Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major shift towards remote work and its practices are predicted as here to stay. It entails many challenges since both the physical and psychosocial working conditions vastly differ from an office-setting, posing a threat for employee well-being. Leaders have the ability to control employee well-being through activities and their leadership style, emphasizing the importance of exploring the topic from a leader’s perspective.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore employee well-being in a remote work setting from a leader perspective, including the leadership activities used to manage it and how leaders adapt their leadership to the remote setting.  Method: The primary data is collected from ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews with leaders in both public and private organizations. The data have been analyzed and interpreted using an explorative approach and inductive thematic analysis.  Conclusions: This study adds multiple aspects within the common theoretical themes of the social context, communication, work-life balance and stress identified as affecting employee well-being remotely. Moreover, it expands the knowledge of leader activities used to enhance employee well-being remotely such as providing opportunities for social interactions. Lastly, the study suggests leaders to balance remote work’s demand for employee independence by providing job resources such as support and adapt their leadership not only to the employee readiness, but also the expectations set on them, their own readiness and the remote situation.

Background: To ensure a sustainable future in the maritime industry; new measures of employee well-being are needed. Digital health solutions have proven to possess great potential to ensure employee well-being regardless of location, with opportunities for a proactive instead of a reactive approach where health and safety issues can be avoided.  Research Problem: Despite the potential benefits of using digital health solutions, the acceptance and impact of such solutions remain unexplored in the maritime industry, which is essential for achieving improvements.   Purpose: This study aims to explore what influences the acceptance of digital health solutions for improving seafarer well-being to understand how the maritime industry accepts digital health solutions and, more importantly, the potential impact this acceptance has on seafarer well-being. Research Question: How does the acceptance of digital health solutions in the maritime industry impact the employee well-being of seafarers?  Methodology and Method: This is a qualitative and inductive study, with a relativist view of reality and a social constructionist view of knowledge, that aims to build new theories through semi-structured interviews and Gioia’s analysis method.  Conclusion: Our findings focus on what influences the acceptance of digital health solutions and how these solutions impact employee well-being. With the aid of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we find that there are levels of acceptance dependent on the nature of different influential factors. Furthermore, we discover that digital health solutions can influence physical, mental, and social well-being. From this, we develop a framework explaining the impact acceptance has on employee well-being. As a result, we illustrate that acceptance is a crucial aspect of improving employee well-being with digital health solutions.

The research explored when workplace coaching can facilitate stress management and well-being in corporations in Slovakia. It looked at the challenges and opportunities of workplace coaching through individual and organisational perspectives. It was found that masculine and directive leadership style is present in the organisations. There is an observed lack of leaders’ engagement and interest in employee well-being throughout the organisational culture. Furthermore, some organisation members lack healthy assertiveness and motivation which affect their willingness to change and participate consistently in coaching. The opportunities revealed that the coaching could facilitate stress management and well-being when the alignment and positive collaborative intervention between the coach, coachee and organisational culture occurs. Workplace coaching provides members with practical tools that directly affect employees' stress levels, such as deep self-reflection, meaning-making, value-reflective coaching, mindfulness and somatic techniques. The study indicated that coaching helps develop self-awareness, self-regulation and self-knowledge, which are vital abilities for the sustainable well-being of employees. From an organisational perspective, the employees need to be motivated and supported to integrate the coaching techniques into daily corporate life. The research suggests that coaching, authentic and transformational leadership style and the traits and abilities of emotional intelligence (e.g. adaptability, emotional resiliency, self-awareness, self-motivation, self-worth, social awareness and management) sustain and foster well-being in the workplace. Employees’ engagement and promotion of well-being by the leaders seem to be critical aspects. An integrated narrative-collaborative approach to communication is vital, and the development of strategic well-being measurements and indicators is suggested. The qualitative research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with female coaches who are experts in stress management and well-being. They offered their perspectives on their expertise and working experience with international corporations in Slovakia.

