"To be, or not be satisfied in NPOs": a serial multiple mediation and clustering analysis of paid staff and volunteers' profiles.

Introduction: Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are a complex working context whose main characteristic resides in the dichotomy between paid staff and volunteers. Despite its benefits for goal achievement, this circumstance can be also a challenge, for both groups' interaction, for their comprehension of their own role and to HR management. The aim of this study was to explore factors that may contribute to promote job satisfaction among NPOs' members. Methods: Combining two different data analyses, serial multiple mediation analyses and cluster analyses, first we analyze whether there are differences between paid staff and volunteers in perceived intrapersonal conflict and performance and its effect on job satisfaction, and second, we analyze whether there is an additional profiles distribution that reflects more adequately the reality of NPOs, despite the formal roles that coexist in these organizations (paid staff and volunteers). Results: Results confirm that paid staff and volunteers differ on their perceived job satisfaction level, with volunteers being more satisfied. This relationship is serially mediated by role conflict, role ambiguity, and performance. Another characteristic of the NPOs is that the dichotomy between paid staff and volunteers does not capture well the reality of the labor relations between members of both groups and the organization. To explore this phenomenon, we perform a cluster analysis based on paid staff and volunteers' perceptions. Cluster analyses demonstrate the existence of three rather homogenous profiles. Discussion: Additionally, practical implications for HR management in NPOs and future research lines to understand this organizational context dynamics are also discussed.

Inside "Pandora's Box" of Solidarity: Conflicts Between Paid Staff and Volunteers in the Non-profit Sector.

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are quite complex in terms of organizational structure, diversity at the workplace, as well as motivational mechanisms and value rationality. Nevertheless, from the perspective of organizational psychology, the systematic analysis of this context is scarce in the literature, particularly regarding conflicts. This qualitative study analyzes types, prevalence, and consequences of conflicts in a large NPO considering as theoretical framework several consolidated organizational psychology theories: conflict theory, social comparison theory, and equity theory. Conflicts were analyzed taking into account volunteers' perspective, who have been the consistent protagonist in NPO research, but also considering paid staff's perspective as one of the main stakeholders in these organizations, whose relative power has increased in the past decade due to the professionalization of the NPO's sector. Results confirmed the existence of four types of conflicts: task, process, status, and relationship conflicts. Relationship conflict is the least reported type, revealing the protection factor that values and engagement with a social aim have on this organizational context. The most relevant finding is the strong difference between paid staff and volunteers in conflict perceptions, showing paid staff, overall, higher levels of conflicts than volunteers. Findings also show stronger negative consequences for paid staff compared to volunteers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Approaching the Discriminatory Work Environment as Stressor: The Protective Role of Job Satisfaction on Health.

Discrimination is a complex phenomenon with adverse consequences at personal and organizational levels. Past studies have demonstrated that workers who are victims of discrimination might show less job satisfaction, less organizational commitment and worse levels of health and productivity. Although most research has focused on the effects of discrimination on victims, less is known about the extent to which discrimination produces consequences on workers who perceive the existence of a discriminatory work environment. The goal of this article is to analyze the consequences of the perception of a discriminatory work environment on employees' health. The importance of this relationship is studied taking into account the mediating effect of job satisfaction. In order to reach this goal a cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 1633 Italian workers (male = 826, female = 764), employed in private and public sectors, and in different hierarchical positions. Results suggest that the perception of a discriminatory work environment is negatively associated with employees' health. This relationship is partially mediated by job satisfaction (R (2) = 0.17). This study demonstrates that perceiving a discriminatory work environment might have a negative impact on workers' health. A higher level of job satisfaction might buffer this effect. These findings have several practical implications. On the one hand, Human Resource Managers need to intervene in order to recognize and diminish implicit biases, creating a healthy and inclusive environment (e.g., through training, diversity policies, etc.). On the other hand, promoting job satisfaction (e.g., providing mechanisms of voice) might help workers to preserve their well-being, coping with the negative effects of a discriminatory work environment.