WORK DESIGN: WORK FEATURES OF CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

FREITAS, PABLO F. P.; ODELIUS, CATARINA C.

doi:10.1590/1678-6971/eRAMG210192

PABLO F. P. FREITAS Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Pablo F. P. Freitas, SQS 413 Bloco C, 206, Asa Sul, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil, CEP: 70.296-030. E-mail: freitaspfp@gmail.com

University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília, DF, Brazil.

Pablo F. P. Freitas, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management, University of Brasília (UnB); Catarina C. Odelius, Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychology, University of Brasília (UnB). Pablo F. P. Freitas is now a researcher at the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB; Catarina C. Odelius is now a retired associate professor from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0369-0783

CATARINA C. ODELIUS

University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília, DF, Brazil.

Pablo F. P. Freitas, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management, University of Brasília (UnB); Catarina C. Odelius, Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychology, University of Brasília (UnB). Pablo F. P. Freitas is now a researcher at the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB; Catarina C. Odelius is now a retired associate professor from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2152-5194

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Pablo F. P. Freitas, SQS 413 Bloco C, 206, Asa Sul, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil, CEP: 70.296-030. E-mail: freitaspfp@gmail.com

Pablo F. P. Freitas, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management, University of Brasília (UnB); Catarina C. Odelius, Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychology, University of Brasília (UnB). Pablo F. P. Freitas is now a researcher at the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB; Catarina C. Odelius is now a retired associate professor from the Faculty of Economics, Administration, Accounting and Public Policy Management of UnB.

Major categories	Categories	Subcategories	Definitions
Motivational work characteristics	Task characteristics (how the work itself is accomplished and the range and nature of tasks associated with a particular job).	Autonomy: work scheduling \| decision-making \| work methods	The extent to which a job allows freedom, independence, and discretion to schedule work, make decisions, and choose the methods used to perform tasks.
		Task variety	The degree to which a job requires employees to perform a wide range of tasks on the job.
		Task significance	The degree to which a job influences the life or work of others, whether inside or outside the organization.
		Task identity	The degree to which a job involves a whole piece of work, the results of which can be easily identified.
		Feedback from job	The degree to which the job provides direct and clear information about the effectiveness of task performance.
	Knowledge characteristics: (the kinds of knowledge, skill, and ability demands the job places on an individual).	Job complexity	The extent to which tasks on a job are complex and difficult to perform (requires high-level skills, more mentally demanding, etc.).
		Information processing	The degree to which a job requires attending to and processing data or other information.
		Problem-solving	The degree to which a job requires unique ideas or solutions and reflects more active cognitive processing. This involves generating unique or innovative ideas or solutions, diagnosing and solving non-routine problems, and preventing or recovering from errors.
		Skills variety	The extent to which a job requires an individual to use a variety of different skills to complete the work.
		Specialization	The extent to which a job involves performing specialized tasks or possessing specialized knowledge and skills.
Social characteristics	Social support		The degree to which a job provides opportunities for advice and assistance from others.
	Interdependence (Initiated \| Received)		The degree to which a job depends on others and others depend on it. Interdependence can be either initiated or received depending on whether workflows from one job to others jobs or is affected by work from others jobs.
	Interaction outside the organization		The extent to which the job requires employees to interact and communicate with individuals external to the organization.
	Feedback from others		The degree to which others in the organization provide performance information (co-workers and supervisors, for example).
Contextual characteristics	Ergonomics		The degree to which a job allows correct or appropriate posture and movement.
	Physical requirements		The level of physical activity or effort required in the job.
	Work conditions		The environment where a job is performed: health hazards, noise, temperature, cleanliness, etc.
	Equipment use		The variety and complexity of technology and equipment used in a job.

Variable	Category	Managers		Civil servants
Variable	Category	Frequency	Percentage	Frequency	Percentage
Type of respondent	Strategic manager	34	13.99%	0	0.00%
	Tactical manager	51	20.99%	0	0.00%
	Operational manager	158	65.02%	0	0.00%
	Advisor civil servant	0	0.00%	100	15.34%
	Assistant civil servant	0	0.00%	323	49.54%
	Other civil servants (without extra remuneration)	0	0.00%	229	35.12%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Sex	Female	102	41.98%	367	56.29%
	Male	141	58.02%	285	43.71%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Age	20-29	3	1.23%	41	6.29%
	30-39	54	22.22%	215	32.98%
	40-49	100	41.15%	219	33.59%
	50-59	84	34.57%	170	26.07%
	60-69	2	0.82%	7	1.07%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Level of education	Elementary school	0	0.00%	1	0.15%
	High school	6	2.47%	34	5.21%
	Higher education	45	18.52%	145	22.24%
	Specialization	179	73.66%	438	67.18%
	Master's	13	5.35%	32	4.91%
	Doctorate	0	0.00%	2	0.31%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Position	Legal analyst	90	37.04%	279	42.79%
	Judicial technician	135	55.56%	348	53.37%
	From another organ	14	5.76%	22	3.37%
	Without effective link	4	1.65%	3	0.46%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Time in STJ	0-9	69	28.40%	321	49.23%
	10-19	88	36.21%	176	26.99%
	20-29	80	32.92%	136	20.86%
	30-39	6	2.47%	19	2.91%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%
Predominant activity of the occupancy unit	Judicial activity	101	41.56%	327	50.15%
	Support activity	142	58.44%	325	49.85%
	Total	243	100.00%	652	100.00%

