Workplace Perspective Research Articles

Employee Engagement With Corporate-Based Health and Wellness Programs: A Multiple Regression Analysis

Organizations for decades have offered a myriad of health benefit options designed to engage employees in their own personal health. These programs have been aimed at supporting a healthier workforce in hopes that, a healthy workforce would also equate to a more productive and engaged workforce. As a result, organizations have developed a myriad of choices that employees can choose from to enhance their personal health (i.e., wellness programs, assistance counseling, health risk assessments, etc.). From a workplace perspective, research in the Human Resource Development (HRD) field, as well as related disciplines, have started to explore connections between work and health. Despite emerging research on work and the working experience, organizationally focused health and wellness offerings have been historically absent from most models of work in HRD. The purpose of this research was to examine how work and the working experience influenced employee decision points around personal levels of health engagement. Using two multiple regression models with data from 206 participants working at a Fortune 500 global logistics company, we explored the linkage between work, health, and employee agency in participating in corporate wellness programs. Through our work, we contribute to traditional engagement theory as well as an emerging framework in HRD— Work Determinants of Health (WDOH)—and provide practical suggestions for how leaders could prioritize employee wellness and health engagement within their organization.

Twelve tips for final year medical students undertaking clinical assessment

Background Clinical assessors in pre-registration examinations have been shown to make decisions about student performance by drawing on two overlapping, yet slightly different perspectives: achieving academic learning outcomes, and contributing to clinical workplace function. The implication for senior medical students is that they should be aware that in ‘final’ clinical assessments they may be judged from both academic and workplace perspectives, where the emphasis may be on how well the candidate would fit into a clinical team, demonstrating reliability, trustworthiness, teachability and ‘safety’. Methods This article presents 12 tips for how senior medical students may demonstrate progress towards achieving ‘work readiness’, and so improve performance in assessments close to graduation. Results Clinical assessors may include judgment of how well the candidate might work as a junior member of a clinical team, particularly when candidates perform at the borderline level and where assessors are more experienced. This judgment is based on an impression of the student’s demonstration of reliability, trustworthiness, patient safety and teachability. While the underpinning theory was explored in final OSCEs, the suggestions may also be relevant to workplace-based clinical learning and assessment. Conclusions Senior medical students should prepare for clinical assessments that will consider more than essential knowledge and skills.

The Effect of Work Environment on Employee Productivity: A Case Study of Manufacturing Company

The work environment plays an important role in employee productivity. Due to the work environment is a set of relationships that exist between employees and the environment where they work. In addition, we can see that most of the common problems that affect the work environment and productivity of employees in manufacturing companies in Batu Pahat is that the workplace perspective of most companies is unhealthy and dangerous. Therefore, this study focuses on the effect of the work environment on employee productivity in a Batu Pahat manufacturing company. In this study, the researcher aims to identify the effect of the work environment on employee productivity in a Batu Pahat manufacturing company. Quantitative methods are used in this research. Questionnaires were distributed to 384 respondents in manufacturing companies in Batu Pahat. The response rate was 70.31% and data was collected and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results of the descriptive analysis show that working conditions are the main effect of employee productivity in manufacturing companies in Batu Pahat. The physical work environment, working conditions and workplace layout have a significant relationship between employee productivity. This research will help research to know more about the effects of the work environment. This finding may be a reference for companies in manufacturing to know the work environment that can affect employee productivity.

