Impact of Job Characteristics on Employees Emotions & Work-Related Outcomes in Pakistan

Abstract

The impact of job characteristics on organizational success and its members’ work attitudes and behaviors is not new in the field of organizational behavior. However, the empirical work on gauging the influence of job features on affective states of employees and its subsequent impact on work outcomes is rather marginal. The study intends to validate the relationship amid job characteristics, employees’ affective states and their attitudes and behaviors. The five core job dimensions of Job Characteristics Model i.e. skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback have been adopted to determine the characteristics of the job undertaken. Affective Events Theory has been used to examine the hypothesized relationships between the antecedent (i.e. job characteristics) and consequents of affective experiences (i.e. attitudes: job satisfaction, commitment to organization; and behaviors: organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior) of the employees while at work. Regression analysis of the survey data from 215 organizational members from private and public organizations in Pakistan, identified the significant impact of job autonomy, skill variety and task significance on the affective states of employees impacting their satisfaction level towards the job. However, the emotional experiences due to job characteristics showed no influence on employee’s commitment towards the organization as well their citizenship and counterproductive work behavior.