	General			Managers			Civil servants
Factors	Average	Median	Standard deviation	Average	Median	Standard deviation	Average	Average Median	Standard deviation
Work scheduling autonomy	3.52	4.00	1.02	3.47	4.00	0.94	3.54	4.00	1.06
Decision-making autonomy	3.05	3.00	1.08	3.34	4.00	0.99	2.94	3.00	1.09
Work methods autonomy	3.23	3.00	1.06	3.32	4.00	0.96	3.19	3.00	1.10
Task variety	3.64	4.00	1.09	4.20	4.00	0.84	3.43	4.00	1.10
Task significance	4.06	4.00	0.85	4.18	4.00	0.74	4.01	4.00	0.88
Task identity	4.06	4.00	0.79	4.04	4.00	0.74	4.06	4.00	0.81
Feedback from job	3.41	4.00	1.05	3.51	4.00	0.99	3.37	4.00	1.07
Job complexity	3.42	3.50	0.98	3.64	4.00	0.90	3.33	3.50	1.00
Information processing	4.06	4.00	0.76	4.34	4.00	0.59	3.94	4.00	0.79
Problem-solving	3.49	3.50	0.94	3.67	4.00	0.90	3.42	3.50	0.95
Skills variety	3.84	4.00	0.90	4.12	4.00	0.82	3.73	4.00	0.90
Specialization	3.66	4.00	0.99	3.76	4.00	0.92	3.62	4.00	1.01
Social support	4.43	4.50	0.58	4.51	4.50	0.52	4.40	4.50	0.60
Interdependence initiated	3.26	3.17	1.14	3.46	3.66	1.14	3.19	3.17	1.13
Interdependence received	3.58	4.00	1.09	3.94	4.00	0.97	3.44	4.00	1.11
Interaction outside the organization	2.76	2.80	1.15	3.18	3.00	1.16	2.60	2.80	1.11
Feedback from others	3.26	3.31	1.05	3.44	4.00	0.97	3.19	3.00	1.08

Measure	Expected values according to Hairet al. (2009, p. 573)Hair, J. Jr., Black, W., Babin, B., Anderson, R., & Tatham, R. (2009). Análise multivariada de dados. Porto Alegre: Bookman. (N = 868 \| 63 variables)	Results
χ²	p-values can be significant	6564.997 (p-value=0)
CFI	Above 0.92	0.971
TLI	Above 0.92	0.968
RNI	Above 0.92	0.971
RMSEA	Below 0.07 (with CFI ≥ 0.90)	0.056
SRMR	Up to 0.08 (with CFI > 0.92)	0.057

