Occupational Well-Being Profiles and Learning Climate as an Organizational Resource: A Latent Transition Analysis

The aim of the present longitudinal study was to profile the occupational well-being (burnout, work engagement) of highly educated employees (n=442) at three measurement points: in 2017 (T1), 2019 (T2), and 2021 (T3). We were interested in whether profile transitions would occur during the follow-up, and if so, whether the three dimensions of perceived learning climate (facilitation, appreciation, and error avoidance) predict these transitions, and hence function as an organizational-level resource that could help highly educated employees to sustain or improve their occupational well-being. We identified three profiles at each measurement point: (1) burnout, lowered engagement; (2) average exhaustion, high engagement; and (3) low burnout, very high engagement. Latent Transition Analysis indicated that employees both maintained their profiles and made transitions during the follow-up. The findings for the second study period (T2-T3) showed a somewhat less favorable development of occupational well-being. Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis revealed that perceived learning climate predicted the T2-T3 but not T1-T2 transitions. We conclude that employee well-being can simultaneously comprise both positive and negative states. Although the organizational resource perspective gained some support, this tentative evidence also raises the question of whether employees perceive an appreciative learning climate as more stressful than helpful. Overall, the longitudinal relationship of occupational well-being with the dimensions of perceived learning climate warrants further study.