Workplace Perception Research Articles

Perceived draught and odors: The key to SBS and indoor environment in hospital administrative offices - The AIRMED project

BackgroundIndoor air quality (IAQ) is a growing concern, yet the link between IAQ perception, sick building syndromes (SBS), and actual IAQ parameters remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between perceived IAQ, SBS, and chemical parameters. MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted in the hospital administrative offices using a standardized self-assessment questionnaire for working conditions, and IAQ perception, with SBS. Formaldehyde and CO2 levels were measured, and compared to international standards. Statistical analysis, including multivariable logistic and linear regression (p < 0.05), explored relationships between perception, SBS, and chemical parameters. ResultsOf 261 participants (90 % response rate), the most common SBS symptoms were mucosal membrane irritations. The common working environmental complaints included dust and dirt, varying room temperature, and draught, respectively. The general and mucosal SBS symptoms were significantly associated with often perceived draught (aOR 5.99, 95 % CI 1.31 to 27.49 and aOR 3.38, 95 % CI 1.07 to 10.71, respectively). Formaldehyde levels in most offices exceeded limits, while CO2 did not. Frequent unpleasant odor perception correlated with dermal SBS symptoms and formaldehyde levels, reporting “often” perceived unpleasant odor when formaldehyde levels were 0.28 ppm or higher (95 % CI 0.01 to 0.57). Draught perception positively correlated with CO2 concentration. ConclusionsThis study showed connections between workplace perception and SBS, along with an association of workplace perception with IAQ chemical parameters. Self-perception questionnaires are valuable for investigating formaldehyde, CO2, and SBS, especially regarding draughts and odors. Further research should explore specific dimensions of actual IAQ and IAQ perception for a comprehensive understanding.

Belonging in the workplace: Methodology for fair and equitable data analysis

ABSTRACT To remain globally competitive, the Canadian mining industry requires sustainability protocols to enhance the hiring and retention of diverse and underrepresented employees. Belonging in the workplace acts as a bridge, but literature demonstrates bias in current survey analysis practices that reinforces status quo and favors homogeneous groups. Using mediation analysis, this research investigated how an employee’s intersections of identity (gender, ethnicity, and career level) influence belonging in the workplace perception. Data from 3,508 participants from 13 Toronto Stock Exchange listed companies were used to evaluate perceived organizational belonging through five validated indicators (comfort, connection, contribution, psychological safety, and well-being). Using multiplicative analysis, we explored how employees’ intersecting identities change their perception of belonging in the workplace. Study results show clear direct and indirect effects when intersections of identity are accounted for. With the intersections of identity frequently misunderstood in survey analysis and the workplace, this research explores how status quo decisions lead to exclusion and turnover of underrepresented employees. Applying mediation analysis explains the variance in perception of belonging in the workplace and provides insight into the distortions of workplace experience while providing support for sustainability protocols.

The Mirror of Workplace Perception: Understanding the Impact of Self-Perception on Interpersonal Relations

The Mirror of Workplace Perception: Understanding the Impact of Self-Perception on Interpersonal Relations

Program implementation and outcomes from three cohorts of the nurse-family partnership nurse residency program.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Nurse Residency Program (NRP) and program outcomes. Dual methods were used to evaluate the first three cohorts of the NFP NRP. Participants were new NFP nurses, most working in Colorado. Pre-(n = 42) and post-program (n = 26) surveys were completed using the Individual Workplace Perception Scale (IWPS) and endorsement of program objectives; key informant interviews were done with the initial cohort. Descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests (for the IWPS) were used to explain program effectiveness and efficacy. Forty-two NFP nurses participated in the program at the onset. There was consistent attendance (92% or more) among those who finished and modest individual attrition during the length of the program. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the content and meeting program objectives; there were no significant differences on pre- and post-program IWPS scores. The program was well-received by program participants and has the potential to contribute to the professional development of new NFP nurses.

Workplace Perception and Job Satisfaction of Older Workers

This paper addresses the question to what extent workplace perception affects the subjective well-being of older workers in their jobs. We use several dimensions of workplace perception to estimate their importance for job satisfaction. Our results show that older workers’ happiness in the job strongly depends on job rewards, in particular on opportunities to develop new skills, receiving support in difficult situations, and recognition for their work. These dimensions of workplace attributes are merely psychological by nature; in contrast, salary opportunities and socio-demographic dimensions have a weaker impact on job satisfaction, if at all.

Burnout among Community Corrections Officers: Do Supervisor and Coworker Support Matter?

