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Healthy Workplace Environment Model
Source publication
The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to determine what successful managers do to create healthy work environments in a healthcare organization. Managers using exemplary behaviors were selected and interviewed based o n em ployee satisfaction surveys, and focus groups were conducted with employees who worked for them. Effective mana...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... do--and they can be learned skills. Though it is hard to fake sincerity, it is relatively easy to get a group together to kick around ideas about how to rethink the work schedule. The healthy work environment model (see Figure 1) that came out of the data is really an outline that managers wishing to make their environments healthier can use. It could also be used--to borrow from one of the anchor points of this study--to set expectations for managerial behaviors in other healthcare organizations. The HWE model that emerged was gathered from specific questions around feedback, expectation, making opinions count, and ...
Citations
... (Parker et al., 2001(Parker et al., , 2017. To measure mental health management indicators, questions were based on an extensive review of literature review (Baptiste, 2009;Kroth et al., 2007;Bergh et al., 2014;Aronsson et al., 1999;Agervold, 1991). All the measurement items were reworded to reflect project management. ...
Purpose: Architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) project organizations are under constant pressure to improve the mental health of project management practitioners (PMPs) due to complexity and dynamism involved in project management practices. Drawing on institutional theory, this research explores how external environmental factors: political factors, economic factors, social factors, technological factors, environmental factors and legal factors (PESTEL) influence mental health management indicators that contribute to positive mental health. Design/methodology/approach: Purposive sampling method was used to collect survey data from 82 PMPs in 60 AEC firms in Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses based on 82 items of data collected from PMPs.
Findings: Overall, this study revealed interesting findings on the impact of external environmental factors on mental health. The hypothesized positive association between political factors and mental health management indicators was rejected. The data supported the proposed hypothetical correlation between economic factors and mental health management indicators and the influence of social factors on mental health management indicators. Moreover, a hypothetical relationship between technological factors and mental health management indicators was supported. The significant positive impact of environmental factors on mental health management indicators proposed was supported, and legal factors positive correlation on mental health management indicators was also supported.
Originality/value: Despite the limitations, the present findings suggest that all the external environment factors except political factors shape mental health management outcomes.
... Similar results were found in a study by Ghaffari [44], where the participating nurses described how humour is necessary to make the working environment enjoyable. For achieving a healthy work climate, the manager also plays an important role in creating a humorous atmosphere for the employees [45], where they can be filled with positive energy instead of being depleted. ...
Background:
There is a lack of research regarding factors promoting recovery during the workday and effective interventions.
Objective:
To evaluate how different intervention activities may impact employees' experiences of recovery at the workplace.
Methods:
Customized intervention activities based on qualitative results and a participatory approach were integrated among the employees at six primary health care centres (PHCCs; n = 166) during one year. Recovery and workplace factors were measured with a questionnaire at the start and end of intervention, and also in a control group (15 PHCCs; n = 328). Group differences were tested (Chi-2) and explanatory factors compared by logistic regression models.
Results:
The proportion of employees reporting workday recovery increased in the intervention group (19.9%to 29.1%; p = 0.01), whereas the control group showed no significant change. Recovery was explained by self-reflection and reflection with co-workers. After intervention, having influence on work situation, energy-building experience, and opportunity for laughter also contributed significantly to recovery.
Conclusions:
The results contribute to work recovery research by confirming that a customized intervention may have an impact on employees' recovery experiences. The study showed that considering the factors of reflection, influence, and companionship can positively impact workplace recovery.
... The literature is unanimous when concluding a strong association between workplace relationships and employees' subjective well-being [19][20][21]. Experiencing positive work relationships includes several aspects, such as good communication [22], strong support [23], trust [24], belongingness [25], and joy [26], together with feelings of being valued [27], appreciated [28], and respected [29]. Besides the importance of social relationships at work, there are several other factors that contribute to setting a healthy work climate. ...
... So, feeling re-energized is important for your health but the relationship does not necessarily apply the other way around. Earlier studies have shown that a necessity for the employees to gain the utmost energy is for the workplace to be healthy (Kroth et al., 2007). Also, to feel recovered and full of energy have been found to be essential factors for sustained working ability in a previous study (Lindberg et al., 2006). ...
Objectives
The area of regenerative work is still close to unexplored. The aim was to explore the possibility for employees to gain energy at work.
