Perceptions Of Working Conditions Research Articles

Workplace climate: Metrics for ethics

Focus on perceived working conditions could help graduate schools to train responsible researchers.

0078 Work organisational characteristics and psychological distress in French call-centres. Is there a direct effect?

ObjectivesIn cross sectional studies, relationships between perceived stressors and self-reported health are suspected of mono-method bias related to negative affectivity. The purpose of this work was to test if work...

Disstress in der Chirurgie – Eine Untersuchung in deutschen Krankenhäusern

Background Stress with negative influence on health (distress) is highly prevalent among surgeons. Especially the physicians' own perception of working conditions plays an important role in an evaluation of the stress potential of working conditions. Thus, this study is intended to examine and evaluate the working conditions of surgeons in German hospitals. Material and Methods This web-based study is methodically based on the theoretical stress models of Siegrist (Effort-Reward-Imbalance Model) and Karasek (Job-Demand-Control Model). The questionnaire designed for this survey consists of items from two validated questionnaires. Thus it is possible to draw a conclusion about the job satisfaction and distress prevalence among surgeons concerning working conditions in German hospitals. Results In this study 58.2% (95% CI: 55.6 - 61.5) of respondents showed unfavourable working conditions (ER/JDC ratio > 1). Meanwhile 52.2% (95% CI: 49.3 - 55.1) were satisfied with their job. The distress prevalence among female surgeons was six percent points higher (95% CI: 0.1 - 12.0) at 62.4% with an odds ratio compared to male surgeons of 1.29 (95% CI: 1.01 - 1.65; p < 0.05). Chief residents, in comparison to functional positions, showed with 22.0% the lowest distress prevalence of all positions. The highest prevalence was shown by fellows with 66.7% (OR: 7.11; 95% CI: 3.26 - 15.48; p < 0.001). Furthermore 43.4% of fellows said that they were very satisfied with their job. Among attendings 61.5% stated this (OR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.52 - 2.84; p < 0.001). Conclusions The outlined data emphasise a high stress-potential among surgeons in hospitals concerning working conditions. According to the ERI/JDC model emphasis should be put on the balance between effort and reward or, respectively, job demands and control.

Personal and Contextual Predictors of Mental Health Counselors' Compassion Fatigue and Burnout

This study applied transactional stress and coping theory to explore the contributions of counselor gender, years of experience, perceived working conditions, personal resources of mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction to predict compassion fatigue and burnout in a national sample of 213 mental health counselors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that in this sample while perceived working conditions, mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction accounted for only 31.1% of the variance in compassion fatigue, these factors explained 66.9% of the variance in burnout. Counselors who reported less maladaptive coping, higher mindfulness attitudes and compassion satisfaction, and more positive perceptions of their work environment reported less burnout. The utility of these findings in understanding the development of counselor burnout and compassion fatigue are discussed, as are directions for future research.

Cross-national correspondence analysis of generational differences in the perception of work conditions

Summary: The paper attempts to verify the hypothesis of the existence of generational differences in the perception of the conditions and quality of work. The research issues considered in this paper are chosen following the regularities observed in the labor markets indicating that special attention should be paid to two age groups: the youngest and the oldest persons. The highest unemployment rate in the EU is observed among young people who encounter various barriers at the beginning of their professional career. On the other hand, the older group of people is expected to provide an important contribution to the labor force to face the problem of aging societies. The objective labor market indicators should be confronted with the results of the subjective opinions of the labor market participants in order to have a comprehensive outlook of the situation. The chosen multivariate method is applied to analyze the opinions of both young and older Europeans taking into consideration the spatial diversity. The opinions about current work given by European Social Survey respondents are analyzed, among others these are the variety of current work, possibilities of learning new things at work, effort-salary relation, support received from other workers etc. The paper presents some results obtained from the applications of correspondence analysis whose usefulness is determined by the measurement scales of the regarded variables.

Gender Inequalities in the Health of Immigrants and Workplace Discrimination in Czechia

This study analyses the relationship between immigrants' self-reported/rated health (SRH) and their perceived working conditions in Czechia materialized via discrimination, based on the example of Ukrainian immigrants analyzed by gender dimension. The role of age, education, and marital status is also analyzed. A sample of native-born Czechs serves as a reference frame. A cross-sectional design was applied. Using data from two surveys of Ukrainian immigrants in Czechia and a countrywide health interview survey for Czechs, we analyse inequalities in SRH and workplace discrimination loads. Four binary logistic regression models were computed separately for women and men from Ukraine and Czechia to identify the determinants of fair/poor SRH. We found that only Ukrainian immigrant females were heavily exposed to all four measured types of workplace discrimination, thereby modifying and worsening the quality of their SRH. Determinants which are behind respondents' SRH differ between Ukrainian immigrants vis-à-vis Czechs with one exception. The “oldest age group” (41–62) contributes to poorer assessment of SRH among Ukrainian females, Czech females, and Czech males too. The lowest educational level (primary education) correlates with poor SRH within the sample of Czech males.

