HelpWave: an integrated web centred system

In developed societies populations are aging. Facing the global slump states are reducing expenses bringing crisis to health care systems. Solutions to decrease costs are needed. Within ICT, smartphones’ features can help provide personalised health and care services that meet individual needs. There is a huge rise of applications that effectively help people but they act independently, each one for a certain purpose. In this paper we propose the HelpWave system, a cloud-centred architecture information system that integrates data from the users’ smartphones APPs. Conceived as a social care network its aim is to reinforce connection between caregivers and carereceiver as for instance, older people

Working conditions, work-life conflict and wellbeing in UK prison officers: the role of affective rumination and detachment

Although prison officers experience the working conditions associated with work-life conflict, little research has explored this issue. This study draws upon the work-home resources model (ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012) to investigate relationships between working conditions (demands and experiences of aggression) and time-based, strain-based and behavior-based work-life conflict in UK prison officers (n = 1,682). Associations between working conditions, work-life conflict, and emotional exhaustion were also examined. Two recovery behaviors (affective rumination and detachment) were considered as potential moderators of associations between working conditions and emotional exhaustion. High levels of all work-life conflict dimensions were found which were related to working conditions and emotional exhaustion. Some evidence was found that higher rumination and lower detachment exacerbated the positive association between both job demands and aggression and emotional exhaustion. The implications of the findings for the wellbeing and professional functioning of prison officers are discussed, together with key areas for future research

Oceans apart: work-life boundaries and the effects of an oversupply of segmentation

Employment trends see work and personal life domains becoming both more integrated (e.g., flexible working) and more segmented (e.g., global careers). Trends toward more extreme segmentation or integration may lead to a greater risk of misfit between employee preferences for and organizational supplies of integration/segmentation. This paper investigates the impact of organizational fit and misfit within a highly segmented occupational context: offshore work. With lengthy rotations away from home, followed by long periods away from work, limited inter-role communications and reduced day-to-day transitions between work and non-work roles, offshore work offers a segmented work-life interface. Fit and misfit of integration-segmentation preferences with perceptions of organizational integration-segmentation supply were examined among offshore employees, as well as their counterparts working traditional, office-based schedules. Using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, the impact of fit and misfit on work-life conflict, enrichment and organizational commitment was assessed. The data show that misfit resulting from an oversupply of segmentation may result in behavioral work-to-life conflict, associated with the reduced number of transitions between work and home roles, strain-based conflict, and a reduced transfer of resources from work to home resulting in less developmental work-life enrichment and organizational commitment. These findings contribute to existing literature by identifying the impact of misfit resulting from segmentation oversupply on individual and organizational outcomes, emphasizing the need for HR practitioners to recognize the potential for and impact of different forms of misfit within the changing landscape of their own organizational environments

A cross-national study on the antecedents of work–life balance from the fit and balance perspective

Drawing on the perceived work–family fit and balance perspective, this study investigates demands and resources as antecedents of work–life balance (WLB) across four countries (New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain), so as to provide empirical cross-national evidence. Using structural equation modelling analysis on a sample of 870 full time employees, we found that work demands, hours worked and family demands were negatively related to WLB, while job autonomy and supervisor support were positively related to WLB. We also found evidence that resources (job autonomy and supervisor support) moderated the relationships between demands and work–life balance, with high resources consistently buffering any detrimental influence of demands on WLB. Furthermore, our study identified additional predictors of WLB that were unique to some national contexts. For example, in France and Italy, overtime hours worked were negatively associated with WLB, while parental status was positively associated with WLB. Overall, the implications for theory and practice are discussed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Work-life balance in the police: the development of a self-management competency framework

