Uncertainty and Well-Being amongst Homeworkers in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of University Staff

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened uncertainties in people’s lives—and was itself a source of fresh uncertainty. We report a study of homeworkers on whether such uncertainties, and particularly those related to their work environment, are associated with lower levels of well-being and whether this association is exacerbated by prior poor well-being. We focus on five uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and employment—the virus, the job quality, workload, logistics of work lives, and support from the employer. Our empirical tests show that uncertainties around the virus, employer support, and their job quality have the strongest negative associations with well-being. These are based on data collected over three time periods in the first year of the pandemic from a sample of university staff (academics and non-academics) and well-being is measured on two continua, anxiety–contentment and depression–enthusiasm. The effects of uncertainties around workload and logistics are less pronounced, but more apparent among employees with better (not poorer) past well-being, at various times of the recession. The study adds to our understanding of the pandemic and highlights the need to link uncertainty to mental health more than it has in the past

Variability in the use of mobile ICTs by homeworkers and its consequences for boundary management and social isolation

We examine how the use of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs) among self-employed homeworkers affects their experience of work, focusing particularly on where work is carried out, how the work/non-work boundary is managed, and people's experiences of social and professional isolation. Positively, their use enhanced people's sense of spatio-temporal freedom by allowing them to leave the home without compromising their work availability. This also helped reduce people's feelings of social isolation. More negatively, their use enhanced people's sense of 'perpetual contact', creating a sense that work was difficult to escape from. However, the extent to which mobile ICTs were used, and the extent to which their impact on people's experiences of work were understood, were found to vary significantly, highlighting the agency that users have with regard to technology use. The findings are framed by combining Nippert-Eng's boundary work theory, with an 'emergent process' perspective on socio-technical relations

Homeworking, Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Diary Study

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-06-29, pub-electronic 2021-07-16Publication status: PublishedFunder: Economic and Social Research Council; Grant(s): xxxxxAs a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments encouraged or mandated homeworking wherever possible. This study examines the impact of this public health initiative on homeworkers’ well-being. It explores if the general factors such as job autonomy, demands, social support and work–nonwork conflict, which under normal circumstances are crucial for employees’ well-being, are outweighed by factors specific to homeworking and the pandemic as predictors of well-being. Using data from four-week diary studies conducted at two time periods in 2020 involving university employees in the UK, we assessed five factors that may be associated with their well-being: job characteristics, the work–home interface, home location, the enforced nature of the homeworking, and the pandemic context. Multi-level analysis confirms the relationship between four of the five factors and variability in within-person well-being, the exception being variables connected to the enforced homeworking. The results are very similar in both waves. A smaller set of variables explained between-person variability: psychological detachment, loneliness and job insecurity in both periods. Well-being was lower in the second than the first wave, as loneliness increased and the ability to detach from work declined. The findings highlight downsides of homeworking, will be relevant for employees’ and employers’ decisions about working arrangements post-pandemic, and contribute to the debate about the limits of employee well-being models centred on job characteristics

Variability in the use of mobile ICTs by homeworkers and its consequences for boundary management and social isolation

We examine how the use of mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs) among self-employed homeworkers affects their experience of work, focusing particularly on where work is carried out, how the work/non-work boundary is managed, and people's experiences of social and professional isolation. Positively, their use enhanced people's sense of spatio-temporal freedom by allowing them to leave the home without compromising their work availability. This also helped reduce people's feelings of social isolation. More negatively, their use enhanced people's sense of 'perpetual contact', creating a sense that work was difficult to escape from. However, the extent to which mobile ICTs were used, and the extent to which their impact on people's experiences of work were understood, were found to vary significantly, highlighting the agency that users have with regard to technology use. The findings are framed by combining Nippert-Eng's boundary work theory, with an 'emergent process' perspective on socio-technical relations

Changing moods and influencing people: The use and effects of emotional influence behaviours at HMP Grendon

