SummaryThis study advances the limited research on work alignment and work engagement by investigating how perceived alignment of job tasks and organizational strategic priorities (strategic alignment) influences work engagement. Measures of job control and work social support were also included to enable comparisons between strategic alignment and other well-established job resources.
Drawing on the job demands-resources model, this research presents a quasi-experimental evaluation of an organizational intervention aiming to enhance upstream organizational resources via a leadership-development program. Repeated-measures data for perceptions of work-related characteristics, attitudes, and outcomes were collected four months before (Time 1/baseline) and seven months after (Time 2) the leadership-development intervention. Results indicated a positive effect of the leadership-development intervention on perceptions of work characteristics and well-being for the immediate subordinates of the leadership-development intervention participants, compared with a control group. Analysis of mediated effects indicated that the leadership-development intervention had a positive effect on subordinates’ perceptions of work-culture support and strategic alignment, which in turn had a positive effect on their job satisfaction and work engagement. This research successfully demonstrated that organizational interventions aiming to enhance upstream organizational resources (via leadership development) can effectively improve the psychosocial working environment for employees. Furthermore, this research addressed commonly cited limitations of intervention research, including the dearth of organizational-level interventions, lack of research focusing on positive outcomes, and failure to address mediating effects.
Disasters, whether natural or human-initiated, occur beyond organizational boundaries and affect organizational functioning. This research investigated the impact o f a natural disaster on the health and work attitudes o f police officers. Structural equation modeling was employed to test whether exposure to a natural disaster intensified job demands and diminished job resources, which, in turn, negatively influenced work outcomes. The research sample consisted o f 1,623 police officers who completed electronic surveys collected approximately 10 months prior to, and 1 month after, a natural disaster. Exposure to certain aspects o f a natural disaster was significantly associated with work culture support, which, in turn, was associated with job satisfac tion, work engagement, psychological strain, and turnover intentions (yfl 1094] = 2484.03; p < .001; standardized root mean square residual = .04; Tucker-Lewis index = .97; comparative fit index = .98; parsimonyadjusted comparative fit index = .87; root mean square error of approxi mation = .03). Job resources in particular had a significant impact upon the outcome variables, supporting theoretical models that emphasize their crit ical role in the stressor-strain process (e.g., Hobfoll, 1989). This research suggests that positive work-related outcomes for organizations directly in volved with major disasters may be attained through (a) the provision of a
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