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1 – 10 of 115Davide Secchi, Hong T.M. Bui and Kathleen Gamroth
The purpose of this paper is to investigate recent healthcare reform in the USA, which allows insurance companies to proactively intervene in improving the long-term health of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate recent healthcare reform in the USA, which allows insurance companies to proactively intervene in improving the long-term health of employees, by providing wellness programs as part of their benefits package.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present and analyze data on how employees of a large US Midwest “media and education” company (n=154) perceive economic incentives toward well-being. Data are collected using survey methods and analyzed with a logistic regression.
Findings
This study suggests that fairness, accessibility, intention to switch to a healthier lifestyle and desire to see more health-related initiatives affect the way employees seek to participate in the new involuntary wellness programs. By contrast, satisfaction, participation, and income to not affect how these new programs are perceived.
Research limitations/implications
These findings suggest that human resource managers should pay attention to employees who are not active in existing wellness programs, and provide support during the transition toward the new involuntary programs, to avoid potential frustration, demotivation, disengagement and, ultimately, decreasing performance among employees.
Originality/value
The study is among the first to analyze involuntary wellness programs in the USA, and it provides a basis on which to expand further studies. This research contributes to support the idea that employee wellness is unlikely to be enforced by rule or policy.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of introducing an involuntary wellness program (IWP) on employee attitudes and willingness to participate.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of introducing an involuntary wellness program (IWP) on employee attitudes and willingness to participate.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyzes responses to a survey of office workers employed by a US education and media company when the existing wellness program was replaced by a new IWP.
Findings
It’s estimated that two out of three Americans are now overweight – and that’s bad for business. Having a fit and healthy workforce not only benefits the individual, it also means less time off sick, lower costs and better organizational performance. Firms that encourage a “wellness culture” are showing that they care about their employees – and can expect a payoff in terms of morale, motivation and productivity. What’s harder to predict is whether wellness can be made compulsory – and if compulsory, whether it still delivers a “win-win” result.
Practical implications
The study indicates aspects that may require particular care when introducing an IWP to ensure that employees appreciate the health benefits of this approach rather than joining the program for purely economic reasons.
Social implications
It provides an insight into the effects of expanding health insurance plan wellness incentives under the US Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Originality/value
This paper aims to raise the question of whether individuals can be incentivized to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
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Lin Xiu, Kim Nichols Dauner and Christopher Richard McIntosh
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational support for employee health (OSEH) and employees’ turnover intention and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational support for employee health (OSEH) and employees’ turnover intention and job performance, with a focus on the possible mediating roles of affective commitment and wellness program participation in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from surveys of employees at a public university that provides employees with a variety of wellness program options. Conditional procedural analysis was conducted to test the model.
Findings
Results showed that employees’ perceptions of OSEH positively related to both turnover intention and job performance and that affective commitment fully mediated the relationships between OSEH perceptions and both dependent variables.
Research limitations/implications
Cross-sectional data were collected on OSEH, affective commitment, employees’ intent to remain in the organization and job performance. Future studies based on panel data would be helpful to establish the causal relationships in the model.
Practical implications
Our findings show that employees’ perceptions of OSEH are likely to affect behavioral outcomes through affective commitment, suggesting that managers should ensure that employees are aware of organizational support for health promotion. Our findings also suggest that organizations move beyond a focus on design of wellness programs to include an emphasis on the overall OSEH.
Originality/value
This research study is the first empirical examination on the two possible channels through which organizational health support may influence employees’ intent to remain and job performance – participation in wellness programs and affective organizational commitment. The results are of value to researchers, human resource management managers, employees and executives who are seeking to develop practices that promote employee health at the workplace.
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The paper aims to use part of the distributed cognition literature to study how employees cope with organizational plasticity, in an attempt to identify the characteristics of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to use part of the distributed cognition literature to study how employees cope with organizational plasticity, in an attempt to identify the characteristics of cognitive plasticity.
Design/methodology/approach
Evidence is collected by designing and implementing an agent-based computational simulation model (the IOP 2.0) where employees have the option to use external resources and the social environment to perform tasks. As plasticity is more effective when change and uncertainty are high, the simulation features an increase in the difficulty and number of tasks to which employees need to cope.
