<p> Work engagement and burnout have been researched extensively through the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) stress framework; however, there are still relationships within the model that are not fully understood. Historically, job demands have been considered to be one homogenous group having similar relationships with resources, burnout and engagement. Researchers have found that job demands have been consistently positively related to burnout, and job resources have been positively related to engagement. Associations between job demands and engagement have been shown to be positive, negative, non-existent, as well as curvilinear (Bailey, Madden, Alfes, &amp; Fletcher, 2015). However, job demands may be differentiated into challenges, which may actually be less harmful for workers, and hindrances, which may account for the majority of the negative association with burnout. Although a small amount of primary research has investigated demands differentiated into challenges and hindrances with samples outside of the U.S., no studies to date have investigated the relationship between challenge and hindrance demands with burnout and work engagement with a sample of employees in the U.S. Additionally, very little research has studied the interaction effects within a differentiated demands model on burnout and work engagement. In this study, a moderated hierarchical regression analysis was used to explore the relationships among challenge demands, hindrance demands, resources, burnout, and engagement with a sample of knowledge workers in the U.S. sourced through the Amazon Mechanical Turk system. Overall, hindrance demands were found to be positively related to burnout and negatively related to engagement. Challenge demands were not significantly related to burnout but were positively related to engagement. The interactive effects of job resources were only observed for the hindrance demand relationships. The differentiated model of job demands may provide a clearer understanding of the different mitigating and boosting relationships between challenges, hindrances, and resources. The results of this study suggest that for executives who wish to increase the positive outcomes associated with well-being, they may want to focus on reducing hindrance demands and increase access to resources across their organizations. Further implications for practice and research will be discussed.</p><p>

<p> This study examined the effect of clinical supervision on job satisfaction and burnout among school psychologists in large urban school districts in Florida. The theory of work adjustment, Maslach and Jackson&rsquo;s three-dimensional model of burnout, and Atkinson and Woods&rsquo;s triadic model of supervision were the theoretical foundations and/or conceptual frameworks used in this study. The two research questions that guided this study addressed the effect of the receipt of clinical supervision on job satisfaction and burnout among school psychologists in large urban school districts. The study was conducted with a convenient sample of 75 school psychologists from a target population of 330 who were primarily working as practitioners within the school districts. An online survey was created with demographic questions, the short-form Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ-sf), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory&ndash;Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The MSQ-sf has an overall scale of job satisfaction that was computed. The MBI-ES is comprised of three subscales: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. The subscale total scores were calculated for each MBI-ES dimension. The Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> test revealed no statistically significant difference in job satisfaction between the two groups (<i>U</i> = 736, <i>z</i> = 1.783, <i> p</i> = .075). The MANOVA did not reflect a significant difference in burnout between the two groups, <i>F</i>(3,71) = .657, <i> p</i> = .581; Pillai&rsquo;s Trace = .027; partial &eta;² = .027. </p><p>

<p> <b>Scope of Study:</b> This study was designed to investigate the lived experiences of middle to executive level leaders who participated in positive psychology coaching during midlife. Through personal interviews, participants shared comprehensive descriptions of their experiences in an effort to provide a deep understanding of the ways in which they benefited both personally and professionally while facing challenges typically associated with middle age. </p><p> <b>Findings and Conclusions:</b> This study generated three major findings that support this effort (1) participating in positive psychology executive coaching provides focus and confidence that facilitates personal and professional growth during midlife by helping clients identify and overcome real life and work challenges while pursuing their over-arching goals; (2) the coaching experience and associated results largely vary from participant to participant based on their wants, goals and aspirations for the future; and (3) the client&rsquo;s perception of coaching impact was tied, at least in part to the length of coaching, the quality of their relationship with the coach and a perceived positive experience. These results support the employment of positive psychology interventions as part of an executive coaching engagement, showing that to do so with midlife clients not only supports their goal achievement, but also facilitates resolution of other work and life challenges over time and within a quality client-coach relationship. </p><p>

