Managers are increasingly being held accountable for providing resources that support employee development, particularly in the form of feedback and coaching. To support managers as trainers and coaches, organizations must provide managers with the tools they need to succeed in this area. This article presents a new tool to assist in the diagnosis and training of managers in the area of feedback and coaching: the Feedback Environment Scale. This article also discusses the theoretically based definition of this new construct and the development and validation evidence for the scale that measures this construct. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the a priori measurement model, and assessment of relationships proposed in a preliminary nomological network provide initial support for the construct validity of the scale. Results also show evidence for the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and discriminant validity of the facet scores of the Feedback Environment Scale.

Organizational wellness programs are on or off-site services sponsored by organizations which attempt to promote good health or to identify and correct potential health related problems (Wolfe, Parker, & Napier, 1994). The authors conducted a meta-analysis on studies that examined the effects of participation in an organizational wellness program (fitness or comprehensive) on absenteeism and job satisfaction. The results revealed that participation in an organizational wellness program was associated with decreased absenteeism and increased job satisfaction. The type of wellness program (fitness only or comprehensive) and the methodological rigor of the primary studies were examined as moderators; however, no moderating effects were found. These results provide some empirical support for the effectiveness of organizational wellness programs.

Previous research indicates that unfavorable feedback, even unfavorable feedback provided for developmental purposes only, is not perceived as useful, results in negative reactions and is not associated with a recipient's willingness to change his or her behavior. This study examined the extent to which contextual variables mitigate these unwanted effects of developmental unfavorable feedback. Results indicate that employees are more motivated to improve their job performance based on unfavorable feedback when the feedback source is perceived to be credible, the feedback is of high quality and the feedback is delivered in a considerate manner.

Two studies examined the effects of the feedback-seeking context on the feedback-seeking process. Previous research has suggested that the publicness of the feedback-seeking context influences the degree to which individuals seek performance feedback (S.

The social rules for communicating anger in the workplace are multifaceted, and standards vary for different groups. Previous research addresses either gender differences in anger expression or organizational status differences, but not the combined impact of gender and status. The authors close this gap by investigating both the independent and joint influence of gender and relative organizational status on workplace anger expression. Their findings show that emotional restraint is the most frequent method of handling anger across all groups. Lower status males, however, directly express their anger around higher status members significantly more frequently than do lower status females. The authors conclude with observations regarding the relative strength of organizational norms as compared to gender-based norms.