Methods
Questionnaire to all employees ( n = 599) from different professions in public and private primary health care centers in one health care district in Sweden. The questionnaire, which had a salutogenic perspective, included information on self-rated health, psychosocial work environment and experiences, recovery, social climate, and energy. Having an energy-building experience was defined by a positive response to two combined questions regarding energy at work. Analyses were performed with bivariate correlation and multiple logistic regression.
Results
The response rate was 84%. Health and energy correlated positively ( r = 0.54). In total, 44.5% of the employees reported having an energy-building experience. Predictors for having an energy-building experience were recovery [positive odds ratio (POR) = 2.78], autonomy (POR = 2.26), positive workplace characteristics (POR = 2.09), and internal work experiences (POR = 1.88).
Conclusions
The results support the hypothesis that it is possible to gain energy at work, an area that is still close to unexplored. There is a high correlation between energy and health. Employees’ energy-building experiences relate to well-being at work and correlates to recovery, autonomy, positive workplace characteristics, and positive internal work experiences. This knowledge can help in improving future work environment development.
... These include proper seating, space, ventilation and accommodation. Kroth et al. (2007) saw that management support is one of the most important aspects of a healthy work environment. Authors stated that the management support is considered to be the main psychological specification of a good work environment, as it has the ability to influence the employees' performance, and appreciations of the organizations in general: the management in particular (Shobe, 2018). ...
Trying to create an innovative organization means to have employees who are innovative, within the internal structure of the organization. This paper aimed at examining the influence of work environment on managerial innovation within the insurance sector in Kuwait. A quantitative tool, self-administered questionnaire, was adopted and distributed among165 managers who worked for 21 insurance companies in Kuwait. The results indicate that among the chosen variables representing the dimensions of the work environment, the most influential dimension was facilities. This reveals that it was the influence of facilities that provided a healthy work environment for the employees who enhanced their abilities to present their best performance and be innovative. The study suggests that organizations should pay extra attention to certain factors of employee appraisal such as incentives, appreciation and recognition, that may, in turn, help increase the degree of managerial innovation. In addition, it is suggested to examine the influence of work environment on the leaders’ ethical orientations within the insurance sector in Kuwait.
... Also, humour plays an important role in helping individuals to bond and to signal cooperation [30,31]. A previous study showed that, when setting a healthy work climate, an essential factor was that the manager made sure that the employees enjoy their work in a humorous atmosphere [32]. Our findings confirm that joy and laughter is important in everyday work. ...
Background:
Lack of recovery from everyday strains and demands is connected to increased levels of stress-related problems and development of ill-health. There is much research on how to handle and prevent fatigue and stress in leisure time, but research on working time is more scarce. A recent study found that employees' experience of recovery during working hours was related to high self-rated health.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore the concept of recovery during working hours among primary health care workers.
Methods:
Eight focus groups with 50 staff members, men and women, from different professions were conducted in the primary health care sector in southern Sweden. The analysis was inspired by systematic text condensation, a strategy for qualitative analysis.
Results:
Three main categories were identified as important factors for experiencing recovery during working hours: variation (including changes in location, tasks and tempo) companionship (including helpfulness, appreciation, social chat and laughter) and manageability (including completion, satisfaction, influence, control and reflection).
Conclusions:
Recovery during working hours is multifaceted. The categories identified in this study will be further elaborated and tested.
... Similar results were shown in a study of physicians, where a significant relationship between work, family conflict and job stress, as well as perceived job demands, was found [38]. In line with Kroth et al. [39], one conclusion is that it is essential for managers to support a work-life balance among the employees to create healthy work environments in a health care organization. ...
... For example, to be able to come to work with joy and to experience work as meaningful and challenging. An essential factor when creating a healthy work environment was that the manager made sure that the employees enjoy their work in a pleasant (fun) atmosphere [39]. Experiencing work as challenging and stimulating was directly related to employee health status in the present study. ...
... Work should be seen as the positive resource it can be, as work is closely associated with the indi-vidual´s health. A healthy workplace is essential to gaining the most energy from employees [39]. These findings correspond well with the verified relationship between health promotion and well-being, which several literature reviews have brought to light [41,42]. ...
Background:
There is a lack of information on positive work factors among health care workers.
Objective:
To explore salutogenic work-related factors among primary health care employees.
Method:
Questionnaire to all employees (n = 599) from different professions in public and private primary health care centers in one health care district in Sweden. The questionnaire, which had a salutogenic perspective, included information on self-rated health from the previously validated SHIS (Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale), psychosocial work environment and experiences, recovery, leadership, social climate, reflection and work-life balance.