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors that predict burnout among community corrections staff, with a particular focus on the impact of supervisor and coworker support. Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, we evaluated the impact of supervisor and coworker support, individual attributes, job characteristics, and workplace perceptions on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment among our sample of nearly 300 probation/parole and residential officers. Additionally, we assessed which set of variables (support, individual/job characteristics, or workplace perceptions) had the greatest impact on each measure of burnout. Our results indicated that supervisor support negatively impacted emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, but that coworker support was not significant for any of the three burnout measures. Additionally, models predicting emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were somewhat similar, whereas the personal accomplishment model was significantly different. Lastly, workplace perception variables had a stronger influence than individual/job characteristics or social support variables on all three burnout components. However, social support had a greater impact than individual/job characteristics for depersonalization and personal accomplishment.

Employees High in Personal Intelligence Differ From Their Colleagues in Workplace Perceptions and Behavior

ABSTRACTPersonal intelligence (PI) involves the ability to recognize, reason, and use information about personality to understand oneself and other people. Employees in two studies (Ns = 394, 482) completed the Test of Personal Intelligence (TOPI; e.g., Mayer, Panter, & Caruso, 2017a) and assessments of workplace perception and behavior. Higher PI was associated with higher perceived workplace support and lower counterproductive work behavior. These relationships continued to hold after controlling for other key variables. The results indicate the TOPI, although still in research trials, shows promise as a screening device for selecting employees and targeting individuals for training.

Work Ability Impairment and Facets of Workplace Perception Are Predictive of Sick Leave Duration in Persons With Work Anxiety

Abstract. Individuals with work anxiety are at risk for long-term sick leave and create high costs for society, companies, and their own work biography. Understanding psychological return-to-work predictors is important for early reintegration of these persons into the work context. This longitudinal study for the first time investigates the predictive value of workplace perception and objective work ability impairment for future sick leave duration in persons with work anxiety. The investigation was carried out with 103 individuals with work anxieties. They were of working age and confronted with a return-to-work situation after somatic illness. Work ability impairment was assessed in a structured interview by a state-licensed sociomedical specialist using the established Mini-ICF-APP Scale. Participants completed a questionnaire on their workplace perception (KFZA). The degree of work ability impairment (Mini-ICF-APP) was predictive of longer sick leave as well as workplace perception (KFZA dimensions scope of action, social support, need for cooperation). Training and return-to-work support in persons with work anxiety should focus on both work ability impairment and on workplace perception.

Nurses’ perceptions of dirt and contagion: Does the work environment pose a greater threat than one’s own home?

The aim of this study was to understand nurses’ infection prevention behaviours in the acute hospital setting by eliciting their explanations of observed behaviour. It sought to identify perceptions of risk from infection within their work environment and their homes, the practices carried out to avoid these risks, and the factors that influence behaviour. Twenty semi-structured interviews, using a topic guide and vignettes, were conducted with Registered Nurses. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Three main themes of ‘Rationalising dirt related behaviour’, ‘Protection from dirt’ and ‘Transitions and journeys: no place like home’ emerged following data analysis using a framework method. This paper presents the theme ‘Transitions and journeys: no place like home’, which has two components: ‘Where is the dirt?’ and ‘Practice and rituals’. The findings demonstrate that dirt and germs present in hospitals represent a higher risk than those in the home. Healthcare workers can take measures to mitigate this risk; however, on leaving the workplace perception of self does not change significantly until they arrive home. At this point a transition occurs; they now recognise the risk they may pose and practices and rituals are required in order to protect the home . The findings demonstrate the multifaceted nature of infection prevention beliefs and behaviours. Behaviour is influenced by knowledge, belief systems and the circumstances of the situation. People see themselves positioned differently within the environment depending on the context of the risk; they can either be at risk or be the cause of the risk.

SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR

In case of dental care consumption, a very special influence will have the social factors. This influence, from the level of consumers’ behavior can be analyzed on two distinct levels – that of normatives impose by the social organization particular for the community that the individual live and that of the influences of the social groups that individual are interacting with. Dental healthcare services consumption is conditioned at the level of consumption motivations by complex needs which are not confined only to the physiological needs of removing pain caused by a certain dental condition, but are going towards the need of self-image improvement, increasing the appreciation offered by the others group members, the congruence with other consumers decisions within the group (family members, friends, colleagues etc). It is important to note in this context the fact that the influence exerted by consumers exogenous factors (external influences in which we can integrate those from the social groups also) will be combined with the one exerted by endogenous factors (personality, learning process, perceptions, attitudes, motivations etc), representing a continuum that shape consumers and allows in the same time the society shaping by them. The present article proposes a research conducted on dental healthcare services consumers. Results revealed the importance that a series of variables like the importance given to image in the workplace, family, friends and colleagues perception towards dental aesthetic, social class has in the context of consumer behavior. It is also noted that the influence of variables is mediated by the importance given to self-image, dental healthcare services consumption being determined by complex needs, consumption motivations being physiological – specific to some medical conditions and psychological – aesthetic or induced by the pressure corresponding to the need to comply with social norms.

