Steps towards sound change - initiatives for ensuring employee well-being during restructuring

Organisaatiomuutokset ovat osa nykypäivän työelämää, ja useimmat työntekijät kokevat muutoksia työuransa aikana. Organisaatiomuutosten tavoitteena on kehittää työn tuottavuutta ja organisaation kykyä vastata kansainvälistyneen talouden haasteisiin. Hyvin toteutettu organisaatiomuutos on kuitenkin haastava tehtävä. Organisaation pitäisi pystyä varmistamaan, että työntekijöiden hyvinvointi ja motivaatio säilyvät muutoksen aikana, ja että samanaikaisesti organisaatiomuutoksen tavoitteena oleva työn tuottavuuden parantuminen toteutuu. Hyvinvoivat työntekijät ovat työn tavoitteiden saavuttamisen kannalta olennaisin voimavara, kun organisaatio jatkaa toimintaansa muutosten jälkeen. Tämän oppaan tarkoituksena on tarjota organisaatioiden johdolle, esimiehille, henkilöstöhallinnolle ja muille organisaatiomuutoksessa mukana oleville toimijoille, kuten työntekijöiden edustajille, ideoita siitä, kuinka organisaatiomuutos voidaan toteuttaa työntekijöiden kannalta mielekkäästi ja heidän hyvinvoinnistaan huolehtien. On hyvä muistaa, että organisaatiomuutoksen aikana pienillä asioilla voi olla suuri merkitys työntekijöiden hyvinvoinnin kannalta. Samat hyvinvointia tukevat toimet myös auttavat saavuttamaan organisaatiomuutoksen varsinaisen tavoitteen – terveen ja tuottavan organisaation

Exploring the link between restructuring and employee well-being

Restructuring is a permanent feature in our economy. Anyone working in the current job market will sooner or later experience restructuring in some form. We know that restructuring can have a profound effect on the psychological health and well-being of employees. It is therefore important to have more insight into the relationship between resructuring and psychological health and well-being of employees. We not only need to have insight into what the effects are, we also need to know how employees’ well-being is affected. What are the pathways through which restructuring affects well-being and what are the factors that influence the relationship between restructuring and well-being? This is important because once we know this, it will be possible to define effective preventive actions and interventions to minimise the negative effects of restructuring and foster the positive effects. Furthermore, it will also be possible to define parameters to monitor restructuring processes

Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) – Psychometric properties of selected scales in the Polish version

Background: The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionniare (COPSOQ) has many advantages as compared to other similar instruments, i.a., it is not related to one single theoretical model and it measures a wide spectrum of psychosocial working conditions that have shown proven impact on health. The aim of the article is to summarize information on psychometric properties of 11 scales in the Polish version: Quantitative Demands, Emotional Demands, Influence at Work, Social Support, Possibilities for Development, Meaning of Work, Role Clarity, Quality of Leadership, Job Insecurity, Job Satisfaction, and General Health. Material and Methods: Analyses were based on the results of 4 research projects, in which the Polish version of the COPCOQ scales has been used: on a representative sample of Polish nurses (N = 4354), job insecurity in 2 groups of civil servants (N = 295, N = 724), mobbing among teachers (N = 1037) and psychological consequences of restructuring (N = 1396). The following psychometric characteristics were analysed: internal reliability, theoretical validity, and factorial validity. Results: Internal reliability of the following 8 scales was found satisfactory: Quantitative Demands, Influence at Work, Social Support, Possibilities for Development, Meaning of Work, Quality of Leadership, Job Satisfaction, and General Health (Cronbach’s α = 0.7–0.91, depending on the scale). The results of exploratory factor analyses indicated factorial separateness of the above mentioned scales. Theoretical validity of 11 scales was confirmed; they were associated with variables that can be regarded as their validity criteria. Conclusions: The 8 COPSOQ scales, in the Polish version, can be recommended for using in the research involving psychosocial job characteristics. Mean scores on these scales and standard deviations given in the article can serve as reference points during an evaluation of received results. Med Pr 2017;68(3):329–34

Role of job and personal resources in the appraisal of job demands as challenges and hindrances.

