Motivating supervisors during disability accommodation: a comprehensive examination on job demand and resources theories

PurposeThis study develops and tests a comprehensive model that examines whether dimensions of supervisors’ job demands and resources influence their work motivation through their job strain levels while managing disability accommodation (DA).Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model leverages the assumptions of established job demand and resources theories, including demand-ability fit, job demand-control, job demand-control-support, and effort-reward balance models. Then, we tested with the quantitative data from 335 British, Canadian, American, Australian, Dutch, and German supervisors with recent DA experience.FindingsThis study found support for the proposed model. Job control and social support directly affected work motivation, while job strain did not mediate the relationship between job control and social support and work motivation. The results suggest that employers looking to improve the likelihood of DA success should focus on providing adequate job control, social support, and rewards to supervisors responsible for accommodating employees with disabilities.Practical implicationsThis research enhances our understanding of how additional DA responsibilities impact supervisors and aids in the development of effective DA management policies and interventions, providing robust support for practitioners.Originality/valueThis study contributes to extending the DA literature by testing the applicability of different theoretical models to explain the effect of the additional DA responsibility on supervisors’ job demand, strain, and motivation levels and identify the resources to mitigate them.