13 Factors associated with long-term sickness absence due to mental and behavioural disorders

ObjectiveTo evaluate the factors associated with long term absences from work due to mental and behavioural disorders, including the interactions of two theoretical models of occupational stress.MethodsA case control study...

Collegial support and novice teachers’ perceptions of working conditions

Using survey data gathered from novice teachers at the elementary and middle school level across 11 districts, this study examined variation in perceptions of working conditions related to workload and access to resources and further identified the association between these perceptions and the quality of support the novices received from their formal mentors and other colleagues. The findings from this study indicate that the quality of mentor support is positively associated with novice teachers’ ability to manage their assigned workload, while the quality of support from other colleagues is positively associated with novices’ ability to meet the requirements of their administrative tasks. Novices’ perceptions of the administrative climate varied little over the course of one school year, and there were only slight variations in novices’ perceptions based on years of experience and level taught. Novices did vary significantly from their veteran colleagues in their perceptions of working conditions. The findings from this study have implications for understanding the role that formal and informal teacher support has in mediating the expectations and demands of novice teachers’ work, which can then help guide improvements in novice teacher induction and working conditions.

A Croatian Study of Practitioners’ and Kindergarten Teacher Students’ Opinions of their Role in Children’s Lives

In the project Methods and Models in the Education of Preschool Children in Kindergartens conducted at the Faculty of Teacher Education in Zagreb, we were interested in practitioners’ and kindergarten teacher students’ opinions, motivation, satisfaction, expectations and attitudes with regard to their work. Two open-ended questions regarding the role of the kindergarten teacher in children’s lives, were set as a separate mini-questionnaire. For the purposes of this particular study, practitioners (N=69) and first-year university kindergarten teacher students (N=65) had to complete two sentences: “Children are like…because …” and “Kindergarten teachers are like… because…”. Their responses were content analysed and then compared. Analysis shows that both students and kindergarten teachers perceive children in a very positive way and evaluate their job as highly valuable. They also highly value their role in children’s lives (as another parent, teacher, helper, model, safe haven, etc.). The most significant difference between practising teachers and students is their perception of working conditions, where students show a more idealistic approach.

Systematic simulation-based team training in a Swedish intensive care unit: a diverse response among critical care professions

BackgroundTeamwork—that is, collaboration and communication—is an important factor for safe healthcare, but professions perceive the quality of teamwork differently.ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between simulation-based team training (SBTT) and different professions’...

Perception of stress-related working conditions in hospitals (iCept-study): a comparison between physicians and medical students

BackgroundThe students’ perception of working conditions in hospitals hasn’t been subject of research in Germany so far. However the perception plays an important role talking about the sustainability of working conditions. The iCept Study wants to examine the perception of medical students compared to the perception of practicing physicians.Methods/designThe perception will be investigated with a redesigned questionnaire based upon two established and validated questionnaires. The two samples built for this study (students and physician) will be chosen from members of the labor union Marburger Bund. The iCept-Study is designed as an anonymized online-survey.DiscussionThe iCept-Study is thought to be the basis of ongoing further investigations regarding the perception of working conditions in hospitals. The results shall serve the facilitation of improving working conditions.

Teacher Working Conditions in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools: A Comparative Study

Background/Context Teachers affect student performance through their interaction with students in the context of the classrooms and schools where teaching and learning take place. Although it is widely assumed that supportive working conditions improve the quality of instruction and teachers’ willingness to remain in a school, little is known about whether or how the organizational structure of charter schools influences teacher working conditions. Purpose/Research Question This article compares teacher working conditions in charter and traditional public schools and among various types of charter schools. In doing so, it seeks to understand whether the different working conditions are influenced by the intrinsic institutional features of charter schools such as autonomy and competition, or by the extraneous factors such as measureable school and teacher characteristics. Research Design This study utilized data from the 2003–2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), the nation's most extensive survey of K–12 schools and teachers, both for charter schools and traditional public schools (TPSs). This article is a quantitative analysis that involves three main steps. First, based on the responses to the SASS teacher questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to generate multiple factors corresponding to key dimensions of teacher working conditions. Second, propensity score matching was used to pair charter schools with TPSs that are similar in terms of school location, educational level, school type, and student demographics. This matching process mitigates the confounding effects of these extraneous factors on teachers’ perceptions of working conditions. Finally, a series of weighted Hierarchical Linear Models were utilized to compare teachers’ perceptions of working conditions between charter and traditional public schools, controlling for teacher and school characteristics. Conclusions/Recommendations The results show that charter and traditional public school teachers perceive their working conditions to be similar in many regards, including principal leadership, sense of community and collegiality, classroom autonomy, opportunities for professional development, and adequacy of instructional supplies. However, charter school teachers perceive that they have significantly more influence over school policies, but a heavier workload than traditional school teachers. Among charter schools, district-granted charter schools show consistently more supportive working environments than charters granted by other organizations. This implies that state policy can have some indirect influence over charter school working conditions by providing substantial administrative support and oversight to charter schools authorized by independent organizations other than the established structure of school districts.

The Role of Factors on Job Satisfaction of Employees – An Empirical Study

Job satisfaction is an important indicator of how employees feel about their jobs and predictor of work behaviors such as organizational citizenship, absenteeism, and turnover. The analysis of impact of certain factors on employee job satisfaction is an important yet relatively neglected area of inquiry within the field of human resource management (HRM). This study suggests that the factors that has impact on job satisfaction are perceived to be promoted in the organization too and that this impact tends, on the whole, to be positive than negative. In particularly, the results indicate that the factors need to be give importance in the organization are not necessarily the same as those that make up high productivity but still helps in improving the performance. Moreover, the perceptions of work conditions have proven to be important to the well being of workers.

Patient Safety Attitudes Among Respiratory Therapists in Taiwan

Safety attitude surveys have been widely conducted in various disciplines, but not among respiratory therapists (RTs), to assess clinician's awareness of patient safety. We conducted a nationwide survey in Taiwan to assess RTs' safety attitudes in several hospital settings. We adapted the Safety Attitude Questionnaire for RTs, and, via the RTs' union, invited all Taiwan RTs to take the survey. The questionnaire assessed safety attitudes in 6 domains: teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, perception of hospital management, and perception of working conditions. We analyzed the associations between positive attitudes and each domain. The response rate was 60%. Overall, the RTs had low positive attitudes about the teamwork climate (37%), safety climate (21%), job satisfaction (29%), stress recognition (32%), perception of hospital management (24%), and perception of working conditions (21%). The positive attitudes to all safety domains were lower among senior RTs than among junior RTs. The RTs working in the medical centers had higher positive-attitude scores for stress recognition but lower scores for the other 5 safety domains than the RTs working in the (smaller) regional and district hospitals. Taiwanese RTs had low positive attitudes about the surveyed 6 safety domains in their hospitals. High work load, management of RTs under other professions, and lack of protocol use probably contribute to their low opinions about the patient safety situation and low job satisfaction.

Does shared and differentiated transformational leadership predict followers' working conditions and well-being?

Transformational leadership has been widely researched and is associated with followers' performance, attitudes, and subjective well-being at the individual level. Less research has focused on transformational leadership as a group phenomenon. In a survey study (425 followers and 56 leaders), we examined how group-level and differentiated transformational leadership shape followers' perceptions of their working conditions and individual subjective well-being. There was stronger evidence that differentiated transformational leadership's relationships with indicators of well-being was mediated by perceptions of working conditions, in that 10 out of 20 tests for mediation using differentiated transformational leadership were significant, compared to just three out of 20 for group-level transformational leadership. The results suggest that transformational leadership needs to be studied as a group phenomenon considering how group-level perceptions may impact on followers' well-being and that leaders need to realize that there is an “I” in groups and addition to a “we” in groups.

Differences between Children's Social Workers and Adults' Social Workers on Sense of Burnout, Work Conditions and Organisational Social Support

This research study aimed to examine the experience of burnout among 232 Israeli social workers (126 who were directly treating children and adolescents and 106 who were directly treating adults). Burnout was investigated in relation to social workers’ demographic characteristics, extrinsic and intrinsic work conditions, and social support at the workplace by colleagues, their direct supervisor and the head of their agency. Social workers of children did not report a higher experience of burnout than social workers of adults in Israel. Both groups indicated, on average, a moderate intensity of burnout. However, significant differences emerged between the two groups on perceived work conditions and on support from the agency head. That is, children’s social workers perceived better extrinsic work conditions than workers of adults, who reported better intrinsic working conditions. In addition, children’s social workers reported higher support from their agency heads than did workers serving adults. Burnout was significantly negatively correlated with age, professional experience, intrinsic and extrinsic work conditions, and social support from colleagues within the organisation and from the agency head. Professional experience and support from colleagues and from the agency head contributed significantly to explaining the variance in burnout intensity. Moreover, intrinsic work conditions mediated between professional experience and experience of burnout. Various explanations for these findings are discussed.

