Leadership and employees’ perceived safety behaviours in a nuclear power plant: A structural equation model

2011

Leadership is considered an essential element in guaranteeing the safe running of organizations. The purpose of the present study is to find out how leader behaviours influence employees' safety behaviours (perceived safety behaviours) in the nuclear field. In an attempt to answer this question, the authors of this research have considered the way this influence is exercised, taking into consideration some important factors like safety culture and safety climate. To achieve this, the empowerment leadership model, based on a behavioural approach to leadership, was used. The sample was made up of 566 employees from a Spanish nuclear power plant. The results indicated that when safety culture …

The Safety Culture Enactment Questionnaire (SCEQ): Theoretical model and empirical validation

2015

This paper presents the Safety Culture Enactment Questionnaire (SCEQ), designed to assess the degree to which safety is an enacted value in the day-to-day running of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The SCEQ is based on a theoretical safety culture model that is manifested in three fundamental components of the functioning and operation of any organization: strategic decisions, human resources practices, and daily activities and behaviors. The extent to which the importance of safety is enacted in each of these three components provides information about the pervasiveness of the safety culture in the NPP. To validate the SCEQ and the model on which it is based, two separate studies were carried…

Affective responses to work process and outcomes in virtual teams

2005

PurposeTo analyze the direct and combined effects of the communication media and time pressure in group work on the affective responses of team members while performing intellective tasksDesign/methodology/approachA laboratory experiment was carried out with 124 subjects working in 31 groups. The task performed by the groups was an intellective one. A 2 × 3 factorial design with three media (face‐to‐face, video‐conference, and e‐mail) and time pressure (with and without time pressure) was used to determine the direct and combined effects of these two variables on group members' satisfaction with the process and with the results, and on members' commitment with the decision.FindingsResults s…

Cambios en la valoración del trabajo en jóvenes de primer empleo durante el proceso de socialización laboral

1999

ResumenEl trabajo es una de las areas mas importantes en la vida para los seres humanos y un pilar basico en el funcionamiento de cualquier sociedad. El significado que la gente da al trabajo, y que aspectos son valorados del mismo, ha sido y es un tema de gran interes para los cientificos sociales. Dos dimensiones principales del significado del trabajo son «los resultados valorados del trabajo» y la «importancia de metas laborales». «Los resultados valorados del trabajo» son aquellos resultados que el individuo busca del trabjar o que funciones le son servidas a traves del trabajo. «La importancia de metas laborales» se refiere a la importancia que tiene para los individuos determinados a…

It is hard to forget what comes around: Time‐lagged effects of employers' non‐fulfillment of psychological contract

2021

Upward Voice: Participative Decision Making, Trust in Leadership and Safety Climate Matter

2020

A supportive upward voice environment is critical in nuclear power plants in order to provide energy in a sustainable manner. In high&ndash

Actitudes laborales y bienestar de los trabajadores temporales de Europa e Israel

2011

Valiendose de una tipologia novedosa, los autores analizan empiricamente cuatro tipos de trabajadores temporales y los comparan con un grupo de trabajadores fijos. En la muestra, que comprende 1.300 personas de seis paises, hallan diferencias significativas en numerosas variables —como caracteristicas demograficas y del puesto de trabajo, actitudes e inseguridad laboral—, pero no en la satisfaccion vital y el bienestar.Es erroneo considerar que los trabajadores temporales son personas poco cualificadas incapaces de encontrar un empleo fijo; ahora bien, conviene afinar las investigaciones al respecto para perfeccionar las politicas de «flexiseguridad».

