Perceived work ability refers to a worker's assessment of his or her ability to continue working in his or her job, given characteristics of the job along with his or her personal resources. Perceived work ability is a critical variable to study in the U.S., given an aging workforce, trends to delay retirement, and U.S. policy considerations to delay the age at which full Social Security retirement benefits may be obtained. Based on the Job Demands-Resources Model, cognitive appraisal theory of stress and push/pull factors related to retirement, we proposed and tested a conceptual model of antecedents and outcomes of perceived work ability using three independent samples of U.S. working adults. Data regarding workers’ job characteristics were from self-report and O*NET measures. Results from relative importance analysis indicated that health and sense of control were consistently and most strongly related to work ability perceptions relative to other job demands and job resources when perceived work ability was measured concurrently or two weeks later in samples with varying occupations. Job demands (along with health and sense of control) were most strongly related to work ability perceptions when perceived work ability was measured in a manufacturing worker sample 1.6 years later. Perceived work ability also predicted lagged labor force outcomes (absence, retirement, and disability leave) while controlling for other known predictors of each. Consistent indirect effects were observed from health status and sense of control to all three of these outcomes via perceived work ability.

Common method variance (CMV) is an ongoing topic of debate and concern in the organizational literature. We present four latent variable confirmatory factor analysis model designs for assessing and controlling for CMV-those for unmeasured latent method constructs, Marker Variables, Measured Cause Variables, as well as a new hybrid design wherein these three types of method latent variables are used concurrently. We then describe a comprehensive analysis strategy that can be used with these four designs and provide a demonstration using the new design, the Hybrid Method Variables Model. In our discussion, we comment on different issues related to implementing these designs and analyses, provide supporting practical guidance, and, finally, advocate for the use of the Hybrid Method Variables Model. Through these means, we hope to promote a more comprehensive and consistent approach to the assessment of CMV in the organizational literature and more extensive use of hybrid models that include multiple types of latent method variables to assess CMV.

Working with chronic illness may present challenges for individuals-for instance, managing symptoms at work, attaining accommodations, and career planning while considering health limitations. These challenges may be stressful and lead to strains. We tested a 12-week, 6-session, phone-based coaching intervention designed to help workers manage these challenges and reduce strains. Using theories of stress and resources, we proposed that coaching would help boost workers' internal resources and would lead to improved work ability perceptions, exhaustion and disengagement burnout, job self-efficacy, core self-evaluations, resilience, mental resources, and job satisfaction, and that these beneficial effects would be stable 12 weeks after coaching ended. Fifty-nine full-time workers with chronic illnesses were randomly assigned to either a coaching group or a waitlisted control group. Participants completed online surveys at enrollment, at the start of coaching, after coaching ended, and 12 weeks postcoaching. Compared with the control group, the coaching group showed significantly improved work ability perceptions, exhaustion burnout, core self-evaluations, and resilience-yet no significant improvements were found for job self-efficacy, disengagement burnout, or job satisfaction. Indirect effects of coaching on work ability, exhaustion and disengagement burnout, and job satisfaction were observed through job self-efficacy, core self-evaluations, resilience, and mental resources. Results indicated that the positive effects of coaching were stable 12 weeks after coaching ended. Results suggest that this coaching intervention was helpful in improving the personal well-being of individuals navigating challenges associated with working and managing chronic illness.

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