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Training of temporary workers
and the social exchange process
Training of
temporary
workers
Maria José Chambel and Filipa Castanheira
Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
191
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of training to explain affective
commitment and exhaustion of temporary agency workers (TAW). There is a general assumption that
training relates with a social exchange relationship where employees exchange positive outcomes, not
only with inducements received by training but also with the expectation of prospective inducements
that will emerge from the fulfilment of promises made by the organization.
Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 393 Portuguese
blue-collar TAW using structural equation modeling.
Findings – The hypotheses were supported. Training was positively related to workers’ affective
commitment and negatively to workers’ exhaustion. Psychological contract fulfilment partially
mediated these relationships.
Research limitations/implications – The study is limited due to the nature of the sample (TAW
in industrial sector with similar training opportunities as permanent workers) and the lack of
longitudinal design. Neither does it provide implications for other types of commitment that may be
relevant for TAW (continuance commitment, for example).
Practical implications – An important implication of this research is that employers should not
assume that training is an investment without return from TAW. Developmental opportunities, while
important to all employees, were positively related to TAW’ affective commitment towards the
organization and negatively to TAW’ exhaustion.
Originality/value – The findings highlighted the importance of training in developing positive
employment relationships with TAW and the role of psychological contract fulfilment as a mechanism
that contributes to explain such relationship.
Keywords Portugal, Temporary workers, Employees behaviour, Training, Psychological contracts,
Affective commitment, Exhaustion
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The number of temporary agency workers (TAW) has increased over recent years both
in the USA and in Europe and the majority of organizations are now faced with having
to manage employees with this status. In Portugal, the country in which the current
research was completed, temporary agency employment has proved to be such a
growing phenomenon that the number of TAW doubled from 1998 to 2008 and
penetration rates increased from 0.6 percent to 0.9 percent (CIETT, 2010).
This study is part of a larger research project “Employment relationship in temporary workers:
human resource management importance – PTDC/PSI-PTO/102046/2008” founded by the
Foundation of Science and Technology from Portuguese Government. This grant is gratefully
acknowledged. The authors would like to thank Professor Dianna L. Stone and the two
anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on earlier version of this
article.
Journal of Managerial Psychology
Vol. 27 No. 2, 2012
pp. 191-209
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0268-3946
DOI 10.1108/02683941211199563
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27,2
192
Temporary agency work is associated with more flexibility, lower labor costs, and
less HR manager (and company) responsibilities since temp agencies appear to reduce
the time that has to be invested in recruitment and rewards (Torka, 2004). One
important question is to ascertain whether these short-term benefits for organizations
using TAW may bring the risk of long-term costs, namely poor worker attitudes,
well-being and behaviors that compromise their effectiveness (Forde and Slater, 2006).
However, the results of research comparing temporary and permanent workers have
proven inconclusive and shown that attitudes or well-being of TAW are not inevitably
worse than those exhibited by permanent workers (for example see De Cuyper et al.,
2008). One of the aspects that have contributed to such an inconsistency of findings is
that TAW responses depend on the employment relationship they develop. Several
authors have demonstrated that when TAW develops a social exchange relationship
they reciprocate with very positive responses, namely satisfaction, affective
commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors (Chambel and Castanheira,
2007; Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2002; Van Dyne and Ang, 1998).
Our objective, in this research, is first to investigate whether training plays a crucial
role in explaining TAW’ affective commitment and exhaustion. We believe that training
is a positive organizational action aimed at temporary workers (Forrier and Sels, 2003).
Training meets some relevant needs referred to by TAW, namely the need for incertitude
control and employability, and relates with a social exchange relationship. We explore
two mechanisms of explanations for this social exchange relationship. First, we expect a
positively direct relationship between training and affective commitment and a
negatively direct relationship between training and exhaustion. Second, we also expect
that training to be related to the workers’ perceptions of psychological contract
fulfilment. The extent to which the worker believes the organization has fulfilled its
promised obligations depends on his/her perceptions concerning the degree to which the
organization values its contributions and care towards his/her needs (Eisenberger et al.,
1986). Going one step further, we also expect the relationship between training and
workers’ outcomes, namely exhaustion and affective commitment, to be partially
mediated by fulfilment of the psychological contract.
