Umeå University's logo

Poor working conditions and high employee turnover in eldercare have frequently been addressed over the years. The aim of the study is to examine the relation between work overcommitment and employee well-being and turnover intentions in eldercare and whether leader support and role clarity moderate the relation between overcommitment and employee outcomes. A questionnaire was distributed to workplaces in eight Swedish municipalities. The results show that overcommitment was related to employees’ impaired well-being, as well as to their turnover intentions. We also found that leader support buffered the negative effects of overcommitment. The role clarity was quite high; however, it did not have a moderating effect.

Our goal was to analyze the positive effect of job crafting activities involving nursing home employees on their perceived quality of care, and the moderating effect of organizational identification. A two-wave non-experimental design (with an interval of 12 months) was used. The Job Crafting Questionnaire, the Identification-Commitment Inventory, and the Quality of Care Questionnaire (QoC) were administered to 226 nursing home employees in two waves. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses found significant association between job crafting subdimensions and quality of care twelve months later. Organizational identification was shown to play a moderating role in these relationships when analyzing the effect of cognitive crafting. In this sense, the effect of cognitive crafting on quality of care is only found with high levels of identification. The findings highlight the importance of the job crafting dimensions (task, relational and cognitive) when it comes to enhancing quality of care in residential homes for the elderly. This is especially relevant for cognitive crafting among employees with high levels of organizational identification. This research provides managers with guidance when allocating job crafting opportunities aimed at making improvements in quality of care. In this respect, organizations must offer job crafting training to stimulate and support their employees and, on the other hand, managers should encourage employees to craft their jobs, gearing their needs, abilities, and goals to corporate values and competencies.

Aim: To examine the association between organizational change, turnover intentions, overcommitment and perceptions of quality of care among nurses and nursing assistants employed in eldercare organizations.

Design: A longitudinal survey (baseline, 12‐month follow‐up) was used.

Methods: A panel sample of 226 eldercare employees in Spain and Sweden responded to survey questions concerning organizational change, turnover intentions, overcommitment and perceptions of quality of care. The data were analysed using structural equational modelling.

Results: We found a statistically significant positive relationship between organizational change, employees’ turnover intention and overcommitment. We also found a statistically significant negative relationship between organizational change and perceived quality of care.

Frequent organizational changes have been a rule rather than an exception in many European countries for decades. The present study investigates how affective organizational commitment relates to and moderates the effects of having been exposed to organizational restructuring on employee well-being, quality of care and turnover intentions among 530 eldercare employees in Sweden and Spain. The results show that there was a main effect of employees’ experiences of being affected by change on well-being and turnover intentions but not on quality of care. Restructuring changes were moderated by affective commitment on turnover intentions. However, the buffering effect of affective commitment in terms of protecting employees from turnover intentions was weak.

Utgångspunkten för den här rapporten är att belysa äldreomsorgens arbetsmiljö och organisation samt vilken betydelse förändringar på olika nivåer har haft för medarbetare och chefer. Detta sker genom att vi beskriver större förändringar på samhällsnivå de senaste 30 åren som haft betydelse för äldreomsorgen, jämför arbetssituationen inom äldreomsorgen mellan olika länder och undersöker vilka konsekvenser arbetsmiljön har för medarbetare och chefer inom äldreomsorgen. Vi presenterar studier där vi undersökt förändringar, arbetsmiljö, organisation och ledarskap i äldreomsorgen från 1990-talet och framåt. Vi jämför arbetsmiljön i svensk äldreomsorg med arbetsmiljön i andra länders äldreomsorg, framför allt norra Spaniens. Vårt arbets- och organisationspsykologiska perspektiv visar att den psykosociala arbetsmiljön är sämre i svensk äldreomsorg än i de länder vi jämfört med. I vissa fall råder det i Sverige även sämre arbetsförhållanden. Resultat från forskningsstudier i vår översikt tyder på att det under lång tid generellt har pågått en försämring av arbetsmiljön och arbetsförhållandena. Det har inte saknats positiva initiativ under årens lopp men en hel del av dem tycks inte ha varit hållbara över tid. Organisationsförändringar i form av omfattande schemaförändringar, sammanslagningar, nedskärningar eller andra omorganiseringar är återkommande inslag som har stört utvecklingen av äldreomsorgens verksamheter, även om syftet har varit det motsatta. Vi har arbetat utifrån tre övergripande frågeställningar som handlar om: 

1. hur samhällsförändringarna har påverkat förutsättningar för äldreomsorgen, framför allt för dess medarbetare och ledare 

2. balansen mellan krav och organisatoriska och individuella resurser

3. organisationsförändringars betydelse för ledarskap och arbetsmiljö

Rapporten vänder sig till beslutsfattare och politiker på alla nivåer men också till personal i äldreomsorgen. Vår avsikt är att sätta fokus på arbetsmiljön i äldreomsorgen och vikten av att ha en balanserad psykosocial arbetsmiljö – innan andra förändringar i verksamheten kommer till stånd. Vi är över-tygade om att detta är grundläggande för att man ska kunna komma vidare från de problem som länge har lyfts fram från äldreomsorgens verksamheter, såväl från myndigheter som från forskningshåll.

