Employee Satisfaction With Influence and Ownership Scale

Abstract

The Employee Satisfaction With Influence and Ownership scale is a psychological measure developed by Rosen, Klein, and Young (1986). This instrument is designed to assess key psychological and organizational variables related to employee participation in an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). It is structured into two primary subscales: one measuring the perceived level of influence workers gain through stock ownership, and the other assessing overall satisfaction specifically with the ESOP itself.

The influence subscale is versatile, having been adapted by researchers like Buchko (1992) to differentiate between the workers’ perceived actual amount of influence and their desired amount of influence, typically by modifying the item phrasing (e.g., changing ‘actually have’ to ‘should have’). This measure is crucial for understanding the behavioral and attitudinal impacts of employee ownership structures.

Keywords

Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP), Organizational Influence, Worker Participation, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Turnover Intentions, Employee Ownership.

Authors

Corey Rosen, Katherine Klein, Karen Young.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this measure is to quantitatively assess the psychological and behavioral consequences of implementing an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) within an organization. It specifically aims to gauge how stock ownership translates into perceived influence over workplace decisions and how this ownership structure contributes to overall worker satisfaction.

By using two distinct subscales, the instrument allows researchers and practitioners to analyze whether the mere existence of an ESOP is sufficient for satisfaction, or if satisfaction is contingent upon the perceived level of actual decision-making power granted to non-managerial employees. It serves as a diagnostic tool for assessing the effectiveness of employee participation mechanisms linked to financial ownership.

Construct

The scale measures two distinct, yet related, organizational constructs: Perceived Influence due to Ownership and ESOP Satisfaction. Perceived Influence focuses on the degree to which non-managerial employees believe they have a voice or direct control over key organizational areas, ranging from daily job performance to high-level company policy and personnel decisions.

The second construct, ESOP Satisfaction, is an affective measure of the employee’s attitude toward the ownership plan itself. It captures feelings related to pride of ownership, the perceived financial benefits, and the degree to which the ESOP contributes positively to the employee’s work experience and retention intentions. This dual focus provides a comprehensive view of the psychological impact of employee ownership.

Validity

The validity of the measure was supported in research conducted by Buchko (1992), which utilized both the perceived influence and ESOP satisfaction subscales. Findings demonstrated robust evidence for criterion-related validity through correlation analysis with established organizational outcomes.

Specifically, both perceived influence and ESOP satisfaction correlated positively and significantly with indicators of positive organizational behavior, including organizational commitment, job involvement, and overall job satisfaction. Conversely, both subscales showed a negative correlation with undesirable outcomes, such as turnover intentions and support for unionization. Furthermore, ESOP satisfaction demonstrated a positive correlation with the extent of employee participation in the ESOP itself.

Reliability

Internal consistency reliability was established using Coefficient alpha in the study by Buchko (1992). The findings indicated high levels of reliability for both constituent subscales, suggesting strong internal consistency among the items within each construct.

The ESOP satisfaction subscale achieved a reliability coefficient alpha of 0.86. The influence subscale demonstrated comparable reliability, yielding a coefficient alpha of 0.87. These values exceed the commonly accepted threshold of 0.70 for psychological scales, confirming the measure’s internal consistency and stability across applications.

Factor Analysis

While explicit details regarding comprehensive exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis are not detailed in the primary source abstract, the construction of the instrument inherently suggests a two-factor solution. The scale is empirically divided into two distinct dimensions: the Influence component and the Satisfaction component.

The consistent reporting of separate reliability coefficients and correlations for the two subscales across validation studies implies that these two constructs load onto separate factors, confirming the intended theoretical distinction between objective perceived power and subjective satisfaction related to employee ownership.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychometric questionnaire (Organizational Psychology)

Format: Multi-item questionnaire utilizing two distinct response formats. The Influence subscale uses a 5-point scale, and the ESOP Satisfaction subscale uses a 7-point Likert-type scale.

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Non-managerial employees participating in an ESOP.

Age Group: Working adults (typically 18+)

Population Details: Applicable to employees across various industries who are part owners through an employee stock ownership structure.

Test Methodology: Administration via paper-and-pencil or online survey. Scoring involves calculating mean scores for the two independent subscales, with reverse scoring applied to certain items in the ESOP Satisfaction subscale.

Keywords

Perceived Influence, ESOP Satisfaction, Employee Ownership, Organisational Psychology, Psychometrics, Worker Influence, Job Involvement.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A (Contact original publisher D. C. Heath or current research institutions for current author contact information.)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed in 1986 and published in the book Employee ownership in America: The equity solution. The items were taken from Appendix 6-A, pp. 139-140. The items were reproduced with permission from the copyright holder, Corey Rosen (Copyright© 1986).

Test Year: 1986

Permissions and Fees: Researchers typically require permission from the copyright holder (Corey Rosen, likely via the National Center for Employee Ownership, NCEO) for commercial use or large-scale academic studies.

Reference’s

• Rosen, C., Klein, K., & Young, K. (1986). Employee ownership in America: The equity solution. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath. (Original source of items and scale development).
• Buchko, A. A. (1992). The effects of employee ownership on organizational commitment and job satisfaction: A study of ESOPs. Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, 4(4), 1-28. (Source for reliability and validity data).

Items of the Employee Satisfaction With Influence and Ownership scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Influence subscale instructions and items:

How much say or influence do non-managerial workers in your company actually have over the following areas? (Possible responses are 1 = workers have no say, 2 = workers receive information, 3 = workers are asked for their opinion, 4 = workers decide with management, and 5 = workers decide alone.)

1. Social events
2. Working conditions
3. The way workers perform their own jobs.
4. Pay and other compensation.
5. Hiring, firing, and other personnel decisions
6. Selection of supervisors and management
7. Company policy (investment in new equipment, planning for the company future)

ESOP satisfaction subscale items:

(Responses are obtained on a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = completely disagree and 7 = completely agree)

1. Because of employee ownership, my work is more satisfying.
2. I really don’t care about the employee ownership plan in this company (R)
3. I’m proud to own stock in this company.
4. Employee ownership at this company makes my day-to-day work more enjoyable.
5. Owning stock in this company makes me want to stay with this company longer than I would if I did not own stock.
6. It is very important to me that this company has an employee stock ownership plan.
7. Owning stock in this company makes me more interested in the company’s financial success.
8. Employee ownership at this company gives me a greater share in the company profit.

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored.