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Implications of Work Effort and Discretion for Employee Well-Being and Career-Related Outcomes: An Integrative Assessment

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  • Argyro Avgoustaki
  • Hans T. W. Frankort

Abstract

How does work effort affect employee outcomes? The authors bridge distinct literatures on the well-being versus career-related implications of work effort by analyzing the relation of overtime work and work intensity to both types of outcomes. They also extend examination of the role of discretion in modifying the effects of work effort from well-being to career-related outcomes. Using data from the fifth and sixth European Working Conditions Surveys, the authors show that greater work effort relates strongly to reduced well-being and modestly to inferior career-related outcomes, while discretion may attenuate these adverse implications. Even with discretion, work intensity generally is a stronger predictor of unfavorable outcomes than is overtime work. Implications include the need for employees to become aware of the broader limitations of excessive work effort, for employers to give discretion when viable, and for public policy to devise strategies that help limit the adverse consequences of work intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Argyro Avgoustaki & Hans T. W. Frankort, 2019. "Implications of Work Effort and Discretion for Employee Well-Being and Career-Related Outcomes: An Integrative Assessment," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(3), pages 636-661, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:72:y:2019:i:3:p:636-661
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793918804540
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    Cited by:

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    2. Argyro Avgoustaki & Hans T. W. Frankort, 2023. "All work intensity is not created equal: Effort motives, job satisfaction and quit intentions at a grocery chain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 869-894, December.
    3. Argyro Avgoustaki & Almudena Cañibano, 2020. "Motivational Drivers of Extensive Work Effort: Are Long Hours Always Detrimental to Well‐being?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 355-398, July.
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    5. Esther Pagán-Castaño & Javier Sánchez-García & Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon & María Guijarro-García, 2021. "The Influence of Management on Teacher Well-Being and the Development of Sustainable Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.

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