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1 – 10 of over 9000Nisha Prakash, Subburaj Alagarsamy and Aparna Hawaldar
The study attempts to understand the factors impacting the financial wellbeing of IT employees in India using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). It utilizes well-established…
Abstract
Purpose
The study attempts to understand the factors impacting the financial wellbeing of IT employees in India using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). It utilizes well-established survey instruments to assess the impact of financial literacy, financial behaviour and financial stress on financial wellbeing. The study also attempts to understand the role of demographic factors (age, gender, monthly income, job category and work experience) in determining financial wellbeing through multigroup analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Structured equation modelling (SEM) is used to study the link between the determinants. The study also attempts to understand the role of demographic factors (age, gender, monthly income, job category and work experience) in determining financial wellbeing through multigroup analysis. Data used for the analysis covers 237 employees working in the IT sector.
Findings
While financial literacy and financial behaviour have a significant positive impact on financial wellbeing, financial stress has a significant negative impact. Financial behaviour and financial stress were found to have a mediating role in the relationship between financial literacy and financial wellbeing. The demographic variables significantly moderate the relationship between the factors leading to financial wellbeing.
Originality/value
The results show the need for financial wellbeing programs to focus on enhancing financial knowledge and improving financial planning. Further, it suggests offering customized financial wellbeing programs based on the employee's demographic characteristics rather than following a “one program, fits all” approach.
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Georgi Toma, Christine Rubie-Davies and Deidre Le Fevre
This paper aims to convey and analyze participants’ experience of an online mindfulness-based workplace wellness program, The Wellbeing Protocol, during the COVID-19 pandemic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to convey and analyze participants’ experience of an online mindfulness-based workplace wellness program, The Wellbeing Protocol, during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, with the aim of understanding the underlying mechanisms of how the program impacted stress, burnout and mental wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
New Zealand teachers participated in an online mindfulness-based wellness program in 2020. Participants’ experience was captured via focus groups and open-ended survey questions collected before, immediately after and three months following the intervention. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Three themes emerged: self-awareness and nonreactivity may facilitate a reduction in stress levels, the purposeful cultivation of self-care and positive emotions may be a precursor to enhanced wellbeing and positive relationships with others and evidence of effectiveness at work may mitigate burnout symptoms. Findings depicted effective strategies to improve wellbeing as well as promising areas for further research.
Practical implications
For school settings: participants’ positive appraisals of the program suggest The Wellbeing Protocol might be a suitable option to support teacher wellbeing. For workplaces: the positive outcomes related to improved effectiveness and relationships at work, as well as the program’s flexibility related to its short length and online delivery, might make it a potential option to support employee wellbeing.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on New Zealand teachers, the first to explore the impact of the Wellbeing Protocol and one of few studies that have investigated an online mindfulness-based intervention. It has multiple qualitative data sources and a follow-up of three months.
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Organizational Health (OH) is a concept that has been developed to reflect the effectiveness of an organization in various environments and how the organization reacts to “changes…
Abstract
Organizational Health (OH) is a concept that has been developed to reflect the effectiveness of an organization in various environments and how the organization reacts to “changes in circumstances”. The purpose of this study is two‐fold. First, it is to determine whether a linear relationship exists between stress and each of the following variables: job satisfaction, wellbeing, and performance. Second, it seeks to determine if OH mediates these relationships. Results of the study highlighted the relationship between stress and wellbeing. Although OH did not mediate any of the three relationships mentioned above, OH was found to have a direct relationship with job satisfaction, wellbeing and college performance. Specifically, the study emphasized the importance of a healthy management environment for job satisfaction and teacher wellbeing (less wornout).
