Stress-Preventive Management Competencies

Definition: Work-related stress is a critical issue that demands prevention strategy and continuous monitoring due to its widespread influence on workers, businesses, and the global economy. The primary drivers of employees’ work-related stress are psychosocial risks, which arise when key work characteristics—such as job demands, autonomy, or role clarity—are mismanaged, leading to harmful consequences. Conversely, effectively managing these factors can promotes well-being and performance. Supervisors play a central role in this dynamic process of either mitigating or exacerbating psychosocial working conditions. As such, stress-preventive management competencies (SPMCs) are essential for promoting employee and organisational health. SPMCs refer to a set of supervisory behaviours—including planning, organising, setting objectives, and creating and monitoring systems—that contribute to a positive perception of the psychosocial work environment among employees. This entry, by approaching the existing literature on work stress models, psychosocial perspectives, and related management competencies frameworks, aims to provide a comprehensive overview of SPMCs, identifying key insights and proposing directions for future research

Digital Stress-Preventive Management Competencies: Definition, Identification and Tool Development for Research and Practice

The digital transformation of work and the rise of remote workers (RWs) are gaining growing interest in occupational health science. However, research on managers’ role in well-being can be developed more. Aiming to bridge this gap, this study first defines and explores the Digital Stress-Preventive Management Competencies (DMCs) and then develops and validates an indicator tool with a three-phase procedure. Phase 1 consisted of a literature review and interviews with experts to identify DMCs, followed by item generation, content analysis and competencies conceptualization. Phase 2 was devoted to tool validation, comprising exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with 247 RWs. Phase 3 explored the concurrent validity by investigating the relationship between DMCs and psychosocial factors via structural equation modeling (sample Phase 2) and polynomial regression with response surface analysis on 50 manager–team dyads (RWs 218). Two key competencies were identified: supportive ICT-mediated interaction (SIMI) and avoidance of abusive ICT adoption (AAIA). The final nine-item tool revealed a two-factor structure and good psychometric properties. SIMI was associated with superior support and role, while AAIA was linked to demands and control reported by RWs. These findings suggest that the DMCs identified and the related tool have potential applications in future organizational intervention content and for research purposes

ITALIAN ADAPTATION OF WARR’S JOB-RELATED AFFECTIVE WELL-BEING SCALE: FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE HSE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS INDICATOR TOOL

Standardized methodological frameworks including the UK Health and Safety Executive Manage-ment Standards (HSE-MS) have been proposed to aid comparison across organizations in quantifying job stressors. In contrast, the measurement of job strain (and job-related well-being) has been character-ized by lower standardization, resulting in multiple conceptualizations and indicators. Here, we evaluated the psychometrics of the Italian adaptation of Warr’s (1990a) Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (W-JAWS), and its suitability as a job strain indicator to be integrated with the HSE-MS approach. In line with previous studies, data from 541 civil servants supported a 4-factor measurement model (i.e., Anxi-ety, Comfort, Depression, and Enthusiasm), and highlighted linear relationships with multiple HSE-MS risk indicators (i.e., Demand, Control, Peer Support, Change, and Role). Overall, our findings qualify the W-JAWS as a suitable standardized job strain indicator tool, which could be used synergically within the HSE-MS approach to provide comparable results across organizations and countries

Manager–Team (Dis)agreement on Stress-Preventive Behaviours: Relationship with Psychosocial Work Environment and Employees’ Well-Being

The “Management Competencies to Prevent and Reduce Stress at Work” (MCPARS) approach focuses on identifying the stress-preventive managers’ competencies able to optimise the employees’ well-being through the management of the psychosocial work environment. Considering leadership as contextualised in complex social dynamics, the self–other agreement (SOA) investigation of the MCPARS may enhance previous findings, as it allows for exploring the manager–team perceptions’ (dis)agreement and its potential implications. However, no studies have tested the MCPARS using the SOA and multisource data. Grounded in Yammarino and Atwater’s SOA reference theory, we conducted an in-depth investigation on the MCPARS’s theoretical framework by examining the implications of manager–team (dis)agreement, regarding managers’ competencies, on employees’ psychosocial environment (H1–H2) and affective well-being (H3). Data from 36 managers and 475 employees were analysed by performing several polynomial regressions, response surface, and mediation analyses. The results reveal a significant relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ perceptions of the psychosocial environment (H1). Employees report better perceptions when supervised by in-agreement good or under-estimator managers, while lower ratings occur under over-estimator or in-agreement poor managers (H2). Moreover, the psychosocial environment significantly mediated the relationship between SOA on MCPARS and employees’ well-being (H3). The MCPARS theoretical model’s soundness is supported, and its implications are discussed

Developing stress-preventive management competencies: an evaluation of the mechanism and the process in a training experience

PurposeDeveloping stress-preventive management behaviors is recommended to improve psychosocial working conditions and employee well-being. A learning and development intervention based on the UK “Management Competencies for Preventing and Reducing Stress at Work (MCPARS)” is effective for helping supervisors to develop a personal action plan for change. However, research is needed to understand the mechanism through which a satisfactory action plan is developed.Design/methodology/approachA three-phase learning and development program based on the MCPARS framework was delivered to 50 supervisors in an Italian local health unit. We measured management competencies and development needs, the achievement of the intervention aims and two process variables. The Process Macro for SPSS was used to evaluate a moderated mediation model.FindingsSupervisors’ self-awareness of their competencies fully mediated the relationship between understanding the importance of their managerial role and the development of a satisfactory action plan for change. Process variables contributed to better explaining the outcome.Originality/valueThese findings suggest that the order in which the intervention components are delivered and participants’ perceptions of the intervention are important. This knowledge is useful to inform the design and evaluation of future similar interventions

Violazione del contratto psicologico e socializzazione organizzativa: uno studio esplorativo

- The relationship existing between Psychological Contract (PC) and Organizational Socialization (OS) has been studied only focusing the effect of the latter on the former. The aim is to highlight the importance of the reverse relation (the effect of PC on socialization) and to evaluate a first reference model. It is hypothesized that PC violations during socialization can impact on the adjustment strategies and that this relationship is moderated by personal variables (career anchors). The results concerning a longitudinal survey conducted on 78 employees of a firm, via questionnaire, show mixed support to the proposed model. Considering the obtained results it is suggested a development of studies on this issue and critical facets aimed to conduct future researches are presented.Keywords: organizational socialization, work role transition, psychological contract violation, career anchors.Parole chiave: socializzazione organizzativa, transizione di ruolo, violazione del contratto psicologico, ŕncore di carriera.</jats:p