Perceived Organizational Support: Why Caring About Employees Counts

Abstract

According to organizational support theory (OST), employees develop a general perception concerning the extent to which their work organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support, or POS). We explain OST and review empirical POS findings relevant to OST's main propositions, including new findings that suggest changes to OST. Major antecedents of POS include fairness, support from leaders, and human resource practices and work conditions, especially to the extent that employees perceive these as the discretionary choices of organizations. Among more recent findings, the average level of POS has modestly increased over the past three decades in the United States. Furthermore, POS appears to have stronger positive outcomes in Eastern cultures than Western cultures. Some additional promising recent areas of research on POS include trickle-down effects, POS of groups, and POS as relevant to creativity and innovation, positive emotional outcomes, and well-being.