Dividing organization and unit: Measurement of work factors, well-being, and withdrawal behaviours with the new project PICTURE

Background Within the Royal Netherlands Army, work situation and well-being of employees are repeatedly measured by psychologists to improve the work situation. Traditionally this was done using samples of employees and generalizing findings to the whole army. However, commanders of specific units felt the ‘broad’ results were difficult to translate to their own units and therefore didn’t help them in improving matters. A new system of unit climate measurement was developed and introduced. The new system was called PICTURE, Periodic Information for Commanders Through Unit-Specific Reports. This implies questioning all personnel of a unit and consequently generating unit specific reports. The questionnaire used in the project is based on numerous studies performed in the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) and civil companies in the past decades. The PICTURE project is based on a theoretical model. In this model, work factors influence satisfaction, commitment and motivation, which in turn influence turnover and absenteeism. There is a clear distinction between organization and unit: organizational work factors (conditions of employment, career opportunities, Perceived Organizational Support—or POS—and job perceptions) determine organizational satisfaction and organizational commitment, while unit work factors (leadership, work climate, performance reviews and job perceptions) influence unit satisfaction and unit commitment. Motivation is determined by both kinds of work factors, namely POS, leadership and job perceptions. Even though this model is based on past research, the model as a whole has never been empirically confirmed. This was the purpose of the present study