High commitment HR practices, the employment relationship and job performance: A test of a mediation model

2016

Abstract Purpose This study outlines and tests a high commitment model of human resource (HR) practices and its association with outcomes through a path including employee perceptions and attitudes, thereby seeking a new way of opening the so-called ‘black box’ between human resource management (HRM) and performance. Methodology Data were collected through a questionnaire survey with responses from 835 Spanish workers from three sectors (services, education and food manufacture). In order to test hypotheses, we conducted a path analysis. Findings High commitment HR practices were related to employee performance through the mediating effect of perceived organizational support, a fulfilled ps…

Safety Culture and Safety Performance in High-Reliability Organizations: A Synthesis of IDOCAL’S Contributions to the Literature

2020

Improving safety culture and safety performance is a constant concern for companies operating in high-risk environments. For almost two decades, IDOCAL (the Research Institute of Personnel Psychology, Organizational Development and Quality of Working Life) has been contributing to advancing our understanding of these important concepts through theoretical development and empirical research. The objective of this article is to synthesize these contributions. Some of the most prominent are (1) the development of a framework for the evaluation of safety culture and its correlates based on the AMIGO model, (2) the establishment of the empowering leadership model as a valuable concept in safety …

Testing the validity of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety culture model

2012

This paper takes the first steps to empirically validate the widely used model of safety culture of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), composed of five dimensions, further specified by 37 attributes. To do so, three independent and complementary studies are presented. First, 290 students serve to collect evidence about the face validity of the model. Second, 48 experts in organizational behavior judge its content validity. And third, 468 workers in a Spanish nuclear power plant help to reveal how closely the theoretical five-dimensional model can be replicated. Our findings suggest that several attributes of the model may not be related to their corresponding dimensions. Accordi…

Diferencias en el contenido del contrato psicológico en función del tipo de contrato y de la gestión empresarial pública o privada

2005

ResumenEl objetivo del presente trabajo es explorar si existen diferencias en el contenido del contrato psicologico en funcion del tipo de contrato y del tipo de gestion empresarial (publica o privada). Se realizaron ANOVAS 2 × 2 para contrastar las diferencias en las obligaciones del empleador y del empleado respectivamente en funcion del tipo de contrato: permanente versus temporal y del tipo de gestion empresarial: publica o privada con una muestra de 385 trabajadores. Los resultados proporcionan apoyo a las hipotesis planteadas, indicando que el tipo de contrato y el tipo de gestion empresarial influyen en el contenido del contrato psicologico que se establece entre el empleado y su org…

Job Insecurity and Health-Related Outcomes among Different Types of Temporary Workers

2005

Over the past few decades, the number of flexible workers has increased, a situation that has captured researchers’ attention. Traditionally, temporary workers were portrayed as being disadvantaged compared to permanent workers. But in the new era, temporary workers cannot be treated as a homogeneous group. This study distinguishes between four types of temporaries based on their contract preference and employability level. Furthermore, it compares them with a permanent group. Whether these groups differ on job insecurity and health-related outcomes in a sample of 383 Spanish employees was tested. Differences in well-being and life satisfaction were found, and the hypotheses were supported.…

Strengthening Safety Compliance in Nuclear Power Operations: A Role-Based Approach

2014

Safety compliance is of paramount importance in guaranteeing the safe running of nuclear power plants. However, it depends mostly on procedures that do not always involve the safest outcomes. This article introduces an empirical model based on the organizational role theory to analyze the influence of legitimate sources of expectations (procedures formalization and leadership) on workers' compliance behaviors. The sample was composed of 495 employees from two Spanish nuclear power plants. Structural equation analysis showed that, in spite of some problematic effects of proceduralization (such as role conflict and role ambiguity), procedure formalization along with an empowering leadership s…

Perceived overqualification, relative deprivation, and person-centric outcomes: The moderating role of career centrality

2018

Abstract In this study, we develop and test a model examining why and when perceived overqualification relates to career satisfaction and subjective well-being. In a sample of 143 new university graduates in Spain with data collected across two time periods, we showed that perceived overqualification interacted with career centrality to predict relative deprivation, which in turn was related to lower career satisfaction, positive affect, and life satisfaction, as well as higher negative affect. Further, perceived overqualification had negative main effects on career satisfaction, negative affect, and life satisfaction. The results suggest the importance of perceived overqualification for we…

The power of empowering team leadership over time: A multi-wave longitudinal study in nuclear power plants

