Lingua necessaria? Language proficiency and expatriate success

Wiernik, B. M., Albrecht, A.-G., Dilchert, S., Deller, J., Ones, D. S., & Paulus, F. M.
In B. M. Wiernik, H. Rüger, & D. S. Ones (Eds.)
Managing expatriates: Success factors in private and public domains (pp. 195–208).
Budrich
(2018)

Local language proficiency is often regarded as a key enabling factor for expatriate success. In this study, we use data from the iGOES project to examine how language proficiency contributes to expatriate outcomes. Language proficiency is negligibly to weakly related to most outcomes, but does show positive relations with interaction adjustment. Moderator analyses support the interpretation of this relation as reflecting increased comfort from being able to communicate effectively, rather than reflecting cultural engagement or social inclusion effects. Overall, results indicate that local language proficiency can contribute to expatriate comfort, but is not absolutely necessary for expatriate success.

Multiple domains and categories of employee green behaviors: More than conservation

Ones, D. S., Wiernik, B. M., Dilchert, S., & Klein, R. M.
In V. K. Wells, D. Gregory-Smith, & D. Manika (Eds.)
Research handbook on employee pro-environmental behaviour (pp. 13–38).
Edward Elgar.
(2018)

To effectively promote employee pro-environmental behaviour and appropriately research the antecedents and consequences of different types of green behaviours, there is a need for clear conceptual definitions of employee green behaviours and an organising taxonomy of the diverse array of behaviours that can be performed. This is the aim of this chapter. We define employee green behaviours and describe how they fit into general models of job performance. Then, we describe a comprehensive taxonomy of employee green behaviours. Next, we discuss the features of available measures of employee green behaviours. Finally, we discuss how considering the full array of employee green behaviours can enhance organisational human resource management (HRM) practices that promote environmental sustainability.

Individual antecedents of pro-environmental behaviors: Implications for employee green behaviors

Wiernik, B. M., Ones, D. S., Dilchert, S., & Klein, R. M.
In V. K. Wells, D. Gregory-Smith, & D. Manika (Eds.),
Research handbook on employee pro-environmental behaviour (pp. 63–82).
Edward Elgar.
(2018).

Environmental degradation is ultimately driven by harmful actions performed by individuals (Stern 2000). Achieving environmental sustainability thus requires changing individuals’ behaviour to be more environmentally responsible (Maloney and Ward 1973). As organisations aim to improve their institutional environmental performance, they must improve the individual environmental performance of each of their employees. Effective management of employee environmental performance, however, requires understanding why employees perform positive and negative green behaviours and how these drivers can be leveraged most effectively using human resource management (HRM) tools. In this chapter, we review research on the individual-level factors that promote and inhibit environmentally relevant employee behaviours. We examine research on knowledge-based and attitudinal drivers of pro-environmental behaviours, as well as the influence of demographic characteristics and stable psychological individual differences. Finally, w discuss research on the effectiveness of alternative types of behavioural interventions aimed at improving individuals’ contributions to environmental sustainability and how organisations can leverage individual antecedents to enhance employee green performance.

Family interference with work and its relationship with organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors

Mercado, B. K., & Dilchert, S.
International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 25(4), 406-415.
(2017)

Most employed adults must manage both work and family responsibilities. Consequently, many employees also experience conflict between their roles, which often leads to compromised performance in one or both domains. We examined family interference with work (FIW) as a potential drain on resources leading to increased counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and decreased organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) in three samples with a multi-measure, timelagged design. Results demonstrated that employees who experience FIW display higher levels of CWB and lower levels of OCB, especially for organizationally targeted behaviors.

A meta-analytic examination of cyberloafing

Mercado, B.K., Giordano, C., & Dilchert, S.
Career Development International, 22(5), 546-564.
(2017)

Cyberloafing, using technology to idle instead of work, is a particularly concerning issue for many organizations due to its perceived widespread impact on productivity. The purpose of this paper is to meta-analytically examine the growing literature on this construct in order to gain insights into its nomological network and guide future research. After a systematic literature search, the authors conducted psychometric meta-analyses to estimate the relationships of 39 different correlates with cyberloafing. Results indicate that boredom, engagement, and self-control exhibit strong relationships with cyberloafing, but employees’ attitudes surrounding and opportunities to engage in cyberloafing also proved powerful predictors. Contrary to common stereotypes, age and other demographic variables exhibited negligible effects. Employment variables (e.g. tenure, organization level, and income) were also negligibly related to cyberloafing. Emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness exhibited modest negative relationships with cyberloafing, whereas self-control demonstrated a strong negative relationship. Although cyberloafing strongly correlated with overall counterproductive work behaviors, the findings suggest it is unrelated to other components of job performance. As the first quantitative review of the emerging cyberloafing literature, this study synthesizes related studies from disparate disciplines, examines the nomological network of cyberloafing, and highlights future directions for research into this phenomenon.