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Connie Zheng, John Molineux, Soheila Mirshekary and Simona Scarparo
Work-life balance (WLB) is an issue of focus for organisations and individuals because individuals benefit from having better health and wellbeing when they have WLB and this, in…
Abstract
Purpose
Work-life balance (WLB) is an issue of focus for organisations and individuals because individuals benefit from having better health and wellbeing when they have WLB and this, in turn, impacts on organisational productivity and performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore relevant WLB factors contributing to employee health and wellbeing, and to understand the interactive effects of individual WLB strategies and organisational WLB policies/programmes on improving employee health and wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the data collected from 700 employees located in Queensland, Australia, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the variables related to individual WLB strategies and organisational WLB programmes. Several multiple regression models were used to evaluate interrelated relationships among these variables and their combined effects on employee health and wellbeing.
Findings
The authors found that employees exercising their own WLB strategies showed better health conditions and wellbeing that those who do not; they were also more capable of achieving WLB. Both availability and usage of organisational WLB programmes were found to help employees reduce their stress levels, but interestingly to have no direct association with WLB and employee health. Several control variables such as age, working hours, education level and household incomes were found to have moderate effects on employee health and wellbeing.
Originality/value
Employee health and wellbeing are determined by multiple factors. In distinguishing from prior research in this field, this study discovers an important interface between individual WLB strategies and organisational provision of WLB policies/programmes supplemented by several exogenous factors in addressing overall employee health and wellbeing. The results have implications for organisational delivery of WLB policies and other human resource management practices to support employees.
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Raphaela Stadler, Trudie Walters and Allan Stewart Jepson
This paper explores mental wellbeing in the events industry. We argue that mental wellbeing is often difficult to achieve in the stressful and deadline-driven events industry, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores mental wellbeing in the events industry. We argue that mental wellbeing is often difficult to achieve in the stressful and deadline-driven events industry, and that better awareness and understanding of specific actions for employees to flourish at work is needed.
Design/methodology/approach
We used in-depth semi-structured interviews with event professionals in the UK to investigate their individual coping strategies. To contextualise, we used the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework as an analytical tool.
Findings
Our findings reveal that event professionals currently unconsciously engage in a variety of actions to maintain and enhance their mental wellbeing outside of work, but not at work. Out of the Five Ways to Wellbeing, specific actions to Connect, Be Active and Take Notice were most important to event professionals. The remaining two ways, Keep Learning and Give, were also identified in the data, although they were less prominent.
Practical implications
We present recommendations for event professionals to more consciously engage with the Five Ways to Wellbeing and for employers to develop mental wellbeing initiatives that allow their employees to flourish.
Originality/value
In event studies, the Five Ways to Wellbeing have thus far only been applied to event attendees, volunteers and the local community. Our paper highlights how event employees can also benefit from engaging in some of the actions set out in the framework to enhance their mental wellbeing at work.
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Ilkka Salo and Carl Martin Allwood
The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between police investigators' decision‐making styles, degree of judgmental self‐doubt and work conditions, on the one…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between police investigators' decision‐making styles, degree of judgmental self‐doubt and work conditions, on the one hand, and their wellbeing, stress, burnout tendency and sleep quality, on the other.
Design/methodology/approach
The study concerns investigative police officers (n=203). Decision‐making styles were measured by Scott and Bruce's General Decision Making Style scale (GDMS), and judgmental self‐doubt by Mirels et al.'s Judgmental Self‐Doubt Scale (JSDS). Wellbeing was measured by the Satisfaction With Life scale (SWL), and stress and burnout tendency by the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and a scale for Performance Based Self‐Esteem (PBS). Questions on sleep quality and work conditions were also used.
Findings
High values on the decision‐making styles Avoidant (tries to avoid making decisions) and Dependent (dependent on advice from others before important decisions) were associated with higher PBS, higher PSQ and poorer sleep quality. In addition, the Avoidant style was associated with lower SWL. Both the Dependent and the Avoidant styles were associated with higher influence experienced by others in the investigative work. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that JSDS explained the outcome measures better than the Dependent and the Avoidant decision‐making styles. Gender analyses showed that male investigators showed higher values on Rational decision‐making style (“exhaustive information search” and “logical evaluation of alternatives”) and female investigators higher values on the Dependent decision‐making style. Female investigators also evidenced a higher degree of stress and performance‐based self‐esteem.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected in a Swedish context and may not be fully generalizable to other countries.
