). Although some previous management theories claim that contingent employees are more expendable, our results also hint at the relevant role of HRM practices as antecedents of favourable employee attitudes and behaviours.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, SFRH/BD/47633/2008
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