Sustainable and Healthy Organizations Promote Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation Strategies

Do parallel career tracks harm professionals more than single career tracks?

Parallel career tracks have become more prevalent today, especially in Brazil, where more than a quarter of all postgrads have one. Despite its growing popularity, little research has tapped into this new career phenomenon. This study examines whether having a parallel career track leads to negative work outcomes related to sustainable careers, such as higher absenteeism and lower engagement, in comparison to a single career track. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were gathered from 380 and 102 Brazilian professionals respectively, who filled out an online survey. A normal and a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine whether work outcomes differed between those with parallel career tracks versus single career tracks. The findings indicate that parallel career tracks do not have different effects on individual sustainable employability outcomes when compared to single career tracks, including employability, engagement, absenteeism, presenteeism, and burnout. Therefore, organizations can face this new career trend without reluctance as it does not harm individual work outcomes related to sustainable careers. This study contributes significantly to improving the understanding of this new career format by examining the impact of parallel career tracks on individual work outcomes through a longitudinal design.

The Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development: Advancing Decent Work, Inclusivity, and Positive Strength-Based Primary Preventive Interventions for Vulnerable Workers

This study discusses the contribution of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development to the wellbeing of vulnerable workers. The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development is a current area of the research study in the field of sustainability science. It deals with sustainability as a framework to recognize and integrate the value of the psychological approach in the construction of processes linked to sustainable development. Accordingly, the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development could provide sustainable development processes for the employment of vulnerable workers. The contribution starts with the definition of the coordinates of a sustainable development process for vulnerable workers, anchoring it to the principles of decent work and inclusivity. Subsequently, positive variables involved in the sustainable development processes and their relationship with decent work and inclusivity are discussed. Moreover, positive healthy organizations are introduced as work environments capable to take care of the wellbeing, also, of vulnerable workers. Lastly, the applications of positive strength-based primary preventive interventions for vulnerable workers are analyzed. Perspectives for further research studies and interventions are also examined.

Development of a Questionnaire for Measuring Employees' Perception of Selection, Optimisation and Compensation at the Leadership, Group and Individual Levels

This study is the first to develop a questionnaire to measure employees’ perceptions of the use of the action strategies selection, optimisation, and compensation (SOC) beyond the individual level, which has so far been lacking in research and practice. The study thus contributes an important tool for research into the role of SOC strategies at the leadership, group, and individual levels for long and healthy working lives. It may also be used by practitioners as a tool to provide input when developing targeted interventions to support long and healthy working lives. The development of the questionnaire was based on SOC theory, qualitative and cognitive interviews, and existing SOC questionnaires. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested on data from a cross-sectional survey with responses from 785 nurses and 244 dairy workers. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the theoretically expected nine-factor structure of the questionnaire in both study populations (nurses and dairy workers). Furthermore, the results largely supported the criterion validity and internal reliability of the scales in the questionnaire. Nevertheless, further validation across additional occupational groups is needed.

Predisposition to Change Is Linked to Job Satisfaction: Assessing the Mediation Roles of Workplace Relation Civility and Insight

The globalization processes typical of liquid modern society require organizations to have high levels of flexibility, dynamism, and rapidity of change, testing the adaptability of workers with possible repercussions on well-being and productivity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the role of several psychological factors in favoring job satisfaction in a group of organizational workers (mean age = 46.24; SD = 9.99; 40.9% males and 59.1% females). Firstly, the impact of predisposition to change on job satisfaction through workplace relational civility (others with me) or insight orientation as independent mediating variables was analyzed. After that, this relationship was also studied by testing the effect that the simultaneous interaction of both mediators could have. Results show that workplace relational civility (others with me) significantly mediated the relationship between predisposition to change and job satisfaction, while no significance was found in the effect of insight when considered individually. However, the latter acquires greater relevance if placed in interaction with the other mediator, that is found to be the most proximal factor linking job satisfaction to the other more distal variables. Such findings might have a relevant role in strengthening preventive intervening, favoring positive results for greater well-being of both subjects and organizations.

