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EMPLOYEE AUTONOMY.
Term Paper ID:20926
Essay Subject:
Organizational & performance benefits. Reduction of sick leave, turnover, dissatisfaction, burnout, accidents, distrust, stress.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Organizational & performance benefits. Reduction of sick leave, turnover, dissatisfaction, burnout, accidents, distrust, stress.
Paper Introduction:
Introduction
Feldman and Arnold (1989) report that in the early years of Industrial Psychology, the dominant perspective was that organizational inefficiency resulted from the fact that workers were both given a job to perform and allowed to decide how the job should be done. In other words, the belief was that employee or job autonomy decreased performance and productivity and thereby had a negative impact on organizations.
However, the authors note, that existing research slowly and steadily indicated that this view of employee autonomy was incorrect and that, rather than being a negative, autonomy was strongly linked to both organizational and performance benefits. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current research on employee autonomy in an effort to answer two research questions:
Text of the Paper:
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Public Personnel Management, 2 (2),171-18 .Misra, P. On the basis of data from 146 managers,results were said to indicate that two dimensions of personality,Conscientiousness (r = .25) and Extraversion (r = .14), weresignificantly related to job performance; however, the relationshipdiffered depending upon level of employee autonomy. (Davis, 1991, p.54 ). However, those withmore formal autonomy were favorably disposed to the innovation by the timeit was implemented. As to why autonomy increases job performance, a possible answer tothis may be found in the additional correlates observed in the reviewedstudies. Findings of the study revealedthat status, employee autonomy, and support from superiors, were negativelyassociated with stress, whereas task variety and high job involvement, andlow levels of employee autonomy were positively associated with stress. In another studysupportive of the relationship between job autonomy and turnover, Oktay(1992) examined burnout among hospital social workers working with AIDSpatients. ReferencesBennett, N. Thereviewed material indicated that, at moderate levels of autonomy, jobperformance increases; however, if autonomy levels are too high,performance can decrease. A requisite for employee trust: Leadership. (1992). Work teams that work. In other words,the belief was that employee or job autonomy decreased performance andproductivity and thereby had a negative impact on organizations. Nurses' job satisfaction: A meta-analysis of related variables. Questionnaire data were collected over five points in time at twoU.S. (1986). For example, thelevel above which increases in autonomy produces organizationalineffectiveness and poor performance is lower for production workers thanit is for those doing scientific research. That is, much more autonomy canbe provided for the researchers before the point of maximum effectivenessis reached. Also, employee autonomy was observed to be associated withmore effective use of key personality traits and more positive attitudestoward work. A second point made by Davis is that while moderate levels ofemployee autonomy are associated with maximal organizational effectivenessand performance, most employees want high levels of autonomy. Every year, organizations suffer financial andother losses through turnover and high rates of absenteeism. Davisreports that a good compromise between these two conflicting pieces of datais for an organization to allow autonomy but also require frequent contactwith a supervisor and others who can contribute to the job. Such contacts are said to keep the worker focused or organizationalobjectives and to stop a unit from becoming so independent that membersmutually judge their own work without effective control and appraisal interms of the entire organization. Corporate conditionsconducive to employee voice: A subordinate perspective. However, the authors note, that existing research slowly and steadilyindicated that this view of employee autonomy was incorrect and that,rather than being a negative, autonomy was strongly linked to bothorganizational and performance benefits. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(1), 111-118.Bazylewicz-Walczak, B. (1986). Sick Leave Use wasthen compared between professional and support staff. EmployeeResponsibilities and Rights Journal, 1(2), 1 1-111.Harrell, W.A. Psychology:A Journal of Human Behavior, 25(2), 1-7.Kroesser, H.L., Meckley, R.F. The researchers required employees to all completed several measuresincluding a job analysis questionnaire. Good performance wasrelated to a greater employee autonomy and to the personality trait ofinternal locus of control (degree to which one attributes situations andcircumstances to internal attributes). In an interesting study, Gorden, Infante, and Graham (1988) examinedcorporate conditions that facilitate employee autonomy, allowing workers tomake the most of the benefit. Self-esteem, need-achievement and need-autonomy as moderators of the job performance-job satisfactionrelationship. (1988). According toseveral studies, absenteeism and turnover may be related to levels ofemployee autonomy. (1986). In this regard,it can be noted that organizational