Building a caring workplace: how managerial caring and perceived insider status shape subjective employee well-being

• Date: 25 December 2023
• Pages: 38-56
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-04-2023-0054
• Published date: 25 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare
• Author: Hazem Aldabbas,Amel Bettayeb

Building a caring workplace:

how managerial caring

and perceived insider status shape

subjective employee well-being

Hazem Aldabbas

Department of Management, University of Science and Technology of Fujairah,

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, and

Amel Bettayeb

Faculty of Business and Law, British University in Dubai,

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose –Although the study of factors that promote employee well-being is not a new research area, the

impact of managerial caring and perceived insider status on subjective employee well-being is a relatively new

and unexplored area within the management literature. Therefore, this study examined the relationship

between managerial caring and subjective employee well-being while considering the mediating effect of

perceived insider status. Based on social identity theory, the study hypothesized that perceived insider status

mediates the link between managerial caring and subjective employee well-being.

Design/methodology/approach –The study analyzed data from 193 employees working across various

industries in the United Arab Emirates using Process Macro Model 4.

Findings –The findings revealed a positive relationship between managerial caring and employee well-being,

which was influenced by the mediating effect of perceived insider status.

Originality/value –The study’s results,which shed lighton theprocess by which managerialcaring positively

affects employeewell-being, providevaluable insights for developing a caring workplace. The findingsmake a

significantcontribution to theliterature on managerialcaring by explaining how themediating role of perceived

insider statusinfluences the relationship between managerial caring andsubjective employee well-being.

Keywords Managerial caring, Perceived insider status, Subjective employee well-being, Caring

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Employee well-being has become increasingly important to both academics and

professionals, as it has become a critical concept in modern organizations (Wahab and

Blackman, 2022). In today’s work environment, employers are searching for fostering

workers who are emotionally invested in their jobs and are willing to go above and beyond to

contribute to their company’s success (Park et al., 2017). Given the significant changes

occurring in many organizations, such as longer working hours and increased job

complexity, ensuring employee well-being is crucial (Park et al., 2017). As such, there is

growing interest among human resource (HR) managers, business executives, and academic

researchers in understanding the organizational factors that influence subjective employee

IJWHM

17,1

38

Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of

this article.

Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in

accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki

Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent: Informed consent was given by all participants in the study, and there is no

identifying information in this manuscript or the data.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8351.htm

Received 22 April 2023

Revised 29 August 2023

Accepted 5 December 2023

InternationalJournal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 17 No. 1, 2024

pp. 38-56

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-04-2023-0054

well-being (SEW) (Swanberg et al., 2011), which has been linked to better health and higher

levels of positive emotions toward life.

The present studycharacterizes managerial caring (MAC) as an enablingfactor in creating

a caring environment for employeesand assisting them in enhancing their insider statusand

well-being within the workplace. MAC is defined “as a process wherein a manager exhibits

inviting, advancing, capacitizing, and connecting behaviors toward an empl oyee or

employees”(Kroth and Keeler, 2009, p. 521). Interest in MAC and developing caring models

in management and organizational psychology is a relatively recent phenomenon that has

attracted the attentionof scholars and practitioners (Kroth and Keeler, 2009;Saks,2021,2022).

Despite the widespread use of the caring model in healthcare, education, and sport

management, it has not been extensively studied in the management context (Aldabbas, 2022;

Kroth and Keeler, 2009;Saks, 2021,2022). Thus, the use of MAC, in the context of this study,

refers to the practice of showing empathy, compassion, and concern for the well-being of

employees.

While there is some understanding of how managerial coaching (Zhao and Liu, 2020),

managerial support (Baker and Kim, 2020), and leadership (Park et al., 2017) influence SEW,

there is limited knowledge on the relationship between MAC and SEW, as well as the

mechanisms that explain this relationship. Moreover, to our knowledge, no study has

explored the impact of perceived insider status (PIS) on the relationship between MAC and

SEW. Additionally, until recently, research had seldom focused on the emotional experiences

and subjective well-being of employees (Charalampous et al., 2019;Pataki-Bitt

o and Kun,

2022). For instance, health professionals have the knowledge, tools, and resources to enhance

SEW within changing work conditions, an area needing increased focus (Jeske, 2022).

However, empirical studies on the caring model in business management are scarce (Saks,

2021,2022). To bridge this gap, we propose a mediation model to clarify the relationship

between MAC and SEW, utilizing PIS as the mediator.

PIS is a theory proposed by Stamper and Masterson (2002), which draws upon social

exchange theory to explain interactions between organizations and their workforces. Insiders

and outsiders are different because “employers may use inducements such as benefits,

training, and promotions to send signals to certain employees that they have achieved insider

status (and subsequently send signals to employees who do not receive these inducements

that they are outsiders)”(Stamper and Masterson, 2002, p. 877).

Social identity theory (SIT) is used in this study to explain the concepts of MAC, PIS,and

SEW. SIT is defined as “a socialpsychological theory that sets out to explaingroup processes

and intergrouprelations”(Hogg et al.,1995,p.255).Thus,“socialidentification is the perception

of oneness with or belongingness to some human aggregate”(Ashforthand Mael, 1989, p. 21).

SIT provides a frameworkfor investigating how individualscategorize themselves into social

groups, including the in-group and out-group.This approach can be utilized to examine how

people perceive themselves in relation to others(Stets and Burke, 2000).

This study aims to make several contributions to the literature. First, we seek to

investigate the mediating role of PIS in the relationship between MAC and SEW. Second, we

highlight the significance of MAC and PIS as antecedents of SEW. Third, we emphasize the

importance of MAC and PIS in promoting SEW across diverse industries. Lastly, this study

bridges the gap in the empirical research on caring models in the workplace.

2. Literature review and hypotheses development

2.1 Managerial caring and subjective employee well-being

Effective management is essential for any organization’s success, as managers’behavior can

significantly impact employees’productivity, well-being, work behavior, performance, and

morale (Avolio et al., 2009;Kuoppala et al., 2008;Sarwar et al., 2020). A caring manager

Building a

caring

workplace

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