Employee Health and Wellness: Diagnosis and Intervention

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Employee Health and Wellness Diagnosis and
Intervention

• Prof. Ian Rothmann
• WorkWell Research Unit, North-West University,
  Potchefstroom

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Structure

• Changing Workplace
• Effects of Work
• Dual-process model
• Research Findings
• Interventions

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PART 1

• The Nature of Work

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The Changing Workplace

• Increased utilisation of information and
  communication technology
• Globalisation of the economy
• Changing structure of the workforce
• Utilisation of new production concepts (e.g.
  team-based work, downsizing, outsourcing and
  subcontracting) - less job security

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The Changing Workplace

• Nature of work has changed from manual to mental
  and emotional demands
• Significant changes in the labour environment
• High unemployment rate and poverty
• Changing values of people
• HIV/AIDS

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Challenge for Modern Organisations
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Assignment 1

• Make a list of the changes that you were
  confronted by in the past year.
• Which changes in your job/department do you
  expect will occur over the next year?

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PART 2

• The Effects of Work on Individuals

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Context South Africa

• Increased rates of illness, post-traumatic
  stress, sickness-absenteeism, labour turnover,
  medical boarding, burnout, alcohol abuse and
  suicide, decreased levels of job satisfaction and
  job performance

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Assignment 2

• Which of the following do you observe in your
  department/organisation? What are the reasons for
  this?
• Illness
• Post-traumatic stress
• Sickness-absenteeism
• Labour turnover
• Medical boarding
• Alcohol abuse
• Stress
• Suicide
• Optimism and motivation

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PART 3

• The Nature of Health and Wellness

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Negative focus of Occupational Health Psychology

• Ill-health and unwell-being (e.g., job stress,
  burnout)
• Work requires effort and is associated with
  negative feelings on the other hand it gives
  energy and generates positive feelings
  meaningless work is associated with apathy and
  detachment from work

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Employee Well-being

• Definition of health remains the absence of
  disease, not including a focus on the presence of
  positive states
• Wellness is not just the absence of disease it
  is a state of complete physical, mental and
  social well-being

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Approaches and Frameworks
1 Ill-health
2 Well-being
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Approaches Upstream Helping

• A person walking beside a river sees
  some-one drowning. The person jumps in, pulls
  the victim out, and begins artificial
  respiration. Then another drowning person calls
  for help. The rescuer jumps into the water again
  and pulls the second victim out. This process
  repeats itself several times until finally, much
  to the amazement of the bystanders who gathered
  to watch the drama, the rescuer, even though the
  screams of yet another victim can be heard from
  the river, gets up from administering artificial
  respiration and begins to walk upstream. One of
  the bystanders calls out Where are you going?
  Cant you hear the cries of the latest victim?
  The rescuer replies You can take care of him.
  Im going upstream to find out whos pushing all
  these people in and see whether I can stop it.

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Approaches Health and Wellness
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Physical Wellness

• Consists of a variety of healthy behaviours
  including
• adequate exercise
• abstaining from drug use and alcohol abuse
• regular medical check-ups
• protecting myself from injuries and harm

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Emotional Wellness

• Understanding how I feel, accepting my feelings
  and learning how to express and cope with my
  emotions. Having the ability to feel and express
• Happiness
• Sadness
• Anger
• Love
• It also consists of optimism, self-esteem,
  self-acceptance and the ability to share feelings

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Intellectual Wellness

• The ability to make sound decisions and to think
  critically. It includes
• Openness to new ideas
• Motivation to master new skills
• A sense of humour
• Creativity and curiosity

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Social Wellness

• My ability to interact successfully in the global
  community and to live up to the expectations and
  demands of my personal roles by
• Learning good communication skills
• Developing intimacy with others
• Creating a support network with friends family
• Showing respect for others and myself

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Spiritual Wellness

• Possessing a set of guiding beliefs, principles
  or values that help give direction to my life. I
  can derive meaning and purpose through
• Nature
• Art
• Music
• Religion
• Meditation

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Assignment 3

• Develop a working definition of health and
  wellness.
• Would you be able to apply this definition to
  measure and develop employee health and wellness
  in your department?

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PART 4

• A Model of Employee Health and Wellness

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Holistic Model of Work-related Well-being

• Job Demands
• Pace of work
• Amount of work
• Work-home conflict
• Mental load
• Emotional load
• Physical demands
• Job Resources
• Information
• Communication
• Role clarity
• Task significance
• Opportunities to learn
• Task variety
• Autonomy
• Independence
• Participation
• Remuneration

• Burnout
• Exhaustion
• Mental distance

Savoring

• Outcomes
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Performance
• Marital quality
• Friendships

• Work Engagement
• Vigour
• Dedication

Individual Differences

• Optimism
• Hardiness
• Sense of coherence
• Locus of control

Coping
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Dual Process Model
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-0.55
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Dimensions of Work-related Well-being

• Exhaustion refers to an employee's incapability
  of performing because all energy has been drained
• Mental distance involves an employee's
  unwillingness to perform because of an increased
  intolerance of any effort
• Vigour refers to high levels of energy and
  resilience, the willingness to invest effort in
  ones job, not being easily fatigued, and
  persistence in the face of difficulties
• Dedication refers to a strong involvement in
  ones work, accompanied by feelings of enthusiasm
  and significance, and by a sense of pride and
  inspiration

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Affective Well-being at Work
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Indaba Wellness
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Frequencies Wellness
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Assignment 6

• In which quadrants of wellness do the sample
  which completed the SAEHWS at the Indaba in
  Durban (October 2005) find themselves most
  strongly?
• What are the reasons for this?