accidents have strongly negativefinancial impact on organizations. It can be noted that not all of the findings assessing theorganizational impact of employee autonomy are positive. It was found that employees usedan average of 9.5 sick leave days during the period. In his study, Bennett found that stresslevels can be reduced through job autonomy which, in turn, will lead toincreased performance. Individual discretion and organizational accountability: Evaluating the performance of public bureaucrats. The second section of the review examined research relevant to thequestion of how employee autonomy affected worker performance. Group andOrganization Studies, 14(4), 411-421.Spector, P.E. (199 ). Employee autonomy was found to be positively related to performancein Bazylewicz-Walczak's (1985) study of individual traits as determinantsof operator work performance in a sample of 98 male power unit operators inPoland. & Jain, N. Technical supervision and turnover among engineersand technicians: Influencing factors in the work environment. Training and Development Journal, 4 (11), 33-35.Gorden, W.J., Infante, D.A. According to Davis (1991), the maximal value above which autonomy isnot associated with increase in performance or organizational effectivenesscan differ depending upon differences in occupation. Findings indicated that employee autonomy and freedom inone's work were the strongest predictors of perceived risk, with workerswho exercised the greatest personal control over their work perceiving theleast risk of accidental injury. Impact of Employee Autonomy on Worker Performance As noted in the introduction of this report, there is relatively goodempirical documentation of a relationship between worker performance andemployee autonomy. Human behavior at work: Organizational behavior (3rd ed.) NY: McGraw-Hill.Feldman, D.C. Perceived control by employees: A meta-analysis ofstudies concerning autonomy and participation at work. Galagan provides some recommendations for how organizations canincrease employee autonomy. Perceived risk of occupational injury: Control overpace of work and blue-collar versus white-collar work. Based on this review, it can be concluded that in general employeeautonomy, at moderate levels, impacts positively on both organizationaleffectiveness and on worker performance. This finding was observed in astudy of nurse job satisfaction conducted by Blegen (1993) who investigatedthe magnitude of the relationships between nurses' job satisfaction and thevariables most frequently associated with job satisfaction. & Mount, M.K. L.Edwards (1959), and the Self-Esteem Inventory. In one study of these variables Spector (1986)conducted a meta-analysis of 1 1 samples from studies relating employeeautonomy variables to 19 employee outcome variables. According to Hart (1988), employee autonomy can help in creating aclimate of worker trust for an organization. The purpose of this paper is toexamine the current research on employee autonomy in an effort to answertwo research questions: (1) What is the impact of employee autonomy on theorganization; and (2) What is the impact of employee autonomy on workerperformance? Poor performance operators were characterized by a positivestimulation to inhibition ratio, lower internal balance, higher preferencefor new situations, and a greater need for change. Asimilar pattern was found for the autonomy and participation studiesanalyzed separately, with one exception; participative decision making wasnot associated with absenteeism in the single study available. An important point regarding employee autonomy, organizationaleffectiveness, and worker performance has been made by Davis (1991).According to this author, the existing literature does not show a linearrelationship between employee autonomy and worker performance or betweenemployee autonomy and organizational effectiveness. The reviewed articles indicated that, at least atmoderate levels, employee autonomy can increase organization commitment anddecrease organizational withdrawal behaviors such as absenteeism andturnover; further, employee autonomy can assist in preventing burnout. (1989). (1993). Also, the presence of hazards in the workplace predictedperceived risk more strongly than previous accident history. In addition, perceived autonomy was also found to be positive relatedto motivation and negatively related to physical symptoms, emotionaldistress, role stress, absenteeism, intent to turnover, and turnover. Based on these findings, Davis (1991) concludes that: The law of diminishing returns serves as a warning that, although increases in desirable practices can be beneficial, an excess of any of them will be counterproductive...People obsessed with building only autonomy or creating maximum employee security will not be contributing to organizational success. (2nd ed.) NY: McGraw-Hill.Galagan, P. (1988). For all studiescombined, it was found that high levels of perceived autonomy on the partof employees were associated with high levels of job satisfaction (overalland individual facets), commitment, involvement, and increased jobperformance. Subjects in the study were 15 universitystudents (aged 15-58 yrs) who worked at least 2 hours per week.Questionnaire data collected from students indicated that employee autonomywas viewed in a maximally favorable light when superiors encouragediscussion from subordinates, when organizational commitment to quality inproduct, work life was high, and when employee rights were a concern of thecompany. Paul: West Publishing.