The most serious defects in the measurement of absenteeism that limit theory development and predictability are identified as instability in absence behavior and nonnormal sample distributions. The limited utility of ordinary least-squares regression and correlation models in statistical analyses of skewed, truncated marginal distributions is reviewed. Data from a 30-month study of absenteeism among manufacturing workers are used to illustrate the psychometric properties of different time-lost and frequency indices as operational definitions of voluntary and involuntary absenteeism. We show that frequency measures are more stable and less susceptible to skewness and leptokurtosis than are time-lost measures. Suggestions are made for developing less contaminated operational definitions and for using more accurate statistical analyses of sample data through alternative regression models.
This study explored possible determinants, both inside and outside the job sphere, of willingness to relocate. Data were collected from a large sample of managerial and professional employees in one organization. Unlike previous research, this study investigated willingness to relocate for three different purposes: (1) for a better job or career development;(2) to help the organization; or (3) to remain employed. However, only two factors of willingness to relocate emerged: willingness to relocate for career enhancement or company needs, and willingness to relocate to remain employed. Results showed that the strongest predictors of willingness to relocate to remain employed were job sphere variables such as satisfaction with career development opportunities and propensity to remain, while family and community variables were much more important in predicting willingness to relocate for career enhancement or company needs. The implications of these results for both the organization and individuals are discussed.
The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship of race and gender to managers' ratings of promotion potential for a sample of 1268 managerial and professional employees. Hierarchial regression analysis showed that controlling for age, education, tenure, salary grade, functional area, and satisfaction with career support, both race and gender were significantly related to promotion potential. Females were rated lower than males, and Blacks and Asians were rated lower than Whites. There were no interaction effects between race and gender.
Used R. M. Steers and S. R. Rhodes's model as a framework for examining patterns of absenteeism and their predictors among 112 workers (mean age 44 yrs) in an employee-owned organization. The focus of the study was the effect of job satisfaction on voluntary absenteeism, which is traditionally thought to be either negative or canceled out by pressures to attend work. An alternative hypothesis is offered by A. O. Hirschman's (1970) exit, voice, and loyalty (EVL) model, which suggests that workers who are loyal to their employer and believe that they can improve undesirable conditions will come to work when they are dissatisfied because they can voice their complaints instead of withdrawing silently. Results show that absenteeism was affected primarily by organizational and financial commitment but that job satisfaction was not a predictor. Voluntary absenteeism declined after transfer to employee ownership but was offset by an increase in involuntary withdrawal as employees began publicly to legitimize their absenteeism. Results suggest that a better understanding of the psychological processes leading to temporary withdrawal could come from an examination of the costs to the worker of being present, in addition to the traditional focus on the rewards of working. (37 ref)
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