Empirical benchmarks for interpreting effect size variability in meta-analysis

Wiernik, B. M., Kostal, J. W., Wilmot, M. P., Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. S.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 10(3), 472–479
(2017)

Generalization in meta-analyses is not a dichotomous decision (typically encountered in papers using the Q test for homogeneity, the 75% rule, or null hypothesis tests). Inattention to effect size variability in meta-analyses may stem from a lack of guidelines for interpreting credibility intervals. In this commentary, we describe two methods for making practical interpretations and determining whether a particular SDρ represents a meaningful level of variability.

Personality: Its measurement and validity for employee selection

Hough, L. M., & Dilchert, S.
In J. L. Farr & N. T. Tippins (Eds.),
Handbook of employee selection (2nd ed., pp. 298-325).
Routledge
(2017)

In this chapter, we update the issues and evidence, and describe the emerging consensus about the usefulness of personality variables in employee selection. We describe the mega-trends that have influenced the personality variables that are selected for inclusion in selection systems, how they are measured, and the outcomes they are expected to predict. We describe factors that hinder our understanding and those that help increase our knowledge of personality variables and their role in more accurately predicting work-related criteria. We address issues related to taxonomic structure, measurement methods, level of measurement, validity, and factors that threaten and enhance the validity of personality measures.

Cognitive ability: Measurement and validity for employee selection

Ones, D. S., Dilchert, S., Viswesvaran, C., & Salgado, J. F.
In J. L. Farr & N. T. Tippins (Eds.),
Handbook of employee selection (2nd ed., pp. 251-276).
Routledge
(2017)

In this chapter, we provide an overview of cognitive ability’s key role in staffing organizations and provide evidence-based practice recommendations. We first present a brief synopsis of the history, current usage, and acceptance of cognitive ability tests in employee selection. Second, we highlight the theoretical underpinnings and structure of cognitive ability as a construct. Third, we discuss developments in its measurement. Fourth, we present an overview of the criterion-related validity of cognitive ability tests in predicting valued work behaviors and outcomes, including non-task-performance criteria that have been increasingly investigated in recent years. Fifth, we discuss the issue of group differences in cognitive ability test scores both within the United States and internationally. We conclude by discussing future research and challenges facing organizations that intend to use cognitive ability tests in making employee selection decisions.

Sustainability: Implications for organizations

Dilchert, S., Wiernik, B. M., & Ones, D. S.
In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.),
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2nd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
(2016, October)

Sustainability refers to an organization’s ability to deliver enduring performance and thus continue to exist over time. In this regard, performance refers not only to a company’s financial results. Sustainability applies to a wide range of organizations (e.g., businesses, not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations) and encompasses performance in the economic/financial, social, and environmental domains. This conceptualization of sustainability—which includes the notion that the three different aspects of organizational performance are interconnected and equally important for long-term survival of an organization—has been described as the “triple bottom line.” Over the last three decades, research in the organizational sciences as well as applied practice has focused on the social aspect of organizational performance, such as employee welfare, community outreach, and charitable involvement. Most recently, climate change and ensuing societal awareness have triggered increasing attention on the environmental dimension of organizational performance and have resulted in a growing movement focused on environmental sustainability within industrial-organizational psychology.

Age and employee green behaviors: A meta-analysis

Wiernik, B. M., Dilchert, S., & Ones, D. S.
Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1-15.
(2016)

Recent economic and societal developments have led to an increasing emphasis on organizational environmental performance. At the same time, demographic trends are resulting in increasingly aging labor forces in many industrialized nations. Commonly held stereotypes suggest that older workers are less likely to be environmentally responsible than younger workers. To evaluate the degree to which such age differences are present, we meta-analyzed 132 independent correlations and 336 d-values based on 4676 professional workers from 22 samples in 11 countries. Contrary to popular stereotypes, age showed small positive relationships with pro-environmental behaviors, suggesting that older adults engaged in these workplace behaviors slightly more frequently. Relationships with age appeared to be linear for overall, Conserving, Avoiding Harm, and Taking Initiative pro-environmental behaviors, but non-linear trends were observed for Transforming and Influencing Others behaviors.