Job stress and employee outcomes: employment practices in a charity
Abstract
Design/methodology/approach We collected both quantitative (through a staff survey and administrative records of sick leave in the previous 12 months) and qualitative data (through interviews and focus groups) from one branch of an internationally well-established and UK-based religious charity between 2017 and 2018. Purpose The study intends to examine employee relations with a changing workforce resulting from the business-like transformation in the charity sector. We investigated sector-specific employment practices which can alleviate job stress (as a given and which has been made worse by the transformation). Developed from the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation framework, the findings can inform human resource management practices in its new efficiency-seeking business model. Findings The quantitative results support a strong mediating effect of job satisfaction between job stress and staff sick leave. The negative correlation shown between job stress and job satisfaction is subject to paid staff perception of meaningful work and their level of involvement in decisionmaking, with the latter having a stronger moderating effect. The qualitative data provides further contextualized evidence on the findings. Practical implications It is important for charities to uphold and reflect their charitable mission towards beneficiaries and paid staff during the shift to an efficiency-seeking business model. Charities should involve their new professional workforce in strategic decision-making to better shape a context-based operational model. Originality/value The study examined employee relations in the nonprofit charity sector with a changing workforce during the transition to a more business-oriented model. In particular, we revealed sector-specific factors that can moderate the association between job stress and absenteeism, and thereby contribute to the understanding of HRM practices in the sector.Citation
Wang, W. and Seifert, R. (2021) Job stress and employee outcomes: employment practices in a charity. Employee Relations, 43(5), pp. 1178-1193. DOI 10.1108/ER-05-2020-0242Publisher
Emerald PublishingJournal
Employee RelationsType
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Employee Relations, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2020-0242 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.ISSN
0142-5455ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1108/ER-05-2020-0242
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