Threat or opportunity: accelerated job demands during COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of accelerated job demands on employee outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis. An integrated model was developed to explore the relationships between different types of job demands (learning, decision-making, work intensification), employee turnover intention (TI) and burnout (BU).Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from professionals whose work conditions were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. An online survey was distributed anonymously. A total of 566 questionnaires were included in the analysis. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.Findings The findings revealed that employees' perception of job demands impacts the significance and direction of the relationships between different forms of job demands and employee outcomes. Furthermore, the findings confirm that mediating role of perceived organizational support alleviates the adverse effects of job demands on employee outcomes. Finally, the present study supported the moderation effect of positive affectivity between work intensification and employee BU.Practical implications This study provides employers with insights about supporting employees to cope with increased job demands in conditions where rapid changes are inevitable.Originality/value The unique context of research (COVID-19) enabled this study to account for the acceleration of job demands that employees experience in rapidly changing situations. This study employed an instrument that allowed for the assessment of acceleration in job demands. Furthermore, the granular approach of the measurement model extended the perspectives of job demands and work intensification.

METHODICAL WORK IN THE EXPERIMENTAL INSTITUTION

The analysis of social trends in the field of education shows an increase in the requirements for the teacher’s professional competence and personal qualities. The purpose of the article is to determine in experimental conditions the content of the methodical service of the educational institution to solve problems and increase the effectiveness of its work. The article reveals the content of the organization of the system of continuous professional and pedagogical education in a particular general educational institution in the conditions of experiment. Based on the activities in the process of research and experimental work, the institution has developed the Concept of social-pedagogical projecting of the developmental and educational process of the secondary school. The systematic work is planned to increase the level of professional competence of pedagogical staff of educational institutions: optimization of self-education processes, diversification of forms of scientific and methodological work, intensification of processes of continuous professional training. That is why the system of internal methodical work is one of the school priorities, the main task of which is the systematic collective and individual activities of teachers aimed at improving their scientific-theoretical, general cultural level, psychological and pedagogical training and professional skills. During the research the main emphasis was placed on the problem-target, as well as system-structural methods of processing and analysis of scientific achievements, generalization and comparison, as well as on the diagnostic method. Important semantic transformations in the education system require solving the problem of the quality of growth of professional competence of a pedagogical worker who is aware of the importance of social responsibility; is able to formulate and practically implement new pedagogical goals; is a holistic, pivotal figure in the development of students’ life competence. Prospects of the educational institution, its purpose and objectives of educational work are determined using comprehensive psychological and pedagogical diagnostics, professional tools, which further allows to identify problems and potential opportunities of all participants in the educational process, gaps or, conversely, creative, professional and personal potential.

Navigating the tensions of flexible work: An exploration of the individual strategies employed by flexibly working parents

<p>The demand for workplace flexibility is growing in New Zealand. The increasing and fragmented employment participation of women has given rise to growing complexity within family lives and higher demand for flexible work. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are intended to assist parents in managing care responsibilities, while discouraging unemployment among women in particular. Evidence linking FWA usage with positive work outcomes and reduced work-family conflict has grown in recent years. However, research also suggests a darker side to FWAs. For some, research shows that FWAs may exacerbate work-life balance (WLB) issues and negatively affect career advancement, with indications that attempts to promote WLB can come at the expense of positive work outcomes, and vice versa. As a result, less is known about the factors that shape outcomes for flexibly working parents, or indeed, the individual strategies that parents employ to promote positive outcomes while working flexibly. The complex way in which FWAs can either promote or hinder positive employee outcomes necessitates concurrent examination of the tensions between WLB and career outlooks for users of FWAs. Drawing on the experiences of 21 professional, flexibly working parents across public service organisations, this thesis finds parents navigate the tensions of flexible work using a variety of WLB, work organisation, and career-promoting strategies, with varying effects. Work intensification and efficiency strategies are shown to be commonly used by flexibly working parents for promoting positive work outcomes. However, while work efficiency appears to also promote WLB, work intensification is seen to negatively impact WLB. This research provides valuable insight into flexibly working employee strategies, hitherto largely neglected within the literature, and highlights the need for applying the life course perspective to FWA research.</p>

Navigating the tensions of flexible work: An exploration of the individual strategies employed by flexibly working parents

<p>The demand for workplace flexibility is growing in New Zealand. The increasing and fragmented employment participation of women has given rise to growing complexity within family lives and higher demand for flexible work. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are intended to assist parents in managing care responsibilities, while discouraging unemployment among women in particular. Evidence linking FWA usage with positive work outcomes and reduced work-family conflict has grown in recent years. However, research also suggests a darker side to FWAs. For some, research shows that FWAs may exacerbate work-life balance (WLB) issues and negatively affect career advancement, with indications that attempts to promote WLB can come at the expense of positive work outcomes, and vice versa. As a result, less is known about the factors that shape outcomes for flexibly working parents, or indeed, the individual strategies that parents employ to promote positive outcomes while working flexibly. The complex way in which FWAs can either promote or hinder positive employee outcomes necessitates concurrent examination of the tensions between WLB and career outlooks for users of FWAs. Drawing on the experiences of 21 professional, flexibly working parents across public service organisations, this thesis finds parents navigate the tensions of flexible work using a variety of WLB, work organisation, and career-promoting strategies, with varying effects. Work intensification and efficiency strategies are shown to be commonly used by flexibly working parents for promoting positive work outcomes. However, while work efficiency appears to also promote WLB, work intensification is seen to negatively impact WLB. This research provides valuable insight into flexibly working employee strategies, hitherto largely neglected within the literature, and highlights the need for applying the life course perspective to FWA research.</p>