Examining the Impact of Technology Overload at the Workplace: A Systematic Review

Information and communication technologies have changed and created a ubiquitous work environment for employees to work at any place and at any time. But it also caused technology overload for them. This study aims to evaluate the previously published literature to examine the effects of technology overload in the workplace. This systematic literature review employed a qualitative research design and reviewed articles on technology overload from the workplace perspective. N-Vivo, a qualitative software, was used to create and analyze codes and themes. This study looked at factors that create technology overload such as interruption overload, work-life conflict/work-family conflict, stress, social network service addiction/email addiction, social overload, and lost productivity. This study also established the challenges that knowledge workers/employees have to face at the workplace. Results indicate that self-efficacy, training, and time management are the key strategies to overcome technology overload. This study would contribute to the literature by examining the technology overload in the workplace. It will increase the employees’ awareness of strategies to overcome technology overload. It reviewed only empirical studies published about technology overload from the employees’ perspective. Future research may be conducted focusing on the employers’ perspective regarding technology overload. It has implications for the administration of the workplace to conduct training for the employees before the implementation of new technology. Organizations should establish laws for timings after work hours and disconnection from the internet at home to reduce technology overload.

A new hope: A holistic framework for understanding workplace experience

This paper introduces a novel conceptual framework to holistically consider workplace and its intrinsic organisational value. The framework recognises ‘workplace’ as a polyseme, a single word that has multiple associated meanings, and embraces (rather than refutes) its plural spatial, technological and cultural interpretations, alongside interrelated business impacts. To substantiate the framework, this paper reprises and synthesises seminal workplace-related models, including Trist and Bamforth’s ‘sociotechnical systems’ and Becker and Steele’s ‘workplace ecosystem’, among others. Consequently, this paper explores how the framework provides a new opportunity to consider ‘workplace experience’, and offers an ontology to substantively understand, evaluate and potentially even benchmark workplace experience holistically, for diverse and distributed organisational workplaces, making its utility both work location and sector agnostic. The framework therefore not only broadens the scope for workplace insights and decision making, but it also offers a basis from which to critique other assertions or claims of truth about workplace and workplace experience. While the immediate audience for this paper — readers of this journal — will most likely be invested in physical workplace elements first and foremost, the framework promotes collaborative opportunities through wider appreciation and understanding of different workplace perspectives, as well as their interconnectedness and interdependencies. The paper concludes with suggested opportunities and further areas for research and development.

Robotic devices and ICT in long-term care in Japan: Their potential and limitations from a workplace perspective

ABSTRACT In light of its rapidly aging society, Japan is pressured to full-heartedly address the labor shortage in long-term care. Among the various policy options currently in discussion, government agencies and business sector representatives agree that robotic devices and information and communication technology (ICT) constitute a suitable countermeasure. However, during our research in Japan in 2019, we found that robotic devices and ICT are only reluctantly being introduced into long-term care facilities. Based on our field visits and interviews as well as supplementary document research, this paper discusses the potential that facility managers ascribe to robotic devices and ICT when it comes to alleviating the labor shortage in the long-term care institutions they run. Of particular interest is the question to what degree the usage of robotic devices and ICT could reduce the physical hardships and mental stress that staff in long-term caregiving experience. This paper will further our understanding of the labor situation in long-term care facilities and contribute to the research field of robotic devices and ICT in Japan’s labor market.

Chronic Illness Management: Indian Workplace Perspective

The present study aims to understand the perspectives of the employer representatives in Indian organizations about the management of chronic illnesses and the resultant disability. Legislative framework and Government of India initiatives were also visited upon to understand the environment prevailing for the Indian organizations in the context of employment of people with chronic illnesses. Qualitative research methodology of thematic analysis was preferred to capture various concerns and challenges faced by employer representatives in employing and maintaining employment of individuals with chronic illness and resultant disability. A total of 20 employer representatives were contacted, out of which 12 agreed to participate. The findings suggest that though visible disability has begun to be acknowledged and embraced in Indian organizations, the invisible and episodic disability caused by various chronic illnesses is still struggling to gather enough accommodation as a distinct diversity group in Indian organizations.

