Nguyen, Tien Q; Sumamal, Piyachat

Despite a growing corpus of studies on the benefits of work recovery for employee well-being, little attention has been paid to the potential negative effects of micro-breaks on work engagement. The current study addresses this research gap by investigating the effects of several micro-break activities on work engagement and in-role job performance. Using conservation of resource theory, relaxation, and nutrition micro-breaks were hypothesised to serve as a coping strategy, resulting in increased work engagement and in-role job performance. In contrast, social and cognitive micro-breaks were hypothesised to disrupt the workflow, resulting in less desirable outcomes. A daily diary study of 625 observations from 125 Taiwanese full-time employees over five consecutive workdays provided empirical evidence that supported arguments. Specifically, relaxation micro-breaks were associated with increased employee engagement and in-role job performance during the day, but cognitive micro-breaks were associated with low favourable outcomes. Moreover, the employees’ guilt-proneness was proposed to moderate the positive relationship between relaxation activities and work engagement. The result revealed that the positive effect becomes weaker for employees who have high levels of guilt-proneness. These findings suggest that the employees’ efforts to recover can be beneficial or detrimental to their work outcomes, depending on the types of micro-break activities that employees take and their levels of guilt-proneness.

1. At the conclusion of this event, attendees will be able to identify four categories of micro-break activities: relaxation, nutrition intake, social, and cognitive.
2. At the conclusion of this event, attendees will be able to differentiate between the potential positive and negative consequences of each micro-break activity on daily work engagement.

The measurement will be achieved by allowing attendees to ask questions during the 5-minute Q&A period, and the presenter may also ask attendees about specific actions they have done or plan to take in response to this presentation topic by the end of the presentation. Furthermore, during the scheduled breaks, the presenter may interview attendees to get more comments and suggestions.

Attendees are expected to provide feedback and reflect on their experience, which reveals insights about their attitudes, beliefs, and perceived knowledge.

Zhang, Fangfang; Preedeesanith, Prich; Parker, Sharon K.

Purpose and theoretical background. Older employees are invaluable to organizations because of their extensive experience, knowledge, and skills. Yet, the widespread adoption of automated and digital technologies presents a significant challenge for these employees in terms of adaptation and learning. To successfully interact and work with new technology, employees need to engage in life-long learning to update their skills as the types of skills needed change rapidly due to technological changes. Scholars have proposed that good work design can enhance employees’ on-job learning through workers executing daily tasks. This study aims to explore how job complexity, a critical job characteristic, affects older employees' motivation and their ability to learn new automation technologies.
Methodology. We conducted a randomized experiment involving a simulated task that represents the type of work in technologically advanced warehouses. Participants, aged 40-60 and recruited from Prolific, assumed the role of warehouse employees. Their task involved using specific programming commands to operate an autonomous robot for package handling. A total of 150 participants completed this simulation, randomly assigned to conditions of high or low job complexity which vary on the complexity level of tasks included.
Findings. Success rates in performing transfer tasks were significantly higher in the high complexity group (94.3%) compared to the low complexity group (67.8%), χ²(1, 124) = 13.1, p < .001. Additionally, the high complexity group completed tasks more efficiently (M = 145.40, SD = 107.77) than the low complexity group (M = 247.75, SD = 204.45), with t(70.6) = 3.08, p = .003, d = .63. These results align with our hypotheses, suggesting that high complexity work environments enhance learning performance.
Research and Practical Implications. This study contributes to our understanding of the impact of work design on employee attitudes, motivation, and learning performance amidst the integration of autonomous technologies. The findings offer valuable insights for organizations looking to optimize the design and management of autonomous systems, thereby improving employee experiences.

At the conclusion of this event, attendees will be able to:
1. understand how work design impacts the motivation and learning performance of older employees within the context of adopting new automation technologies.
2. apply key principles of job design—focusing on job complexity—to create or modify work environments that enhance older employees' engagement and learning with new technologies.
3. design and implement simulation tasks similar to the study's approach, aimed at investigating the effects of work design elements on employee learning and adaptation to new technologies.