Work Intensification and Psychological Detachment: The Mediating Role of Job Resources in Health Service Workers

Psychological detachment is the central experience of recovery from work-related stress that allows individuals to reduce burnout symptoms. The stressor-detachment model (SDM) contends that job resources moderate the relationship between job stressors and psychological detachment. We designed an instrument to measure job resources from a multidimensional perspective. A sample of n = 394 individuals from the health service industry participated in the study. Data indicate that job resources comprise a four-factor structure underlying a formative model. Consistent with the SDM, a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis suggests a moderating effect of job resources (e.g., control over working conditions, leaders’ emotional support), between work intensification and psychological detachment. In addition; results indicate that workers who perceive high levels of support from their organization achieved higher levels of detachment compared with those who perceived low levels of support. Theoretical as well as practical implications for stress management practices, occupational health, and well-being are discussed.

Unions in the postal services of the future

This study is an explorative analysis of labor union representatives’ assessment of digital transformation in the postal and logistics sector and the consequences for union activities in different regions of the world. It consists of two parts: Part I is a review of existing research on the topic of digitalization and labor relations in the postal and logistics sector. Part II represents the core of the study, consisting of a qualitative survey of union representatives from that sector regarding their stance towards digitalization and respective union strategies. The sample consists of 29 detailed written statements of union representatives from all continents, answering to a set of open questions. The study shows that in almost all of the regions, digital technologies are the basic technological infrastructure that enables postal work. There is a set of specific technology bundles which are consistently used in all of these regions. The surveyed union representatives consistently report a net job loss as a consequence of digitalization, although it also has created some new jobs. They also indicate an increase in precarious forms of employment, such as subcontracting, temporary work or bogus self-employment. In terms of working conditions, respondents refer to work facilitation through automation and digital assistance. However, they also underline that especially algorithmic work control leads to increased surveillance and work intensification. This intensification of work is perceived in turn as a factor in increased stress and thus as a risk for workers’ health. Yet, respondents also see the potential for digital systems to prevent accidents. Overall, the surveyed union representatives see digitalization as inevitable. Yet, they consistently argue that new regulations are needed because older standards often times do not address the specific problems of digitalized work.

An NHS Doctor’s Lived Experience of Burnout during the First Wave of Covid-19

This article offers the lived experiences of an NHS doctor working on the front line in an English NHS Trust during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The overall aim of the article is to offer a context-specific perspective on the employee experience of burnout by drawing out the interplay of organisational and external/socio-political factors during an atypical time. The narrative also highlights an as yet unexplored pattern of burnout with active maintenance of professional efficacy as the starting point which then interacts with high levels of work intensification prevalent in the NHS, leading to the coping mechanisms of depersonalisation and detachment. Existing research has predominantly focused on how/why employees experience burnout at the organisational level of analysis, leaving a gap in the literature on how external/socio-political and time contexts may impact employee burnout.

The dark side of hyperconnectivity in the accounting profession

Purpose This paper aims to understand the antecedents and consequences of using the smartphone and/or tablet by professional accountants for business purposes outside of regular working hours. More specifically, this paper aims to test the direct relationships between, on the one hand, work intensification and the use of smartphone and/or tablet and work-family conflict (WFC) and on the other hand, the indirect effect of the use of smartphones and/or tablet between work intensification and WFC. Design/methodology/approach This research was based on a cross-sectional design and quantitative method. The structural equation method was used to test the direct effect of work intensification on smartphone and/or tablet use and WFC. As for the mediation effect of smartphone and/or tablet use between work intensification and WFC, it was tested by the method of indirect effects based on a bootstrap analysis. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software v.24. Findings The results of the study indicate that work intensification increases the use of smartphones and/or tablets outside of working hours and that this variable increases the intensification of WFC through a process of mediation. Research limitations/implications This research does not take into account the moderating variables that can intervene in the model. For example, the duration of use of the smartphone, the origin of emails or messages (supervisors, customers and colleagues), the types of tasks performed outside working hours and the period of use (evening, weekend and holidays) could have significant effects on the different relationships tested in the model. Furthermore, we had all the positions held by the respondents (for example, chief financial officer, director, vice-president, partners, senior managers, management accountant, auditor, agents, analysts, accountants) grouped into one category and this may have an impact on results. Practical implications The results could be quite interesting for governments and organizations interested in advantage of the technology while reducing its disadvantages. In particular, it is important for accounting firms, which are big users of new technologies (e.g. Smart software and analytics). Indeed, both companies and professional accountants must clearly communicate their expectations regarding the use of technology for business purposes outside normal working hours. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of work intensification and the use of smartphones and/or tablets, on WFC.