This study goes beyond previous research on TAW in two ways. First, it draws on
the social exchange theory to examine the relationship between training and two
important outcomes explored in temporary workers’ literature: workers’ affective
commitment and workers’ exhaustion. To our knowledge, it is the first study with TAW
to examine the simultaneous relationship between this organizational practice and these
two outcomes. Second, this study is supported by the psychological contract theory and
examines whether fulfilment of the organization’s obligations is a mechanism that also
explains the relationship between training and these workers’ responses. Thus, TAW are
expected to exchange their positive attitudes and psychological state not only with
positive action on the part of the organization (training) but also with the fulfilment of
obligations promised by organizations, which in turn, depends on the positive action
from the organization. To our knowledge, it is also the first study to examine the
psychological contract role in the relationship between training and its outcomes.
Social exchange relationship of TAW: training relevance
Much of the research on TAW tends to be dominated by the social exchange theory
(De Cuyper et al., 2008). Blau (1964, p. 93) defined a social exchange relationship as
involving unspecified obligations in which there are favors that create diffuse future
obligations. Gouldner (1960), on the other hand, considered beneficial actions aimed at
workers by organizations to contribute towards establishing an exchange that creates
obligations for employees to reciprocate in positive, beneficial ways. However, it is
necessary to work on refining the social exchange theory to include variables that
would allow for a more effective application to TAW (Gallagher and Connelly, 2008).
Indeed, what is perceived by TAW as a beneficial action received from the
organization is whatever meets their needs and motivations. In this vein, Koene and
Van Riemsdijk (2005) found that positive attitudes and behaviors displayed by
temporary workers were dependent on recognition, on the part of the organizations, of
their specific needs. As temporary workers cannot expect employment security,
employability is considered an important need for them (De Cuyper and De Witte,
2008a). Thus, for TAW, having the opportunity to develop a set of transferable skills
through training could be seen as a valuable benefit that is offered by organizations
since it enhances their chances of gaining employment in the internal and external
labor market (Finegold et al., 2005; Forrier and Sels, 2003). Training is a benefit offered
by organizations that promotes the employability of temporary workers, a valued need,
to which they reciprocate with positive responses towards the organization.
However, the social exchange relationship also presupposes that the worker
responds, in accordance with perceived implicit or explicit mutual promises
established with the organization, i.e. psychological contract (Rousseau, 1995). In
fact, workers react to the actions of organizations based on their interpretations of
whether they provide them with the inducement that satisfies their needs, but also on
their interpretations of whether it provides them with the opportunities for fulfilment
of the obligations included in the psychological contract (Hannah and Iverson, 2004).
As through training TAW have the opportunities to develop their skills and improve
their behaviors, these actions will be positively related to the perception that the
organization is fulfilling or over-fulfilling its obligations of providing development job
opportunities, more challenging goals, and being concerned with workers’ well-being
(Suazo et al., 2009). Training can also be related to the over-fulfilment of organizational
obligations of employment security and stability. In fact, the main motive behind
choosing temporary employment is to find a permanent job, as these workers see
temporary employment as a transitory stage leading to permanent employment
(CIETT, 2010; De Cuyper and De Witte, 2008b). So, this over-fulfilment of employment
security and stability obligations provided by training may also contribute to the
perceptions of fulfilment or over-fulfilment of the organization’s obligations to address
workers’ goals and well being. This perception of obligation fulfilment on the part of
the organization entails positive responses from workers as currency to reciprocate the
benevolent treatment received (Shore et al., 2004; Zhao et al., 2008).
The present study used as worker responses affective commitment and exhaustion.
Organizational commitment has been a frequently investigated TAW positive
response (Gallagher and Connelly, 2008; De Cuyper et al., 2008). It is an attitude related
to attachment towards the organization, which is at the forefront of workers’ desire to
maintain organizational membership (Monday et al., 1979). Despite the fact that
literature distinguishes two other forms of commitment – continuance and normative
(Meyer and Allen, 1997) – the affective that presupposes an emotional liaison and
identification with organizational values and goals is the most frequently studied
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(Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow, 2006). In this way, the worker wishes to stay in the
organization and this attitude promotes task performance and organizational
citizenship behaviors (Meyer and Allen, 1997; Riketta, 2002, 2008). Another
important TAW response is strain, e.g. worker reaction to stress at work. More
specifically, exhaustion is a state of chronic stress based on emotional and physical
depletion and is central when we attempt to understand stress caused by daily work
(Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998). This state resembles traditional stress reactions that
are studied in occupational stress research such as fatigue, job-related depression,
psychosomatic complaints, and anxiety (Demerouti et al., 2001) and has emerged as a
central variable for understanding the burnout process (Shirom, 1989), which exhibits a
stronger relationship with task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors
than the other components of burnout – cynicism, e.g. distant or negative attitudes and
feelings towards work, and lack of efficacy, e.g. the development of negative attitudes
and feelings of incompetence regarding one’s professional role (Cropanzano et al., 2003;
Taris, 2006).