<p> The real estate industry is facing several challenges, including the need for real estate agents to experience success within their profession. The goal of this study was to fill the gap in the literature in determining if, and to what degree, experiential and strategic emotional intelligence, gender, and full-time/part-time work status predicted successfulness among real estate agents in central and northern Arizona. This study was based on the ability-based emotional intelligence model. The study utilized the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Tests (MSCEIT) to measure REALTORS&rsquo;^&reg; emotional intelligence level, as well as SurveyMonkey to collect demographic data on the participants. Data analysis was conducted using a single binary logistic regression. Results indicated that experiential emotional intelligence and strategic emotional intelligence are not significant predictors of REALTOR^&reg; success. However, gender and the full-time/part-time work status were found to be significant predictors of REALTOR^&reg; success (<i>OR</i> = 0.307, <i>p</i> = .017 and <i> OR</i> = 3.936, <i>p</i> = .014, respectively). Findings suggest that male real estate agents have a higher likelihood of success than female real estate agents. Additionally, full-time real estate agents have a higher likelihood of success than part-time real estate agents. </p><p>

<p> Attorneys in the United States suffer from higher-than-average rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation. Although these facts are widely accepted, at the time of the study, there was no consensus in the legal or research communities as to the cause of these alarming statistics. The combination of behavioral and psychological distress experienced by attorneys may suggest that burnout is a contributing factor. This study examined the relationship between workplace stressors and professional burnout. The literature review summarized recent and landmark studies in the field, as well as explored characteristics unique to the legal profession that were putting attorneys at risk. In an effort to understand the best practices that reduced instances of burnout in practicing attorneys, the phenomenological study asked participants about their experiences as an attorney, as well as the practices they employed to mitigate professional stress. The research findings supported the literature review and resulted in important implications for law firms, bar associations, law schools, and practitioners.</p><p>

<p> Stemming from the perception of trust and communication in a remote work environment, the experiences of the employees were analyzed based on three factors of self-efficacy, personal engagement, and interpersonal relationships with their leaders. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study employed semi-structured interviews to gain experiential data from nine qualified remote employee participants who had worked remotely one day per week for a minimum of one year. The data were coded and the four themes that surfaced were: (a) the desire to succeed is key to the feeling of mastery in a remote role, (b) performance in a remote role is the result of feeling independent, support from others, and productivity due to less distractions, (c) communication in a remote work environment is vital for justification of role and understanding perceived distances in relationship development, and (d) trust is an essential element in the perception of relationships in a remote work environment. Findings of this study concluded trust and communication are vital components of the perception of self-efficacy, personal engagement, and interpersonal relationships. This study contributed to understanding the psychological conditions necessary to be successful in a remote work environment for both academic and practical knowledge of remote employment.</p><p>

The purpose of the study is to present a different perspective from which to evaluate two patient outcomes--infection and pressure ulcer. Past research has looked at the relationship of various medical treatments and/or nursing interventions to these outcomes. This descriptive exploratory study uses a cross-sectional design to investigate the variables being studied. In this study personality type and the performance of nursing staff and the organizational climate on long term care wards is examined in relationship to patient outcomes (infection and pressure ulcer rates). A questionnaire was completed by two hundred and seventy-six nursing employees who worked on 25 long term care wards at three medical centers. The Myers Briggs Type Inventory was used to measure personality. The Ward Environment Scale was used to measure organizational climate. Of the sixteen possible personality types, four types occurred with the greatest frequency. Collectively, these four types accounted for 60% of the staff participating in this study. Of the four bipolar personality dimensions, only extroversion/introversion had a significant effect on patient outcomes. Two of the organizational climate subscales were significantly related to patient outcomes--peer cohesion and task orientation. Six organizational climate dimensions were significantly related to performance ratings. Several organizational climate dimensions were also related to personality. Surprisingly, although both personality and organization climate related to performance and patient outcomes, no significant correlations were identified between staff performance ratings and patient outcomes. This raises several questions about the relationship between staff performance and patient outcomes for future studies. This study supports the belief that organizational climate influences the work site and is a factor worthy of management's attention. Implications for nursing management and nursing are discussed, Several recommendations for future research are offered including longitudinal studies to identify the effects of organizational climate and personality on and patient outcomes over time. The use of personality types to enhance team building and communications, and reduce turnover rates among nurses is also discussed.