Norwegian physiotherapy teachers’ experience from working in a partnership project in Sudan - A case study approach

ABSTRACT Introduction and Aims: Professionals working abroad as part of a partnership program is a central act of internationalization among higher education institutions. Little research has been carried out on this topic. The goal of this study was, therefore, to explore, describe and discuss the workplace learning factors – especially cultural factors – influencing Norwegian physiotherapy teachers, working in an international partnership project at a women’s university in Sudan. Methods: The study had a qualitative case-study design, intended to provide an in-depth understanding of workplace learning processes. We used a multifaceted approach which included individual interviews and document analyses. Results: We identified individual, social and institutional factors that influenced workplace learning. Culture is decisive at all levels, and knowledge, skills and attitudes are culturally situated. The Norwegian teachers’ learning was found to be dependent on both internal and external factors and the pre- and post-project periods. Conclusion: This study shows that a workplace perspective on the experience of Norwegian physiotherapy teachers gives us a better understanding of the important factors, associated with such a project. Working abroad not only requires preparation on the part of the sending and host institution but also from the person working abroad (prior to, during and after the stay abroad) if workplace learning is to occur.

Knowledge, Attitude, Risk and Fear Assessment of Health Professionals towards Covid-19 in Perspective of Workplace, Local and National Policy

Background: Health professionals, the frontline fighters, are under high risk of being infected with a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Many health workers in the world, including Nepal, have lost their lives in fighting with COVID-19. Thus, we assessed the knowledge, attitude, risk, and fear among health professionals towards COVID-19 and evaluated their satisfaction with local and governmental policies of Nepal. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study included 150 (male-44% and female-56%) health professionals with mean age 26.14±6.092 years working at Chitwan Medical College, Nepal. The questionnaire included 40 statements having four categories to assess 1) the participant’s knowledge about COVID-19, 2) the risk and attitude, 3) their fears, and 4) stake holder’s role in encouraging health professionals to allay their fears and avert negative attitudes.

Gender, Power and Privilege in the Parliamentary Workplace

AbstractThis introduction to the Special Section ‘Parliaments as workplaces: gendered approaches to the study of legislatures’ makes the case for revisiting the conditions under which male and female Members of Parliament (MPs) and staff carry out their parliamentary duties, thereby furthering the understanding of parliaments’ inner workings. It shows that adopting a workplace perspective grounded on feminist institutionalist analyses and gender organisational studies opens up new avenues for studying parliaments and the outcomes of political representation. The article then outlines how contributors to this Special Section deal with various aspects of the parliamentary workplace and concludes by highlighting the wider implications of this perspective for examining crucial questions of the parliamentary studies research agenda.

Embitterment: The Nature of the Construct and Critical Issues in the Light of COVID-19.

Embitterment is a construct that is vast and complex and may be seen in a variety of conditions and circumstances. The following paper reviews the construct of embitterment and tries to explain the concept from a psychological perspective. It also looks at the role of embitterment in the genesis of psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, while focusing on the nature and factors needed to make a diagnosis of Posttraumatic Embitterment Disorder. Situations due to the current pandemic where embitterment may develop are discussed and this is coupled with a need to manage embitterment when it develops, as it may progress to a chronic condition where its effects may be both physical and psychological. Embitterment and its management from a psychotherapy standpoint is also discussed and the same is done from a workplace perspective.

High Touch Surface COVID-19 Cleaning and Disinfecting: Workforce Health and Safety Preparation

This paper reviews the current accepted practice for high touch surface cleaning and disinfection to kill surface COVID-19 virus such that transmission risks are lowered. Surface cleaning and disinfecting is considered from a workplace perspective, in a non-healthcare setting, and an outline of a worker training program is developed to align with the noted best practices. The program overview presented is based on a competency-based framework and designed in a way such that it can be customised to required environmental circumstances. A practical health and safety training program application is outlined, showcasing adaptation in vocational education and training sector to a current context.

