Quality of employment: conceptual framework and indicators intrinsic nature of work

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Quality of employment conceptual framework
and indicatorsintrinsic nature of work

• Greet Vermeylen, Maija Lyly-Yrjanainen and
  Margarida Barroso
• European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
  and Working Conditions
• Geneva, 14/16 October 2009

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Intrinsic nature of work?

• Still a lesser clear dimension
• Discussion still needed
• But idea is there that there is something more
  in work information on characteristics of
  employment that are inherently satisfying to the
  employed person
• which make people accept some more
  difficult/challenging elements related to
  job/working conditions/employment conditions
• Useful/meaningful work? Motivation? Satisfaction
  (not with working conditions but with the work)
• Included in EU quality of work framework

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Starting point some theoretical frameworks job
characteristics model of work
Hackman and Oldman, 2005
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Expanded to include social environment and work
context

• Humphrey et all, 2007

• H

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To intrinsic job motivation

• Experienced meaningfulness best mediator
  between motivational characteristics and work
  outcomes
• Skill variety, task identity and task
  significance (Hackman and Oldman)
• Also add autonomy and feedback (Humphrey)
• -gt the development of meaning may be viewed as
  a process of setting and important goals,
• autonomy feedback important in this
• Job satisfaction
• Work engagement ?

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Intrinsic work motivation

• Houkes determinants of intrinsic motivation,
  emotional exhaustion and turnover intension
• Work content variables are most important
  predictors
• Task characteristics
• autonomy, task variety, job feedback, task
  identity, task significance
• might lead to higher intrinsic work motivation
• Other work characteristics
• work load, social support, unmet career
  expectations
• were more related to outcomes such as emotional
  exhaustion and turnover intension
• cfr Herzberg (Hannas paper)

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Re-evaluation

• Concept intrinsic nature of work rename,
  refocus?
• Intrinsic work motivation having a meaningful
  work
• an idea?
• Meaningful work have valuable goals have the
  means to do it (competence, autonomy, sufficient
  feedback)
• But also material working conditions matter for
  the work to be intrinsically motivating
• Might be the outcome of all the other indicators

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Indicators in the current framework

• 7 b) Intrinsic nature of work
• Share of employees who feel they do "useful" work
• Share of employees who receive regular feedback
  from their supervisor
• Share of employees who feel they are able to
  apply their own ideas in work
• Share of employees who feel satisfied with their
  work
• -gt will be discussed in Federicas presentation

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A quick round of the indicators

• Share of employees who feel they do useful work
• Aimed at capturing the meaningfulness of the job
  to the individual
• Might be culturally biased ?
• You know what is expected of you at work (new)
• In new EWCS (but more to measure role clarity)
• Share of employees who receive regular feedback
• Fits very well with proposed approach
• Quality of feedback?

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A quick round of the indicators ctd

• Share of employees who feel that they are able to
  apply their own ideas at work
• Ok, might also be linked to dimension on skills
  dev and learning but very useful indicator
• Autonomy (new)
• composite indicator tasks, methods of work etc
• We feel that this could be a useful addendum,
  present in numerous working conditions surveys

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A quick round of the indicators ctd

• Job satisfaction
• Indicator quite often debated
• Does it measure satisfaction with job or more
  general
• effects of welfare regimes national
  institutions (Gallie, Russell, )
• cultural differences (some countries more
  positive than others, eg Huang et al)
• Linked also with quality of work (diverging
  opinions in literature)
• Still useful indicator in this framework
• job satisfaction is outcome variable,
• framework includes obj and subj dimensions of
  work in a broader perspective
• There is a link to characteristics of empl which
  are inherently satisfying to the employed person
  

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No conclusions but start of a common reflection

• What exactly do we want to cover?
• Agree on new name (suggestions still welcome) or
  slight refocus
• Indicators which might be useful
• see also Federicas validation study test
  results from the different country reports
• Sources for these indicators
• EWCS or other national/global working
  conditions surveys
• ISSP (work orientation modules, also several
  waves, maybe also other modules)

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Thank you

• gve_at_eurofound.europa.eu