Factor	Task features	Factor loading	Standard error	Extracted variance
Work scheduling autonomy	The work allows me to decide when to do my activities,	0,715	-	51,20%
	The work allows me to decide the order in which things are done,	0,802	0,049	64,30%
	The work allows me to plan how to do my activities,	0,844	0,051	71,20%
Decision-making autonomy	The work gives me the opportunity to use my personal initiative or judgment to do it,	0,796	-	63,40%
	The work allows me to make many decisions on my own,	0,903	0,025	81,60%
	The work gives me a lot of autonomy to make decisions,	0,92	0,026	84,70%
Work methods autonomy	The work allows me to make decisions about the methods I use to do it,	0,853	-	72,70%
	The work gives me many opportunities for independence and freedom in the way I do it,	0,935	0,02	87,40%
	The work allows me to decide on my own how to do it,	0,852	0,019	72,50%
Task variety	The work includes a wide variety of tasks,	0,931	-	86,70%
	The work is to do many different things,	0,95	0,006	90,30%
	The work requires performing a wide range of tasks,	0,97	0,006	94,20%
	The work includes performing a variety of tasks,	0,968	0,006	93,70%
Task significance	The results of my work are likely to significantly affect other people's lives,	0,797	-	63,50%
	The work itself is very significant and important in a broader context,	0,863	0,029	74,50%
	The work has a great impact on people outside the institution,	0,983	0,027	96,60%
	The work I do has a significant impact on people outside the institution,	0,979	0,027	95,80%
Task identity	The work is to complete activities that have a clear beginning and end,	0,739	-	54,60%
	The work is organized so that I can carry out a complete activity from the beginning to the end,	0,802	0,028	64,40%
	The work gives me the possibility to completely finish the activities I started,	0,958	0,034	91,80%
	The work allows me to complete what I started,	0,953	0,034	90,80%
Feedback from job	The work activities alone provide direct and clear information about the effectiveness (for example, quality and quantity) of my performance,	0,811	-	65,70%
	The work alone provides feedback on my performance,	0,972	0,02	94,60%
	The work alone provides information about my performance,	0,973	0,02	94,70%
Factor	Knowledge features	Factor loading	Standard error	Extracted variance
Job complexity	The work requires me to do only one task or activity at a time,	0,392	-	15,40%
	The work tasks are simple and uncomplicated,	0,917	0,211	84,10%
	The work covers relatively uncomplicated tasks,	0,869	0,198	75,50%
	The work includes performing relatively simple tasks,	0,808	0,188	65,30%
Information processing	The work requires me to monitor a large amount of information,	0,754	-	56,90%
	The work requires a great mental effort,	0,852	0,033	72,50%
	The work requires me to be aware of more than one task at a time,	0,69	0,029	47,60%
	The work requires me to analyze a large amount of information,	0,84	0,03	70,60%
Problem-solving	The work includes solving problems without an obvious right answer,	0,696	-	48,40%
	The work requires me to be creative,	0,792	0,047	62,80%
	The work often includes dealing with problems that I have never seen before,	0,724	0,043	52,40%
	The work requires unique ideas or solutions to problems,	0,584	0,043	34,10%
Skills variety	The work requires a variety of skills,	0,955	-	91,10%
	The work requires me to use several different skills to complete it,	0,957	0,006	91,60%
	The work requires me to use several complex or high-level skills,	0,894	0,01	79,90%
	The work requires the use of a variety of skills,	0,916	0,008	83,90%
Specialization	The work is highly specialized in terms of its purpose, tasks, or activities,	0,912	-	83,10%
	The tools, procedures, materials, etc, used in work are highly specialized,	0,76	0,016	57,80%
	The work requires very specialized knowledge and skills,	0,925	0,014	85,50%
	The work requires deep knowledge and experience,	0,92	0,014	84,60%
Factor	Social features	Factor loading	Standard error	Extracted variance
Social support	I have the opportunity to build friendly relationships in my job.	0,794	-	63,10%
	I have the chance, in my job, to get to know other people	0,935	0,028	87,50%
	I have the opportunity to meet other people at work.	0,929	0,026	86,20%
	The person who supervises me is concerned with the welfare of those who work for him/her.	0,628	0,034	39,40%
	The people I work with care about me.	0,793	0,029	62,90%
	The people I work with are friendly.	0,787	0,032	61,90%
Interdependence initiated	The work requires me to carry out my activities before others finish theirs.	0,588	-	34,60%
	Other works depend directly on mine.	0,868	0,077	75,30%
	Unless my work is done, other works cannot be completed.	0,837	0,072	70,00%
Interdependence received	The work activities to be completed are greatly affected by the work of several different people.	0,81	-	65,60%
Interdependence received	My work depends on the work of many other people for its accomplishment.	0,908	0,037	82,40%
Interdependence received	My work cannot be done unless other people do theirs.	0,757	0,031	57,30%
Interaction outside organization	The work requires spending a lot of time with people outside my institution.	0,754	-	56,80%
	The work includes interacting with people who do not belong to my institution.	0,846	0,023	71,50%
	At work, I often communicate with people who do not work at my institution.	0,943	0,027	89,00%
	The work includes a large number of interactions with people outside my organization.	0,926	0,027	85,70%
Feedback from others	I get a lot of information from my immediate boss and colleagues about my work performance.	0,806	-	65,00%
	Other people in the organization, such as superiors and colleagues, provide me with information about the effectiveness of my work (for example, quantity and quality).	0,908	0,031	82,50%
	I receive feedback on my work performance from others in my organization (for example, immediate superiors and colleagues).	0,886	0,026	78,50%

	WDQ factor	Kruskal- Wallis	p-value	Category	Average	Median	Standard deviation
Education	Specialization	11.37	0.044	Doctorate	4.50	4.50	0.71
				Master's	3.83	4.00	0.95
				Specialization	3.70	4.00	0.98
				Higher education	3.52	4.00	1.04
				High school	3.38	3.50	0.91
Sex	Decision-making autonomy	15.13	0.000	Female	2.92	3.00	1.09
	Decision-making autonomy	15.13	0.000	Male	3.21	3.00	1.05
	Problem-solving	5.10	0.024	Female	3.43	3.50	0.96
	Problem-solving	5.10	0.024	Male	3.56	4.00	0.91
	Specialization	25.88	0.000	Female	3.49	4.00	1.04
	Specialization	25.88	0.000	Male	3.84	4.00	0.89
Human life	Meaning of the task	148.23	0.000	Judicial activity	4.41	4.50	0.70
Human life	Meaning of the task	148.23	0.000	Support activity	3.74	4.00	0.85
External activities	Interaction outside organization	18989	0.000	Strategic level managers	3.54	3.50	1.15
		18989	0.000	Other respondents	2.73	2.80	1.14
		22943	0.000	Strategic and tactical level managers	3.32	3.00	1.17
		22943	0.000	Operational managers and civil servants	2.70	2.80	1.14
		96326	0.000	Managers	3.18	3.00	1.16
		96326	0.000	Civil servants	2.60	2.80	1.11

[1] Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Pablo F. P. Freitas, SQS 413 Bloco C, 206, Asa Sul, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil, CEP: 70.296-030. E-mail: freitaspfp@gmail.com

Brasil

Brasil

WORK DESIGN: WORK FEATURES OF CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

Originality/value:

Design/methodology/approach:

Findings: