Mental health in health care workers: Engagement, burnout and healthy organizational practices in times of COVID-19

The work routine of workers has been modified by the COVID-19 pandemic and may vary according to the management of their organizations. The objectives of this research were to analyze the relationship between the perception of healthy organizational practices and workers' engagement and burnout and to determine which healthy organizational practices have a greater relationship with the engagement and burnout of employees in times of COVID-19. The methodological approach was correlational-exploratory, with surveys of 162 workers in 4 health centers in Chile. The variables correlated as expected for the total sample, i.e., positively and significantly between healthy organizational practices and engagement and negatively and significantly with burnout. The main practices that are related to increased engagement are career development, information, and skill development; and burnout is reconciliation, well-being, and communication. This research adds to the fundamentals that the mental health of workers is related to the type of management carried out by organizations.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Life satisfaction: A comparative study between informal and formal workers

The life satisfaction of workers is measured by objective and subjective indicators, the latter not always considered by the governments of the countries. The objectives of this research were to analyze the relationship between the perception of having money, free time, health and a peaceful old age with the life satisfaction of informal and formal workers; and to compare the perception of the aforementioned variables, according to the type of worker (informal and formal). The methodological approach was correlational-exploratory, with surveys of 200 workers. The variables correlated as expected for the total sample, that is, positively and significantly between money, free time, health and old age with life satisfaction. When correlations are made by type of workers, the results are different. Through the application of Student's t test, no significant differences were found between the two types of workers, as expected by the political and economic area of Chile, believing that a formal worker and with objective welfare conditions, could present greater satisfaction with life, even in one item of the scale, informal workers have a higher perception. These results contribute to the science of subjective wellbeing and reaffirm its postulates on this side of the world.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

We need engaged workers! A structural equation modeling study from the positive organizational psychology in times of COVID-19 in Chile

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially impacted mental health—workers at institutions are not exempt. In our research, from positive organizational psychology, specifically from the healthy and resilient organization (HERO) model, we analyzed the relationship between healthy organizational practices–engagement and workers’ burnout, and evaluated the mediation role of engagement between healthy organizational practices and worker burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, through structural equation models of a cross-sectional survey-based study. We collected data from a sample of 594 Chilean workers. Our results of the correlations and structural equations demonstrate the relationship between PHOs with engagement (ß = 0.51; p < 0.001) and burnout (ß = -0.44; p < 0.001), in addition to the mediating effect of engagement between HOP with burnout (ß = -0.66; p < 0.001). In conclusion, our findings suggest that healthy organizational practices promoted worker engagement and decreased worker burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the postulates of the HERO model. In addition, we were able to visualize a similar scenario, which showed that burnout during a pandemic decreases when worker engagement mediates the relationship with HOP.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The spanish equality law and the gender balance in the evaluation committees: an opportunity for women’s promotion in higher education

Despite advances in gender policy and equality laws in the twenty-first century, women are still a minority in the full professor category in Europe. Some measures establish gender quotas to balance gatekeeper positions, which will supposedly pave the way to make women’s integration into senior higher education positions easier. In Spain, Organic Act 3/20071 of 22 March on effective equality between women and men launched progressive norms governing gender issues, and the Spanish Science and Technology Act (2011) incorporated measures to promote effective equality in academic institutions. This paper evaluates how Spanish evaluation agencies’ compliance with implementing gender balance has affected the composition of evaluation committees and its impact on the advancement of women in science. Findings reveal some positive figures on women’s representation in recent decades, even though gender-balanced committees do not show any clear evidence of causing this effect. There seems to be no correlation between gender-balanced committees and women’s success rates, suggesting intermediate variables affect women’s low participation in competitive submissions. It explores several factors concerning two agencies’ evaluation procedures, such as formality and transparency, direct/multiple gatekeeping processes, the influence of epistemic cultures, cohorts and confidence of female candidates.Postprint (author's final draft

Situació i anàlisi de la igualtat d'oportunitats de gènere (IOG) al DOE

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Compulsory equal opportunities plans: Advantages of equal opportunities between women and men for companies

