scholarly journals The Impact of Non-Standard Work Arrangements and Communication Climate on Organisational and Team Identification and Work-Related Outcomes Amongst Millennials in Chile and the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilka H. Gleibs ◽  
Andrea Lizama Alvarado
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Team Identification ◽  
Communication Climate ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Standard Work ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Previous research has found inconsistent results on the impact of work-status (permanent vs. fixed term vs. causal work) on attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. This study explored this topic from a social identity perspective and examines the effect of communication climate, organisational and team identification on job-affective well-being, organisational commitment and intentions to recommend. In Study 1, 631 professionals working in Chile completed our survey. In Study 2, which was pre-registered, 520 professionals from the UK completed the same survey. In both studies we conducted multi-group path analyses comparing employees with three work-statuses: permanent, fixed-term, and casual workers (Study 1: n = 369, 129, and 131, respectively; Study 2: n = 438, 53, and 34, respectively). We found work-status influenced the relationship between organisational and team identification with job-affective well-being, but not with organisational citizenship behaviour or intentions to recommend. Across all groups, communication climate was an important predictor for identification measures, job-affective well-being and intention to recommend. These findings offer an understanding of the dynamics of social identification in the workplace that are related to work-status in the context of two different countries; Chile, a country that is characterised by high rates of fixed-term and casual job agreement and the UK, which has comparatively fewer non-standard work-arrangements.

Effects of non-standard work arrangements on organisational and team identification and work-related outcomes in Chile and the UK

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilka Helene Gleibs ◽  
Andrea Lizama Alvarado
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Team Identification ◽  
Communication Climate ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Standard Work ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Previous research has found inconsistent results about the impact of work-status (permanent vs fixed term vs causal work) on attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. This study explored this topic from a social identity perspective and examines the effect of organisational and team identification on job-affective well-being, organisational commitment and intentions to recommend. In Study 1, 631 professionals working in Chile completed our survey. In Study 2, which was pre-registered, 520 professionals from the UK completed the same survey. In both studies we conducted multi-group path analyses comparing among employees with three work-statuses: permanent (n1=369, n2=438), fixed-term (n1=129, n2=53), and casual workers (n1=131, n2=34). We found work-status influenced the relationship between organisational and team identification with job-affective well-being, but not with organisational citizenship behaviour or intentions to recommend. Across all groups, communication climate was an important predictor for identification measures, job-affective well-being and intention to recommend. These findings offer an understanding of the dynamics of social identification in the workplace that are related to work-status in the context of two different countries; Chile, a country that is characterised by high rates of fixed-term and casual job agreement and the UK with comparatively less non-standard work-arrangements.

Workplace Flexibility

Sociology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Fan
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Workplace Flexibility ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Group Randomized Trials ◽  
Standard Work ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Impact

As communication technologies develop and as organizations create policies to deal with global expansion and work−life balance, work practices and organizational lives have shifted, giving rise to a model of work where employment is not restricted to one particular place or to standard work hours. This model, workplace flexibility, has been the topic of many fields including sociology, organizational psychology, industry relations, gender studies, management, and health research. This article brings together influential studies from these fields and identifies key themes and topics of interest: the institutional and organizational forces that drive demand for workplace flexibility, types and practices of flexibility, disparities in the provision, access to, and usage of flexibility, the impact of flexibility on work-, family-, and health-related outcomes, and variation in these outcomes by workers’ characteristics and across contexts. Only articles published in English are included, but great efforts have been made to include as many international and cross-national studies as possible. As will be seen, research findings on workplace flexibility are not always consistent. Indeed, despite a growing literature that praises work flexibility for accommodating employees’ needs to balance work, leisure, and family and for reducing gender inequalities, there are also studies criticizing flexibility for fueling heightened job demands and job insecurity and for enlarging gender inequalities. This contradiction can be partially addressed by realizing that researchers do not always define “workplace flexibility” in the same way (see more discussion in Types of Workplace Flexibility). Unless noted otherwise, this article defines workplace flexibility as the ability of workers to make choices regarding when, where, and for how long they engage in work-related tasks. Flexible work arrangements, therefore, are organizational practices that permit employees to adjust their work schedule or location to better manage demands outside of work. Rigorous studies—through group-randomized trials or natural experiments—show that flexibility can promote employer and employee outcomes, but only through a systematic cultural change in how work is defined and how workers are rewarded. Given the still prevalent ideal worker norms that expect workers to be highly dedicated to work and that use “time at work” as the sole metric to assess productivity, a more profound change is needed to remove the stigma around flexibility so as to provide viable solutions to contemporary employees’ needs.

