Research on Employee Sense of Gain: The Development of Scale and Influence Mechanism

Abstract

Employee satisfaction is a main source of firms’ competitive advantages. Employee sense of gain (ESG) is defined as the subjective feeling of getting various objective benefits due to employees’ efforts at work. It appropriately reflects employee satisfaction with the objective needs and their subjective perception of the firms, which affects their attitude, behavior, and work performance. Although ESG is gaining increasing interest in human resource research and managerial practice, literature on its conception, measurement, and contribution to human resource theory is still limited. Study 1 developed an integrative framework of concept of ESG and reported the development and validation of a scale measuring ESG. Based on the exploratory factor analysis of 201 valid questionnaires responded by enterprise staffs, the initial scale was formed. Through confirmatory factor analysis of 172 questionnaires, the formal scale was obtained. The multiphase scale development process resulted in a 14-item ESG scale measuring two dimensions: employee’s material sense of gain and employee’s spiritual sense of gain. Study 2 investigated the influence mechanism of ESG based on statistical analysis of 254 valid questionnaires. The results showed that ESG was influenced by all three dimensions of supportive human recourse practices (SHRP), whereby the influences were mediated by perceived insider status (PIS). Results also suggested that leader political skill (LPS) moderated the effect between SHRP (fairness of rewards and punishments, growth opportunity) and PIS positively. Overall, this research provided a reliable and valid measurement scale of ESG in the Chinese setting and explored the influence mechanism, as well as boundary conditions. Managerial implications were provided from the perspectives of organizations, leaders, and employees.

The mechanism of the influence of coaching leadership behavior on subordinate’s sense of gain at work

“…According to the Need-to-Belong Theory, individuals have an inclination to form and sustain pleasant and favorable social bonds, and pursue achievement in this process (Baumeister and Leary, 1995). The leader facilitates the subordinate in achieving work goals by exercising diverse coaching behaviors (Grant and Hartley, 2013), thereby satisfying the subordinate’s need for achievement and reinforcing their sense of organizational belonging, which can further enhance the subordinate’s SGW (Gu et al. , 2020).…”

“…Sense of Gain at Work (SGW) is a new indicator to measure employees’ living standards (Zhu and Liu, 2020), which is used to reflect employees’ subjective feelings about various benefits they obtain at work (Gu et al. , 2020).…”

“…, 2020). JS mainly reflects the comparison between employees’ expectations and gains (Spector, 2021), while SGW mainly reflects the comparison between employees’ efforts and returns (Gu et al. , 2020).…”

“…In recent years, the research on SGW has attracted much attention. Previous studies focused on exploring the connotation (Zhu and Liu, 2020), dimensions (Zheng, 2017) and measurement tools (Gu et al. , 2020) of the SGW, while empirical studies on the mechanism of influence on the SGW is still very few.…”

Interrelationships and Methods for Improving University Students' Sense of Gain, Sense of Security, and Happiness

“…Objective acquisition not only includes interests in material and economic aspects but also rights to know, to participate, to express, to supervise, and the opportunity for self-actualization. Sense of gain, as a kind of subjective feeling, different individuals may have different subjective perceptions for the same objective acquisition (Gu et al, 2020).…”