Findings
Cooperation and sharing of competence and ability are key to cognitive plasticity. Being able to master the use of some resources, together with other employees’ competencies, make some achieve the most efficient task performance.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that under conditions of change and plasticity, human resource management (HRM) shall attempt to develop measures to support employees' cognitive skills necessary to cope with it, for example, mostly through diagnosis, training and facilitating on-the-job dialogue.
Originality/value
This is the first study that attempts a merger between organizational cognition and plasticity, and it is the first to match its results to HRM policy recommendations.
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Varsha Agarwal, Avnish Sharma, Aneesya Panicker, Syeda Shifa and Rohit Rammurthy
This research aims to discuss the key civil rights problems in mental well-being and the solutions to those challenges in standard-setting and institutional practice, as well as…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to discuss the key civil rights problems in mental well-being and the solutions to those challenges in standard-setting and institutional practice, as well as proposes an integrated approach to adapting the emerging principles of practice to divisive mental health concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on review of literature focused on mental health and human rights with special reference to international standards and clinical practices. Recent articles related to mental health and human rights and mechanisms suggested by United nations were included to draw conclusion.
Findings
Review of literature suggested to switch from reactive to a constructive and pragmatic approach, which is community-based, emphasizing alliance, rather than action, when the client is still too damaged to agree. Treatment should go hand in hand with mental health and civil rights education in the neighbourhood, as well as opportunities for engagement in shared interests in the group and interaction of other individuals with living experience.
Originality/value
While consent to care is a vital issue for human rights, the view of individuals with psychiatric illnesses as dangerous and “out of reach” is perpetuated by a disproportionate emphasis on it. Treatment should go hand in hand with mental health and civil rights education in the neighbourhood, as well as opportunities for engagement in shared interests in the group and interaction of other individuals with living experience.
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Ronald J. Burke, Simon L. Dolan and Lisa Fiksenbaum
The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons given by nurses for working part-time; compare the work experiences, satisfactions, and psychological well-being of nursing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons given by nurses for working part-time; compare the work experiences, satisfactions, and psychological well-being of nursing staff working full-time vs part-time; and identify possible antecedents and sources of leverage to encourage part-time nurses to work full-time.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was developed, pre-tested and validated, and sent to the regional associations of nurses in Spain for distribution to their members. Data collection involved a cross-sectional design. A total of 2,094 valid questionnaires were completed online. The majority of responding nurses were located in Catalunya and Gipuzkoa. Respondents were given 15 reasons and asked to indicate the extent to which each played a role in their decision to work part-time. Job context and job content scales bearing multi items reliable measures were also employed. All scales met the criteria of reliability.
Findings
Nurses working full-time included more males, were older, had longer nursing experience (both job and unit tenure), reported higher levels of both job resources (autonomy, self-development opportunities), higher levels of positive work attitudes (job involvement, affective commitment, work engagement), more medication use, and a higher intention to quit. Full-time and part-time nursing staff were similar on marital status, levels of social support (supervisor, co-worker, spouse, and family), self-reported absenteeism, levels of burnout, levels of psychological well-being (psychosomatic symptoms, self-reported health), and potential accident propensity. Some of the more concrete results include: first, reasons for working part-time were varied with some being voluntary (going to school) and others involuntary (poor health). Second, different clusters of individuals likely exist (e.g. students, caretakers, transitioning to retirement or other career options). Third, part-time nursing staff tended to report a more negative workplace (less autonomy, fewer opportunities for self-development) and less favorable work attitudes (less engagement, job involvement, and affective commitment) than their full-time counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
First, all data were collected using self-report questionnaires, raising the possibility of response set tendencies. Second, all data were collected at one point in time, making it difficult to determine cause-effect relationships. Third, although the sample was very large, it was not possible to determine its representativeness or a response rate given the data collection procedure employed. Fourth, the large sample size resulted in relatively small mean differences reaching levels of statistical significance. Fifth, many of the nurse and work/organizational outcomes were themselves significantly correlated inflating the number of statistically significant relationships reported. Finally, it is not clear to what extent the findings apply to Spain only.
