An effect evaluation of the psychosocial work environment of a university unit after a successfully implemented employeeship program

Purpose: This study examined whether a successful implementation of an intervention could result in an effect evaluated independently from a process evaluation. It achieved this by evaluating the effects of an intervention, the ‘employeeship program’, designed to strengthen the psychosocial work environment through raising employees’ awareness and competence in interpersonal relationships and increasing their responsibility for their everyday work and working environment. Design/methodology/approach: An employeeship intervention program was developed to improve the psychosocial work environment through reducing conflict among employees and strengthening the social community, empowering leadership, and increasing trust in management. An earlier process evaluation of the program found that it had been implemented successfully. The present effect evaluation supplemented this by examining its effect on the psychosocial work environment using two waves of the organization’s internal survey and comparing changes in the intervention unit at two points and against the rest of the organization. Findings: The intervention was effective in improving the psychosocial work environment through reducing conflicts among employees and strengthening the social community, empowering leadership, and increasing trust in management. Research limitations/implications: More attention should be paid to developing and increasing positive while simultaneously reducing negative psychosocial experiences, as this employeeship intervention demonstrated. Practical implications: An intervention focusing on employeeship is an effective way to achieve a healthier psychosocial work environment with demonstrable benefits for individuals and the working unit. Originality/value: Although organizational-level interventions are complex processes, evaluations that focus on process and effect can offer insights into the workings of successful interventions

Narratives of individual capacities: positive organizational scholarship among child welfare workers in Norway

Child welfare services across the world are often criticised for the quality of service and care that they provide. Whilst the validity of some of these criticisms is debatable, critics often neglect to take into account the intense nature and working conditions of this work, staff mental health and well-being, and the range of work-related psychosocial risks in child welfare workers’ (CWW) daily work. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore CWW work experiences and personal capacities to conduct their work. We achieve this through the lens of positive organisational scholarship and in-depth interviews with sixteen CWW in Norway. Thematic narrative analysis yielded five distinct personal capacities: showing commitment and going the extra mile, viewing challenges as opportunities for learning and growth, demonstrating confidence and efficacy beliefs, controlling work behaviours and prioritising work tasks. These personal capacities enabled CWW to perform their work despite excessive pressure and demands at work, since they serve as protective factors for their well-being and performance. Our in-depth findings highlight the utility of making more resources available for building and maintaining individual capacities to support this work group, especially when changing the nature of the work and working conditions is not feasible.publishedVersio

Impact of PhACs on Soil Microorganisms

International audienceThe use of reclaimed water in crop irrigation helps to mitigate water shortage. The fertilization of arable soils with sewage sludge, biosolids, or livestock manure reduces extensive application of synthetic fertilizers. However, both practices lead to the introduction of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) in arable soil, known to host a wide range of living organisms, including microorganisms which are supporting numerous ecosystem services. In soils, the fate of PhACs is governed by different abiotic and biotic processes. Among them, soil sorption and microbial transformation are the most important ones and determine the fate, occurrence, and dispersion of PhACs into the different compartments of the environment. The presence of PhACs in soils can compromise the abundance, diversity, and activity of the soil microbial community which is one of the key players in a range of soil ecosystem services. This chapter reviews the current knowledge of the effects of PhACs, commonly found in wastewater effluents and derived organic fertilizers, on the soil microbial community