Innovative actions developed by nurses in primary health care

ABSTRACT Objectives: to understand the work process dimensions related to innovative actions developed by nurses in Primary Health Care. Methods: qualitative, descriptive study, developed in Primary Health Care in a city in the Southern Region of Brazil. Seventy-six nurses, who worked in management and assistance, participated in this study through semi-structured interviews. After data processing by IRAMUTEQ software, the textual analysis occurred by descending hierarchical classification. Results: forty-two innovative actions, considered by the participants as new ways of working, were identified. There was a predominance of innovative actions related to the Management and Assist dimensions; we noticed the fragility of the actions to contemplate all the nurse’s work process dimensions. Final Considerations: the predominance of innovative actions was related to users’ assistance and better conditions in the teamwork process, besides highlighting the role of nurses in the perspective of a new way of working in health services.

Virtual Team Leadership, Operation, and Technology Deployment

The COVID-19 situation has shown many leaders that their face-to-face meetings leadership style may well now be a thing of the past. Tech-savvy companies are now deploying new technologies to support the creation and leadership of virtual teams, working remotely in different locations around the globe. This presents a range of new challenges for both project leaders and team members, who must now adopt new ways of working. Using an inductive approach based on an analysis of relevant literature, online surveys, and in-depth interviews with project leaders and other practitioners, this chapter examines the transitioning to virtual team leadership and operation, identifies critical success factors, and discusses the facilitating role of new technologies. An operational model (V-CORPS) to guide the building and operation of virtual teams is developed and explained with the aim of increasing the flexibility and efficiency of virtual project teams and establishing a checklist of action points for team building and leading.

Opportunities and Challenges of Using Mobile Applications for Workplace Health Promotion

Workplace health promotion (WHP) needs be adjusted to the new ways of working and improved in terms of participation rates. As mobile applications (apps) have proved to be effective in various health areas, it might also be a solution for WHP. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the requirements employees would have on such an app for WHP. Therefore, 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees and experts of an IT company. Most employees were rather positive about such an app. Concerns were stated in terms of added value and data security. Variations were found in preferred functionalities. Apps might thus be effective for WHP but would need to add value compared to apps available for private usage. Additionally, clear communication about data privacy would be expected.

Discussions on How to Best Prepare Students on the Ethics of Human-Machine Interactions at Work

This chapter analyzes the evolution of the new ways of working, especially in terms of algorithms and machine learning. Special attention is given to algorithmic management and its ethical concerns, as well as to practical examples of the application of algorithms in different sectors. Faculty discussions about how to best prepare students to deal with human-machine interactions at work are presented, with algorithmic management and accountability the discussion's central axis. In algorithmic management, there are distinct positions to analyze; one that favors innovation and efficiency and privileges dignified work and ethics. A brief proposal on introducing algorithmic ethics into the programs offered at a private business school in Mexico is included.

Post-Pandemic Office Work: Perceived Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Work Environment

The widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work due to COVID-19 calls for studies that explore the ramifications of these scenarios for office workers from an occupational health and wellbeing perspective. This paper aims to identify the needs and challenges in remote and hybrid work and the potential for a sustainable future work environment. Data collection involved two qualitative studies with a total of 53 participants, who represented employees, staff managers, and service/facility providers at three Swedish public service organisations (primarily healthcare and infrastructure administration). The results describe opportunities and challenges with the adoption of remote and hybrid work from individual, group, and leadership perspectives. The main benefits of remote work were increased flexibility, autonomy, work-life balance and individual performance, while major challenges were social aspects such as lost comradery and isolation. Hybrid work was perceived to provide the best of both worlds of remote and office work, given that employees and managers develop new skills and competencies to adjust to new ways of working. To achieve the expected individual and organisational benefits of hybrid work, employers are expected to provide support and flexibility and re-design the physical and digital workplaces to fit the new and diverse needs of employees.