----------------------- 15 In other words, high autonomy is not usually conducive toeither worker performance or organizational effectiveness. Factors in the immediate work environment which were influenced bythe behavior of the technical manager were found to affect turnoverpropensities. Subjects appeared more burned out than other social workers on two ofthe Maslach Burnout Inventory scales (emotional exhaustion anddepersonalization) and significantly less burned out on the third scale(personal accomplishment). Perspectives in Psychological Researches, 9(2), 42-46.Oktay, J.S. & Peterson, B.D. In other words, employee autonomy, ifprovided at very high levels, may not be conductive to occupational safety. Perceptual andMotor Skills, 7 (3, Pt 2), 1351-1359.Hart, K.M. Barrick and Mount (1993) investigated the moderating role of autonomyon the relationships between five personality dimensions and supervisorratings of job performance. (1985). (1982). Hart asserts that when creatingorganizational environments conducive to trust, companies must consider the relativity of the organizational trust factors and organizationalleadership is considered in terms of distinguishing characteristics aswell as mutual dependencies of desired behaviors for immediate supervisorsand top managers. & Ranson, J.T. Subjects in the study were 128 hospital AIDS social workers whocompleted the Maslach Burnout Inventory and a questionnaire examining therates of burnout and other factors that correlate with burnout, includingcharacteristics of the workers, characteristics of the setting and job, thenature of AIDS work, and level of social support. Nursing Research, 42(1), 36-41.Davis, K. For example, Kroesser, Meckley and Ranson (1991)investigated sick leave use (SLU) among full-time employees in a statedepartment for the fiscal year 1984/1985. Bennett (1989) has noted that worker performance can often decreasewhen stress levels increase. There can be too much of a good thing just as there can be too little of it. Managing individual and group behaviorin organizations. Results indicated that self-esteem, need for achievement, and need for autonomy play a moderating rolein the job performance/job satisfaction relationship. Specifically therelationship was stronger among managers in jobs high in autonomy than formanagers in jobs low in autonomy. Introduction Feldman and Arnold (1989) report that in the early years ofIndustrial Psychology, the dominant perspective was that organizationalinefficiency resulted from the fact that workers were both given a job toperform and allowed to decide how the job should be done. In this regard, taskrepetitiveness and speed of pace had weaker effects. It was also found that moderate levels of employee autonomy can helpemployees to better adapt to organizational changes, increase profits andproductivity and help in creating an increased sense of trust in theorganization on the part of workers. Autonomy as a moderator of therelationships between the Big Five personality dimensions and jobperformance. & Graham, E.E. These recommendations include making workersresponsible for more than just manufacturing the product, tapping the fullpotential of all employees, and limiting automation to where it is needed. Performance was assessed by direct supervisors' ratings.Temperament features, self-image, sense of control, and attitudes weremeasured by the Temperament Questionnaire, Heilbrun's Adjective Check List,Cattell's Self-Knowledge Sheet, Drwal's Delta Questionnaire, and Bass'sAttitude and Opinion Survey. federal agencies as part of a larger study of personal reforms. Specifically, Harrell (199 ) investigated factors influencing theperception of risk of work-related accidental injury for 244 workers (aged18-87 years). People at work: Human relations in organizations. Stress among employee assistance programadministrators: The influence of role and organizational characteristics.Journal of Drug Issues, 19(3, Pt 1), 4 3-418.Barrick, M.R. Regardingemployee autonomy, it was found that moderate levels of autonomy wereassociated with low levels of burnout. Selected factorsaffecting employees' sick leave use. However, employee autonomy was notfound to be of benefit in terms of increasing employees sense of on-the-jobrisks and the need to take safety precautions. Satisfaction with supervision, higher order needfulfillment, and unit morale were found to be more important influences onretention for technical support personnel. Blegen's meta-analysis of data from 48 studies with 15, 48 workersrevealed that job satisfaction was most strongly associated with stress andorganizational commitment. Human Relations,39(11), 1 5-1 16.Stevenson, W.B. However, it was alsofound that the contribution of needs to this relationship is differentiallyaffected depending upon employees' occupational levels. However, for the engineering andscientific personnel, the factors of employee autonomy, goal congruence,and higher order need fulfillment were found to have greater influence. Specifically, Bennett examined the relationship between the rolecharacteristics, organizational characteristics, and stress in 246 employeeassistance program (EAP) administrators. Social Work, 37(5), 432-439.Sherman, J.D. In an extensive discussion of the attributes of successfulorganizations, Galagan (1986) describes the development and operation of amanufacturing plant dedicated in equal parts to a profitable product and tothe autonomy of the workers who