Previous research has shown that challenge and hindrance job demands show different effects on employees' wellbeing and performance. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that employees' subjective appraisal of job demands as challenges and hindrances may vary: they can be appraised as challenges or hindrances or both. Subjective appraisal of job demands was found to be also related to employees' wellbeing and productivity. However, little is known about predictors of the appraisals of job demands made by employees. The aim of the study was to identify predictors of such appraisals among job and individual resources. Cross-sectional research was carried out among 426 IT, healthcare and public transport employees. COPSOQ II scales were used to measure job demands (emotional, quantitative, cognitive demands, work pace and role conflicts) and job resources (influence at work, possibilities for development, vertical and horizontal trust), single questions were used to measure employees' subjective appraisals of job demands as hindrances and challenges, and PCQ was used to measure psychological capital. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that only horizontal trust predicted the appraisal of job demands as challenges, and vertical trust predicted the appraisal of job demands as hindrances among four analysed job resources. Individual resource-psychological capital-predicted only the appraisal of job demands as challenges. Control variables-occupation, age and job demands also played a significant role in predicting the appraisal of job demands. Implications and future directions are discussed

Do all types of restructuring threaten employees’ well-being? An exploratory study

Objectives: Most research on the negative impact of restructuring on employees’ health considers restructuring involving personnel reduction. The aim of this study was to explore the assumption that the type of restructuring, business expansion versus restructuring not involving expansion (only reductions and/or change of ownership), influences its psychological responses: appraisal of the change, psychosocial working conditions and well-being after the change. Material and Methods: The study was carried out among 857 employees that experienced restructuring in 2009 and/or 2010 and 538 employees from companies not restructured at that time. The main variables, i.e., assessment of change in terms of personal benefits and losses, psychosocial job characteristics and well-being were measured using a questionnaire developed in “The psychological health and well-being in restructuring: key effects and mechanisms” project (PSYRES). Results: It was found that the employees who experienced business expansion in comparison to those who experienced exclusively change of ownership had a higher appraisal of change, while those who experienced restructuring not involving business expansion did not differ from those who experienced change of ownership. As far as psychosocial working conditions are concerned, those employees who experienced exclusively business expansion did not differ from those in the not restructured companies (except for quantitative demands that were higher), while most psychosocial working conditions of the employees who experienced restructuring not involving expansion were poorer than in the not restructured companies. Also, well-being measures of the employees who experienced exclusively business expansion did not differ from those in the not restructured companies (except for innovative behavior that was even higher), while well-being measure of those who experienced restructuring not involving expansion was poorer than of those in the not restructured companies. Conclusions: Restructuring involving exclusively business expansion is not a threat to psychosocial job characteristics (except for quantitative demands) or to employees’ well-being. Therefore, the type of restructuring should be taken into account when the restructuring – psychological health relationship is discussed

The Polish Version of the Scale Measuring Work-Family Conflict: Analysis of Psychometric Characteristics

Artykuł przedstawia polską adaptację skali do pomiaru konfliktu Praca-Dom (WFC) i Dom-Praca (FWC) autorstwa Dawn Carlson i współpracowników (2000). Praca koncentruje się na trzech aspektach psychometrycznych właściwości narzędzia: rzetelności, trafności czynnikowej i trafności teoretycznej. W części empirycznej wykorzystano dane z badania przeprowadzonego na grupie 261 osób pracujących na stanowiskach kierowniczych różnego szczebla. Analizy korelacyjne wskazują, że zarówno wskaźniki globalne, jak i podskale mierzące różne formy konfliktu, posiadają zadawalającą rzetelność wewnętrzną. Rezultaty konfirmacyjnej analizy czynnikowej pokazują z kolei, że model Carlson, w porównaniu do szeregu alternatywnych modeli, odznacza się największą trafnością czynnikową. Pomimo pewnych mankamentów globalne wymiary WFC i FWC oraz ich subwymiary posiadają szereg zewnętrznych ko-relatów, których wzorzec wskazuje na dość wysoką trafność teoretyczną narzędzia

The Polish Version of the Scale Measuring Work-Family Conflict: Analysis of Psychometric Characteristics

Artykuł przedstawia polską adaptację skali do pomiaru konfliktu Praca-Dom (WFC) i Dom-Praca (FWC) autorstwa Dawn Carlson i współpracowników (2000). Praca koncentruje się na trzech aspektach psychometrycznych właściwości narzędzia: rzetelności, trafności czynnikowej i trafności teoretycznej. W części empirycznej wykorzystano dane z badania przeprowadzonego na grupie 261 osób pracujących na stanowiskach kierowniczych różnego szczebla. Analizy korelacyjne wskazują, że zarówno wskaźniki globalne, jak i podskale mierzące różne formy konfliktu, posiadają zadawalającą rzetelność wewnętrzną. Rezultaty konfirmacyjnej analizy czynnikowej pokazują z kolei, że model Carlson, w porównaniu do szeregu alternatywnych modeli, odznacza się największą trafnością czynnikową. Pomimo pewnych mankamentów globalne wymiary WFC i FWC oraz ich subwymiary posiadają szereg zewnętrznych ko-relatów, których wzorzec wskazuje na dość wysoką trafność teoretyczną narzędzia