Browsing by Author "Gilmer, Declan O."

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    Culture and support for workplace flexibility matter: An ecological framework for understanding flexibility support structures
    (Elsevier, 2019-04-28) Smith, Ellen F.; Gilmer, Declan O.; Stockdale, Margaret S.
    Firms use flexible work arrangements (FWAs) to attract, retain, and satisfy human resource capital, while workers use them to manage work and nonwork demands and to reduce stress and conflict. Yet, even when firms have such policies on the books, employees often do not use them because they perceive a lack of support from their organization or their supervisor. Employees may even feel that they will be stigmatized for using such policies. Using an ecological framework, we examine factors that influence support for FWAs at multiple levels: the organization or business unit, the supervisor or work group, and the individual. We offer recommendations to address the mechanisms that affect FWA support at these levels of analyses and present ways organizational leaders may positively influence a work environment by supporting workplace flexibility.
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    Predictors of Burnout in Public Library Employees
    (Sage, 2018) Salyers, Michelle P.; Watkins, Melanie A.; Painter, Amber; Snajdr, Eric; Gilmer, Declan O.; Garabrant, Jennifer M.; Henry, Nancy H.; Psychology, School of Science
    Work stress and professional burnout are recognized as concerns for public library employees, yet little research has been conducted. The purpose of the current study was to better understand burnout and the contributing factors in a state-wide sample of public library employees in Indiana. Using a web-based survey, 171 employees of public libraries reported their level of burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy; Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey) and potential predictors, including levels of autonomy, co-worker support, work pressure, technology attitudes, and recovery experiences. A subset of 70 completed the burnout measures twice, allowing for predictions of change over time. Most predictors were correlated with burnout cross-sectionally, except for technology attitudes. Emotional exhaustion was positively associated with work pressure, and negatively associated with autonomy, role clarity, coworker support, and recovery experiences of relaxation, mastery, and control. Similar patterns were found for cynicism and reduced efficacy. However, over a period of approximately six months, only role clarity predicted decreased burnout (emotional exhaustion) above prior levels of burnout.
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    Workplace chronotype bias, flexible scheduling, and performance beliefs
    (2018-06) Gilmer, Declan O.; Stockdale, Margaret S.
    Workers who request a flexible schedule to accommodate their biologically-determined sleep-wake cycle (chronotype) may face prejudice if supervisors perceive them, particularly “night owls”, as lazy or unconscientious. Such bias may be exacerbated in organizational cultures characterized by stability and control. Thus, chronotype bias was examined in a 2 (rigid vs. flexible organizational norms) X 3 (morningness chronotype, eveningness chronotype, educational pursuit/control as reason for a flexible schedule request) online scenario study. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (N=398) and were instructed to act as managers to decide whether to approve a fictitious employee’s request for a flexible schedule. Organizational culture and reason for schedule request were orthogonally manipulated in the scenarios. Ps completed measures of schedule approval (including an open-ended justification item), beliefs about the employee’s performance (job-specific task performance, contextual performance, personal discipline, and conscientiousness), and manipulation checks, as well as measures of their own chronotype. Ps were less likely to approve a flexible schedule request for employees with chronotype-based requests (both morningness and eveningness) compared to control (educational pursuit/control request). Task performance beliefs mediated the effect. Organizational norms had both a direct and moderating effect on schedule approval, such that approval was higher and chronotype bias was weakened in the flexible norm condition compared to the rigid norm condition. Ps’ own chronotype had no direct or moderating effect on schedule approval. Qualitative content analysis of Ps’ justification for the schedule approval decision revealed that Ps justified their decision on the impact of schedule approval on the organization.