INTRODUCTION: The recent concept of sustainable employability (SE), which refers to being able and enabled to achieve valuable work goals, has lately attracted substantial attention in many developed countries. Although limited cross-sectional studies found that SE in the form of capability set was positively associated with work outcomes, why and through which mechanism SE is related to crucial work outcomes remains still unexplored. Therefore, the present three-wave study aimed to (1) investigate the SE-work outcomes linkage over time, and (2) uncover the psychological pathway between SE and two work outcomes (i.e., task performance and job satisfaction) by proposing work engagement as a mediator.METHODS: To test the mediation process, we approached CentERdata to collect data among a representative sample of 287 Dutch workers. We used a three-wave design with approximately a 2-month time lag.RESULTS: The results of bootstrap-based path modeling indicated that SE was a significant predictor of task performance but not job satisfaction over time. Work engagement mediated the relationships between SE and (a) task performance and (b) job satisfaction.DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that organizations may foster workers' task performance and job satisfaction by configuring a work context that fosters SE-allowing workers to be able and be enabled to achieve important work goals.
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Boundary Work for Sustainable Business Innovation
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BACKGROUND: The capability set for work questionnaire (CSWQ) is being used to measure the new model of sustainable employability building on the capability approach. However, previous studies on the psychometric properties of the instrument are limited and cross-sectional. This two-way study aimed to (1) evaluate the convergent validity of the CSWQ with the theoretically related constructs person-job fit, strengths use, and opportunity to craft and (2) test the predictive and incremental validity of the questionnaire for the well-established work outcomes, including work ability, work engagement, job satisfaction, and task performance.METHODS: A representative sample of 303 Dutch workers, chosen with probably random sampling, were surveyed using a one-month follow-up, cross-lagged design via the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel. The convergent validity was assessed by exploring the strength of associations between the capability set for work questionnaire and the theoretically related constructs using Pearson's correlations. The predictive and incremental validity was evaluated by performing a series of linear hierarchical regression analyses.RESULTS: We found evidence of the convergent validity of the capability set score by moderate correlations with person-job fit, strengths use, and opportunity to craft (r = 0.51-0.52). A series of multiple regression analyses showed that Time 1 capability set score and its constituents (i.e., importance, ability, and enablement) generally had predictive and incremental validity for work ability, work engagement, job satisfaction, and task performance measured at Time 2. However, the incremental power of the CSWQ over and above conceptually related constructs was modest.CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the convergent, predictive, and incremental validity of the capability set for work questionnaire with not previously investigated work constructs. This provided further evidence to support its utility for assessing a worker's sustainable employability for future research and practical interventions.
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Uit het rapport: "In mei 2015 bestaat het Centre of Expertise Smart Sustainable Cities 1 jaar. De founding partners, Ballast Nedam, BJW, Hogeschool Utrecht, Movares, ROC Midden-Nederland, Royal HaskoningDHV, Uneto VNI en Utrecht Sustainability Institute, hebben in het afgelopen jaar hard gewerkt aan de organisatie en projecten. Medewerkers van bedrijven, studenten, docenten en onderzoekers werken samen in multidisciplinaire teams om met nieuwe kennis en inzichten concrete toepassingen te ontwikkelen. Dat is de kern van onze manier van werken. Vanuit een systeemperspectief verbinden we technologische oplossingen aan de vraagstukken van mens en maatschappij. Op de conferentie ‘Samen werken aan Smart Sustainable Cities: het Utrechtse model’ (hu-conferenties.nl) op 5 juni, laten we u graag zien hoe we dat in praktijk brengen. In deze uitgave vindt u een kleine greep uit de projecten van het Centre waarin u ziet wat de meerwaarde is van de verbinding beroepspraktijkonderzoek- onderwijs. Kijkt u voor alle projecten van het Centre of Expertise op onze website: www.smartsustainablecities.hu.nl/projecten. Nadia Verdeyen, Algemeen directeur Centre of Expertise Smart Sustainable Cities"
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International Week workshop in Madrid over Sustainable Risk Leadership
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This article is about a research project focused on the development of a common knowledge base for social work education in the Netherlands. Recent substantial changes in society and social policy were the reason for a reconsideration of the educational content of social work education. A great urgency was established with regard to the adaptation of the study programs, including a higher level of knowledge. The aim of the project was to provide a knowledge base that creates a bridge between theory and practice and between social work practice and the societal context. The project started with an exploration of literature focusing on the significance of knowledge for professional practice and on existing classifications of the knowledge base in social work education. Subsequently a design-based empirical study was carried out using the Delphi-method. Experts agreed about the definition of the knowledge base and about the design requirements: practice-based, science-based, usable and sustainable. After an exploration of the content, a model was developed consisting of seven building blocks (BBs). The common knowledge base has been established by the Dutch Council of Schools of Social Work and is being used as the basis for the body of knowledge in all curricula of social work education in the Netherlands.
