On the transferability of “traditional” satisfaction theory to non‐traditional employment relationships: temp agency work satisfaction

Abstract

On the transferability of "traditional" satisfaction theory to non-traditional employment relationships: temp agency work satisfaction Nicole Torka Birgit Schyns Article information:To cite this document: Nicole Torka Birgit Schyns, (2007),"On the transferability of "traditional" satisfaction theory to non-traditional employment relationships: temp agency work satisfaction", Employee Relations, Vol. 29 Iss 5 pp. 440 -457 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The main purpose of this paper is to identify sources of temp agency work satisfaction and discuss whether or not these sources differ from those well-known to traditional satisfaction research (i.e. those appropriate for employees with a permanent contract). Design/methodology/approach -The paper is a qualitative study (semi-structured interviews and fieldwork) among low and medium skilled metalworkers (welders and fitters) in two Dutch companies. The authors were able to identify sources for temp agency work satisfaction: organizational conditions, central personality constructs, labour market experiences, and layoff experiences. Findings -The findings in the paper conclude that satisfaction theory is transferable to temp agency workers, but that future satisfaction research should include less studied factors such as labour market and layoff experiences, as well.Research limitations/implications -The paper is a qualitative case study research within two Dutch companies and involved a certain occupational group: metalworkers. Consequently, the external transferability of the results (i.e. country, occupational group, industries) may be limited. Furthermore, the research approach used does not allow for the making of casual assumptions. For example, it was not possible to address the question as to whether "perceived alternatives" influences "sensation seeking" or vice versa. Longitudinal questionnaire research could help to clarify such issues. Job satisfaction theory in general is helpful in creating a framework for agency work satisfaction when it comes to Human Resource Management policies and practices. However, in order to explain agency workers' satisfaction, there is a need to broaden the traditional ...

On the job and co-worker commitment of Dutch agency workers and permanent employees

“…Therefore, user firms' decisions concerning the employment status are not an exclusive predictor of agency workers' attitudes and behaviours, although the overall treatment of non-permanent staff is. In addition, some agency workers voluntarily choose the ‗power of a potential good-bye' (Torka and Schyns 2007). For this group of agency workers, a traditional employment relationship may include undesired outcomes.…”

“…A salient explanation is that there must be a ‗black box' between the labour contract/commitment link: other factors are obscuring a direct relationship. This paper focuses on one of these factors: HRM practices (e.g., Torka and Schyns 2007;Mitlacher 2008).…”

Job Satisfaction and Contingent Employment

“…They argue that temporary workers are motivated by different factors than regular employees, because of the absence of an ongoing employer-employee relationship and, in the case of agency workers, because of the triangular relationship between employee, employer and client firm. Torka and Schyns (2007) study satisfaction of temporary agency workers and find that temporary agency workers indeed attach different values to the same job aspects. Furthermore, one might argue that the bundle of characteristics associated with contingent workers' jobs may appeal to them sufficiently to overcome the satisfaction lost from their lack of job security.…”

Agency workers and organisation's commitment to its workers

“…Torka and Schyns (2007) found that some client organisations influence the pay of agency workers by negotiating with the agency, and that agency workers reward clients' involvement with positive attitudes towards the client. Van Breugel, Olffen and Olie (2005) found that how the agency deals such mundane problems such as payments, contracts, supervisors and coworkers at the agency and the client are effective factors, determining agency support as perceived by the workers.…”