Ijerph 16 01792
Ijerph 16 01792
Ijerph 16 01792
Environmental Research
and Public Health
Article
Organisational Climate, Role Stress, and Public
Employees’ Job Satisfaction
Vicente Pecino 1,2 , Miguel A. Mañas 2 , Pedro A. Díaz-Fúnez 2 , José M. Aguilar-Parra 3, *,
David Padilla-Góngora 3 and Remedios López-Liria 4, *
1 Head Manager of HRM Office & IPTORA Research Team, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain;
vpecino@ual.es
2 Department of Psychology & IPTORA Research Team, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain;
marodrig@ual.es (M.A.M.); pfunez@ual.es (P.A.D.-F.)
3 Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain; dpadilla@ual.es
4 Department of Nursing Science, Physiotherapy and Medicine, Hum-498 Research Team, Health Research
Centre, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
* Correspondence: jmaguilar@ual.es (J.M.A.-P.); rll040@ual.es (R.L.-L.)
Received: 19 April 2019; Accepted: 19 May 2019; Published: 21 May 2019
Abstract: The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is an integrative theoretical framework for
monitoring workplaces with the aim to increase job engagement and prevent burnout. This framework
is of great interest since the management of job resources and demands can negatively affect employees,
especially in organisational contexts characterised by high job demands. This study uses the job
demands-resources model to investigate the relationships between organisational climate, role stress,
and employee well-being (burnout and job satisfaction) in public organisations. This is a descriptive,
cross-sectional study. The research participants are 442 public employees. A structural equation
model was developed (organisational climate, job satisfaction, burnout, role stress). These confirm
that organisational climate is correlated with role stress (−0.594), job satisfaction (0.746), and burnout
(−0.408), while role stress is correlated with burnout (0.953) and job satisfaction (−0.685). Finally,
there is a correlation between burnout and job satisfaction that is negative and significant (−0.664).
The study confirms that a positive organisational climate could lead to less stressed and burned-out
workers and, at the same time, to more satisfied employees with improved well-being.
1. Introduction
Reforms in the public sector have been a constant of the last 20 years, and there has been a
particular focus on developing human factors [1]. These changes have become more necessary with
the recent financial crisis, which positioned human resources management as a key internal element
towards which many of the administration’s new policies should be directed [2,3].
Human factors are the key to improving public services. Bakker [4] states that people who want to
change the world for the better often pursue a professional career in public service and are sometimes
characterised by a ‘general altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state,
a nation or humankind’ [5]. However, these employees face environments characterised by changes in
performance expectations, high work demands, a hierarchical structure and bureaucratisation of work
processes [6]; these factors tend to lead to the significant deterioration of employee well-being [7].
The emergence in the late twentieth century of the so-called ‘Positive Psychology’, which focuses
on the positive side of people [8], was crucial to organisational and occupational psychology. This
new paradigm has encouraged human resource departments to focus on increasing opportunities,
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1792; doi:10.3390/ijerph16101792 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1792 2 of 12
satisfaction, motivation, resources and flexibility to develop people and enhance their well-being [9].
In this sense, we want to analyse how the stressful and motivational characteristics of work environments
influence the well-being of employees, and how to create healthy environments [10].
associated with increased stress levels and the occurrence of negative behaviours for organisations;
also, Pecino [24], using a sample of public employees, showed how organisational climate is strongly
and negatively related to role stress.
Organisational climate will show a significant and negative reciprocal relationship with role
stress (hypothesis 1) and a positive reciprocal relationship with job satisfaction (hypothesis 2). Also,
role stress will show a significant and positive reciprocal relationship with burnout (hypothesis 3).
Furthermore, organisational climate will show a significant and negative reciprocal relationship with
burnout (hypothesis 4) and role stress will show a significant and negative reciprocal relationship
with job satisfaction (hypothesis 5). Finally, job satisfaction will have a reciprocal relationship, both
significant and negative, with burnout (hypothesis 6).
2.2. Instruments
2.2.3. Burnout
This was measured using an adapted version of the Maslasch Burnout Inventory [46], translated
by Peiró et al. [47], which consists of nine items answered on a Likert scale with seven responses
ranging from 0 = ‘never’ to 6 = ‘every day’. The dimensions contained in this instrument are exhaustion,
cynicism, and professional efficacy.
3. Results
First, we performed a confirmatory analysis of the dimensions for each of the variables used in the
study, and later we presented a structural equation model for testing the relations between variables.
Figure
Figure 1.
1. Standardised
Standardisedestimates
estimatesand
and goodness
goodness of of fit
fit parameters Model. * p-value >
parameters for the Research Model. > 0.01. Crombach’s alpha == 0.766.
Crombach’s alpha 0.766. Adjustment
Adjustmentmade
madewith
with
diagonalised
diagonalisedweighted
weightedleast
leastsquares
squares(DWLS).
(DWLS).Comparative
Comparativefit fitindex (CFI)==0.967;
index(CFI) 0.967;Tucker-Lewis
Tucker-Lewisindex (TLI)==0.961;
index(TLI) 0.961;Root
Rootmean
meansquare
squareerror
errorof
ofapproximation
approximation
(RMSEA)==0.064;
(RMSEA) 0.064;Low 90==0.056,
Low90 High= =0.072
0.056,High 0.072and SRMR= =
andSRMR 0.082.