Hypotheses
Training and TAW responses
Training opportunities may be regarded as a social exchange between the employer
and employees (Maurer et al., 2002) as this practice involves higher levels of
organizational investment that creates feelings of employee obligation (Shore et al.,
2006). Employees interpret organizational actions, such as training, as indicative of the
personified organization’s commitment towards them, and reciprocate their
perceptions accordingly in their own commitment toward the organization
(Whitener, 2001).
Two additional reasons for such a role of training could be considered in the case of
temporary workers. First, through training, TAW learn new knowledge and skills and,
consequently, increase their chances of employment (Forrier and Sels, 2003), e.g. their
employability or the possibility of getting a new job (Kluytmans and Ott, 1999) or the
acquisition and fulfilment of employment, within or outside the current organization, at
present and in the future (Heijden et al., 2009). As employability is an important need
for these workers, in order to earn commitment from temporary workers, the company
has to establish an implicit learning contract, which will increase their employability
(Finegold et al., 2005). Second, the organization is not obliged to offer this practice since
no work regulation establishes the obligation to promote training for TAW. Thus,
training in the context of TAW indicates discretionary investments and it is in such
situations that organizational practices promote a social exchange (Eisenberger et al.,
1986):
H1. Training is positively associated with temporary agency workers’ affective
commitment.
Exhaustion represents a response to frequent and intense demands at work and is
considered an indication that employees are no longer able to suitably manage these
demands (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). However, employees with high resource levels,
report higher levels of mastery that help them deal more effectively with professional
demands, thus preventing being negatively impacted by them (Xanthopoulou et al.,
2007). Previous research has demonstrated that when employees consider themselves
to have lower skills than those required to perform tasks, they tend to feel more
overloaded and exhausted (Batt, 2002; Castanheira and Chambel, 2010). Training is a
specific HR practice designed to equip employees with skills and knowledge needed in
work. Hence, training is designed to increase employees’ capability of performing tasks
and, therefore, will reduce their feelings of exhaustion.
As far as TAW are concerned, there is an additional reason for the negative
relationship between training and exhaustion. One important demand of temporary
workers is uncertainty regarding the future and this high job insecurity increases the
risks of poor well-being (McLean Parks et al. 1998; Sverke et al., 2000). Temporary
workers describe an overall concern in relation to the permanence of employment in the
future, implying that its absence would involve a potential loss of important financial
and social resources (e.g. income, social contacts, structuring of time, and contributions
to personal development) (De Witte, 1999). Anticipation of such a stressful event
represents an equally important, or perhaps even greater, source of strain than the
actual event itself (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). In a meta-analysis, Sverke et al. (2002)
confirmed the negative relationship between insecurity and mental health at work. In
another meta-analysis focusing on temporary workers, Virtanen et al. (2005) concluded
that insecurity was negatively related to various indicators of well-being.
As previously mentioned, training promotes the learning of new knowledge and
skills which increases employability (Finegold et al., 2005). Thus, training could be
considered an organizational practice that provides important resources to temporary
workers, decreasing the levels of uncertainty about employment in the future and
consequently relates negatively to their exhaustion:
H2. Training is negatively associated with temporary agency workers’
exhaustion.
Mediation of psychological contract fulfilment
Training not only captures a worker’s perception of organizational treatment but also
evokes an evaluation of the discrepancy between what is promised and what is fulfilled.
In the presence of inducements provided by training, workers may become less vigilant
in monitoring the extent to which the organization is fulfilling its obligations included in
the psychological contract (Coyle-Shapiro and Conway, 2005). Moreover, for temporary
workers, the organization has fewer obligations to them (Chambel and Alcover, 2011;
Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2002; Guest, 2004) and training could be interpreted as a
discretionary action that may have contributed to workers’ evaluation that their
organization has over fulfilled the obligations towards them.
On the other hand, psychological contract fulfilment/breach has separately been
found to be associated with workers’ affective commitment and strain. Researchers
have found support that psychological contract fulfilment has played a central role in
explaining affective commitment (Chen et al., 2008; Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000;
Kickul, 2001; Robinson, 1995). As far as temporary workers are concerned, research
has shown that the psychological contract may also explain employees’ affective
commitment. For example, McDonald and Makin (2000) found that affective
commitment to the client was positively related to psychological contract fulfilment,
while Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow (2006) also found that fulfilment of obligations on the
part of the agency brought about a positive relationship with the affective commitment
towards the client through the mediation of affective commitment towards the agency.