2021

Abstract Team attitudes in critical infrastructures are essential to achieving reliable operations despite internal and external challenges, and empowering team leadership (ETL) may be an important precursor of these attitudes. The present study aimed to test whether ETL was related to teams’ satisfaction trajectories, measured as changes in job satisfaction and safety satisfaction at three time points. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 48 teams from two Spanish nuclear facilities in three different waves (2008, 2011, and 2014). Growth Modeling using hierarchical linear models with SPSS 20.0 revealed that ETL was positively related to initial levels of teams’ job and safety satisfaction…

Moderating influence of organizational justice on the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes: A multilevel analysis

2010

A great amount of research has illustrated the evident prevalence of job insecurity in working life and its harmful outcomes for employees and organizations. Some authors have identified factors that can reduce this negative influence. However, up until now, most of these factors have only been studied at an individual level, without taking into account the fact that contextual conditions can play a moderating role in organizations. Following this perspective, this article analyses the moderator role of organizational justice and organizational justice climate in the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes. The study was carried out with a sample of 942 employees from 47 Spanis…

Empowering team leadership and safety performance in nuclear power plants: A multilevel approach

2013

Abstract Despite the large body of work on team leadership, hardly any literature has dealt with team leadership in safety performance settings. The goal of the present study is to analyze how team leader behaviors influence team members’ safety performance in nuclear power plants. For this purpose, an empowering leadership approach was assessed. We consider a multilevel model in which safety performance is divided into three types of behaviors. The sample was composed of 479 workers in 54 groups from two Spanish nuclear power plants. The results suggested that leaders’ empowering behaviors generated higher safety compliance behaviors and higher safety participation behaviors by team member…

Linking empowering leadership to safety participation in nuclear power plants: a structural equation model.

2012

Abstract Introduction Safety participation is of paramount importance in guaranteeing the safe running of nuclear power plants. Method The present study examined the effects of empowering leadership on safety participation. Results Based on a sample of 495 employees from two Spanish nuclear power plants, structural equation modeling showed that empowering leadership has a significant relationship with safety participation, which is mediated by collaborative team learning. In addition, the results revealed that the relationship between empowering leadership and collaborative learning is partially mediated by the promotion of dialogue and open communication. Conclusions The implications of th…

Understanding risky behaviours in nuclear facilities: The impact of role stressors

2018

Abstract Risky behaviours have received little attention in the safety literature in recent years, compared to safety behaviours such as safety compliance or safety participation. However, it is important to focus on risky behaviours and their predictors in order to prevent accidents. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of role stressors (role ambiguity and role overload) on risky behaviours, and the mediating role of dissatisfaction (both job and safety dissatisfaction). The sample consists of 566 employees from two nuclear power plants in Spain. Structural equation modelling is used to determine the effects of role ambiguity and role overload on risky behaviours. Role stressors…

Developing mindful organizing in teams: a participation climate is not enough, teams need to feel safe to challenge their leaders

2020

ABSTRACT Mindful organizing (also known as collective mindfulness) is a collective capability that allows teams to anticipate and swiftly recover from unexpected events. This collective capability is especially relevant in high-risk environments where reliability in performance is of utmost importance. In this paper, we build on current mindful organizing theory by showing how two front-line communication and participatory conditions (perceived safety for upward dissent and climate for employee engagement) interact to predict mindful organizing. We shed light on the controversy around mindful organizing’s effect on team’s subjective experience at work by showing that it leads to…

Employability and personal initiative as antecedents of job satisfaction.

2009

In a changing and flexible labour market it is important to clarify the role of environmental and personal variables that contribute to obtaining adequate levels of job satisfaction. The aim of the present study is to analyze the direct effects of employability and personal initiative on intrinsic, extrinsic and social job satisfaction, clarifying their cumulative and interactive effects. The study has been carried out in a sample of 1319 young Spanish workers. Hypotheses were tested by means of the moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results show that employability and personal initiative predict in a cumulative way the intrinsic, extrinsic and social job satisfaction. Moreover, th…

How high-commitment HRM relates to PC violation and outcomes: The mediating role of supervisor support and PC fulfilment at individual and organizati…

