UCD School of Psychology

Fiona Harrigan

2001 - M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

Mentoring: The Association with Role Stress and Related Job Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to integrate role theory and mentoring theory to investigate the potential influence of mentors on role stress and job outcomes of professional legal and consulting employees. Research suggests that mentors may fulfil a role that provides proteges with advice and information, clarifies role expectations and resolves contradictory signals (Viator, 2001), and thus results in enhanced job outcomes for those proteges.

The objectives of the research were to ascertain:

• If mentoring was negatively associated with role stress (role ambiguity, role conflict and perceived environmental uncertainty).
• If role stress was negatively associated with job performance and positively associated with turnover intentions.
• If mentoring was positively associated with job performance, and negatively associated with turnover intention.
• If job performance was negatively associated with turnover intention.
• If legal and consulting groups differed in respect of role stress experience, mentoring experience, job performance and turnover intention.
• If formal mentors were less likely to be associated with lower levels of role ambiguity, role conflict and perceived environmental uncertainty, higher levels of job performance and lower levels of turnover intention, compared to informal mentors.

Forty-one respondents completed questionnaires on role stress mentoring functions and job outcomes. Qualitative research was also undertaken in the form of interviews with the administrators of mentoring programmes in six firms.

The results indicated that mentoring was widespread in this population, that mentors performed a range of functions, of which Role Modelling appeared to be the most important in terms of managing role conflict and was also negatively associated with turnover intention. Turnover intention was associated positively with role stress, and negatively with job performance. Legal and consulting groups differed in terms of role conflict and protective/ social mentoring experience. Mentoring programmes with both formal and informal elements were superior to formal and informal programmes on career-related and social support functions. Role ambiguity demonstrated a negative relationship with performance rating

Recommendations for mentoring programme design and further research were given.

Denise Robinson

2001 Social and Organisational Psychology

The Design of an "Ideal Personality Profile" for Call Centre Customer Service Representatives

The aim of this study was to design an Ideal Personality Profile for customer service representatives in a call centre environment. Ten Repertory Grid interviews were used to elicit the top ten positive & negative characteristics for a customer service representative to possess. A post-hoc Semantic Differential technique was used to generate the opposites of the 20 characteristics and a personality scale was devised from this process. The personality scale formed part of a questionnaire, which included scales on stress, culture & organisational commitment. The questionnaire was circulated to a sample of call centre customer service representatives. Analysis of the results generated, indicated that the customer service representatives that were most like the Ideal Personality Profile were most satisfied with their job & had better perceptions of their organisation. Following a regression analysis, 'satisfaction' emerged as the only important predictor of personality type - no significant contribution was made by stress, culture or commitment. Results indicate that the Ideal Personality Profile is useful for determining the level of 'fit' between the personality characteristics of call centre customer service representatives and the demands of the job.

Aoife O'Riordan 2001 M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

Performance Management:
An Investigation of the Implementation of a Performance Management Process in an Irish Company

The present study used an organisational development framework to review the implementation of a performance management system in a large Irish organisation. The research study had two aims: to find out where people were at with the process and to capture people's views on and attitudes toward the Performance Management Process (PMP). The study consisted of a two-phase design methodology. Ten participants from top management were interviewed. A questionnaire on the PMP was designed on foot of these interviews and distributed to the eighty organisational members involved in the process. Results from the qualitative and quantitative phases indicated that there was considerable variety in the utilisation of PMP throughout the organisation. Analysis of the data also revealed potential blockers of the process and ways that change could be managed effectively. The results are discussed with reference to practical and theoretical implications. Methodological limitations and topics for future research are also outlined.

Clare Brady

2001 M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

An Investigation of the Relationship between personal characteristics, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, organisational climate, motivation and withdrawal intention.

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between personal characteristics, job satisfaction, organisational commitment, organisational climate and motivation and to identify the role of these factors in predicting intention to stay within a soft drinks bottling company. The questionnaire distributed to the participants was constructed using McCarthy (1990) Job Satisfaction scale, Meyer & Allen (1990) Organisational commitment scale, Jordan (1990) Organisational Climate scale, and Pareek (1987) Motivational analysis of Organisational-Behavioural scale.

The first hypothesis, which stated as job satisfaction increases commitment increases, was not supported (r = -.240, df = 43, p > .001). When the satisfaction scale was broken down into intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction, a negative correlation of -.427 (r = -.427, df = 45, p < .001) was found between intrinsic satisfaction and intention to stay. A negative correlation of -.304 (r = -.304, df = 45, p <.001) was found between intention to stay and extrinsic satisfaction. The second hypothesis was performed to determine whether as commitment increases intention to stay increases. A low positive correlation was reported (r = .335, df = 45, p< .05) thus supporting the hypothesis. Commitment was further broken down into its three components affective, continuance and normative commitment. A high positive correlation .735 (r = .735, df - 45, p<.001) was found between affective commitment and intention to stay. A low positive correlation was found .368 (r = .368, df = 45, p<.05) between normative commitment and intention to stay, with no significant relationship found (r = .214, df = 45, p>.05) between continuance commitment and intention to stay. The third hypothesis which stated that a positive and participative climate will increase intention to stay, a positive relationship was found .372 (r = .372, df = 45, p<.01) thus supporting the hypothesis. The fourth hypothesis, which examined the relationship between personal characteristics and intention to stay, was not supported, with none of the personal characteristics determining the likelihood of staying. An investigation looking at the relationship between motivation and turnover was also carried out, with no firm statements being able to be made.

