IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v11y2021i3p77-d603296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Probing the Links between Workforce Diversity, Goal Clarity, and Employee Job Satisfaction in Public Sector Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Edmund C. Stazyk

    (Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA)

  • Randall S. Davis

    (School of Management and Marketing, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA)

  • Jiaqi Liang

    (Department of Public Administration, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA)

Abstract

A considerable body of research substantiating the importance of workforce diversity to public organizations has accrued over the past two decades. However, research on workforce diversity has also been narrow in scope and frequently fails to link diversity to important individual and organizational outcomes. Using data ( n = 1,109,134 employees from 500 sub-agencies) collected in three waves (2010, 2011, and 2012) of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), this study examines whether (1) increased diversity influences organizational goal clarity, (2) diversity and goal clarity, in turn, influence employee job satisfaction, and (3) diversity management policies influence job satisfaction by clarifying organizational goals for workers. FEVS is administered yearly by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and is designed to assess whether and to what extent federal employees believe the characteristics of successful organizations are present in their agency. Results from a multi-level structural equation model (MSEM) suggest diversity is associated with greater goal clarity and that diversity management policies, by clarifying organizational goals, positively affect job satisfaction. Findings also indicate that the type of diversity matters.

Suggested Citation

  • Edmund C. Stazyk & Randall S. Davis & Jiaqi Liang, 2021. "Probing the Links between Workforce Diversity, Goal Clarity, and Employee Job Satisfaction in Public Sector Organizations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:3:p:77-:d:603296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/3/77/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/3/77/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nederveen Pieterse, Anne & van Knippenberg, Daan & van Ginkel, Wendy P., 2011. "Diversity in goal orientation, team reflexivity, and team performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 153-164, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martin Gelencsér & Gábor Szabó-Szentgróti & Zsolt Sándor Kőmüves & Gábor Hollósy-Vadász, 2023. "The Holistic Model of Labour Retention: The Impact of Workplace Wellbeing Factors on Employee Retention," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-25, May.
    2. Wai-Ming To & Billy T. W. Yu, 2021. "Effects of Difficult Coworkers on Employees’ Responses in Macao’s Public Organizations—The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Niranjan S. Janardhanan & Kyle Lewis & Rhonda K. Reger & Cynthia K. Stevens, 2020. "Getting to Know You: Motivating Cross-Understanding for Improved Team and Individual Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 103-118, January.
    2. Holger Patzelt & Rebecca Preller & Nicola Breugst, 2021. "Understanding the Life Cycles of Entrepreneurial Teams and Their Ventures: An Agenda for Future Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1119-1153, September.
    3. Veltrop, D.B. & Hermes, C.L.M. & Postma, T.J.B.M. & de Haan, J., 2012. "A tale of two factions," Research Report 12001-HRM&OB, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    4. repec:dgr:rugsom:12001-hrmob is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Shiying Shi & Fangfang Zhao & Han Zhang & Hujun Li & Xiaosu Ye, 2023. "Research on the Influences of Task Interdependence on Team Performance in the Context of the Leader–Member Exchange Differentiation in the Public–Private Partnership Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Haan & Postma & Hermes & Veltrop, 2012. "A Tale of Two Factions: Exploring the Relationship between Factional Faultlines and Conflict Management in Pension Fund Boards," Research Report 12001-HRMOB, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    7. van Knippenberg, Daan & Mell, Julija N., 2016. "Past, present, and potential future of team diversity research: From compositional diversity to emergent diversity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 135-145.
    8. Sheehan, Maura & Garavan, Thomas N. & Morley, Michael J., 2020. "Transformational leadership and work unit innovation: A dyadic two-wave investigation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 399-412.
    9. Olli-Pekka Kauppila & Michiel P. Tempelaar, 2016. "The Social-Cognitive Underpinnings of Employees’ Ambidextrous Behaviour and the Supportive Role of Group Managers’ Leadership," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 1019-1044, September.
    10. Ailing Liu & Xiaojun Ma & Meimei Zhou & Lichen Zeng & Jijian Lu, 2023. "Performance Model of Youth Entrepreneurship Platform in the Context of Common Wealth Returning to Hometown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, October.
    11. Roshni Das, 2022. "Straws and Bundles: Reviewing the Diversity Management Agenda at the Strategic Level," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 47(2), pages 251-267, May.
    12. Janardhanan, Niranjan S. & Lewis, Kyle & Reger, Rhonda K. & Stevens, Cynthia K., 2020. "Getting to know you: motivating cross-understanding for improved team and individual performance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101239, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Ishani Aggarwal & Anita Williams Woolley, 2019. "Team Creativity, Cognition, and Cognitive Style Diversity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1586-1599, April.
    14. Feng Liu & Guimei Yang & Putthiwat Singhdong, 2024. "A Moderated Mediation Model of Entrepreneurship Education, Competence, and Environmental Dynamics on Entrepreneurial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Nadežda Jankelová & Zuzana Joniaková & Juraj Mišún, 2021. "Innovative Work Behavior—A Key Factor in Business Performance? The Role of Team Cognitive Diversity and Teamwork Climate in This Relationship," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, April.
    16. Usha Lenka & Minisha Gupta & Debashish Kumar Sahoo, 2016. "Research and Development Teams as a Perennial Source of Competitive Advantage in the Innovation Adoption Process," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 17(3), pages 700-711, June.
    17. Marlow, Shannon L. & Lacerenza, Christina N. & Paoletti, Jensine & Burke, C. Shawn & Salas, Eduardo, 2018. "Does team communication represent a one-size-fits-all approach?: A meta-analysis of team communication and performance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 145-170.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:3:p:77-:d:603296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.