Line Managers and Workplace Accommodations

Summary Professional standards state that social workers in public welfare organisations should act as state and citizen-agents. However, the literature provides little insight into how social workers navigate this dual responsibility in their daily work. To address this gap, we used Maynard-Moody and Musheno’s theory on state and citizens-agent narratives to analyse street-level practices of social workers in three local welfare organisations in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. This article explores how three specific organisational mechanisms (decision-making authority; the role of the front-line manager and the degree of specialisation) affect the ways social workers navigate both agent narratives in public welfare organisations. The data were gathered by a mixed method design of in-depth interviews and focus groups. Findings Our study shows that social workers struggle with the tensions that intrude between the state and citizen-agent narrative. We found that the extent to which both narratives are adopted by social workers is affected by a complicated interaction between the beliefs of social workers about social justice and responsiveness and the selected organisational mechanisms. Moreover, we found that critical reflection and a supportive attitude of front-line managers can help social workers to manage their double responsibility in practice. Application Our cross-national study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between organisational mechanisms and the moral deliberations of social workers regarding their dual responsibility. It provides in-depth insights into the tensions and conflicts social workers in different contexts face daily on account of their dual responsibility.

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Experiences of job demand and control: A study of first line managers in for-profit psychiatric and addiction care

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-213540 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Linda Widar ◽

Erika Wall ◽

Sven Svensson

Keyword(s):

First Line ◽

Line Managers ◽

For Profit ◽

Job Demand ◽

Organizational Position ◽

Wide Range ◽

Line Manager ◽

Addiction Care ◽

And Control ◽

Demand Control

BACKGROUND: The complex position of a first line manager is characterized by heavy workload and contradictory demands. Little is known about how first line managers experience demand and control in their work. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore experiences of demand and control among first line managers within psychiatric and addiction care. METHOD: In the present study, interviews with ten managers in for-profit psychiatric and addiction care in Sweden were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach. RESULTS: The managers experiences of demand and control implied varied and extensive responsibilities for a wide range of professions; regulation by organizational, economic, and political frameworks; creating balance in their work; and handling the emergence and consequences of acute crisis. These experiences of demand and control involved high and contradictory demands together with coexisting high and low levels of control. Many of their work characteristics could be described in terms of both demand and control. CONSLUSION: The first line managers experiences of demand and control are more complex than implied by the job demand control theory. Our results suggest that the organizational position and branch should be considered when identifying health hazards in the work environment of first line managers.

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Can Working Conditions and Employees’ Mental Health Be Improved via Job Stress Interventions Designed and Implemented by Line Managers and Human Resources on an Operational Level?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18041916 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1916 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Magnus Akerstrom ◽

Linda Corin ◽

Jonathan Severin ◽

Ingibjörg H. Jonsdottir ◽

Lisa Björk

Keyword(s):

Human Resources ◽

Sickness Absence ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Employee Turnover ◽

Reference Groups ◽

Intervention Effect ◽

Intervention Effects ◽

Line Managers ◽

Operational Level ◽

Organisational Level

Organisational-level interventions are recommended for decreasing sickness absence, but knowledge of the optimal design and implementation of such interventions is scarce. We collected data on working conditions, motivation, health, employee turnover, and sickness absence among participants in a large-scale organisational-level intervention comprising measures designed and implemented by line managers and their human resources partners (i.e., operational-level). Information regarding the process, including the implementation of measures, was retrieved from a separate process evaluation, and the intervention effects were investigated using mixed-effects models. Data from reference groups were used to separate the intervention effect from the effects of other concurrent changes at the workplace. Overall, working conditions and motivation improved during the study for both the intervention and reference groups, but an intervention effect was only seen for two of 13 evaluated survey items: clearness of objectives (p = 0.02) and motivation (p = 0.06). No changes were seen in employees’ perceived health, and there were no overall intervention effects on employee turnover or sickness absence. When using operational-level workplace interventions to improve working conditions and employees’ health, efforts must be made to achieve a high measure-to-challenge correspondence; that is, the implemented measures must be a good match to the problems that they are intended to address.

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Aligning talent management with approaches to equality and diversity

Equality Diversity and Inclusion An International Journal ◽

10.1108/02610151011052753 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 422-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Lynette Harrisr ◽

Carley Foster

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

Work Force ◽

Talent Management ◽

Special Treatment ◽

Line Managers ◽

Content Type ◽

Fair Treatment ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Recruitment And Selection ◽

Skills Shortages

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of talent management interventions in UK public sector organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws upon the findings of a qualitative study of talent management in two UK public sector case study organisations.FindingsImplementing talent management was found to present particular tensions for public sector managers, particularly in terms of its alignment with well‐embedded diversity and equality policies and their own perceptions of fair treatment in the workplace. Despite an acknowledgement that the sector needs to attract, develop and retain the most talented individuals to achieve its modernisation agenda, interventions which require singling out those individuals for special treatment challenges many of its established practices for recruitment and selection, employee development and career management.Practical implicationsPublic sector organisations need to invest both time and effort into developing appropriate and relevant approaches to talent management, which take proper account of line managers' perceptions of fair treatment and established organisational approaches to diversity and equality.Originality/valueTalent management is a topic of growing interest from employers concerned about their work force demographics, specific skills shortages and the retention of high potential employees but the concepts that inform talent interventions are often unclear or are an uneasy fit with the beliefs and understandings about fair treatment of those who have to implement them.

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Line managers’ hiring intentions regarding people with mental health problems: a cross-sectional study on workplace stigma

Occupational and Environmental Medicine ◽

10.1136/oemed-2020-106955 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. oemed-2020-106955

Author(s):

Kim M E Janssens ◽

Jaap van Weeghel ◽

Carolyn Dewa ◽

Claire Henderson ◽

Jolanda J. P. Mathijssen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Health Problems ◽

Job Applicants ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Line Managers ◽

Job Applicant ◽

Workplace Stigma

ObjectivesStigma may negatively affect line managers’ intention to hire people with mental health problems (MHP). This study aims to evaluate line managers’ knowledge and attitudes concerning job applicants with MHP, and to assess which factors are associated with the intention (not) to hire an applicant with MHP.MethodsA sample of Dutch line managers (N=670) filled out a questionnaire on their knowledge, attitudes and experiences concerning applicants/employees with MHP. Descriptive analyses and multiple regression analyses were used.ResultsThe majority (64%) was reluctant to hire a job applicant with MHP, despite the fact that only 7% had negative and 52% had positive personal experiences with such employees. Thirty per cent were reluctant to hire an applicant if they knew the applicant had past MHP. Associated with higher reluctance to hire an applicant with MHP were the concerns that it will lead to long-term sickness absence (β (95% CI)=0.39 (0.23 to 0.55)), that the employee cannot handle the work (β (95% CI)=0.16 (0.00 to 0.33)) that one cannot count on the employee (β (95% CI)=0.41 (0.23 to 0.58)) and higher manager education level (β (95% CI)=0.25 (0.05 to 0.44)). Conversely, associated with positive hiring intentions was being in favour of diversity and/or inclusive enterprise (β(95% CI)=−0.64 (−0.87 to −0.41)).ConclusionsAs the majority of managers were reluctant to hire applicants with MHP, and even 30% were reluctant to hire applicants who had past MHP, these findings have major implications for social inclusion in the Netherlands, where about 75% of employees would disclose MHP at work.

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