Personal goal facilitation through work: Implications for employee satisfaction and well-being

Abstract

Personal goal facilitation through work refers to perceptions of the extent to which one's job facilitates the attainment of one's personal goals. In line with the self-regulation literature and b1Edwards' (1992) cybernetic model of organisational stress, personal goal facilitation through work was predicted to show positive associations with job attitudes and employee well-being. Moreover, stronger relationships between personal goal facilitation through work and employee outcomes were predicted for highly valued personal goals. These predictions were investigated in a questionnaire study of 1,036 health care employees. In regression analyses, personal goal facilitation through work accounted for substantial variance in job attitudes and well-being, even after controlling for job characteristics from b2Karasek's (1979; b3Karasek & Theorell, 1990) model of occupational stressor-strain relations. There was only very limited evidence of moderating effects of goal importance. It is concluded that personal goal facilitation through work offers a promising source of insight into job attitudes and well-being, complementing more traditional job characteristics models. © 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology.