The Importance of Role Clarification in Workgroups: Effects on Perceived Role Clarity, Work Satisfaction, and Turnover Rates

• Author: Shahidul Hassan
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12100
• Published date: 01 September 2013
• Date: 01 September 2013

Shahidul Hassan is assistant professor

of public management at the John Glenn

School of Public Affairs (The Ohio State

University). His research focuses on the role

that managerial practices play in improving

motivation, commitment, and performance

of public sector employees. His research

works have appeared in the Journal of

Managerial Psychology, Journal of

Leadership and Organization Studies,

International Public Management

Journal, and American Review of

Public Administration.

E-mail: hassan.125@osu.edu

716 Public Administration Review • September | October 2013

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 73, Iss. 5, pp. 716–725. © 2013 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12100.

Shahidul Hassan

The Ohio State University

 is article examines how greater role clarif‌i cation

may be associated with increased work satisfaction and

decreased turnover rates in workgroups.  ese linkages are

examined with the use of multivariate analysis of vari-

ance and hierarchical regression analysis for data collected

during two time periods from multiple sources: personnel

records and an organizational survey of 1,699 employees

working in 45 geographically distributed of‌f‌i ces in a state

government agency. Results indicate that of‌f‌i ces with a

high level of role clarif‌i cation had signif‌i cantly higher

levels of work satisfaction and lower rates of turnover.

Additionally, the ef‌f ects of role clarif‌i cation on work sat-

isfaction and turnover behavior were mediated by overall

role clarity perceived in these of‌f‌i ces.  e implications of

these f‌i ndings for ef‌f ective management of workgroups in

government agencies are discussed.

The institutional context in which public

organizations operate has important impli-

cations for their day-to-day operations and

performance (Perry and Rainey 1988; Rainey and

Steinbauer 1990; Wamsley and Zald 1973). Public

agencies deal with complex policy problems, pursue

value-laden goals, and provide services for which clear

performance criteria are not readily available (Allison

1983; Dahl and Lindblom 1953; Wildavsky 1979;

Wilson 1989). Public organizations also need to

attend to competing demands from various stakehold-

ers and interest groups (Lowi 1979; Rainey 1993;

Ring and Perry 1985). Public management scholar-

ship suggests that a lack of clear performance criteria,

policy complexity, and competing demands from

stakeholders lead to goal ambiguity (Chun and Rainey

2005), which, in turn, creates

substantial role ambiguity for

employees working in public

agencies (Wright 2004). Erera

(1989), for example, found that

vagueness and constant change

in state policies caused consid-

erable role ambiguity among

managers in a state agency.

Pandey and Wright (2006)

found that a lack of clarity in organizational goals

directly as well as indirectly (by increasing procedural

constraints) increased role ambiguity among managers

in health and human services agencies.

 e consequences of high levels of role ambiguity

have important cost implications for public agen-

cies. While a certain level of role ambiguity is likely

to exist in all jobs and may even be benef‌i cial in

terms of increasing employee creativity and learning

(Savelsbergh et al. 2012), a high level of ambigu-

ity regarding job goals and performance expecta-

tions creates stress and frustration among employees

(Schaubroeck et al. 1993) and may inf‌l uence them to

leave the organization (Jung 2011). Organizational

research indicates that work stressors, including role

ambiguity and role conf‌l ict, contribute negatively to

employee mental health (Ganster and Schaubroeck

1991). Role ambiguity has also consistently been

shown to have a negative inf‌l uence on a wide range of

benef‌i cial employee dispositions, including job satis-

faction, organizational commitment, and job involve-

ment (Fisher and Gitelson 1983; Jackson and Schuler

1985). More importantly, research indicates that

ambiguity about job goals and performance expecta-

tions lowers employee job performance (cf. Tubre and

Collins 2000).

Given the widely acknowledged costs associated with

role ambiguity, it is surprising that few studies in pub-

lic management have investigated how to enhance role

clarity in public organizations. Specif‌i cally, research

has yet to examine whether managerial practices can

attenuate the adverse ef‌f ects

of role ambiguity on organiza-

tional outcomes.  e present

study was designed to examine

how role clarif‌i cation may af‌f ect

perceived role clarity, work

satisfaction, and turnover rates

in distinct of‌f‌i ces or workgroups

in a government agency. Based

on role theory (Graen 1976;

 e Importance of Role Clarif‌i cation in Workgroups:

Ef‌f ects on Perceived Role Clarity, Work Satisfaction,

and Turnover Rates

 e present study was designed

to examine how role clarif‌i ca-

tion may af‌f ect perceived role

clarity, work satisfaction, and

turnover rates in distinct of‌f‌i ces

or workgroups in a government

agency.