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As for the relationship between psychological contract fulfilment/breach and
well-being, different authors have shown the validity of this assumption. For
example, Conway and Briner (2002) showed that after a breach of psychological
contract, the employee exhibits anxiety, depression, and hurt. Gakovic and Tetrick
(2003) and Chambel and Oliveira-Cruz (2010) showed the positive relationship between
breach of psychological contract and employee exhaustion. Coyle-Shapiro and Shore
(2007) stated that employee health could be considered a positive effect of an
employee-employer relationship, namely when obligations are fulfilled, and Parzefall
and Hakanen (2010) confirmed the health-enhancing properties of organizational
obligation fulfilment.
In this study psychological contract fulfilment was considered a mechanism for
operating within the social exchange relationships. The argument was that favorable
outcomes stemmed from high-quality social exchange relationships not only because
of the content of such relationships, but also because when workers evaluated the
fulfilment of organization promises, their responses to these evaluations differed on the
basis of their overall social exchange relationship quality. Fulfilment cognitions might
be most prevalent in high-quality social exchange relationships (Dulac et al., 2008).
Thus, this study anticipates that training is positively related to perceptions of
psychological contract fulfilment, and this fulfilment partially accounts for the
relations among training and temporary workers’ outcomes:
H3a. Temporary agency workers’ perception of contract fulfilment partially
mediates the relationship between training and affective commitment.
H3b. Temporary agency workers’ perception of contract fulfilment partially
mediates the relationship between training and exhaustion.
Method
Participants and procedure
Participants were blue-collar workers with a temporary work contract from four
Portuguese Industries. In all of these companies the reason to employ temporary
workers was to ensure flexibility in the face of market fluctuations and, therefore,
TAW developed tasks similar to those of permanent workers, thus having similar
requirements management, favoring similar work conditions, namely access to
training (Lautsch, 2002). This reason for adopting TAW is frequent in Portuguese
companies, as is the case in others countries (CIETT, 2010). Table I presents the
demographic characteristics of participants and the number of temporary workers in
each company. The sample for our study represented 75 percent of temporary workers’
population.
The research procedure involved several steps. A researcher met the group of team
leaders to explain the purpose and requirements of the study. Team leaders were asked
Table I.
Participants
demographics
Organization
Organization
Organization
Organization
1.
2.
3.
4.
Electrical cables
Pottery
Food
Pharmaceutical
n
Age
Mean of years
Men
Women
125
76
51
141
26.77
37.56
–
–
SD ¼ 6.49
SD ¼ 10.48
–
–
47
22
4
141
78
57
47
0
to request workers from his/her respective team to complete the questionnaires. Team
leaders then handed out the questionnaires and gave each respondent a sealable
envelope in which to enclose the completed survey. Finally, the researcher returned to
the organization a fortnight later to collect the surveys. All participants were assured
of the total confidentiality of their responses and we emphasized that participation in
the study was voluntary.
Training of
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197
Measures
The factor structures of all scales included in the questionnaire were tested using a
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with AMOS software package.
Training. Based on the literature that included training as a strategic human resource
management practice, five items were developed to assess training. The companies HR
managers also read the questionnaire and checked for ambiguous or unfamiliar items,
and also examined whether it covered the most important aspects of training. Items were
scored on a five-point Likert scale ð1 ¼ disagree; 5 ¼ agreeÞ and are presented in the
Appendix. Cronbach Alpha was 0.79. CFA’s analysis demonstrated that the factorial
structure of the scale presented an adequate fit to the data (x2(3) ¼ 4.16, p , 0:001;
SRMR ¼ 0.02; IFI ¼ 0.99; CFI ¼ 0.99; RMSEA ¼ 0.03).
Psychological contract fulfilment. The employee’s perception of psychological
contract fulfilment by the client organization was assessed using 16-items of the
Portuguese translation of Rousseau’s (2000) scale, which had already been used in a
previous research study (Chambel and Alcover, 2011). This scale includes three forms
of the psychological contract: balanced, relational, and transactional. A total of six
items were balanced ða ¼ 0:81Þ; five were relational ða ¼ 0:87Þ and five were
transactional ða ¼ 0:78Þ: Respondents were asked to consider their relationship with
the client organization on whose premises they worked and to identify whether it had
fulfilled the following obligations towards them. An example of a Balanced item being
“Help me have a better performance”, an example of a Relational item being “To be
concerned with my personal well-being”, and an example of a Transactional item being
“Perform only required tasks”. Items were scored on a five-point Likert scale, ranging
from “has been fulfilling much less than what it had promised” (1) to “has been
fulfilling much more than what it had promised” (5). High scores on this scale indicate
high levels of transactional, balanced and relational psychological contract fulfilment.