Self-reported workplace perception as indicators of work anxieties.

Work anxiety is a potentially disabling mental health problem, which can cause (long-term) sickness absence. In many cases patients do not openly report their anxieties and tend to give externalizing explanations of inner problems. Therefore people with work anxiety may perceive their workplace more negatively than those without such anxiety. To investigate the relation between subjective work description and work anxiety. Work anxiety was investigated with a standardized interview in a sample of employed psychosomatic rehabilitation inpatients suffering from common mental disorders. We assessed their subjective perception and evaluation of workplace conditions with the 'Short Questionnaire for Job Analysis' (KFZA) and compared their results with those from a sample of employees in the general population. There were 148 inpatient participants and 8015 general population controls. Patients with work anxiety described their workplace significantly more negatively than patients without work anxiety and employees in the general population, with no differences in workplace descriptions between psychosomatic patients without work anxiety and the general population sample. The type of complaint about work conditions was related to the specific type of work anxiety. Reports about workplace burdens can be indicative of work anxiety and should prompt further in-depth assessments. The content of complaints about work conditions may point to the type of underlying work anxiety.

Workplace Perception and Attitude Towards People Living with HIV/AIDS of Persons in Senior Administrative Positions in Public Universities in Nigeria

Persons in senior administrative positions (SAP) in public universities are an important segment of the workforce, which could play an important role in the control of HIV/AIDS through their impact on the attitude to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) both within and outside the university community. However, there is a gross dearth of information on their perception of HIV/AIDS and the corresponding attitude to PLWHA. This is unlike the profusion of data on the perception of students in tertiary institutions of higher learning. The objective of this study was thus to determine the level of awareness and perception of HIV/AIDS, and the workplace attitude to PLWHA, of persons in SAP in public universities and the association with the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. A self-administered questionnaire, ‘Awareness and Attitude towards PLWHA scale’ was used to elicit responses from 250 persons, representing 91.6% of those eligible, in a cross-sectional survey of Deans of Faculties, Directors and Heads of Departments in two public universities in Edo State, Nigeria. Mean scores and mean percentage responses were compared between groups using Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA. The level of significance was set at P <0.05. The mean (standard deviation, SD) of Respondents with correct answers to the questions on perception was 72.7 (12.8)% on perception of the nature of HIV/AIDS, 45.1 (38.6)% on transmission, 90.9 (7.4)% on diagnosis and 85.8 (10.8)% on perception of its prevention (P = 0.034). The mean (SD) of the responses on general attitude was 96.8 (2.9)% and that on workplace attitude 85.2 (7.5)% (P = 0.036). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean overall scores on perception and attitude in relation to age, gender and religion. We conclude that the perception of HIV/AIDS and workplace attitude to PLWHA among persons in SAP in public universities in Nigeria are quite favourable, except in relation to the transmission of infection. We also conclude that the perception is unrelated to the demographic factors of age, gender and religion. These findings are relevant to the development of HIV/AIDS control messages, particularly those targeted at the reduction of stigmatization and discrimination, important attitudinal problems fueling the transmission of HIV/AIDS in resource-poor countries.

Modeling employees' perceptions and proportional preferences of work locations: the regular workplace and telecommuting alternatives

This paper develops measures of job and workplace perceptions, and examines the importance of those and other measures to the desired proportions of work time at each of three locations: regular workplace, home, and telecommuting center. Using data from 188 participants in the Neighborhood Telecenters Project, four job context perception factors were identified: productivity, job satisfaction, supervisor relationship, and co-worker interaction. Four generic workplace perception factors were identified (with measures for each of the work locations of interest): personal benefits, work effectiveness, autonomy, and supervisor comfort. A multinomial logit model of the desired work time allocation found the generic variables job suitability, personal benefits, and work effectiveness to be significant and positively related to greater desired proportions of time at the associated location. These variables capture the major elements previously hypothesized to influence telecommuting preference (including work, family, independence, and commute stress reduction drives as well as manager and job suitability constraints) in a parsimonious fashion. The model explained 55% of the theoretical maximum amount of information in the data, and did not violate the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) assumption.