This paper concerns a research study conducted at HMP Grendon examining the behaviours used by staff members and prisoners to influence each others’ moods, referred to as emotional influence strategies. The use of emotional influence has been reported in other contexts (e.g., hospitals, support groups), and may have important outcomes including well-being and relationship qualities. This research provides the first investigation of emotional influence in a prison context, and regards the occurrence and effects of a set of specific emotional influence strategies. The current paper introduces the concept of emotional influence and highlights its relevance to the prison environment. The study is then briefly outlined, and some key findings are detailed. Potential implications of emotional influence in prisons such as HMP Grendon are outlined, in terms of interpersonal stressors, mutual caregiving, and building and maintaining positive working and therapeutic relationships. Future directions in terms of research and practical interventions are also discussed

Affect regulation and well-being in the workplace: An interpersonal perspective

During and outside of work, the ways in which people manage their own and others’ emotions and moods can impact on their own and others’ well-being. For example, in relation to managing one’s own affect, constantly having to present a happy face towards customers can result in emotional exhaustion, particularly if this expression of emotion is not consistent with one’s internal affective state. Likewise, with respect to managing others’ affect, if a team member were to joke with a colleague who was feeling anxious about an upcoming deadline, this could reduce the tension experienced by the colleague, and also make the team member feel better. Over the last 25 years, there has been a great deal of research regarding the management of one’s own affect. However, research concerning the management of other people’s affect is still in its infancy. It is important to recognise the interpersonal aspects of affect regulation, for both theoretical and practical reasons. Theoretically, researchers interested in emotions are increasingly suggesting that emotions are social in nature, with interpersonal functions such as communication (e.g., Leach & Tiedens, 2004; Manstead, 1991; Mowday & Sutton, 1993; Parkinson, Fischer & Manstead, 2005). Practically, it is evermore important to understand relationships in the workplace, owing to the changing nature of work (e.g., the rise in service jobs) and the changing structure of organisations (e.g., increases in team working). As Barsade, Brief and Spataro (2003) put it, “the workplace is comprised of many people working together, and it is very helpful to understand how the social aspects of affect influence work life” (p. 19). In this chapter we seek to integrate the available literature on the effects of both intra- and interpersonal affect regulation processes on well-being at work. We discuss evidence for links between both types of affect regulation and well-being in organisational contexts, and suggest possible mechanisms for these effects

A longitudinal impact evaluation of health and safety management in the National Health Service

The research aim was to evaluate whether it is possible to reliably measure change in health and safety performance when a formal health and safety intervention is introduced to the UK healthcare sector.  The research methodology and design was informed by a review of relevant literature.  Field study data was generated using a six-point design.  This included: use of a before-and-after (longitudinal) design, use of comparison groups; use of an intervention that was of interest to participating NHS Trusts, use of a participative style which involved the participating Trusts; use of multiple measurement methods and multiple indicators of effectiveness. Seven NHS Trusts participated; two of which were a control group.  The intervention was health and safety management workbook, introduced only to the test group.  Evaluation of the impact of the workbook on health and safety performance involved two identical phases, the second approximately twelve months after the first.  Each phase consisted of a staff opinion questionnaire survey, based on previously validated work; and a new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) methodology involving management root cause analysis plus cost estimations of incident data. There was wide variation in the numbers of incidents reported within each Trust, although the mean difference between phases was not significant (P<0.1).  There was no significant difference between the test and control Trusts (P=0.05).  Incident rates were in broad agreement with official HSC data, so far as fatal/major injury rates wee concerned, although there was less agreement for minor incidents. These results suggested that Trust reporting culture may be linked to overall reporting rates but that captured incidents, (which met the project inclusion criteria and therefore represented more serious incidents), were independent of reporting rate, size and type of Trust.  The use of incident reporting rates as benchmarking indicators should therefore be used with caution until further work can be carried out to clarify the nature and scope of their limitations.  There is also a need to clarify to relationship between major and minor incidents and whether they share similar root causes.  This would help to establish whether recording only the more serious incidents with selective root cause analysis would be more cost effective than the processing and analysis of large numbers of incident reports.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo