Increased Business Value for Positive Job Attitudes during Economic Recessions: A Meta-Analysis and SEM Analysis

Abstract

Using a database of 171 studies across 62,965 organizational units with job attitude data and business performance outcomes ranging from 1994 to 2015, we tested the hypothesis that positive employee job attitudes relate more strongly to business unit success during bad economic times than during favorable economic times. Results showed that although the relationship between favorable job attitudes and unit-level performance is positive and generalizable across all time periods, the relationships between job attitudes and all business success outcomes studied (profitability, productivity, turnover, and customer perceptions) were substantially stronger during the recession years of 2001, 2002, 2008, and 2009 in comparison to other years. Favorable employee job attitudes may provide extra assistance that helps business units continue to achieve under challenging economic conditions.