The relationship between incidence and report of medication errors and working conditions

Medication errors are considered to be a serious threat to patients' safety. Efforts to detect and prevent these errors have increased considerably in recent years. To determine the incidence and reporting rate of medication errors as reported by Iranian nurses and their relationship with work conditions in hospitals under the authority of Iran University of Medical Sciences. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out in six hospitals. Through a stratified multiple stage sampling, 300 nurses were selected. A researcher-constructed, three-part, self-report questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the nurses' medication errors, medication error reports and their perceived working conditions during the previous 3 months. The data were processed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The mean of medication errors that nurses recalled was 19.5, and the mean of error reporting was 1.3 cases during the previous 3 months. The relationship between error incidence and work conditions as perceived by nurses was statistically significant (df = 3, P ≤ 0.0001); however, there was no significant relationship between reporting the occurred error and nurses' perceived work conditions (df = 3, P ≤ 0.255). The establishment of an efficient reporting system, documentation of errors and removal of obstacles to reporting may result in reduced frequency of medication errors. Considering the relationship between medication error incidence and working conditions, it seems that creating a work condition in which nurses feel more comfortable and decreasing work tensions may pave the way to preventing nursing errors.

Attitudes Toward Safety and Teamwork in a Maternity Unit With Embedded Team Training

The objective of this study was to identify any residual challenges in a unit with a track record of good clinical performance. A cross-sectional survey of frontline caregiver attitudes was conducted using a validated psychometric instrument. A total of 69% (91 of 132) of eligible participants completed questionnaires. The results indicated positive safety culture, teamwork climate, and job satisfaction. Perceptions of high workload and insufficient staffing levels were the most prominent negative observations but not to the detriment of job satisfaction or perception of work conditions. Male staff had consistently better safety attitudes in multivariate analyses. The authors identified 24-hour consultant (attending) presence and better support by management as prerequisites for further improvement. Teamwork and safety attitudes are positive in a unit with established interprofessional team training. Establishing better support by senior clinical and management leaders was identified as a necessary intervention to improve attitudes and safety.

Causal Impact of Employee Work Perceptions on the Bottom Line of Organizations

Perceptions of work conditions have proven to be important to the well-being of workers. However, customer loyalty, employee retention, revenue, sales, and profit are essential to the success of any business. It is known that these outcomes are correlated with employee attitudes and perceptions of work conditions, but the research into direction of causality has been inconclusive. Using a massive longitudinal database that included 2,178 business units in 10 large organizations, we found evidence supporting the causal impact of employee perceptions on these bottom-line measures; reverse causality of bottom-line measures on employee perceptions existed but was weaker. Managerial actions and practices can impact employee work conditions and employee perceptions of these conditions, thereby improving key outcomes at the organizational level. Perceptions of specific work conditions that engage employees in their work provide practical guidance in how best to manage people to obtain desired results.

Employee satisfaction in the Iberian hotel industry

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze job‐satisfaction differences between employees of the hotel industries of two similar tourist destinations: Andalusia (Spain) and the Algarve (Portugal).Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was conducted in the two regions. The population for this study comprised employees of any hotel establishment in these regions. The authors have used stratified random sampling based on the number of hotels in each category and the number of hotel beds these represent. A total of 2,064 usable questionnaires from 165 hotels were returned in Andalusia and 461 from 23 hotels in the Algarve.FindingsFindings from this study show an acceptable level of job satisfaction in both regions, although this is higher among the Andalusian workers, not only in terms of the overall score but also for each of the job facet scores considered. In contrast to previous findings, in this study the effect of wage on job satisfaction has been reported as significant in both regions.Research limitations/implicationsThe different periods of time in which the fieldwork was done may have caused some distortions in the perception of working conditions in each region. Besides this, some departments may not be sufficiently represented.Practical implicationsThis paper encourages hotel managers to focus their attention on their remuneration systems, promotion possibilities and the perception of their profession's prestige in order to improve staff satisfaction. Particularly in Andalusia, it would be advantageous to develop retention strategies for talented people. In the Algarve region, more training and an improved recognition system are needed.Originality/valueAlthough job satisfaction is an employee attitude that has been studied extensively, there have been few studies on that topic in the tourism sector in Spain, and even fewer in Portugal. Moreover, whereas prior work has mainly focused on small samples – a limited number of hotels surveyed in some specific area – in this study two important tourist regions using a wide sample, and taking all hotel categories into consideration are compared.