Abstract
Purpose A multifaceted implementation strategy was targeted at supervisors to encourage them to apply a participatory approach (PA) in dealing with employees’ work functioning problems due to health concerns. This paper assesses the effect on employees’ perceived social norms regarding the use of the PA to deal with work functioning problems. Methods Three organizations participated in a cluster randomized controlled trial, with randomization at the department level. Supervisors in the PA intervention departments received the implementation strategy consisting of a working group meeting, supervisor training, and optional coaching. Supervisors in the control departments received written information about the PA only. In two of the organizations, employees were invited to complete surveys at baseline and at 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was perceived social norms regarding the use of the PA to deal with work functioning problems. Secondary measures included attitudes and self-efficacy, and intention regarding joint problem solving, and sick leave data. Effects were analyzed using multilevel analyses to account for nesting of cases. Results At baseline, 273 employees participated in the survey, with follow-up analyses of 174 employees. There were no statistically significant group effects on employee outcome measures. The intervention group showed a larger reduction in mean sick days (from 4.6 to 2.4 days) versus the control group (from 3.8 to 3.6 days), but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p > .05). Conclusion The multifaceted strategy to implement the participatory approach for supervisors did not show effects on outcomes at the employee level. To gain significant effects at the employee level, may require that an implementation strategy not only targets management and supervisors, but also employees themselves.Trial registration: NTR3733.
Highlights
For employees dealing with health complaints, this can impede work functioning and result in more sick leave days [1]
Other outcomes that we examined on employee level were attitude, self-efficacy and intention regarding joint problem-solving to improve work functioning, sick leave data, perceived supervisor support, satisfaction with regard to discussing reduced work functioning due to health complaints with their supervisor, and whether employees did discuss sick leave with their supervisor
Assuming that all 834 employees were approached for participation by their supervisors, 33 % (N = 273) of approached employees participated at baseline
Summary
For employees dealing with health complaints, this can impede work functioning and result in more sick leave days [1]. One possible method to reduce long-term disability for these employees is to improve organizational communication and problem-solving and detect these health complaints at an earlier stage. J Occup Rehabil (2017) 27:319–328 going struggles [2, 3] This is especially true of mental health complaints, where workplace disclosure may be more difficult. In these cases, a perceptive and caring supervisor is important to help the employee understand and overcome any work functioning problems due to these complaints through changes in pacing, work methods, and assistance from others, or other forms of job modification [4].
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