produce it. Individualistic determinants of workreliability in operators of automated production processes. Specifically, Hart proposeschanges in the fundamental assumptions, values, priorities, and rewardsystems necessary to produce trust-optimizing environments, changes thatamount to an "about face" in managing sociotechnical systems. In a studyconducted by Harrell (199 ), findings indicated that level of employeeautonomy was related to whether or not workers were sensitive to thepossibility of on-the-job risks. Specifically, in the examined studies, employee autonomy wasfound to not only increase performance but also to simultaneously increasejob satisfaction, job commitment, and involvement, need fulfillment, andself-esteem. Five job factors were found to be statistically significant withrespect to Sick Leave Use: gender, salaries, number of supervisors, jobclassification, and employee autonomy. According to Oktay (1992), three variables wereconsistently identified as being the best predictors of burnout: belongingto a support group, age, and level of employee autonomy. It was also found that a number of additional variables affectperception of work-related accidental injury. (1991). Conclusions The first part of the review presented in this paper examined thecurrent research in an effort to determine the impact of employee autonomyon an organization. (1991). Also, self-esteem and positiveattitudes toward the work were higher among good performance workers. Assessment strategies included: the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire,supervisors' ratings, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule by A. Stevenson (199 )reported that there was some evidence of the contradictory influences ofbureaucracy on an attitudes toward change in performance evaluation. She notes that sincedeveloping the policy of commitment to employee autonomy, profits haveescalated as have productivity and performance quality. Finally, it has been well documented that burnout is stronglycorrelated with turnover (Feldman & Arnold, 1989). As noted by Timm and Peterson (1982),one of the greatest aids to company safety is to have employees who areaware of accident risks and take safety precautions seriously. Impact of Job Autonomy on the Organization One of the most current findings regarding employee autonomy and itsorganizational impact is that autonomy can operate to increase workers'level of commitment to an organization. Specifically, moderate levels of employeeautonomy produced strong levels of job satisfaction which, in turn, wereassociated with strong levels of organizational commitment. In other words, the greater the level of job autonomy, the lesslikely employees are to utilize sick leave. Subjects in the study included 5 managers(aged 34-57 years), 5 assistant engineers (aged 23-35 years), and 5 clerks (aged 25-4 years). Another way in which job autonomy affects an organization is in termsof withdrawal behavior. Thesample sizes for the two data sets were 128 and 136. Sociological Perspectives, 33(3), 342-354.Timm, P.R. Rather, the tworelationships are both best described by a humpback curve. (1989). (199 ). In an international study of employee autonomy and job performance,Misra and Jain (1986) studied the effects of self-esteem, need forachievement (NAH), and need for autonomy (NAT) on the job performance/jobsatisfaction relationship (JP-JSR) among 15 men employed at an aeronauticsindustry in Lucknow, India. (1993). Burnout in hospital social workers who work with AIDSpatients. (1989). Similarly, Sherman (1989) examined employee turnover and autonomy fora sample 265 engineering, scientific, and technical support personnel.Subjects completed the supervision scale of the Job Descriptive Index,measures of communication, autonomy, altruism need fulfillment/esteem andneed fulfillment/self actualization, and propensity to leave. St. Those with more years on the job and those with complex jobsdeveloped negative attitudes toward the innovation. However, when data were fully analyzed, it wasfound that the variable that was most strongly contributive to jobsatisfaction was job autonomy. In other words,performance and organizational effectiveness increase as employee autonomyincreases until at some mid-range value of autonomy, both variables beginto decrease. & Arnold, H.J. In other words,the need for autonomy is different at different occupational levels. Threefactors of organizational trust are defined: openness/congruity, sharedvalues, and employee autonomy. PolishPsychological Bulletin, 16(3), 181-189.Blegen, M.A. Another way in which employee autonomy can impact upon anorganization is in terms of assisting employees to better adapt to change.This was the finding in a study conducted by Stevenson (199 ) who testedthe effects of bureaucratic job characteristics on attitudes toward a newlyintroduced performance appraisal system. In this way, the company will avoid thetendency of very high levels of autonomy to lead to the attitude that thegroup's work exists for its own sake without any obligation to tie it tothe larger organization. Men and users of blue-collar equipment felt more at risk than women and users of white-collar orno equipment. Organizational trust is characterized by Hart as a product of needsatisfaction. Results were said to confirm theexistence of a negative relationship between job autonomy and sick leaveuse. Personal trust is distinguished from system trust.
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