The three factor model was fitted to the data and exhibited an adequate fit to the data
ðx2ð72Þ ¼ 179:11; p , 0:001; SRMR ¼ 0:05; IFI ¼ 0:95; CFI ¼ 0:95; RMSEA ¼ 0:06Þ:
Considering the problems caused by the estimation of all observed items and latent
variables (insufficient power and under-identification), in subsequent models, we
assumed the scale and latent variables to be identical.
Affective commitment. Affective commitment was measured using Meyer et al.
(1993) already used in another study (Chambel and Sobral, 2011). Six items were
measured on a seven-point scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” (1) to “Strongly
Agree” (7). An example item included “I feel a strong sense of belonging to
(organization name)”. High scores indicate high levels of affective commitment. Alpha
was 0.81. CFA’s results indicated that the model fitted the data well (x2(6) ¼ 23.10,
p , 0:001; SRMR ¼ 0.03; IFI ¼ 0.98; CFI ¼ 0.98; RMSEA ¼ 0.06).
Exhaustion. Exhaustion was assessed with the Portuguese version of the
Exhaustion scale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (Schaufeli
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198
et al., 1996) used in another study (Castanheira and Chambel, 2010). Five items were
scored on a seven-point scale ranging from 0 (“never”) to 6 (“always”). An example item
included “I feel used up at the end of a work day”. High scores indicate high levels of
exhaustion. Alpha was 0.85. The model presented an acceptable fit to the data
ðx2ð3Þ ¼ 3:55; p , 0:001; SRMR ¼ 0:01;IFI ¼ 0.99;CFI ¼ 0:95; RMSEA ¼ 0:02Þ:
Organization. To control for possible confounding effects, organizations were coded
into three dummy variables. Hence, to compare Organization A with other
organizations, a dummy variable was created and Organizations B, C and D were
coded 0 and Organization A was coded 1. To compare Organization B with other
organizations, a dummy variable was created and Organizations A, C and D were
coded 0 and Organization B was coded 1. And finally, to compare Organization C with
other organizations, a dummy variable was created and Organizations A, B, and D
were coded 0 and Organization C was coded 1.
Statistical analysis
As proposed by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), structural equation modeling (SEM)
was used to test the measurement model and to compare various competing structural
models. Obtaining a good fit in a prior measurement model test is essential to establish
discriminant validity, and to inspect risks associated with common method variance
(Podsakoff et al., 2003). Several SEM models were computed to test hypothesized
relationships. To control for potential confounding effects, organizations were
introduced in the model as observed variables. To test mediation relationships, we
followed the methodology proposed by Mathieu and Taylor (2006). The overall
goodness-of-fit of SEM models was based on the combination of several fit indices.
Models were compared based on Chi-square difference tests, and on other fit indices:
the Standardized Root Mean Square (SRMR), the Incremental Fit Index (IFI), the
Bentler Comparative Fit Index (CFI), and the Root Mean Square Error of
Approximation (RMSEA).
Measurement model and descriptive statistics
Two measurement models were compared: a one-factor model and a four-factor model.
In the one-factor model, all items loaded on a single latent variable, whereas in the
four-factor model all observed items loaded on their respective latent variables
(training, psychological contract fulfilment, affective commitment, and exhaustion).
The latent variables were allowed to correlate with each other. The one factor model
showed a poor fit to the data ðx 2 ð145Þ ¼ 1204:28; p , 0.001; SRMR ¼ 0.11; IFI ¼ 0.67;
CFI ¼ .59; RMSEA ¼ 0.14). The four-factor model obtained an acceptable fit
(x 2(139) ¼ 359.80, p , 0.001; SRMR ¼ 0.05; IFI ¼ 0.93; CFI ¼ 0.93; RMSEA ¼ 0.06)
and fit the data significantly better than the one-factor model (Dx 2(6) ¼ 844.48,
p , 0:001). These analyses showed that the factor structures of the research variables
were consistent with the conceptual model and also that the manifest variables loaded
on the latent variables, as intended.