scholarly journals ‘Stressed, uncomfortable, vulnerable, neglected’: a qualitative study of the psychological and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK frontline keyworkers

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e050945
Author(s):  
Tom May ◽  
Henry Aughterson ◽  
Daisy Fancourt ◽  
Alexandra Burton
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Psychosocial Concerns ◽  
Postal Services ◽  
Exposure Risks ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

ObjectivesNon-healthcare keyworkers face distinct occupational vulnerabilities that have received little consideration within broader debates about ‘essential’ work and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the impact of the pandemic on the working lives and mental health and well-being of non-healthcare keyworkers in the UK.DesignIn-depth, qualitative interviews, analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis.SettingTelephone or video call interviews, conducted in the UK between September 2020 and January 2021.Participants23 participants aged 26–61 (mean age=47.2) years employed in a range of non-healthcare keyworker occupations, including transport, retail, education, postal services, the police and fire services, waste collection, finance and religious services.ResultsKeyworkers experienced adverse psychological effects during the COVID-19 pandemic, including fears of COVID-19 exposure, contagion and subsequent transmission to others, especially their families. These concerns were often experienced in the context of multiple exposure risks, including insufficient personal protective equipment and a lack of workplace mitigation practices. Keyworkers also described multiple work-related challenges, including increased workload, a lack of public and organisational recognition and feelings of disempowerment.ConclusionsIn efforts to reduce psychosocial concerns among non-healthcare keyworkers, there is a need for appropriate support during the COVID-19 pandemic and in preparation for other infections (eg, seasonal influenza) in the future. This includes the provision of psychological and workplace measures attending to the intersections of personal vulnerability and work conditions that cause unique risks and challenges among those in frontline keyworker occupations.

scholarly journals Psychosocial impact on frontline health and social care professionals in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e047353
Author(s):  
Henry Aughterson ◽  
Alison R McKinlay ◽  
Daisy Fancourt ◽  
Alexandra Burton
Keyword(s):  
Personal Growth ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Communication Challenges ◽  
The Uk

ObjectivesTo explore the psychosocial well-being of health and social care professionals working during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignThis was a qualitative study deploying in-depth, individual interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used for coding.ParticipantsThis study involved 25 participants from a range of frontline professions in health and social care.SettingInterviews were conducted over the phone or video call, depending on participant preference.ResultsFrom the analysis, we identified 5 overarching themes: communication challenges, work-related stressors, support structures, personal growth and individual resilience. The participants expressed difficulties such as communication challenges and changing work conditions, but also positive factors such as increased team unity at work, and a greater reflection on what matters in life.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence on the support needs of health and social care professionals amid continued and future disruptions caused by the pandemic. It also elucidates some of the successful strategies (such as mindfulness, hobbies, restricting news intake, virtual socialising activities) deployed by health and social care professionals that can support their resilience and well-being and be used to guide future interventions.

scholarly journals Three models for the regulation of polygenic scores in reproduction

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106588
Author(s):  
Sarah Munday ◽  
Julian Savulescu
Keyword(s):  
Human Genetics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Embryo Selection ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Polygenic Scores ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The past few years have brought significant breakthroughs in understanding human genetics. This knowledge has been used to develop ‘polygenic scores’ (or ‘polygenic risk scores’) which provide probabilistic information about the development of polygenic conditions such as diabetes or schizophrenia. They are already being used in reproduction to select for embryos at lower risk of developing disease. Currently, the use of polygenic scores for embryo selection is subject to existing regulations concerning embryo testing and selection. Existing regulatory approaches include ‘disease-based' models which limit embryo selection to avoiding disease characteristics (employed in various formats in Australia, the UK, Italy, Switzerland and France, among others), and 'laissez-faire' or 'libertarian' models, under which embryo testing and selection remain unregulated (as in the USA). We introduce a novel 'Welfarist Model' which limits embryo selection according to the impact of the predicted trait on well-being. We compare the strengths and weaknesses of each model as a way of regulating polygenic scores. Polygenic scores create the potential for existing embryo selection technologies to be used to select for a wider range of predicted genetically influenced characteristics including continuous traits. Indeed, polygenic scores exist to predict future intelligence, and there have been suggestions that they will be used to make predictions within the normal range in the USA in embryo selection. We examine how these three models would apply to the prediction of non-disease traits such as intelligence. The genetics of intelligence remains controversial both scientifically and ethically. This paper does not attempt to resolve these issues. However, as with many biomedical advances, an effective regulatory regime must be in place as soon as the technology is available. If there is no regulation in place, then the market effectively decides ethical issues.