The study highlighted that for the soft drinks bottling company to retain its staff it has to focus on intrinsic satisfaction, creating a participative and positive climate and building affective commitment within its employees.

Colin Reilly

2001 M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

Ties that Bind: Organisational Culture and Organisational Commitment

The present study examined the organisational culture and levels of organisational commitment in a company in the retail trade. The study utilised the Harrison and Stokes culture questionnaire (1992) and Meyer and Allen's organisational commitment questionnaire (1993). Qualitative research was also undertaken in the organisation. This took the form of short interviews that looked at both organisational culture and organisational commitment and took place at four different locations. The aim of the research was to profile the current organisational culture as well as the preferred culture, to examine levels of organisational commitment within the organisation and to look for a relationship between organisational culture and commitment. Results showed the existing culture to be power oriented with strong elements of role and achievement also present. Respondents preferred culture was achievement oriented with a strong support element also desired. In terms of subcultures, Location 4 was significantly different from other locations with regard to existing power and the gap between existing and preferred power. The interviews conducted also suggested that the culture of this location was different compared to the other locations and that this location has been most affected by the split, which led to the formation of the organisation. The interviews further suggested that employees enjoyed the informality and relaxed atmosphere in the organisation but that remnants of the old paternalistic culture were still present. A negative correlation was found between levels of commitment and the gap between existing and preferred culture. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations are proposed.

Denise O'Shea ]

2001 M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

An Evaluation of a Performance Management System in a Large Irish-based Public Company

The present research undertook an analysis of a performance management system in a glass cutting company. This research had three main aims. Firstly, to analyse managers satisfaction with and attitude toward performance management. Secondly to see what variables (job satisfaction, organisational climate, motivation, feedback given and feedback received) influenced satisfaction with ant attitude toward performance management. Thirdly to investigate if there was any difference between management levels and length of service in comparison with attitude toward and satisfaction with the performance management system. The study consisted of a four step methodology using a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research. The study sample was composed of 31 managers (11 from Band 2, 11 from Band 3 and 10 from Band 4). Results indicated that managers were generally quite satisfied with the performance management system. There was a relationship found between job satisfaction and managers attitude toward the performance management system. There was a relationship found between the type of organisational climate and managers attitude toward performance management, their satisfaction with performance management and their job satisfaction. There was also a relationship found between the type of feedback given and managers attitude toward the performance management system. There was no significant difference found between managers length of service and their satisfaction with or attitude toward the performance management system. There was no significant difference found between the three management bands and the seven scales of the questionnaire. (satisfaction with the performance management system, attitude toward performance management, job satisfaction, motivation, organisational climate and feedback given and feedback received. This would suggest that organisational climate and feedback given are the best predictors of a successful performance management system.

David Flynn

2001 M.A. Social and Organisational Psychology

Topical Themes in the Construction Industry: Old Friends and New Faces

The main aim of this study was to develop a profile of the safety culture and human resource development of Construction Engineering, from the point of view of employees at ground level. The decision to focus on these two aspects of organisation was the result of research, qualitative (interviews with employee representatives) and desktop (Irish construction magazines, Websites and so on) into the most relevant issues that face construction workers today. By concentrating on employees at the lower level of the organisation, the aim was to bridge the gap in previous research with, especially in the case of safety culture, is largely top-down in its orientation.

In terms of methodology, qualitative research (interview and observation) was conducted, and formed the basis for 'an attitude to work' questionnaire. This questionnaire, the quantitative part of the study, was administered to 67 members of the organisation, the vast majority craftsmen or construction operatives, across three construction sites. The questionnaire was comprised of a number of sections, and elicited opinions on themes which included, inter alia, health and safety, job satisfaction, commitment to the organisation, pay, and promotion. It was expected that health and safety would be related to commitment, because a proacive management stance on this issue would demonstrate to employees the esteem in which their welfare is held by the company. It was also expected that craftworkers would believe for promotion than operatives, by virtue of the training (apprenticeship) they had received, and that this would likely impact at an organisational level (on intention to quit for example). Both of these expectations were validated statistically. A number of additional analyses were performed and are discussed. In general, this took the form of breaking down the demographic data, and comparing the results of subgroups, such as younger and older employees, on a number of the themes explored.

The main conclusions are discussed and their implications for the construction company are outlined. Finally, methodological and theoretical issues are debated and a number of recommendations for future research are described.