Purpose Addressing a gap in the current work–life balance (WLB) literature regarding individual-focused approaches to inform interventions, we elicited behaviors used to self-manage WLB to draw up a competency-based WLB framework for relevant learnable knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs; Hoffmann, Eur J Ind Train 23:275–285, 1999) and mapping this against extant WLB frameworks. Design/Methodology/Approach Our participants were from a major UK police force, which faces particular challenges to the work–life interface through job demands and organizational cutbacks, covering a range of operational job roles, including uniformed officers and civilian staff. We took a mixed methods approach starting with semi-structured interviews to elicit 134 distinct behaviors (n = 20) and used a subsequent card sort task (n = 10) to group these into categories into 12 behavioral themes; and finally undertook an online survey (n = 356) for an initial validation. Findings Item and content analysis reduced the behaviors to 58, which we analyzed further. A framework of eight competencies fits the data best; covering a range of strategies, including Boundary Management, Managing Flexibility, and Managing Expectations. Implications The WLB self-management KSAs elicited consist of a range of solution-focused behaviors and strategies, which could inform future WLB-focused interventions, showing how individuals may negotiate borders effectively in a specific environment. Originality/Value A competence-based approach to WLB self-management is new, and may extend existing frameworks such as Border Theory, highlighting a proactive and solution-focused element of effective behaviors

National-level family policies and the access to schedule control in a European comparative perspective: crowding out or in, and for whom?

This paper examines national-level family policies in a comparative perspective, to see whether they ‘crowd out’ company-level family-friendly policies, namely schedule control. Further, it examines whether this relationship varies for different types of family policies, and for different groups of workers – i.e. distinguished by gender, parenthood status and skill divisions. The paper uses data from 27 European countries in 2010, and applies multilevel random slopes models with cross-level interaction terms. Results show that generous national-level family policies, in particular work-facilitating policies, ‘crowd in’ company-level schedule control provisions, especially for high-skilled workers. However, very generous leaves seem to crowdout schedule control provision

The effect of work–family conflict on emotional exhaustion and job performance among service workers: the cross–level moderating effects of organizational reward and caring.

[[abstract]]This study reports on the relationships among work–family conflict (WFC), family–work conflict (FWC), emotional exhaustion and task performance of service workers. We also consider the cross-level moderating effects of organizational reward and caring on these relationships. To avoid common method variance, this study collects data from multiple levels, sources and time points. Data were collected from 238 service worker–manager pairs from 33 hotels at two different time points. The results of hierarchical linear modeling show that WFC positively relates to emotional exhaustion. In addition, organization’s caring reduces the influences of WFC on emotional exhaustion. Moreover, organization’s caring attenuates the negative effects of FWC on job performance. These findings have several implications for both future research and practitioners.[[notice]]補正完

Antecedents and Outcomes of Managing Diversity in a UK Context: Test of a Mediation Model

Extant research on diversity management has primarily examined the main effects of diversity management practices on outcomes from an organizational perspective. Meta-analysis in this field corroborates the conclusion that this approach is unable to account for the outcomes of diversity management effectively. The current study extends the literature by examining organizational antecedents of diversity management practices (DMP). This study also examines the mediating influences of perception of overall justice (POJ) and social exchange with organization (SEWO) on the relationships between DMP and work outcomes of career satisfaction and turnover intention. Results of data obtained from a cross section of 191 minority employees in UK revealed: (i) the reasons why organisations adopted and implemented DMP influenced employees’ outcomes of turnover intention and career satisfaction; (ii) the relationship between diversity management and social exchange with organization is mediated by perception of overall justice; (iii) social exchange with organization relates to increased career satisfaction; and (iv) DMP related positively to career satisfaction through perception of overall justice and SEWO

Work characteristics and determinants of job satisfaction in four age groups: university employees’ point of view

Contains fulltext : 79843.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)PURPOSE: To investigate (a) differences in work characteristics and (b) determinants of job satisfaction among employees in different age groups. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire was filled in by 1,112 university employees, classified into four age groups. (a) Work characteristics were analysed with ANOVA while adjusting for sex and job classification. (b) Job satisfaction was regressed against job demands and job resources adapted from the Job Demands-Resources model. Results : Statistically significant differences concerning work characteristics between age groups are present, but rather small. Regression analyses revealed that negative association of the job demands workload and conflicts at work with job satisfaction faded by adding job resources. Job resources were most correlated with more job satisfaction, especially more skill discretion and more relations with colleagues. CONCLUSIONS: Skill discretion and relations with colleagues are major determinants of job satisfaction. However, attention should also be given to conflicts at work, support from supervisor and opportunities for further education, because the mean scores of these work characteristics were disappointing in almost all age groups. The latter two characteristics were found to be associated significantly to job satisfaction in older workers