Multiracial Feminism: An Intersectional Approach to Examining Female Officers’ Occupational Barriers in Federal Law Enforcement

There has been a rise in scholarship targeting women’s experiences in federal law enforcement. Missing, however, are the women of color, as all previous studies capture women as a homogeneous group without regard to race/ethnicity. Using a combined survey dataset from sworn female officers (n = 1,189) employed by two federal law enforcement agencies, this article employs multiracial feminism as a framework to differentiate women’s experiences in the workplace and provides an exploratory analysis of occupational barriers utilizing an intersectional approach to race and gender. Specifically, this study employs an independent-samples t-test to explore the responses between White women and minority women, as well as each minority racial/ethnic group. The findings suggest women of color collectively, as well as individual minority racial/ethnic groups, have varying workplace experiences and perspectives in comparison to White women, especially in response to a perceived glass ceiling to promotions, an inclusive work culture, and experiencing sex discrimination.

Conflict De-Escalation: Workplace Training

This paper considers the use of de-escalation techniques to manage aggressive behaviours such as challenging behaviours, behaviours of concern, verbal abuse, threats and threatening behaviours, and physical assault from a workplace perspective. The techniques are presented as training requirements for a program to develop competency and confidence in de-escalation practices. Training in this area should cover a range of performance and knowledge requirements inclusive of sources of anger and aggression and how they can lead to violence, undertaking situational risk assessment, use of de-escalation techniques, and self-care.

Mining 4.0\u2014the Impact of New Technology from a Work Place Perspective

Industry 4.0 offers new possibilities to combine increased productivity with stimulating workplaces in a good work environment. Used correctly, digitalization can create attractive jobs in safe control room environments, which provide space for the employee’s full expertise and creativity. This is true also for the mining industry. But, to succeed, it is important to analyze the development from a worker’s perspective. What will happen to their work? What skills will be needed in the mine of tomorrow? We must also consider the risks, such as privacy issues, increased stress, and work-life boundaries. These questions must be understood if we are to create workplaces that can attract a young and diverse workforce to tomorrow’s mining industry. In this article, we try to illustrate what the new technology can mean for the individual miners. We formulate the notion of Mining 4.0 (Industry 4.0 in the mining industry), where we try to create an image of how the future might look from a miner’s perspective and how mining companies may navigate their way to a future that works for all miners. To illustrate the range of possible outcomes, we formulate two scenarios: one utopian and one dystopic. At the end of our article, we bring forward six recommendations that can be considered a beginning of a road map for the human side of Mining 4.0.

Managing change to a zero-carbon economy in Europe

12 | International Union Rights | 26/4 FOCUS | CLIMATE CHANGE & TRADE UNIONS Managing change to a zero-carbon economy in Europe Both climate change mitigation and adaptation to a warming world are now primary policy objectives. For mitigation, the objective is to get to a net-zero carbon economy in the second half of this century at global level and by 2050 for developed economies. A carbon neutral European Union by 2050 is now the official target of the European Commission with the flagship initiative of the European Green Deal to implement it. To achieve these objectives a fundamental revision of our production and consumption model is necessary with far-reaching distributional effects and with a massive impact on the world of work. Managing this epochal transformation in a socially balanced way is key to its success. The concept of just transition, a longterm trade union demand has now become an integral part of a complex climate policy framework. It should not remain an abstract concept however, but a real practice in real societies and workplaces. This article focuses on the role of trade unions, their approaches and practices to put `just transition` into practice under real life circumstances. The historical capital-labour deal According to the critical environmentalist approach the historical basis for the social reconciliation between capital and labour emerged on the basis of a (partial) redistribution of the wealth established through ever increasing material flows and the depletion of natural resources1. Environmental movements have often criticised trade unions of defending jobs at any cost to nature2. Labour and capital were thus perceived as two sides of an (unsustainable) modern industrial capitalist production model. An emerging body of literature distinguishes between ‘business’ and ‘social’ unionism, where the latter goes beyond the workplace perspective and the membership focus and embraces wider issues3. Does this mean that trade unions are ‘locked into the traditional capital-labour deal’ and would struggle to develop new strategies for moving beyond the established production model? It is true that the constituency of trade unions (employees) as consumers is an integral part of the capitalist production-consumption model. At the same time, trade unions as longstanding opponents of capital are, precisely, in a position to address the exploitative logic of capital not just towards labour but also in context of natural resources. Indeed, viewed in historical perspective, trade unions have long realised that a consistent defence of their members’ interests demands a long-term struggle for a social and political context at national and international levels that is favourable to the wellbeing of people and society as a whole and took up broader ‘civil issues’ such as rights of women and vulnerable groups in society, environmental protection and sustainable development. Trade unions have also shown readiness to expand their scope and to recognise the limits of material and resource exploitation. Environmental issues have become a major topic for trade unions, and they often argued for a rebalancing of market- and capital-based approaches through consideration of social and environmental aspects. Managing change Another prejudice often applied to trade unions in the past was that they were predominantly interested in preserving the status quo. However, not least because of the structural pressures induced by globalisation and technological change in recent decades, trade unions (together with works councils) have become important agents in the management of change. In this role they learned to manage change in society or at the workplace, where change was driven by the profit motive of capital. In these cases (like downsizing, flexibilisation or relocations), they also rightly questioned the legitimacy of the change and at least one way of fending off its effects on employees was also to try to keep the change itself at bay. Decarbonisation is a commonly shared objective in the interest of humanity. At the same time meeting this objective poses a huge challenge on the world of work and workplace level employment transitions appear within the framework of the traditional capital-labour nexus. These transitions often result in similar patterns of reorganisation of work that had been the case in business restructuring cases, which trade unions were fighting against. There is thus an apparent contradiction between the main competence...