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PART 5

• Job Demands and Job Resources

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Dual Process Model
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Demands and Resources

• Demands Things that have to be done include
  physical, social and organisational aspects that
  require sustained physical and mental effort
• Resources Physical, psychological, social or
  organisational aspects that are necessary to
  achieve study goals, to reduce study demands and
  stimulate personal growth and development

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Job Demands-Job Resources Model
Job demands
Job resources
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OrganisationalHierarchy
Relationships with managers and supervisors
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Job Demands

• Pace and amount of work
• Having too much work to do
• Working under time pressure
• Quantitative demands (detail)
• Having to attend to many things at the same time
• Having to give continuous attention to your work
• Emotional demands
• Working in emotionally upsetting situations?

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Job Resources

• Variety in work
• Opportunities to learn
• Independence
• Relationships with supervisor
• Relationship with colleagues
• Role clarity
• Information
• Communication
• Participation
• Contact possibilities
• Job insecurity
• Remuneration
• Career possibilities

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Job Resources
Variety, Learning Opportunities, Independence
Resources Grow and Learn
Job Resources
Relationship with Supervisor and Colleagues, Role
Clarity, Contact Information, Communication
Resources Goals
Resources Advancement
Remuneration, Career Possibilities, Training
Opportunities
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Assignment 7

• List the job demands and resources in your
  organisation that a) you experience, and b)
  employees in your department experience
• Do these demands and resources vary between
  different levels, genders, age groups?

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Dual Process Model
0.75
0.44
-0.55
-0.18
0.50
0.78
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PART 6

• Moderators of Demands and Resources

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Holistic Model of Work-related Well-being

• Job Demands
• Pace of work
• Amount of work
• Work-home conflict
• Mental load
• Emotional load
• Physical demands
• Job Resources
• Information
• Communication
• Role clarity
• Task significance
• Opportunities to learn
• Task variety
• Autonomy
• Independence
• Participation
• Remuneration

• Burnout
• Exhaustion
• Mental distance

Savoring

• Outcomes
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Performance
• Marital quality
• Friendships

• Work Engagement
• Vigour
• Dedication

Individual Differences

• Optimism
• Hardiness
• Sense of coherence
• Locus of control

Coping
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Resilience Sense of Coherence

• Sense of coherence is defined as a global
  orientation that expresses the extent to which
  one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic
  feeling of confidence that
• the stimuli deriving from one's internal and
  external environments in the course of living are
  structured, predictable and explicable
  (comprehensibility)
• the resources are available to one to meet the
  demands posed by these stimuli (manageability)
• these demands are challenges, worthy of
  investment and engagement (meaningfulness)

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Resilience and Traits

• Resilient individuals show positive adjustment on
  all five of the big five personality dimensions
  Extraversion, Emotional stability, Openness to
  experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness
• Traits of employees who measure high on
  exhaustion/cynicism
• Low emotional stability
• Low conscientiousness
• Traits of employees who measure high on
  vigour/dedication
• Extraversion
• Emotional stability
• Conscientiousness

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Effects of Sense of Coherence
Perception of stimuli
Sense of Coherence
Health and Wellness

• Comprehensibility
• Manageability
• Meaningfulness

Coping Strategies
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Case Study
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Case Study
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PART 7

• Work-related Well-being Empirical Findings

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PART 8

• Intervention

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Employee Health and Wellness Interventions

• Distress Prevention
• Primary level modify or eliminate stressors in
  the workplace, e.g. increase demands but also
  discretion, time management, change individuals
  perception of stressor
• Secondary level increase awareness of
  individuals, exercise, meditation, relaxation,
  nutrition
• Tertiary level intervention treat symptoms
  through counselling and support heal the wounds
• Eustress Generation
• Identify aspects of the work that employees find
  most engaging, find out why they find the work
  pleasurable, and assess what could be done to
  enhance positive aspects of the work experience
• E.g. create hope through establishing meaningful
  goals, allocate job resources necessary to excel,
  and maintain frequent and inspirational dialogue
  with employees
• Help employees to develop competencies to
  recognise eustress in themselves

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Generating Eustress

• Self-assessment and monitoring
• Goal setting and positive feedback
• Identify aspects of the work that employees find
  most engaging, find out why they find the work
  pleasurable, and assess what could be done to
  enhance positive aspects of the work experience
• Allocate job resources necessary to excel, and
  maintain frequent and inspirational dialogue with
  employees
• Leadership Improve the social climate, maintain
  inspirational dialogue
• Training Foster self-efficacy and realistic
  attributions
• Career planning and development

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Managing/Preventing Distress

• Primary level intervention modify or eliminate
  stressors in the workplace (adapt environment to
  individuals) work redesign, increase demands but
  also discretion, time management, change
  individuals perception of stressor
• Secondary level intervention increase awareness
  of individuals, exercise, meditation, relaxation,
  nutrition, create opportunities for recovery
• Tertiary level intervention treat symptoms
  through counselling and support heal the
  wounds, burnout reintegration training

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THANK YOU! bpksr_at_puk.ac.za