New research uncovers the key to promoting safer workplaces

by Curtin University Media Release

Motivated employees who take initiative at work could hold the key to making Australian workplaces safer, new research involving Curtin University researchers has found.

The research, published in the European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, examined the role of safety in the workplace, what motivates an employee to initiate safety-related change in their jobs, and the positive impact this has on an organisation.

Co-author Professor Mark Griffin, Director of the Future of Work Institute based at Curtin University, said safety in the workplace was more than simply following the rules, yet organisations often responded to risks with more rules and stricter compliance requirements.

“Employers need to not only ensure that their employees are compliant with the safety rules and procedures in place, but instead take initiative and act proactively when faced with challenging situations that may put other colleagues at risk,” Professor Griffin said.

“Our research showed that employees who were compliant with the safety rules in an organisation, but did not take initiative, were less likely to be effective when it came to dealing with risks and hazards in the workplace.”

Co-author ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Sharon Parker, from the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtin’s Future of Work Institute, said employees played a critical role in helping stem the disturbing level of work-related accidents and injuries around the world.

“Most employees have the skills, expertise and local knowledge to prevent problems and accidents in the workplace, but we wanted to understand why only some will go the extra step to initiate better overall safety,” Professor Parker said.

“Our research also showed that employees who took ownership of situations, had strong capabilities and a future-focused outlook were more likely to make changes that improved workplace safety when they faced a potential difficulty or stressful event.”

The research was conducted with researchers from Leeds Beckett University in the UK and co-authored by researchers from Curtin University.

The research paper, ‘Proactivity towards workplace safety improvement: an investigation of its motivational drivers and organisational outcomes,’ can be found online here.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T the key to vocal employees, research finds

by Curtin University Media Release

Professional employees are more likely to have the confidence to speak up at work if they feel motivated and respected by their colleagues, new research involving Curtin University has found.

The research, published in the Journal of Management, suggests that a worker’s willingness to speak up in the workplace is boosted by respect they receive from their colleagues.

ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Sharon Parker, from the Centre for Transformative Work Design based at Curtin University’s Future of Work Institute, said vocal employees were crucial for organisations to continue to improve, adapt and innovate.

“Employees who have the confidence to voice their opinions can encourage positive change in the workplace and create a strong, high-performing team. If employees don’t speak up, this can cause major accidents, reduce team learning, and impair innovation,” Professor Parker said.

“Previous research suggests that factors such as an employee’s personality traits, job conditions, and organisational characteristics all influence their voice in the workplace, but our research aimed to identify the social factors that contributed to a person’s motivation to speak up.

“We found that employees who believed they were respected by their co-workers were more likely to experience proactive motivation and positive mind-sets in their jobs, which in turn led to them having a stronger voice within their roles.”

The research also found that individuals who had the perspective taking ability to understand and relate to the thoughts and views of others were more likely to gain respect from their colleagues, which motivated them to speak up.

Professor Parker explained that instead of managers focusing on simply telling employees to use their voice, which may cause stress and resistance from employees, they should focus on fostering a respectful culture in which employees feel able and energised to speak up.

“Giving employees verbal praise and non-verbal approval, showing appreciation for their work, celebrating their achievements and elevating their public image is very important for promoting active voice in the workplace,” Professor Parker said.

The research, funded by Hong Kong General Research Fund, was led by Dr Thomas W.H. Ng and Dr Dennis Y. Hsu from the University of Hong Kong.

The paper titled, ‘Received respect and constructive voice: the roles of proactive motivation and perspective taking’, can be found online here.

Just published! Book chapter on job crafting

Maria Tims and Caroline Knight have just published a book chapter which highlights how job crafting can help individuals change aspects of their work for the better, including better health, well-being, and performance. Job crafting refers to proactive, self-initiated strategies workers can engage in to change their work tasks, roles, and relationships. These include taking on projects of interest, looking for training to develop a particular skill, and problem-solving with a colleague.

Intervention studies have shown that developing job crafting in workers through workshops, goal-setting and hands-on practical tasks can increase the amount of job crafting that people do at work. In particular, two studies have shown that job crafting interventions can not only change job crafting behaviours, but can improve work design. Van Wingerden et al. (2017) found performance feedback and opportunities for professional development to increase in a group who experienced training in job crafting, and Van den Heuvel et al. (2015) found that in weeks when individuals took part in more job crafting, they also experienced better developmental opportunities as well as supervisor feedback and support. These studies suggest that within the boundaries of their jobs, individuals can still make positive changes which improves their work design.

Happy job crafting!

References

Van den Heuvel, M., Demerouti, E. and Peeters, M.C.W. (2015). The job crafting intervention: Effects on job resources, self-efficacy, and affective well-being. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88, 511–32.

Van Wingerden, J., Bakker, A.B. and Derks, D. (2017). The longitudinal impact of a job crafting intervention. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26, 107–19.