Leveraging Twitter Using Artificial Intelligence to Explore Mental Health Insights in the UK During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Marshall ◽  
Kate Lanyi ◽  
Rhiannon Green ◽  
Georgie Wilkins ◽  
Fiona Pearson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND There is increasing need to explore the value of soft-intelligence, leveraged using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, as a source of analysed evidence to support public health research activity and decision-making. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to further explore the value of soft-intelligence analysed using AI through a case study, which examined a large collection of UK tweets relating to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A search strategy comprising a list of terms related to mental health, COVID-19, and lockdown restrictions was developed to prospectively collate relevant tweets via Twitter’s advanced search application programming interface over a 24-week period. We deployed a specialist NLP platform to explore tweet frequency and sentiment across the UK and identify key topics of discussion. A series of keyword filters were used to clean the initial data retrieved and also set up to track specific mental health problems. Qualitative document analysis was carried out to further explore and expand upon the results generated by the NLP platform. All collated tweets were anonymised RESULTS We identified and analysed 286,902 tweets posted from UK user accounts from 23 July 2020 to 6 January 2021. The average sentiment score was 50%, suggesting overall neutral sentiment across all tweets over the study period. Major fluctuations in volume and sentiment appeared to coincide with key changes to any local and/or national social-distancing measures. Tweets around mental health were polarising, discussed with both positive and negative sentiment. Key topics of consistent discussion over the study period included the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health (both positively and negatively), fear and anxiety over lockdowns, and anger and mistrust toward the government. CONCLUSIONS Through the primary use of an AI-based NLP platform, we were able to rapidly mine and analyse emerging health-related insights from UK tweets into how the pandemic may be impacting people’s mental health and well-being. This type of real-time analysed evidence could act as a useful intelligence source that agencies, local leaders, and health care decision makers can potentially draw from, particularly during a health crisis.

Changing Work and Work-Related Travel and the Impact of Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-354
Author(s):  
Kiron Chatterjee ◽  
Fiona Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

The nature of work was undergoing dramatic change before the pandemic as the digital age continued to transform all sectors of society. In this paper we describe pre-pandemic trends in types of work, the workforce and working arrangements in the UK. We show how these changes were having gradual yet significant impacts on commuting and other work-related travel which were apparent in national travel data series. Key features of these impacts were increasing diversification and flexibility in work travel. We bring together findings on how working practices and travel have been altered by the pandemic and report expectations and opinions on its longer-term legacies. The pandemic has accelerated pre-pandemic trends and led to a shift in how work is performed for almost all sectors of the economy – but grasping the opportunity for this to contribute to deep carbon reductions from transport and to improve equity and health outcomes will require carefully directed policy interventions.

scholarly journals The role of life friendly policies on employees' work-life balance

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Yuile ◽  
Artemis Chang ◽  
Amanda Gudmundsson ◽  
Sukanlaya Sawang
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractAn employee's inability to balance work and non-work related responsibilities has resulted in an increase in stress related illnesses. Historically, research into the relationship between work and non-work has primarily focused on work/family conflict, predominately investigating the impact of this conflict on parents, usually mothers. To date research has not sufficiently examined the management practices that enable all ‘individuals’ to achieve a ‘balance’ between work and life. This study explores the relationship between contemporary life friendly, HR management policies and work/life balance for individuals as well as the effect of managerial support to the policies. Self-report questionnaire data from 1241 men and women is analysed and discussed to enable organizations to consider the use of life friendly policies and thus create a convergence between the well-being of employees and the effectiveness of the organization.

scholarly journals Studying Away and Well-Being: A Comparison Study Between International and Home Students in the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eman S. Alharbi ◽  
Andrew P. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
International Students ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
University Life ◽  
Course Load ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of being away from home on the well-being of international and domestic UK university students as a function of demographic factors, course load, support, personality, healthy lifestyle, and their employment of pre-planning and being at university strategies. A total of 510 students (n = 391 international and 117 British) completed an on-line survey to record demographic details and measure their well-being, quality of university life, and their being away from home strategies. The findings showed that International students reported greater quality of university life and used more pre-departure strategies; the female students reported a significantly more negative well-being and higher course demand than their male peers. A regression analysis showed that positive well-being was predicted by a positive personality, a healthy lifestyle, control and support for academic work, quality of university life and employing well-being strategies (using technology without over-reliance on it and the ability to unwind from study). Negative well-being, on the other hand, was predicted by a less positive personality and a less healthy lifestyle, a higher course demand, less control and support for academic work and less quality of university life. Moreover, the regression analysis showed that international students who employed more pre-departure strategies showed less negative well-being.

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