Correlations (Table II) show that, as expected, training was associated with higher
affective commitment, more fulfilment of balanced psychological contract, more
fulfilment of relational psychological contract and more fulfilment of transactional
psychological contract. Furthermore, training was negatively associated with workers’
exhaustion. Psychological contract fulfilment was positively associated with affective
SD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Note: Balac.PCFul. ¼ Fulfilment of balanced psychological contract; RelacPCFul. ¼ Fulfilment of relational psychological contract; TransPCFul. ¼
Fulfilment of transactional psychological contract; Commitment ¼ Affective Commitment; aDummy variable coded 0 if Organization ¼ B,C and D; and 1
if Organization ¼ A; bDummy variable coded 0 if Organization ¼ A,C and D; and 1 if Organization ¼ B; cDummy variable coded 0 if Organization ¼ A,
B, and D; and 1 if Organization ¼ C; dDummy Variable coded 0 if Female and 1 for Male; *r , 0.05; * *r , 0.01; * * *r , 0.001
1. Organization Aa
2. Organization Bb
20.33 * * *
3. Organization Cc
20.26 * * * 20.19 * * *
4. Genderd
20.19 * *
0.00
0.24 * * *
5. Age
30.93 9.98 20.53 * * * 20.53 * * * –
0.20 * *
6. Training
3.76 0.66
0.00
20.12 *
0.09
0.03
2 0.05
7. BalacPCFul.
2.59 0.92 20.07
0.05
0.13 * * 20.09
0.08
0.34 * * *
8. RelacPCFul.
2.44 0.99 20.08
0.11 *
0.17 * * 20.02
0.12
0.38 * * *
0.63 * * *
9. TransPCFul.
2.56 0.84 20.02
0.04
0.08
20.07
0.13
0.37 * * *
0.53 * * *
0.65 * * *
10. Exhaustion
2.16 1.51 20.04
0.14 * *
0.09
0.08
0.00 20.33 * * * 20.33 * * * 20.24 * * * 2 0.25 * * *
11. Commitment
4.52 1.18 20.03
0.09
0.16 * *
0.09
0.16 *
0.35 * * *
0.35 * * *
0.34 * * *
0.34 * * * 2 0.37 * * *
Mean
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Table II.
Descriptive statistics and
zero-order correlations for
all variables
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commitment and negatively associated with exhaustion. As demonstrated in Table II,
age and gender were not significantly related to our research variables, thereby
discarding the need to control for these variables when examining the relationship
between training, psychological contract fulfilment, affective commitment and
exhaustion.
200
Structural models
To test hypothesized relationships, separate SEM models were computed. As expected,
Model 1 – direct effect between training and outcomes – exhibited a poor fit to the
data (Table III), attesting the importance of psychological contract fulfilment as a
mediator variable in the relationship between training and both affective commitment,
and exhaustion. Nevertheless, Model 1 indicated a significant positive relationship
between training and affective commitment and a significant negative relationship
between training and exhaustion. Results supported H1 and H2.
Regarding the full mediation model (Model 2), the model showed a good fit to the
data (See Table III). As expected, training was positively associated with psychological
contract fulfilment; which in turn was positively associated with affective commitment
and negatively associated with exhaustion. Results indicated that psychological
contract fulfilment mediated the relationship between training and both affective
commitment and exhaustion.
To further examine whether these were full or partial mediation relationships; we
must inspect coefficient paths in model 3. Model 3 fit the data well and significantly
better than Model 2 (Table III).
As illustrated in Figure 1, training was positively associated with psychological
contract fulfilment, which in turn was positively associated with affective
commitment. This mediation analysis was tested further in the Sobel test. Results
demonstrated that psychological contract fulfilment ðz ¼ 3:45; r , 0.001) mediated the
relationship between training and affective commitment. As expected, this is a
partially mediated relationship because training is significantly associated with
affective commitment in presence of the mediator. Therefore, results supported H3a.
As regards the relationship between training and exhaustion, Model 3, indicated
that, as expected, training is negatively associated with exhaustion (Figure 1).
Furthermore, results indicated that, as expected, the relationship between training and
exhaustion is mediated by psychological contract fulfilment. As illustrated in Figure 1,
training is positively associated with psychological contract fulfilment, which in turn is
negatively associated with exhaustion. The Sobel test confirmed that psychological
Models
x2
Dx2
Direct effects
Model 1
x2 (185) ¼ 551.96 *
Table III.