Results:
The response rate was 84%. A multivariable linear regression model, with SHIS as the dependent variable, showed three significant predictors. Recovery had the highest relationship to SHIS (β= 0.34), followed by experience of work-life balance (β= 0.25) and work experiences (β= 0.20). Increased experience of recovery during working hours related to higher self-rated health independent of recovery outside work.
Conclusion:
Individual experiences of work, work-life balance and, most importantly, recovery seem to be essential areas for health promotion. Recovery outside the workplace has been studied previously, but since recovery during work was shown to be of great importance in relation to higher self-rated health, more research is needed to explore different recovery strategies in the workplace.
... A humane approach to identify work place behaviours that are associated with intent to leave and appropriate intervention and remedial measures need to be developed and adopted in line with the personality of the faculty, values and ethics of the system. The study done by Kroth, Boverie, & Zondlo (2007) showed authority figures in work place also play an important role in bringing a healthy work environment. Considering personality traits such as conscientious, emotional stability, motivational, ethical decision making ability and problem solving skills in the authority and faculty can bring about a mature working relationship. ...
Kerala is experiencing a higher growth in management education so there is a pressure on business schools to attain higher performance in all aspects. The student community and business schools depend on the expertise of faculty, thus if a faculty has to contribute and commit to their work place, there needs to be a higher level of satisfaction obtained from the various dimensions of work environment. In this context, the relationship and influence of the current work milieu on faculty intent to quit in business schools in Kerala are studied. This study will enable authorities and decision makers to gain a scientific understanding of the current faculty perceptions and make appropriate strategies to provide a sustainable psychological work environment where behaviours associated with turnover intentions can be identified and suitable interventions developed. A sample of 182 faculty from AICTE recognized and state university affiliated colleges were selected for the study. Work environment and turnover intentions were measured using standardized and reliable scales with good reliability. Correlation analysis examined the relationship between work environment dimensions with turnover intentions. Stepwise regression analysis predicted work environment dimensions influence on turnover intentions. Findings of the study showed that there is significant correlation and influence of work environment and its dimensions on turnover intentions. The faculty overall perception towards the dimensions of work environment was found to be moderately positive. with commitment. (3.71) scoring highest followed by peer cohesion (3.63) and work practices (3.43) meaning that the faculty are connected to their job and organisation with acceptable interpersonal interactions enabling mutual exchange of information and knowledge and generally with humane consideration at workplace but further effort needs to be taken to increase the work milieu perception of faculty. Social responsiveness (3.14) scored lowest indicating a need to improve on work setting exhibiting social responsible behaviour. Of all the work environment dimensions considered for the study, social responsiveness, autonomy and commitment highly predicted turnover intentions. Level of peer cohesion was not a reason for intentions to quit. Faculty scored moderately low on intentions to quit (2.51) their current organisation. The implications, suggestions and scope for future research study are detailed.
... These studies encompass what different professional groups considered to characterize healthy work environments [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29], see table 1. According to these studies the most frequently addressed factors important for a healthy workplace were, in descending order: growth and development of the individual; collaboration/teamwork; employee involvement; pos-itive, accessible and fair leader; being treated with respect; positive and social climate; work in line with personal values; recognition; autonomy/empower-ment; skilled communication; safe physical work; and appropriate staffing. ...
The purpose of this study was to systematically review the scientific literature and search for indicators of healthy work environments. A number of major national and international databases for scientific publication were searched for research addressing indicators of healthy work environments. Altogether 19 768 publications were found. After excluding duplicates, non-relevant publications, or publications that did not comply with the inclusion criteria 24 peer-reviewed publications remained to be included in this systematic review. Only one study explicitly addressing indicators of healthy work environments was found. That study suggested that the presence of stress management programs in an organization might serve as indicator of a 'good place to work', as these organizations were more likely to offer programs that encouraged employee well-being, safety and skill development than those without stress management programs. The other 23 studies either investigated employee's views of what constitute a healthy workplace or were guidelines for how to create such a workplace. Summarizing, the nine most pronounced factors considered as important for a healthy workplace that emerged from these studies were, in descending order: collaboration/teamwork: growth and development of the individual; recognition; employee involvement; positive, accessible and fair leader; autonomy and empowerment; appropriate staffing; skilled communication; and safe physical work.