La Ley de Igualdad Efectiva de mujeres y hombres, aprobada en España en 2007, establece la obligatoriedad de elaborar e implantar planes de igualdad de oportunidades a aquellas empresas con más de 250 trabajadores. La relación “coste-beneficio” de la igualdad de oportunidades (relación entre el nivel de igualdad de oportunidades en una empresa y sus resultados) es un tema que no ha sido aún explorado y, por ello, las empresas deben autoconvencerse de la conveniencia de implantar planes de igualdad por medio de argumentos no cuantitativos. En este artículo se discuten las principales ventajas que puede ofrecer a las empresas la igualdad de oportunidades entre mujeres y hombres y se ofrecen criterios y herramientas para su aplicación.The Equal Opportunities Spanish Law (from 2007), establishes that those companies with more than 250 workers have to design and implement an equal opportunities plan between women and men. Since the “cost-benefit” relation of equal opportunities has not been yet studied, companies have to convince themselves about the convenience of designing and adopting an equal opportunities plan by means of non quantitative reasons. In this paper the main advantages of equal opportunities for companies are discussed, and some criteria are offered for its application.Peer Reviewe

Perception of healthy organizational practices of workers in the chilean educational sector and impact on their levels of engagement and burnout

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching was considered one of the most stressful occupations, one that could provoke burnout in workers. Continuing to provide educational services despite the pandemic and the new methodologies was a challenge for teachers that demonstrated their engagement in their work. This research, from the model of healthy and resilient organizations (HERO), aimed to assess the perception of healthy organizational practices (HOP) of teachers of an educational institution during the years 2020 and 2021 and the impact they have on their levels of engagement and burnout. Through the application of three instruments, 154 responses were obtained. The data were analyzed through correlations and mean comparisons. The main results show that in 2020, the correlations between HOP with engagement and burnout were positive and negative, respectively, as expected. In 2021, the perception of HOP decreased, as did teacher engagement, while burnout increased. In conclusion, the findings suggest that HOP can become a sustainable human resource management tool that promotes teachers’ mental health, even in challenging times.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Organizaciones saludables: una aproximación desde un estudio bibliométrico

El concepto de organizaciones saludables (OS) ha tenido diversas acepciones, siendo definida como aquella entidad que supera el simple cumplimiento de metas, pues busca desarrollar entornos sanos, tanto para sus trabajadores como para sus clientes, en un ambiente de trabajo positivo, que genera culturas, procesos y prácticas que aportan sostenibilidad en el tiempo, especialmente en periodos de cambios y crisis. En este contexto, esta investigación tiene como objetivo realizar un estudio de carácter bibliométrico, colocando el foco en los trabajos realizados sobre OS, identificado como factor clave en el éxito organizacional. Para ello, se encontraron y analizaron una base de datos con 137 artículos publicados en revistas indexadas de la Web of Science (WoS), comprendidos entre los años 1962 y 2020. Se aplicaron técnicas de análisis de desempeño para conocer la evolución del número de publicaciones, los autores más productivos, las revistas científicas más relevantes, así como los enfoques y temas investigados. Sobre la base de este análisis, se destacan las principales líneas de trabajo en el área investigada, siendo mayoritarias aquellas enfocadas a la organización como un todo, que genera un modelo de gestión para el desarrollo de las personas. Se puede inferir de las diversas investigaciones analizadas, que las organizaciones saludables están más preparadas para enfrentar cambios y eventos negativos del entorno, siendo este estudio un marco de información útil para la aproximación al concepto.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Inserción laboral de las titulaciones de la subárea de tecnologías avanzadas de la producción

Esta comunicación presenta los principales resultados de una encuesta sobre inserción laboral de los titulados y tituladas universitarios de la subárea de tecnologías avanzadas de la producción, describiendo la situación laboral de estos titulados en el momento de contestar la encuesta, la rapidez de acceso al mercado de trabajo y sus condiciones laborales: ámbito de trabajo, sector de actividad, dimensión de la empresa, funciones desarrolladas mayoritariamente por estos titulados, tipo de contrato y retribución. También se describe el grado de satisfacción con los estudios realizados y con el trabajo actual. Se comparan los resultados obtenidos de la subárea de tecnologías avanzadas de la producción con los resultados de la totalidad de las personas tituladas del área técnica y del total de titulaciones. En todo el análisis se ha tenido en cuenta la perspectiva de género y se ponen de manifiesto diferencias en la rapidez de inserción entre mujeres y hombres y en la calidad de esta inserción.Postprint (author’s final draft