0.082.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1792 8 of 12
Instruments Variables Estimated Loads Std. Error Z-Value p (>|z|) Standardised Estimates
Support 0.772 0.027 28.787 0.000 0.851
Organisational Innovation 0.553 0.022 25.587 0.000 0.782
Climate Goal Orientations 0.733 0.026 28.741 0.000 0.873
Rules 0.685 0.024 28.589 0.000 0.881
Team 0.641 0.034 18.971 0.000 0.851
Retribution 0.499 0.029 16.955 0.000 0.479
Means and Conditions 0.450 0.028 16.152 0.000 0.459
Intrinsic 0.611 0.033 18.468 0.000 0.805
Job Satisfaction
Business 0.688 0.036 19.247 0.000 0.865
Workload 0.607 0.031 19.340 0.000 0.778
Autonomy 0.609 0.033 18.680 0.000 0.790
Objects 0.717 0.037 19.234 0.000 0.859
Ambiguity 0.511 0.063 8.081 0.000 0.869
Role Stress Conflict 0.238 0.030 7.934 0.000 0.321
Overload 0.249 0.033 7.566 0.000 0.269
Depersonalisation 0.413 0.039 10.574 0.000 0.487
Burnout Exhaustion 0.436 0.041 10.535 0.000 0.453
Lack of personal
0.402 0.037 10.810 0.000 0.563
accomplishment
Burnout Climate −0.447 0.066 −6.782 0.000 −0.408
Job Satisfaction Climate 1.121 0.079 14.227 0.000 0.746
Role Stress Climate −0.739 0.113 −6.568 0.000 −0.594
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1792 9 of 12
4. Discussion
The aim of this work was to study the reciprocal relationships between a job resource (organisational
climate), a job demand (role stress) and indicators of employee well-being (burnout and job satisfaction).
The results confirmed that organisational climate is significantly and negatively linked to role stress
(−0.594), which suggests that the existence of a positive climate would buffer role stress in workers.
In the JD-R model, the direct relationships between demands (role stress) and labour resources
(organisational climate) are not specified as positive or negative correlations. Bakker and Demerouti [22]
considered this as an empirical question related to the occupational context of the sample under
study. Thus, in some organisational contexts, the relationship may be positive and in others negative,
depending on variables such as the hierarchy, status, educational level and occupational sector. In the
context of public employees, the results obtained confirmed the significant and negative relationships
found by previous studies [58].
In this study, climate showed a significant and positive reciprocal influence on job satisfaction
(0.746), confirming the motivational process of the JD-R model. Furthermore, previous studies showed
that when employees perceive their organisational climate in a more positive way, they are more
satisfied [31]. Also, we found that role stress and burnout are significantly and positively related
(0.953). Thus, the higher the degree of role stress, the higher the incidence of burnout, which impairs
employees’ health, as observed in the JD-R model and in previous studies [19,33].
The results confirmed that job demands and resources could interact to positively or negatively
affect well-being in two cross-linked relationships [12]. On the one hand, organisational climate
showed a significant and negative influence on burnout, which shows that a good climate is related to
less burnout. Recent studies have shown that formal support groups create organisational climates
that cushion employee stressors related to socio-emotional work such as burnout [59]. On the other
hand, the results confirmed that role stress is significantly and negatively related to job satisfaction,
which could indicate that higher role stress can lead to lower job satisfaction and, therefore, to worse
employee well-being. This result is in line with the findings of recent studies [40,41] and clearly shows
how reducing stress levels improves employee satisfaction.
Finally, the results confirmed that job satisfaction has a significant and negative relationship with
burnout. In a recent longitudinal study, Figueiredo-Ferraz et al. [42] analysed the relationship between
burnout and job satisfaction. They found a significant two-way relationship between the two variables,
with more intense effects when job satisfaction was an antecedent of burnout rather than vice versa.
This study represents a step towards understanding the relationships between variables that
affect the well-being of employees in public service. These results will be of great interest in the
POP field as they will help to promote this viewpoint in the field of human resource management in
public administration. The effects of job resources could enhance employees’ well-being, increasing
satisfaction and preventing burnout [12].
5. Conclusions
The study confirms that a positive organisational climate could lead to less stressed and burned-out
workers and, at the same time, a higher role stress can lead to lower job satisfaction and, therefore, to
worse employee well-being. Organisational climate showed a significant and positive influence on job
satisfaction, confirming the motivational process of the JD-R model.
Author Contributions: Conceptualisation, V.P., M.A.M., P.A.D.-F., J.M.A.-P., D.P.-G. and R.L.-L.; Data curation,
P.A.D.-F.; Formal analysis, V.P., P.A.D.-F. and J.M.A.-P.; Investigation, M.A.M., D.P.-G. and R.L.-L.; Methodology,
V.P., M.A.M., P.A.D.-F. and R.L.-L.; Supervision, V.P. and M.A.M.; Writing—original draft, V.P., P.A.D.-F., J.M.A.-P.,
D.P.-G. and R.L.-L.; Writing—review & editing, M.A.M., P.A.D.-F., J.M.A.-P., D.P.-G. and R.L.-L.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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