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BACKGROUND: In recent years, sustainable employability, rooted in the capability approach, has received substantial attention due to its associations with work and health-related outcomes. While previous studies have indicated that being able and enabled to achieve important work values (i.e., work capabilities) is positively associated with desirable work outcomes, most of these studies have primarily employed a cross-sectional design to explore these associations. This study aimed to examine the long-term relationships between work capabilities and work and wellbeing-related outcomes, including work ability, work engagement, task and creative performance, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, job and life satisfaction, turnover intention, and burnout symptoms.METHODS: Data were collected from 251 randomly selected Dutch employees through a two-wave survey conducted in 2021 and 2023 via the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess these associations while controlling for potential covariates.RESULTS: The results revealed that participants valued a diverse range of work capabilities but encountered challenges in realizing these valued capabilities. The capability set positively predicted desirable outcomes and was associated with reduced burnout over a two-year period.CONCLUSIONS: Supporting and enabling employees to realize their capabilities is essential for improving favorable work outcomes and diminishing burnout in today's volatile work environment. These findings further emphasize the importance of organizations improving conversion factors to bridge the gap between valued capabilities and their actualization.
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In this mixed methods study, a moderated mediation model predicting effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) on innovative work behaviors, with employability as a mediator, has been tested. Multi-source data from 487 pairs of employees and supervisors working in 151 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) supported our hypothesized model. The results of structural equation modelling provide support for our model. In particular, the benefits of close relationships and high-quality exchanges between employee and supervisor (LMX), and fostering individual development as a result of employees’ OCB have an indirect effect on innovative work behaviors through positive effects on workers’ employability. Innovative work behaviors depend on employees’ knowledge, skills, and expertise. In other words, enhancing workers’ employability nurtures innovative work behaviors. In addition, we found a moderation effect of organizational politics on the relationship between employability and innovative work behaviors. Secondly, qualitative methods focusing on experiences of the antecedents and outcomes of employability were used to complement our quantitative results. All in all, this study has important consequences for managerial strategies and practices in SMEs and call for an awareness of the dysfunctional effect of perceived organizational politics.
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The study of moral reasoning in relation to sustainable development is an emerging field within environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). The vignette method was used to evaluate the perception of the relationship between environmental and social issues in the Dutch upper elementary school children. This case study is placed within two broad areas of tension, namely between the need to address urgent environmental problems and to promote pluralistic democratic learning; and between the value of environment as an economic asset and deep ecology perspective. Results of this study indicate that the children are able to critically think about the moral dilemmas inherent in sustainable development and distinguish between different values in relation to environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2013.12.004 https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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There are over 1400 age-friendly cities and communities worldwide, and the efforts to create a better quality of life for older people progressively intersect with sustainability goals. The intentions and behaviours concerning sustainability among older are, however, not yet well understood. Therefore, there is a need for assessing these intentions and behaviours through the use of a transparently constructed and validated instrument which can be used to measures the construct of environmental sustainability among older people. The aim of this study is to develop a questionnaire measuring how older people view the theme of environmental sustainability in their daily lives, with a focus on the built environment, providing full transparency and reproducibility. The process of development and validation of the SustainABLE-16 Questionnaire followed the COSMIN protocol, and has been conducted in five phases. This rigorous process has resulted in a valid, psychometrically sound, comprehensive 16-item questionnaire. This instrument can be applied to assess older people's beliefs, behaviours and financial aspects regarding environmental sustainability in their lives. The SustainABLE-16 Questionnaire was created in Dutch and in British English.
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