Managing change to a zero-carbon economy in Europe

12 | International Union Rights | 26/4 FOCUS | CLIMATE CHANGE & TRADE UNIONS Managing change to a zero-carbon economy in Europe Both climate change mitigation and adaptation to a warming world are now primary policy objectives. For mitigation, the objective is to get to a net-zero carbon economy in the second half of this century at global level and by 2050 for developed economies. A carbon neutral European Union by 2050 is now the official target of the European Commission with the flagship initiative of the European Green Deal to implement it. To achieve these objectives a fundamental revision of our production and consumption model is necessary with far-reaching distributional effects and with a massive impact on the world of work. Managing this epochal transformation in a socially balanced way is key to its success. The concept of just transition, a longterm trade union demand has now become an integral part of a complex climate policy framework. It should not remain an abstract concept however, but a real practice in real societies and workplaces. This article focuses on the role of trade unions, their approaches and practices to put `just transition` into practice under real life circumstances. The historical capital-labour deal According to the critical environmentalist approach the historical basis for the social reconciliation between capital and labour emerged on the basis of a (partial) redistribution of the wealth established through ever increasing material flows and the depletion of natural resources1. Environmental movements have often criticised trade unions of defending jobs at any cost to nature2. Labour and capital were thus perceived as two sides of an (unsustainable) modern industrial capitalist production model. An emerging body of literature distinguishes between ‘business’ and ‘social’ unionism, where the latter goes beyond the workplace perspective and the membership focus and embraces wider issues3. Does this mean that trade unions are ‘locked into the traditional capital-labour deal’ and would struggle to develop new strategies for moving beyond the established production model? It is true that the constituency of trade unions (employees) as consumers is an integral part of the capitalist production-consumption model. At the same time, trade unions as longstanding opponents of capital are, precisely, in a position to address the exploitative logic of capital not just towards labour but also in context of natural resources. Indeed, viewed in historical perspective, trade unions have long realised that a consistent defence of their members’ interests demands a long-term struggle for a social and political context at national and international levels that is favourable to the wellbeing of people and society as a whole and took up broader ‘civil issues’ such as rights of women and vulnerable groups in society, environmental protection and sustainable development. Trade unions have also shown readiness to expand their scope and to recognise the limits of material and resource exploitation. Environmental issues have become a major topic for trade unions, and they often argued for a rebalancing of market- and capital-based approaches through consideration of social and environmental aspects. Managing change Another prejudice often applied to trade unions in the past was that they were predominantly interested in preserving the status quo. However, not least because of the structural pressures induced by globalisation and technological change in recent decades, trade unions (together with works councils) have become important agents in the management of change. In this role they learned to manage change in society or at the workplace, where change was driven by the profit motive of capital. In these cases (like downsizing, flexibilisation or relocations), they also rightly questioned the legitimacy of the change and at least one way of fending off its effects on employees was also to try to keep the change itself at bay. Decarbonisation is a commonly shared objective in the interest of humanity. At the same time meeting this objective poses a huge challenge on the world of work and workplace level employment transitions appear within the framework of the traditional capital-labour nexus. These transitions often result in similar patterns of reorganisation of work that had been the case in business restructuring cases, which trade unions were fighting against. There is thus an apparent contradiction between the main competence...

