Résumés
Abstract
Because of increased market uncertainty, employers today often do not guarantee job security and employees increasingly perceive such a state, often with trepidation. Employees who have relatively insecure jobs tend to feel mistreated by their managers. This study examines the relationship between the work places where jobs are mostly insecure and employee perception of abusive supervision, and the moderating role of a relational mechanism of perceived social worth at work.
The conservation of resources (COR) perspective is used to guide analysis. This perspective provides competing rationales for employee acquisition/preservation of resources and ensuing abusive supervision. In a two-wave panel survey, 271 full-time employees with various occupations completed two questionnaires. Results indicate that job insecurity is positively associated with abusive supervision. This association is stronger for employees who perceive higher social worth at work.
There is limited research investigating how managerial/leadership effectiveness varies in workplaces where job’s are insecure. Moreover, a relational mechanism of social worth has rarely been used to examine the phenomenon of job insecurity. Although literature shows employees’ perception of job insecurity leads them to increase work input/effort to make themselves more valuable and worthy of remaining in the organization, this does not mean that they will be more likely to notions such as management prerogative on their employer’s authority. Ironically, leadership, in particular, tends to be undermined when jobs are insecure as our findings show that insecure subordinates tend to perceive themselves experiencing supervisory abuse. To address this malaise, practical implications for organizations, supervisors, and subordinates are proposed and complementary practices are discussed to differentiate high social-worth employees from others.
Keywords:
- job insecurity,
- abusive supervision,
- perceived social worth,
- conservation of resources
Résumé
En raison de l’incertitude accrue des marchés, bien des employeurs actuellement ne garantissent plus la sécurité d’emploi et les employés perçoivent un tel état, souvent avec inquiétude. Les employés dont les emplois sont relativement précaires ont tendance à se sentir maltraités par leurs supérieurs. Cette étude examine la relation entre les lieux de travail où les emplois sont généralement précaires et la perception des employés concernant la supervision abusive, ainsi que le rôle modérateur du mécanisme relationnel de la valeur sociale perçue au travail.
La perspective de conservation des ressources (COR en anglais) est utilisée pour guider l’analyse. Cette perspective fournit des réponses contradictoires sur l’acquisition/préservation des ressources par les employés et la supervision abusive. Dans le cadre d’une enquête par panel à deux vagues, 271 employés à plein temps exerçant diverses professions ont rempli deux questionnaires. Les résultats indiquent que la précarité d’emploi est associée positivement à une supervision abusive. Cette association est plus forte dans le cas des employés qui perçoivent une valeur sociale plus élevée au travail.
À ce jour, peu de recherches ont été menées pour étudier dans quelle mesure l’efficacité des gestionnaires et des dirigeants varie dans les lieux de travail où les postes sont précaires. De plus, un mécanisme relationnel de valeur sociale a rarement été utilisé pour examiner le phénomène de l’insécurité de l’emploi. Bien que la littérature montre que la précarité d’emploi conduit les employés à augmenter leur travail et leurs efforts afin de se rendre plus utile et digne de demeurer dans l’entreprise, cela ne signifie pas qu’ils seront plus enclins à des notions telles que la prérogative de la direction sur l’autorité de leur employeur. Ironiquement, le leadership, en particulier, a tendance à être compromis lorsque les emplois sont instables. En effet, nos résultats montrent que les subordonnés précaires ont tendance à se percevoir en situation d’abus de supervision. Dans le but de remédier à ce malaise, des considérations pratiques pour les organisations, les superviseurs et les subordonnés sont formulées et des pratiques complémentaires sont discutées afin de différencier les employés à valeur sociale élevée des autres.
Mots-clés:
- insécurité d’emploi,
- supervision abusive,
- valeur sociale perçue,
- conservation des ressources
Resumen
Debido a la mayor incertidumbre del mercado, los empleadores de hoy en día son menos adeptos a garantizan la seguridad laboral y los empleados perciben cada vez más esta situación, a menudo con temor. Los empleados que tienen trabajos relativamente inseguros tienden a sentirse maltratados por sus gerentes. Este estudio examina la relación entre los lugares de trabajo donde los empleos son mayormente inestables y la percepción de los empleados respecto a la supervisión abusiva, y el papel moderador de un mecanismo relacional de valor social percibido en el trabajo.
Se utiliza el enfoque de la conservación de recursos (COR) para guiar el análisis. Esta enfoque proporciona argumentos competitivos para la adquisición/preservación de recursos por parte de los empleados y la consiguiente supervisión abusiva. En una encuesta de panel con dos momentos de colecta de datos, 271 empleados trabajando a tiempo completo y con ocupaciones diversas, completaron dos cuestionarios. Los resultados indican que la inestabilidad laboral se asocia positivamente con la supervisión abusiva. Esta asociación es más fuerte para los empleados que perciben un mayor valor social en el trabajo.
Existen investigaciones limitadas que estudian cómo la eficacia gerencial de liderazgo varia en los lugares de trabajo donde el trabajo es inestable. Además, rara vez se ha utilizado un mecanismo relacional de valor social para examinar el fenómeno de la inestabilidad laboral. Aunque la literatura muestra que la percepción de los empleados sobre la inestabilidad laboral los lleva a aumentar los esfuerzos del trabajo para hacerse más valiosos y dignos de permanecer en la organización, esto no significa que sean más propensos a nociones como la prerrogativa de la administración sobre la autoridad de su empleador. Irónicamente, el liderazgo, en particular, tiende a debilitarse cuando los empleos son inestables, ya que nuestros resultados muestran que los subordinados inestables tienden a percibirse a sí mismos experimentando abuso de supervisión. Para abordar este malestar, se propone implicaciones prácticas para las organizaciones, supervisores y subordinados y se discuten prácticas complementarias para diferenciar a los empleados de alto valor social de los demás.
Palabras claves:
- inestabilidad laboral,
- supervisión abusiva,
- valor social percibido,
- conservación de recursos
Parties annexes
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