How do work organization conditions affect job performance? The mediating role of workers’ well-being

Abstract Background To design a workplace environment that favors workers’ well-being, organizations need to determine which variables are associated with this mental state. In doing so, the hope is to replenish human, work and social resources and ultimately boost employee’s performance at work. Objective and method This study’s objective was to evaluate the association between work organization conditions and job performance/professional efficacy as mediated by employees’ well-being. We conducted path analyses adjusted for design effects resulting from cluster sampling. We used MPlus software. The analysis performed allowed us to evaluate both the direct and indirect associations (mediation effects) while accounting for the non-independence of our data due to cluster sampling (workers nested in their workplace). Results and conclusion Three indirect associations/mediation effects were found to be significant. Psychological demands, number of hours worked, and job insecurity were indirectly associated with lower levels of professional efficacy/job performance because of their negative associations with well-being. The results obtained highlight the need to target specific work organization conditions. Making sure a sufficient number of staff are on hand to reduce psychological demands, offering the option to reduce number of hours worked, and fostering job security with an improved organizational communication are all possible avenues.