Research on the Influence of Psychological Privilege in Work Situation

Privilege refers to a psychological feel right to preferential treatment, being exempt stable social responsibility and universal subjective belief or perception, in different areas can be expressed as a sense of academic privilege, the consumer a sense of privilege, the privilege workplace flu. Psychological privilege enables individuals to become narcissistic, induced interpersonal conflict, selfishness and aggression and so on. The main factors affecting the psychological privilege of individual factors contextual factors have life experience, rearing, attachment type, socioeconomic status, and other environmental organizations and self-compassion, subjective construct, egalitarian values, and so on. Future studies should further explore the psychological privileges concept and structure, expand its research methods, longitudinal studies and strengthen indigenous research and to further explore the psychological factors that may affect the privileges of the privileged and psychological ways to avoid negative consequences (or reduced). As an important element of people's social life, a psychological sense of privilege determines the individual's attitude and implementation efficiency towards social rules, corporate requirements, and work. As a result, people with high levels of psychological privilege are more resistant to being bound by rules and more difficult to manage. Individuals with low levels of psychological privilege are more likely to follow orders. At the same time, from the perspective of identity theory resources and self-regulation and another theoretical perspective of workplace, psychological privilege research is summarized and reviewed.

Understanding the Present and Future of Work in the Fissured Workplace Context

The fissuring of business structures fundamentally changes the nature of employment and work in industries and the economy as a whole. This article describes the core elements comprising fissuring, distinguishes them from the narrower concepts of contingent work and alternative work arrangements, and provides an estimate of its size. Work restructuring arising from fissuring alters wage determination inside and outside firms affected by it and provides an alternative explanation for a growing empirical literature on earnings inequality. The fissured workplace perspective requires different policies for the workplace and labor market than traditional approaches including those regarding worker rights and protections, employment responses to the business cycle, workforce education and training, and job and career mobility.

Managing Employees Undergoing Total Hip and Knee Replacement: Experiences of Workplace Representatives

Introduction There is little research on return to work (RTW) from a workplace perspective following hip and knee replacement (THR/TKR) despite employers and other workplace personnel having a key role. Our aim was to explore the experiences of individuals in the workplace in managing employees undergoing THR/TKR. Methods Employers and other workplace representatives from a cross-section of employment sectors and sizes, with experience of managing employees undergoing THR/TKR in the previous 12 months, were recruited. Interviewees included small business owners, line managers, colleagues, human resources managers and occupational health advisers. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted and data were analysed thematically. Results Twenty-five individuals were interviewed. The main themes identified were accommodating the employee, and barriers and facilitators to RTW. Accommodations included changes to the work environment, amended duties, altered hours, changed roles and colleague support. Perceived barriers and facilitators to RTW included the role of GPs and occupational health, surgical issues, characteristics of the work environment and of employees. Conclusions Employers are motivated to effect supported RTW for employees undergoing THR/TKR but have insufficient guidance. Strategies are required to signpost employers to existing RTW advice, and to develop recommendations specific to lower limb arthroplasty. Communication between medical practitioners and employers should be facilitated in order to enhance the RTW experience of individuals undergoing THR/TKR.