12. The institutions of Justice and Home Affairs:

This chapter analyses the institutions of EU member state cooperation on issues such as asylum, refugee protection, migration, border controls, police cooperation, and judicial cooperation. Once seen as the prerogative of member states and as defining features of states’ identities as sovereign, complex incremental institutional change established new ways of working on internal security issues and reconfigured the strategic setting from which these issues are viewed. The recent history of these developments provides insight into the EU’s institutional and organizational development, while also demonstrating how, why, and with what effects these issues have become politicized in EU member states. The politicization of migration and asylum, in particular, complements this chapter’s focus on institutional developments by identifying the source of key pressures and strains to which these institutions have been exposed. The most recent COVID-19 pandemic restricting the free movement of people across Europe, the 2020 fire that broke out at the Moria refugee camp at Lesbos, and the European Commission’s ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’ of September 2020 raised serious questions about the content and viability of key components of the EU’s approach to security and human rights. From being a policy arena that was not even mentioned in the Treaty of Rome or Single European Act (SEA), internal security within an ‘area of freedom, security, and justice’ (AFSJ) is now a key EU priority. This chapter pinpoints key developments, specifies institutional roles, and explores the relationships over time between changing conceptualizations of security and institutional developments.

The Great Resignation: stopping the 'bleed'

As hospitality businesses open up ‘post-pandemic’, the unavailability of qualified staff has become one of the biggest obstacles to businesses’ ability to take maximum advantage of the pent-up desire and need for travel. A study published by McKinsey in September 2021 under the headline “Great attrition or great attraction? The choice is yours”1 verbalised and quantified for the first time something that the hospitality industry around the globe is experiencing as businesses start their return to the ‘next normal’. The article explained in detail a mindset that has become commonplace both for employers and employees, and that will be troubling the industry for a while if not properly addressed. When Covid first brought the world to a standstill, the hospitality industry was one of the first and worst hit. Business came to a halt; many hotels and restaurants closed or decreased staffing levels as much as possible in order to cut expenses. In the developed world, this was done with the help of government programmes so that employees could access some kind of safety net. In developing countries, these safety nets often did not/do not exist. Many employers were ruthless, simply telling staff that they were no longer needed. ‘Thanks’ to many governments calling Covid-19 a “force majeure”, employers got around paying legally required compensation for terminating employees at short notice. Many of our colleagues, expatriate and local, found themselves literally ‘on the street’ within weeks of the pandemic ravaging the industry. Employers’ social responsibility to the communities in which they do business was one of the first victims of the pandemic. The understanding that “our staff is our most valuable asset” turned into pure semantics. Today, as these businesses celebrate that they are opening again, there is a surprising level of surprise among the most callous of employers that now they can’t find staff. The industry will have to come up with new ways of working if they want to attract colleagues back – the loss of trust and goodwill will have serious repercussions. To ‘make good’ on their actions, employers need to first understand how much they broke – initial observations show that they have not even started to understand what they did. What about people still employed? Shouldn’t they be lucky to still have a job? In the McKinsey study, 40% of participants who were still employed answered that they were at least somewhat likely to leave their job in the next 3–6 months; 64% of these claimed that they are planning to leave without a new job lined up. At the core of this is, I believe (and the study suggests), is a general disconnect between what employees are looking for and what employers think that employees are looking for. The pandemic has sent many of us into a survival mode, forcing actions that were purely transactional. Yet the hospitality industry, at its core, depends on people who care for others. Employers need to ask employees questions that show they care and rebuild the trust that has been lost due to their actions when the pandemic hit. As a member of a Vietnamese investment group that did exactly the opposite, that held on to employees at substantial cost to the enterprise and with employees at all levels ‘chipping in’ through unpaid leave to help keep everyone employed, I know first-hand that this has built a substantial amount of trust and our levels of attrition are substantially below the market average as other businesses reopen. Asking the right questions, listening to the answers and consistently responding with empathy and tangible action, not words, will be key to our success. Corresponding author Oliver Horn can be contacted at: [email protected] Note McKinsey & Company, September 8, 2021, study conducted with 4,294 participants in the US, UK, Australia, Singapore and Canada. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours

Transformation Management Office as a Vehicle to Accelerate Digital Transformation

ADNOC has identified digital technology as a key enabler of sustainable value creation as it delivers its 2030 smart growth strategy. The Transformation Management Office (TMO) has been established to accelerate delivery of ADNOC's digital transformation, actively manage its digital portfolio, build digital capabilities, lead the digital empowerment of local talent and institute a ‘new way to operate’. By doing so, it supports ADNOC's ambition to be a data-driven organization, adopting new ways of working, and delivering greater value, while adapting swiftly to competitive threats to its core business. ADNOC's digital transformation is changing the way the organization operates. The adoption of digital technologies, including big data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and robotics will optimize production, improve efficiency, reduce risk and de-risk multibillion dollar projects. To achieve this requires a change of company culture across the full value chain. The decision to establish the Transformation Management Office was a recognition that ADNOC must evolve to meet the realities of the new energy era by adopting advanced digital technologies to ensure we remain resilient and agile, by making the most of our resources, enhancing our performance, empowering our people and delivering greater value for our shareholders, Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

What challenges did junior doctors face while working during the COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study

ObjectivesThis paper reports findings exploring junior doctors’ experiences of working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.DesignQualitative study using in-depth interviews with 15 junior doctors. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised and imported into NVivo V.12 to facilitate data management. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.SettingNational Health Service (NHS) England.ParticipantsA purposive sample of 12 female and 3 male junior doctors who indicated severe depression and/or anxiety on the DASS-21 questionnaire or high suicidality on Paykel’s measure were recruited. These doctors self-identified as having lived experience of distress due to their working conditions.ResultsWe report three major themes. First, the challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic, which were both personal and organisational. Personal challenges were characterised by helplessness and included the trauma of seeing many patients dying, fears about safety and being powerless to switch off. Work-related challenges revolved around change and uncertainty and included increasing workloads, decreasing staff numbers and negative impacts on relationships with colleagues and patients. The second theme was strategies for coping with the impact of COVID-19 on work, which were also both personal and organisational. Personal coping strategies, which appeared limited in their usefulness, were problem and emotion focused. Several participants appeared to have moved from coping towards learnt helplessness. Some organisations reacted to COVID-19 collaboratively and flexibly. Third, participants reported a positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working practices, which included simplified new ways of working—such as consistent teams and longer rotations—as well as increased camaraderie and support.ConclusionsThe trauma that junior doctors experienced while working during COVID-19 led to powerlessness and a reduction in the benefit of individual coping strategies. This may have resulted in feelings of resignation. We recommend that, postpandemic, junior doctors are assigned to consistent teams and offered ongoing support.

Remote Working in a Public Bureaucracy: Redeveloping Practices of Managerial Control When Out of Sight

This article examines managerial control practices in a public bureaucracy at the moment of introducing remote work as part with a new ways of working (NWW) project. The qualitative study builds on 38 interviews with supervisors and subordinates conducted before the advent of COVID-19. By interpreting interviewees’ conversations about current and anticipated future work practices in the changing work setting, we reveal tacit and hidden practices of managerial control that are currently prevalent in many organizations introducing remote working. Three constitutive moments of the organization’s transformation to NWW are analytically distinguished: (i) how implicit becomes explicit, (ii) how collective becomes self, and (iii) how personal becomes impersonal. Our findings emphasize that the transition to NWW must take into account prevailing institutional logics and must reconnect to a fundamental and often neglected question: What does doing work mean within the particular organization? Negotiating this fundamental question might help to overcome supervisors’ uncertainties about managerial control and provide clarity to subordinates about what is expected from them while working remotely. Finally, we discuss how the transition to NWW may serve as both an opportunity and a potential threat to established organizational practices while highlighting the challenge supervisors face when the institutional logics conflict with remote working.