Goodness-of-fit indicators
of structural models
Mediation effects
Model 2
x2 (184) ¼ 472.74 *
Model 3
x2 (182) ¼ 437.56 *
Note: *r , 0.001
Compare to Model 2 Dx2
(2) ¼ 35.18 p , 0.001
SRMR
IFI
CFI
RMSEA
0.11
0.90
0.89
0.07
0.07
0.92
0.92
0.06
0.05
0.93
0.93
0.06
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Figure 1.
The final model
(standardized path
coefficients)
contract fulfilment ðz ¼ 22:49; r , 0.05) mediated this relationship. The significance
of the structural path from training to exhaustion in the presence of a mediator
(Figure 1), leads to the conclusion that it is a partially mediated relationship. Results
supported H3b.
Control variables exhibited several significant associations with research variables.
Namely: Organization B and C were significantly associated with higher psychological
contract fulfilment ðb ¼ 0:21; r , 0:001 and b ¼ 0:17; r , 0.01, respectively), and
higher exhaustion ðb ¼ 0:19; r , 0:001 and b ¼ 0:20; r , 0.001, respectively). Finally,
Organization B was also associated with higher affective commitment ðb ¼ 0:13;
r , 0.001).
Discussion
This study demonstrated the importance of training to temporary workers’ attitudes
and well-being. We established that training was related to a social employment
exchange between temporary workers and the organization, as training provides the
opportunity to develop employability and deal more effectively with job insecurity in
these workers. Therefore, we found support that training is positively associated with
affective commitment, and negatively with exhaustion. Moreover, we found that
psychological contract fulfilment partially mediates the relationship between training
and workers’ outcomes, namely affective commitment and exhaustion.
Affective commitment is an individual outcome that has been commonly studied
among temporary workers’ research. However, results have proven contradictory (De
Cuyper et al., 2008). This study found support in considering training a valuable HR
practice as it is related positively to workers’ affective commitment. In the specific case
of temporary workers, because training enhances their employability, workers’ special
needs (De Cuyper and De Witte, 2008a) – they reciprocated this positive action with
their affective commitment toward the organization (Gouldner, 1960).
This study went one step further and demonstrated that this relationship occurs
through psychological contract fulfilment. Training is interpreted by workers through
an evaluation process, which considers whether this HR practice provides the
inducements promised by the organization (Guest, 2004; Rousseau, 1995; Suazo et al.,
2009). The fulfilment of psychological contract in turn, is related to temporary workers’
affective commitment (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000; Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow,
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202
2006). As expected, training relates to employees’ affective commitment through two
separate processes: direct – the exchange between inducements received by training;
indirect – through the expectation of prospective inducements that will emerge from
the fulfilment of promises made by the organization (Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow, 2006;
Dulac et al., 2008).
Temporary workers’ stress has also been an important topic of research (for review,
see De Cuyper et al., 2008). This study found that training was related to lower
exhaustion among temporary workers. Training promotes workers’ employability,
which has long been recognized as an important resource to combat employment
insecurity (Finegold et al., 2005; Forrier and Sels, 2003), hence being associated with
lower exhaustion (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007). These results support previous research
that stated that training is included in a high-involvement human resource
management system that should be adopted to increase well-being (Batt, 2002).
Training, both initial and continued, is designed to ensure that workers have the skills
and knowledge needed to perform their tasks and to increase their performance. Thus,
training is thought to improve workers’ capacity and skills to deal effectively with their
tasks, leading to alternative ways of meeting demands and new strategies for
organizing work and in turn, perform more effectively with less resource depletion
(Castanheira and Chambel, 2010). Moreover, this study showed, as expected, that
training related negatively with workers’ stress through the fulfilment of promised
inducements.