Extending previous studies on job crafting, the aim of the present study is to analyze the effect of job crafting on quality of care in residential homes for elderly people in two European countries (Spain and Sweden). We hypothesize that cognitive crafting could be a consequence of behavioral crafting and that it will mediate the relationship between behavioral crafting and the perception of quality of care. A correlational design was used, with two-waves approximately 12 months apart (n = 226). Our results indicate that behavioral job crafting at T1 had an effect on cognitive job crafting at T2, relational job crafting at T1 increases quality of care at T2, and the mediation effect of cognitive job crafting. These results indicate that we must differentiate between the two forms of crafting (behavioral and cognitive), not as indicators of the same latent construct, but as aggregates. Additionally, we point out two main implications for managerial practice. First, as relational job crafting has a direct effect on quality of care, it is important to assure an organizational culture oriented towards employees. Secondly, due to the mediation effect of cognitive job crafting, managers should facilitate meaningful work environments. To do so, jobs should be re-designed, increasing skills variety, identity and significance.

In this quasi-experimental study, we examine the alignment of a job redesign initiative with leadership training aimed at increasing supervisors' opportunities for providing support to employees. In addition, we examine intervention-mediated effects on climate for innovation through increases in perceived supervisor support. To test the hypothesized process, we used employee ratings (N = 524) of perceived supervisor support and climate for innovation collected at three time points over 2 years in the home help services in seven Swedish municipalities. Results of latent growth curve analyses showed that employees in the intervention group had a stronger and positive slope of perceived supervisor support relative to the comparison group. Further, the growth trajectories of perceived supervisor support were positively associated with climate for innovation at the 24-month follow-up. The study contributes to the human resource management literature by showing that alignment of employment practices such as training with work practices such as job redesign may be a promising strategy for achieving positive outcomes at multiple levels in organizations.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderation effect of over-commitment in the job crafting–well-being relationship, in the elderly care sector in Spain.

Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional design was implemented and a final sample of 353 participants were assessed using the Job Crafting Questionnaire, an adaptation of the Over-commitment Scale from the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).

Findings – A positive interaction between relational and task crafting and over-commitment is observed in the prediction of well-being levels. Specifically, the effect of over-commitment in the task crafting–well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant when opposed to low, medium and high levels of over-commitment. Additionally, the effect of over-commitment in the relational crafting–well-being relationship proved to be statistically significant only when opposed to medium and high levels of over-commitment. Finally, a direct and simple effect was observed between cognitive crafting and well-being, not moderated by over-commitment.

Research limitations/implications – Implementation of non-behavioral measurements, and a non-longitudinal design are suggested. The development of behavioral measures for job crafting is encouraged, along with the implementation of longitudinal designs sensitive to changes in over-commitment. Possible over-commitment results are biased by an economically contracted environment.

Practical implications – Job crafting training, over-commitment early detection and further research on job crafting strategies’ preferences are suggested.

Originality/value – The moderating role of over-commitment in the job crafting–well-being relationship in the elderly care sector represents one of these attempts to better understand evidences of how work-related efforts modify a worker’s psychological functioning and adaptation, which is the reason why, specially in contexts of uncertainty, its study becomes relevant.

The present study is part of a broader research project aimed at the analysis of the job environment of eldercare and nursing homes employees. In this context, the aim of this research is to analyze the direct effect of job crafting, specifically, task, relational and cognitive crafting, on quality of care, and the moderator effect of commitment on these relationships. A correlational cross-sectional design was used. A non-probabilistic accidental sample of 530 eldercare and nursing home employees was recruited. Standardized instruments were used to assess employees’ job crafting, quality of care and commitment. Regression analyses with PROCESS were used to test the moderated model. Results showed a moderated effect of exchange, values, and affective commitment on the relationship between cognitive job crafting and quality of care, but not on the relationship of task and relational job crafting and quality of care. This study highlights the importance of nurses’ job crafting activities for quality of care. Quality of care depends on cognitive job crafting among nurses with high levels of organizational commitment. Those employees with high levels of need commitment perceived low levels of quality of care, independently of their job crafting.

The main objective is to study the effects of job crafting activities of elder care and nursing home employees on their perceived well-being and quality of care in two European countries, Spain and Sweden. The Job Crafting, the General Health, and the Quality of Care questionnaires were administered to 530 employees. Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results confirm the effects of job crafting on quality of care (r = .291, p < .01; β = .261, p < .01; ΔR² = .065, p < .01) and employees’ well-being (r = .201, p < .01; β = .171, p < .01; ΔR² = .028, p < .01). A positive linear relationship was found between job crafting and well-being in Spain and Sweden and with quality of care in Spain. On the contrary, in Sweden, the relationship between job crafting and well-being was not linear. Job crafting contributes significantly to employees’ and residents’ well-being. Management should promote job crafting to co-create meaningful and productive work. Cultural effects are proposed to explain the differences found.