Education Reform has legislated school governance councils to promote site-based decision making. School teams have been suggested in special education as a pre-referral resource and assistance to teachers working with special needs students. Cross-constituent groups must be brought together to restructure schools and provide instructional support. The site-based teams require evaluation. Several performance activities, variables, and levels of training and support have been suggested in studies from states where there have been attempts to implement site-based decision making. Few of these reports have attempted to quantify the activities and variables suggested for team functioning. Through a thorough literature review of the subject and an extensive survey of site teams in the public schools in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a set of team activities and variables was identified and quantified by the author. The collected data was utilized to develop an evaluation instrument. The resulting questionnaire was administrated to evaluators and team members of school site teams. A statistical analysis was performed to assess the significance of these performance descriptors in estimating the overall functioning of school site teams. The results of the statistical analysis and literature review provide the immediate supervisor with a set of variables to gain insight in the assessment of team functioning. These results can also be used to develop a self-assessment instrument to enhance team functioning. The model developed by the author can be generalized to management settings other than education. Customization of the evaluation tool is suggested as a means for future application of this study. The results of the research focus on the importance of team process and group dynamics, as well as specific product variables germane to the organization in the development of an evaluation instrument that can be used to assess overall team functioning.

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of five individuals who shifted their work and career from the business world to the nonprofit service sector. Through in-depth personal accounts, I show how the research participants made sense of "work" and "career" as they moved through, and after they completed the transition out of the business setting; and the degree to which their subjective experiences in the nonprofit work environment transformed their prior perspectives on “work life” and “career” that had been shaped by their experiences in the business world. According to the literature of subjective career development (how people shape their personal identity through their work over a lifetime) and transformative learning (how people change their worldview perspective to accommodate significant changes in their life circumstances), people who shift from business careers to nonprofit jobs are likely to be confounded by certain realities in the nonprofit world that cannot be readily understood or explained through past experience in the business workplace. The real-life personal stories of five such career shifters manifest clear differences in the “discourse of work and career” across the two sectors, resulting in an apparent disorienting paradox between the profit-driven “business mindset” (where the fundamental motivation is survival of the enterprise and objective personal advancement) and the mission-driven “nonprofit worldview” (where the fundamental motivation is service for a better world and subjective personal meaning-making). An analysis of these paradoxes of discourse suggests that the mission-driven nonprofit discourse (“we work for a better world”) offers a valuable and constructive counterpoint to the more dominant enterprise-driven business discourse (“we work to sustain the company”) that pervades the organizational landscape of our society. The implications of these findings as reviewed in the last chapter are significant for policy, practice and research in both nonprofit management and business organizational development. The work concludes with the suggestion that the nonprofit mindset opens the possibility for re-orienting one.s ¡°career¡± to a life-long process of self-actualization, where one works to find meaning and purpose through making a difference toward improving quality of life for a better world.

In this dissertation, I present and test a theory of corporate responsibility. The theory predicts that corporations with “social and economic” ideologies (as opposed to “economic” ideologies) and “people-centered” human resource practices should behave more responsibly toward the outside world. I assessed ideology from annual reports and human resource practices from a survey mailed to the top human resource executive at 651 large, publicly traded corporations. Independent ratings of the social records of corporations provided measures of company behavior. The study controlled for industry, financial status, and size of company. Results provide some support for the theory. Above and beyond control variables, the additive effects of ideology and human resource practices predicted corporate responsibility. Ideology independently predicted company behavior.