Practical implications
These results suggest the need to individualize training programs that seek to ameliorate stress and burnout.
Originality/value
This paper furthers understanding of the relation between decision‐making styles and wellbeing and stress in police investigators.
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Examines the Singapore executive in the service sector –insurance, financial and banking – in terms of the level of stressexperienced, coping styles, and personality…
Abstract
Examines the Singapore executive in the service sector – insurance, financial and banking – in terms of the level of stress experienced, coping styles, and personality (Type‐A/Type‐B). Tests the relationship between personality type, perceptions of stress and psychological wellbeing. Also examines the level of stress and psychological wellbeing across the three industries. Although Type‐A executives reported a significantly higher level of stress than Type‐B executives, they were not psychologically less healthy than their Type‐B counterparts. Executives across the three industries did not differ in terms of reported stress; executives in the finance sector tended to be more worn out and uptight than executives in the banking and insurance sectors. Work overload, role ambiguity and relationships with colleagues were cited to be the major stressors, while “switch‐off”, exercise and quiet control were the most common coping techniques. Discusses interventions aimed at changing work and task variables and changing characteristics of executives.
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Mark Butler, Michael Savic, David William Best, Victoria Manning, Katherine L. Mills and Dan I. Lubman
The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategies utilised to facilitate the wellbeing of workers of an alcohol and other drug (AOD) therapeutic community (TC)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategies utilised to facilitate the wellbeing of workers of an alcohol and other drug (AOD) therapeutic community (TC)
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with 11 workers from an Australian AOD TC organisation that provides both a residential TC program and an outreach program. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis
Findings
Three main interconnected themes emerged through analysis of the data: the challenges of working in an AOD TC organisation, including vicarious trauma, the isolation and safety of outreach workers and a lack of connection between teams; individual strategies for coping and facilitating wellbeing, such as family, friend and partner support and self-care practices; organisational facilitators of worker wellbeing, including staff supervision, employment conditions and the ability to communicate openly about stress. The analysis also revealed cross-cutting themes including the unique challenges and wellbeing support needs of outreach and lived experience workers.
Research limitations/implications
Rather than just preventing burnout, AOD TC organisations can also play a role in facilitating worker wellbeing.
Practical implications
This paper discusses a number of practical suggestions and indicates that additional strategies targeted at “at risk” teams or groups of workers may be needed alongside organisation-wide strategies.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel and in-depth analysis of strategies to facilitate TC worker wellbeing and has implications for TC staff, managers and researchers.
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Wellbeing at work inspires global interest (WHO, 1997, 2010) which shapes international wellbeing whilst ensuring national wellbeing initiatives are devolved. This study is set in…
Abstract
Purpose
Wellbeing at work inspires global interest (WHO, 1997, 2010) which shapes international wellbeing whilst ensuring national wellbeing initiatives are devolved. This study is set in Wales, UK; the findings, however, are of interest to the global community as they present ways in which health promotion practices that are essentially salutogenic in nature (Antonovsky, 1987; Mittlemark and Bauer, 2017), may be operationalised through leadership development. The study is contextualised during a time of perceived public service overwhelm, and the purpose of this paper is to explore how a salutogenic model (Gray, 2017) captures a leadership narrative shaped by workplace stress, informing what the authors know about the resilience and wellbeing of leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
The salutogenic model used in this exploratory study is based on the theories of Antonovsky (1979, 1987), and the conceptual work of De la Vega (2009). Participants were invited to take part in qualitative conversations, designed to explore leadership from a sense of coherence (SoC) perspective, and identify resilience and wellbeing descriptors across sectors. The data represented the lived experience of leader’s resilience and wellbeing within their work role. A purposeful sample of leaders (N=356) were invited to take part in the project, others were suggested as part of a snowball sampling approach (N=36). The overall participant numbers were N=68.