Practical implications
Health care organizations interested in encouraging and supporting part-time nursing staff to consider working full-time may have some sources of leverage. Part-time nursing staff indicated generally lower levels of commitment involvement and engagement compared to their full-time colleagues. Part-time nursing staff in this study reported lower levels of job resources, such as autonomy and self-development opportunities. Increasing nursing staff input into decision making, increasing levels of nursing staff empowerment, increasing supervisory development that in supporting and respecting the nursing staff contributions, reducing levels of workplace incivility, and improving nursing work team functioning would make the work experiences of part-time nursing staff more meaningful and satisfying. In addition, offering more flexible work schedules and tackling the stereotype associated with working only part-time would also address factors associated with working part-time. A more long-term strategy would involve enhancing both the psychological and physical health of nursing staff through the introduction of a corporate wellness initiative. Increasing the work ability of nursing staff by improving their psychological and physical well-being addresses a common factor in the part-time work decision.
Social implications
There is a call in the paper for Spanish authorities to consider implementing the “Magnet hospital program” which is one model that has been shown to improve nurse and patient outcomes and is one solution to the shortage of hospital nurses in attracting them to work on a full-time basis. The process of Magnet recognition involves implementing 14 evidence-based standards.
Originality/value
Experts claim that the part-time phenomenon is a growing trend and is there to stay. The authors still do not know sufficiently about the HR implications for having a large workforce of part-time employees. In this paper, a tentative attempt was made to better understand this phenomenon, especially when there is a shortage of qualified nurses in the health sector. Several promising research directions follow from this investigation. First, nurses working part-time need to be polled to identify factors that would encourage and support them should they desire to change to full-time work. Second, the authors learn more about the relatively low levels of involvement, commitment, and engagement of part-time nurses, a phenomenon that most organizations wish to minimize.
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Arosha S. Adikaram and N.P.G.S.I. Naotunna
This paper aims to explore how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices were adopted to implement and manage remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify whether and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices were adopted to implement and manage remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify whether and how remote working would/should continue in the future, in a developing and a unique cultural set up in the Asian context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted using qualitative methodology with semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 26 Human Resource Professionals (HRPs) of different industries in Sri Lanka. The information was collected in two phases; at the initial stages of the pandemic during May–June 2020 and after one year and four months, in October–November 2021.
Findings
The findings explain the different HRM activities executed by HRPs, such as employee engagement activities, setting guidelines, employee support, performance management and training, to make remote working successful when it was implemented as an emergency and involuntary work arrangement with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. However, over time, the interest and interventions of HRPs appeared to have dwindled, and many companies are waiting to revert to on-site work when the pandemic situation settles. It appears that remote working will remain a transitory work arrangement to respond to crises or exceptional circumstances rather than a permanent work arrangement for many companies in Sri Lanka.
Originality/value
The study contributes to and expands the knowledge of HRM in managing remote working during and beyond the pandemic in a developing Asian country perspective and the suitability of remote working and HRM practices for specific national cultural contexts.
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Hans Oh, Douglas Noordsy and Glenn Roberts
– To galvanize practical discussion about how to modify psychiatry residency programs to instill the recovery paradigm into students who will become psychiatrists.
Abstract
Purpose
To galvanize practical discussion about how to modify psychiatry residency programs to instill the recovery paradigm into students who will become psychiatrists.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of relevant literature is undertaken.
Findings
Eight suggestions are offered to help residency programs initiate conversations about recovery.
Originality/value
There has been little, if any, discussion about how psychiatry residency programs must change in terms of curriculum and pedagogy.
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Patrick Parnaby and Ryan Broll
Most research on trauma, resilience and well-being among police officers focusses on those still on active duty. Comparatively speaking, and despite an aging workforce and…
Abstract
Purpose
Most research on trauma, resilience and well-being among police officers focusses on those still on active duty. Comparatively speaking, and despite an aging workforce and established negative health outcomes, similar inquiries involving police retirees are not as common. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of on- and off-the-job trauma and resilience on satisfaction with life among a sample of retired police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via a cross-sectional nonprobability electronic survey of police retirees in Ontario, Canada. While controlling for employment-related variables and demographic characteristics, a series of hierarchical multiple regression models were used to examine the effects of on- and off-the-job trauma and resilience on satisfaction with life among a sample of 932 participants.
Findings
The analysis indicates that off-the-job trauma and both personal and social dimensions of resilience contribute uniquely to satisfaction with life among police retirees. Moreover, this full model explains nearly 37% of the variance in satisfaction with life.
Originality/value
This study's findings offer further direction to those working to support the health and well-being of officers currently on the job and those well into their retirement years.
Details