Teamwork Boosts Discretionary Efforts in White US Employees
According to a study analyzing over 5,000 individuals, working in teams was found to be connected to a higher likelihood of women and white men putting in extra effort at work.
However, the relationship between job conditions and effort varied among different genders and ethnoracial groups. These findings were presented by Wei-hsin Yu from the University of California, Los Angeles, U.S., and Janet Chen-Lan Kuo from National Taiwan University, Taiwan, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 2, 2023.
An Examination of Employee Effort
Recent discussions in popular media have focused on “quiet quitting,” a phenomenon where employees exert the minimum effort required in their jobs without going the extra mile. Previous research has primarily explored how family responsibilities may impact workers’ efforts, leaving other job conditions that could influence discretionary effort largely unexplored.
To address this research gap, Wei-hsin Yu and Janet Chen-Lan Kuo conducted a study using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which tracks information on U.S. residents born in the 1980s. They analyzed responses from 2,706 male and 2,621 female participants, evaluating the amount of effort they put into their jobs in relation to typical job conditions associated with their occupations.
A Crucial Influence on Employee Effort
Among all the job conditions considered, workplace social dynamics emerged as a significant factor linked to worker effort. Both men and women working in jobs with frequent teamwork tended to report putting in extra effort. However, this association was only observed for white men and not for non-white men.
For women, working full time instead of part-time and having access to paid maternity leave were associated with increased effort. On the other hand, women in male-dominated occupations or those facing confrontations in their jobs were less likely to go the extra mile.
Contrasting Findings for Black and White Women
The study also highlighted differences between white and non-white workers. For example, the relationship between effort and time spent at work was weaker for Black women compared to white women.
It’s important to note that these findings do not establish causal relationships between job conditions and work effort. However, they serve as a foundation for further research, which could inform employers’ initiatives to enhance worker effort and reduce “quiet quitting.”
The authors emphasize the significance of workplace interpersonal dynamics for motivating workers to put in extra effort. They suggest that the shift to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected social interactions and comparisons at work, potentially influencing workers’ motivation and productivity.
Read the original article on Phys.
Read more: AI Framework Improves Communication Analysis in Team Training.