2020

Abstract Psychological contract (PC) constitutes a theoretical framework for; explaining labor relationships, and it has been considered as a; mediation step between structural variables and processes and work and; organizational outcomes. Whereas PC (un)fulfillment; showed consistent relationships with variables such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, or absenteeism, the effects of PC; violation (emotional answers that develop after perceptions of PC; breach) have been less investigated. In addition, structural antecedents; of PC constructs had included Human Resources (HR) practices. This paper aims to extend; research on PC and its role as a mediator between HR …

Empowering leadership, mindful organizing and safety performance in a nuclear power plant: A multilevel structural equation model

2020

Abstract The aim of this paper is to develop and test a model in which empowering leadership is expected to contribute to developing mindful organizing, which in turn should contribute to safety compliance and safety participation. Empowering leadership was measured at Time 1, and the rest of the variables were measured two years later (Time 2). The sample used for the analyses in this study included 49 teams and 200 employees from a company in the nuclear generation industry with three different sites. The multilevel structural equation analysis performed to test the proposed model revealed an acceptable fit, and most of the paths were statistically significant and presented the expected s…

Spanish validation of the mindful organizing scale: A questionnaire for the assessment of collective mindfulness

2018

Abstract Introduction Mindful organizing (also known as collective mindfulness) is a team level construct that is said to underpin the principles of high-reliability organizations (HROs), as it has shown to lead to almost error-free performance. While mindful organizing research has proliferated in recent years, studies on how to measure mindful organizing are scarce. Vogus and Sutcliffe (2007) originally validated a nine-item “Mindful Organizing Scale” but few subsequent validation studies of this scale exist. The present study aimed to validate a Spanish version of the Mindful Organizing Scale. Method The sample included 47 teams (comprising of a total of 573 workers with an average team …

Job attitudes, behaviours and well-being among different types of temporary workers in Europe and Israel

2011

Applying an innovative typology based on preference for temporary em- ployment and perceived employability, the authors empirically examine four types of temporary workers (and a group of permanent workers for comparison). In a sample of 1,300 employees from six countries, they find significant differences between the four types on a broad set of variables - including demographic and job characteristics, attitude and insecurity - but not in life satisfaction and well-being. They conclude with an argument against the equation of temporary employment with low-skilled workers unable to find a permanent job, stressing the valuable implications of more sensitive research for policy-making on fle…

Learning culture and knowledge management processes: To what extent are they effectively related?

2014

In the contemporary context of high competitiveness between organizations, organizational learning culture and knowledge management (KM) have been considered key concepts in both academic and managerial settings. This study aims to provide empirical support for the relationship between organizational learning culture and knowledge management, specifically concerning the prediction of learning culture on KM processes. Data collection was carried out through questionnaires in 50 Portuguese manufacturing firms. Data was analyzed at the organizational level using standard multiple regressions. The results showed a significant and positive relationship between learning culture and KM practices. …

How Do Young People Cope with Job Flexibility?: Demographic and Psychological Antecendents of the Resistance to Accept a Job with Non-Preferred Flexi…

2002

La flexibilite est souvent vue comme condition necessaire a la survie des marches de travail nationaux et a celle des organisations dans un monde en rapide changement ou s’accroit la competition globale. Elle a adopte diverses formes tels les contrats a duree determinee, l’externalisation, les horaires flexibles, le temps partiel, les heures complementaires, le roulement fonctionnel. De plus, il a ete declare que la flexibilite organisationnelle se doit d’etre accompagnee d’une flexibilite personnelle. Quoi qu’il en soit, face aux nouvelles opportunites de travail, les gens different tant sur le plan de leurs preferences que sur celui de leur comportement. Le but de cette etude est d’identi…

La cultura de aprendizaje y los procesos de gestión del conocimiento: ¿hasta qué punto se relacionan de hecho?

2014

In the contemporary context of high competitiveness between organizations, organizational learning culture and knowledge management (KM) have been considered key concepts in both academic and managerial settings. This study aims to provide empirical support for the relationship between organizational learning culture and knowledge management, specifically concerning the prediction of learning culture on KM processes. Data collection was carried out through questionnaires in 50 Portuguese manufacturing firms. Data was analyzed at the organizational level using standard multiple regressions. The results showed a significant and positive relationship between learning culture and KM practices. …