Findings
Using the SoC framework to explore resilience and wellbeing in terms of leadership, enabled participants to make sense of a stressful workplace environment, and share experiential knowledge that contributes to leadership development. The narrative that emerges is one in which leaders are feeling overwhelmed, and the broader influences of BREXIT, workforce and service user demographics, and organisational change are challenges to sustaining resilience. Participants suggest that leaders need to develop self-knowledge/awareness first, and role model the “resilient and well leader” to others.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this study relate to the fact that given the potential for participation was nearer 400 leaders, the N=68 participants could not be deemed large enough to generalise the findings. However, this was a scoping study exercise, designed to explore resilience and wellbeing through SoC conversations and to surface descriptors that would add to what the authors know about contemporary leadership. The study could be improved in the future by the collection of more descriptors, and where practical segmentation of descriptors may provide further insight in terms of comparison between professions/sectors.
Practical implications
The authors know that leadership is linked to positive and negative outcomes for employees; it is, therefore, prudent to consider how the authors can support both current and future leaders, to incorporate their own and others’ resilience and wellbeing into their leadership repertoire. This may well be best facilitated through health leadership which is known to have a positive association in determining the psychological climate of the workplace. Leadership authenticity means leaders should be able to ask for help, if leaders are struggling with that, then the authors need to examine leadership from a cultural perspective. In practical terms, the generalised resistance resources (GRRs) put forward by the participants may also form local as well as national wellbeing action plans for the future.
Social implications
Leadership is socially constructed within the organisational context, and the resilience and wellbeing of leaders is affected by the organisational health determinants in the working environment. If the authors are to consider how leaders are to develop an SoC for themselves and others, the authors need to attend to how the leader learns in the context. This is because their SoC is also shaped by the challenges they experience, and socio-constructed learning becomes neurologically embedded, so that ways of thinking, feeling and behaving are reinforced and exhibited over and over again.
Originality/value
This exploratory study demonstrates the efficacy of the salutogenic model to stimulate dialogue about a potentially sensitive subject. Many of the answers rest with the leaders themselves. The authors held conversations with leaders from the public services in Wales, identified “best self” and “peripheral” variables that leaders manifest across the various organisations they lead, and leaders produced a range of GRRs to support resilience and wellbeing across sectors in the future. There is a growing recognition that in terms of health leadership capability, there will be a premium on knowledge capital that pertains to improving the resilience and wellbeing of employees.
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Rosalyn Nelson, Felicity Baker, Joanna Burrell and Gillian Hardy
Resilience can protect against workplace stress, benefit psychological wellbeing and promote effective clinical practice in mental health professionals. The purpose of this study…
Abstract
Purpose
Resilience can protect against workplace stress, benefit psychological wellbeing and promote effective clinical practice in mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to consider the feasibility and acceptability of resilience training for trainee mental health professionals based on the skills-based model of personal resilience (Baker et al., 2021). The study also aimed to explore the impact of the training on resilience, wellbeing and burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
In a within-subject 10-week follow-up study, mixed methods were used to evaluate the one-day resilience training for trainee mental health professionals working in services in the UK.
Findings
The intervention was found to be acceptable to attendees, with high levels of satisfaction reported. Resilience was evaluated through self-report measures at three-time points. Resilience scores at follow-up were significantly higher than pre- and post-intervention scores. The secondary outcomes of wellbeing and burnout did not significantly improve.
Research limitations/implications
Preliminary support was found for the feasibility and acceptability of resilience training for trainee mental health practitioners. Audience-specific adaptations and follow-up groups to aid skills practice and implementation may further enhance benefits to resilience. Resilience interventions may supplement practitioner training to improve resilience. Resilience is associated with higher wellbeing and lower burnout. The impact of resilience training on overall wellbeing and burnout remains uncertain; however, newly learned resilience skills may take time to benefit wellbeing.
Originality/value
A key contribution of this study is to provide evidence regarding the feasibility of implementing the skills-based model of personal resilience, outlined in Baker et al. (2021), in a learning environment.
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