Job Performance & Workplace Citizenship
How can we get the most out of ourselves and others?
I study the social context of work, and how workers help each other to perform key job tasks.
Related Publications
Speaking of allergies: Communication challenges for restaurant staff and customers
Article Abstract
Managing customer allergies is an essential job task for restaurant workers. The present study catalogues common work features and challenges involved in the verbal communication of food allergies. Allergy communication is approached as a form of risk communication occurring within a socio-technical work system. Critical incidents and qualitative surveys of restaurant staff (n = 138; 3,400 statements), along with qualitative surveys of customers with allergies (n= 61; 795 statements), are subject to thematic analysis to examine those practices most likely to improve customer safety and subjective experience. Key findings suggest improved outcomes when staff prompt customers to disclose their allergies at first contact, when fewer staff are involved in allergy communication and management, and when double-checking/check-ins are integrated throughout the communication process. These can serve as provisional best practice recommendations, and should be studied more thoroughly in combination with written communication strategies, restaurant resources, and environmental demands.
Full Reference
Wingate, T. G., Jones, S. K., Khakhar, M. K., & Bourdage, J. S. (2021). Speaking of allergies: Communication challenges for restaurant staff and customers. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 96, 102959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2021.102959
Media coverage of this study
The Conversation: 3 ways restaurant staff and customers can communicate to prevent food allergy reactions
The Restaurant Relevance Podcast: Reducing food allergy errors through verbal communication in restaurants
Who helps and why? Contextualizing organizational citizenship behavior
Article Abstract
Employees use organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to achieve different functions: some OCB reflects altruistic motivations to help one’s organization or coworkers, and some OCB reflects self- serving impression management motivations. Across 2 samples (Ns = 191 and 189), we contextualize functional (i.e., goal-directed) OCB with respect to dispositional and situational factors. Other-serving OCB was more common among employees higher on Honesty-Humility, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness, and in workplaces with transformational (intrinsically motivating) leaders and low perceptions of politics. In contrast, all forms of self-serving OCB (i.e., OCB for impression management purposes) were more common among employees low in Honesty-Humility, and some forms of self-serving OCB were more common in more political workplaces (high perceptions of politics). These findings extend the theoretical and practical benefits of a functional approach to OCB, where employees use OCB to achieve different goals—namely, to serve or to receive recognition—within different social and material reward systems.
Public Significance Statement
People use helping behaviours to do good things (to serve others) or to look good (to serve themselves). Across two samples, employees with encouraging and ethically conscious leaders more often helped others for others’ sake, but employees in more political workplaces (i.e., unfair reward systems) tended to help others to garner social esteem for themselves.
Full Reference
Wingate, T. G., Lee, C. S., & Bourdage, J. S. (2019). Who helps and why? Contextualizing organizational citizenship behavior. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 51, 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000125
. . . And more projects underway.