The Changing Value of Skill Utilisation: Interactions with Job Demands on Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism

Abstract

Opportunities to learn and apply new skills are generally considered a favourable job characteristic, but can there be too much of a good thing? In this paper, we draw on vitamin and resource perspectives to investigate a more nuanced perspective on where, when and why skill utilisation delivers value as a resource. Specifically, we examine whether skill utilisation exhibits non‐linear relationships with job satisfaction and absenteeism in the presence of two different job demands: task workload, which captures the quantitative demands of work, and surface acting, which captures the qualitative demands of work. Using data from 278 hospital employees, we found that surface acting moderated the non‐linear relationship between skill utilisation and absenteeism. Specifically, the relationship between skill utilisation and absenteeism became increasingly positive when surface acting was high, but not when surface acting was low. Interestingly, the linear relationship between skill utilisation and job satisfaction was less positive when surface acting was high. Task workload did not interact with skill utilisation to predict employee outcomes. Our findings highlight complexities in the relationship between job resources and demands and show that the value of skill utilisation changes under demanding conditions.

Challenging the Universality of Job Resources: Why, When, and For Whom Are They Beneficial?

“…The six papers comprising this special issue provide important insights into when, where, and for whom job resources are beneficial. First, the studies indicate that resources may be “too much of a good thing” and have negative implications once their effects exceed a certain “tipping point” (Wang et al, ). Second, the studies highlight the contexts in which such negative effects of job resources may exist.…”

“…First, building on Warr’s Vitamin Model (, ), Wang, Johnson, Nguyen, Goodwin, and Groth () provide evidence that job resources may not always have positive effects and that their effects tend to diminish after a certain level, or may even become detrimental after a certain tipping point. Specifically, using a sample of Australian hospital workers, these authors show that opportunities for skill use may become “too much of a good thing” when employees are faced with high qualitative demands.…”

I Can’t Go to Work Tomorrow! Work-Family Policies, Well-Being and Absenteeism

“…Absenteeism from work is a phenomenon that is currently of great interest to researchers and concern to managers [1]. According to the Addeco Group Institute Report [2], the absenteeism rate (understood as the ratio of hours not worked for occasional reasons to hours worked) reached a new high of 5.3% in Spain in 2018, the year with the highest rate of absenteeism in the period from 2000 to 2018.…”

The dual threat of COVID-19 to health and job security – Exploring the role of mindfulness in sustaining frontline employee-related outcomes

“…First, job resources can affect employee-related outcomes both directly as well as indirectly via their effects on perceived job demands ( Akhtar and Lee, 2010 , Demerouti et al, 2001 ). Second, in certain situations or individual contexts, job resources can increase perceived job demands ( Tong et al, 2020 , Veldhoven et al, 2020 , Wang et al, 2020 ). With specific relevance to this study, Vogus & Sutcliffe (2012) argue that OM may have both positive and negative impacts on employee outcomes.…”

“…Second, recent research suggests that the effect of resources on outcomes is not as straightforward as often suggested. While the traditional expectation is that resources diminish job demands, some resources may increase job demands in certain situations ( Tong et al, 2020 , Wang et al, 2020 , Wang et al, 2020 ). Indeed, scholars have suggested that OM might have potentially opposing effects linking it to employee outcomes ( Sutcliffe et al, 2016 ).…”