Developing a contemporary measure of employee perceptions of their work unit’s psychological sense of community

Purpose This paper aims to develop and psychometrically assess an individual’s perception of their work unit’s psychological sense of community (PSOCw) scale. This new scale is designed to capture the unique characteristics of a contemporary work unit that might include current practices such as hot-desking and workers located in physically separate locations. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops and then psychometrically accesses a new scale designed to better capture the psychological sense of community in a contemporary work unit. Findings The managerial implications for the PSOCw scale that is a psychometrically sound measure of work engagement, civility and collegiality in a work unit allow managers to audit a work unit based on these three dimensions and then take corrective actions to enhance the work unit’s sense of community. Originality/value The present study adapts previous work on PSOCw to a contemporary work environment where members of a work unit are often in physically separate locations and largely connect virtually.