Testing Demands and Resources as Determinants of Vitality among Different Employment Contract Groups. A Study in 30 European Countries

The aim of this study was to investigate the relative importance of four job demands and five job resources for employee vitality, i.e., work engagement and exhaustion, in three different employment groups: permanent, temporary and temporary agency workers. We employed data from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) collected in 2015 comprising 28,042 employees from 30 European countries. We used linear regression analyses and dominance analysis (DA). The results showed minor mean differences in work engagement and exhaustion and that temporary agency workers had the highest job insecurity and lowest job control. The associations between job resources and job demands, and work engagement and exhaustion of the groups, did not differ considerably. DA showed that in all three employment groups, job feedback made the strongest contribution to work engagement and workload to exhaustion. In addition, among the temporary agency workers, supervisor support contributed to work engagement and job control (negatively) to exhaustion more than in the other groups. This study suggests that the key determinants of vitality at work may be similar, regardless of contract, and that to have sustainably performing vital workers, organizations should focus on enabling job feedback and preventing high workload in all employment groups.

Intrapreneurial Self-Capital Mediates the Connectedness to Nature Effect on Well-Being at Work

Researchers are being called upon to find and explore viable solutions to protect the environment and promote health in the new digital era of the 21st century, since the rapid changes transpiring within our technological societies may be detrimental to workers but also offer opportunities for growth. The concept of connectedness to nature, on the one hand, is a proxy for important environmentally protective and responsible behaviors; on the other, it has been studied in relation to people’s well-being. To promote health, it is crucial to act from a primary prevention perspective, which is focused on finding variables that can be increased through specific training. In this framework, intrapreneurial self-capital (ISC) appears to be related both to people’s connectedness to nature and their well-being. This study analyzes exploratively the relationship between connectedness to nature, ISC, and well-being at work, since these variables have never been studied together. A mediation model is tested to assess whether ISC could mediate the relationship between connectedness to nature and workers’ well-being. The mediation analysis highlights that ISC, as a core of preventive resources, potentially sustains the effect of feeling connected to nature on well-being at work. Thus, interventions aimed at increasing and acquiring preventive resources, such as ISC, could be beneficial in protecting the environment and in promoting health among workers.

Intrapreneurial Self-Capital and Connectedness to Nature within Organizations

Research exists regarding personality traits in relation to connectedness with nature. However, it is not possible to increase personality through training. As an alternative, intrapreneurial self-capital (ISC) could be a promising core of resources for enhancing the sustainable development of behaviors and practices. Using a sample of 198 workers, this study exploratively analyzed the relationship between the extraversion personality trait, ISC, and connectedness to nature. A mediation model was employed to assess the effects of extraversion on connectedness to nature (outcome variable) through ISC (conceived as an intervening mediator variable). The mediation analysis highlighted that ISC potentially promotes workers’ connectedness to nature within organizations. Thus, implementing dedicated interventions to increase ISC could encourage sustainable development by enhancing workers’ levels of connectedness to nature.

Burnout Precursors in Oncology Nurses: A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study with a Systemic Organizational Analysis

Burnout negatively affects nurses’ health and performance. Healthcare managers have an ethical duty to create healthy organizations that reduce burnout, especially within critical settings such as oncology. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to measure the presence of nurses’ burnout to formulate organizational strategies to prevent the syndrome onset, and (2) to evaluate the effect of recent organizational changes on the burnout phenomenon. A descriptive, cross-sectional design supported by a systemic organizational analysis was conducted in a Swiss Oncology Institute in 2013. Of 103 nurses working in the Institute, 52 (51.4%) completed the Burnout Potential Inventory (BPI) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Burnout risk levels were low to moderate. Only 2 nurses out of the 52 showed moderate burnout risk levels. Inpatient nurses showed a higher risk of burnout than outpatient nurses, particularly due to ambiguity and feelings of powerlessness. Nurses with post-basic education showed a higher risk when considering poor teamwork values and ambiguity in the workplace. Poor middle-management was found to negatively influence worker wellbeing. The working environment set by management resulted in low burnout risk levels. Managers must carefully select middle-management because inappropriate leadership might promote the onset of burnout.