Limitations
This research has a number of limitations that need to be acknowledged. First, this
study has a cross-sectional design and it does not allow causal relationships to be
established among the variables. However, the hypothesized relationships were
based on generally accepted relationships among training, fulfilment of
psychological contract and employees’ outcomes (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler, 2000;
Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow, 2006; Rousseau, 1995). Second, variables were assessed
through self-reported data, which raises the question of results being contaminated
by the common method variance. Nevertheless, the research was focused on
workers’ perceptions and reactions to their employment relationship and
self-reported data seemed appropriate in this case. Moreover, as referred to by
Spector (2006), common method variance concerns associated with heavy reliance on
self-reported data measurements may be overstated. Still, in order to minimize the
impact of common method variance, the statistic analysis followed several
methodological and statistical recommendations of Podsakoff et al. (2003). Third, the
fit indices of our SEM models were lower than that recommended for some authors
(e.g. Schumacher and Lomax, 1996). Fourth, the study sample was blue-collar
workers and the possibilities for generalization to other occupational groups needs
to be demonstrated. However, these workers represent a sector that employs a large
percentage of temporary workers (CIETT, 2010). Fifth, also related to generalization,
the data was only collected from four organizations and the possibility of the results
occurring in other types of organizations need to be confirmed. However, the motive
to use TAW is similar in other companies and the actions and treatment developed
toward them is also common. Sixth, the research only analyzed the affective form of
commitment, but other authors (Connelly et al., 2007; Van Breugel et al., 2005)
showed that continuance commitment is also important to explain the employment
liaison of temporary workers. However, this form is the most frequently studied and
the most related to workers’ outcomes (Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow, 2006). Seventh,
the age of participants was not measured in two organizations. As that variable
might be related to TAW attitudes and strain, the study results could be
confounded. Finally, temporary workers at organizations where this research was
carried out had similar training opportunities as permanent workers and this
condition may have been directly related to their attitudes (Torka and Schyns,
2010). Moreover, our study did not measure length or quality of training and these
variables might have an impact on workers’ outcomes. As Benson (2006)
demonstrated, different development activities had different relationships with
employability and consequently were also related differently to workers’ outcomes.
Future research should include situations where temporary workers had less access
to training or had access to development actions with different employability effects
and further analysis of the relationship of these variables with temporary workers’
attitudes and well-being should be conducted.
Implications
This study has several implications for the daily management of temporary workers.
First, based on results, it is possible to conclude that it is also possible for temporary
workers to develop a positive employment relationship. Through training,
organizations signal their support to employees and they reciprocate with a positive
attitude towards the organization and exhibit lower exhaustion. These two outcomes
have been pointed in the literature as priorities in the study of temporary workers and
employment relationships (De Cuyper et al., 2008). This study shed more light onto this
literature, demonstrating the role of training regarding these outcomes. Research
developed in different organizational contexts has shown that temporary workers have
noticeably fewer opportunities for training (Aronsson et al., 2002; Feldman et al., 1994;
Virtanen et al., 2003). This study may contribute to changing this situation. Investment
in training is good for both temporary workers and organizations, contributing to an
effective employment relationship. Training is fundamental for the management of
temporary workers as it is related to higher levels of affective commitment and lower
exhaustion. Establishing and maintaining this attitude and psychological state is vital
to organizational effectiveness as it affects critical behaviors such as task performance
and organizational citizenship behaviors (Meyer and Allen, 1997; Riketta, 2002, 2008;
Taris, 2006). Furthermore, study results showed that training is also associated with
the fulfilment of psychological contract. This is highly relevant since it is also through
the fulfilment of psychological contract that training contributes to workers’ positive
outcomes.
This study has shown that training is a valuable HR practice for temporary
workers. Training relates with two different processes: one in which temporary
workers directly reciprocate the inducements received through this organizational
practice with higher levels of affective commitment and lower exhaustion; and a
second process in which temporary workers exchange these positive outcomes with the
expectation of prospective inducements that will emerge from the fulfilment of
promises made by the organization.
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Finally, we believe this study has critical societal implications. Given the growth of
the number of temporary workers, it is vital that equal-treatment between temporary
and permanent workers is assured in organizations (Commission of European
Communities, 2002). Our results demonstrated that training is positively associated
with favorable outcomes; hence we believe this HR practice can be a new avenue to
putting an end to discrimination against temporary workers.
204
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Appendix.
The items of training measure are as follows:
(1) The training in which I have participated in this organization has increased my value in
the labour market because it made me more versatile.
(2) The training I have received helps me developing my career in this company.
(3) The training I have received would facilitate my adjustment to another job in this
company, if needed.
(4) The training in which I have participated would facilitate my performance in a better
function in this company.
(5) The training in which I have participated in this organization is quite useful for my
professional future.
About the authors
Maria José Chambel is a Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Faculty of Psychology,
University of Lisbon, Portugal. She received her PhD from that University. Her research interests
include employment relationships, psychological contract, human resource management and
occupational well-being. She has published books, chapters and papers with temporary workers.
Maria José Chambel is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected]
Filipa Castanheira is a Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Faculty of Psychology,
University of Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated from Lisbon University and wrote her PhD thesis
on burnout in service workers. Her research interests include stress and well being at work,
service sector, job design and emotional demands, and employment relationships.
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