This thesis investigates the correlation between passion and both work engagement and employee well-being among young professionals in the Swedish labor market. Given the significant economic losses attributed to low work engagement globally, this research aims to explore how fostering passion in the workplace relates to both productivity and human well-being. By integrating theories of motivational psychology and leadership, the study examines the nature of passion and its correlation to job performance and personal well-being. Utilizing a descriptive quantitative research methodology, data was collected from 74 young professionals aged 18 to 45, currently employed in various industries across Sweden. The research employed validated scales to measure passion, work engagement, and employee well-being and applied statistical analysis to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal a positive correlation between passion and work engagement, indicating that individuals who are passionate about their jobs exhibit higher levels of engagement and job satisfaction. Additionally, the study finds that passion correlates with employee well-being, contributing to reduced stress and improved mental health. These results suggest that organizations can achieve sustainable productivity by fostering environments that nurture employee passion and engagement. The thesis contributes to the field of Human Resources (HR) by providing empirical evidence that supports the integration of passion-focused strategies in organizational practices. It offers practical recommendations for HR professionals and leaders to identify and cultivate passion within their workforce. The implications of this research underscore the importance of adopting a human-centric approach to leadership and organizational development in the contemporary workplace.

To maintain a competitive edge in the tourism and hospitality industries, considerable emphasis has been placed on providing quality services for customers. While the work attitudes and behaviours of staff who deliver these services can influence the experiences of service by customers, little is known how internal and external aspects of the environment of an organisation with a controversial service affect the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of its employees. The aim of the present program of research was to identify employees' perceptions of the salient aspects of the internal and external environment of an organisation delivering a controversial service, gambling, and to examine the impact of these environmental aspects on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of its employees. Working in any service organisation can be demanding for employees, exacerbated when employees deliver a controversial service such as gambling, and work in close proximity to people who gamble. Research indicates that delivery of a gambling service differs from the delivery of other recreational pursuits due to the negative personal, social, and financial impacts of gambling on problem gamblers and others. These negative costs of gambling have generated long standing ethical or moral objections within the community, and, because of the range of community views about gambling, employees who deliver gambling services are likely to be confronted with opposing community views. By interacting with patrons, employees may also question their values and attitudes to gambling, and feel concerned about those patrons who they consider may have a problem with gambling. Organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees may exist, however, and reduce the negative effects of any gambling-related influences on employees. A mixed methods research design, consisting of two sequential phases, was used. The methods complemented each other, and minimised the disadvantages of using only one approach. A qualitative method was used in the first phase of the program to collect rich descriptions of the experiences of twenty staff working in seven Queensland clubs with gambling services in South East Queensland. The in-depth interviews helped to identify gambling-related challenges and climate-based resources of the internal and external work environments of the service organisation. The gambling-related challenges included community and media attitudes to gambling, peoples' demands on clubs, and staff beliefs about patrons who gamble. The climate-based resources included the organisational welfare of employees, expressed as meeting employees' needs for respect, developing supportive relationships with staff, encouraging open and clear communication, and the provision of social support. Organisational emphasis on quality service and meeting the needs of patrons also served as a climate-based resource for employees. The qualitative process additionally examined the impact of these factors on the empowerment, commitment and well-being of the employees, allowing the development of a conceptual model of the environmental factors of a gambling industry predicting employees' empowerment, commitment, and well-being. In the second phase of the research program, the conceptual model was tested using a cross-sectional survey. A complex, stratified, random sampling technique allowed access to a sample of clubs and participants that best represented registered and licensed clubs in Queensland. A self-administered mail questionnaire was sent to 468 employees over 41 Queensland clubs with 25 to 280 poker machines. After firstly establishing the soundness of the measurement properties of the model using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modelling was used to test the utility of the conceptual model developed in Study 1. Overall, Study 2 supported several of the proposed links, suggesting that the conceptual model developed in Study 1 was useful for examining the salient aspects of the external and internal environments of a club that influence staff empowerment, commitment, and well-being. The study showed the role of climate-based resources in a gambling industry by indicating that those employees who had positive perceptions about employee relations, positive beliefs about patron welfare, and felt supported by their supervisors, felt more empowered, and reported higher commitment and reduced emotional exhaustion. Employee relations was the most influential construct in predicting empowerment, and indirectly affected commitment and well-being (mediated by the empowerment dimensions). Study 2 also confirmed that gambling-based challenges of the external and internal environments impacted on the empowerment and well-being of employees. Those employees who believed that the community supported gambling reported an increased sense of influence over their work environment. The employees who held positive beliefs about patrons who gamble, reinforced gambling in clubs, and attributed the causes of problems in gambling onto sources outside themselves (mostly to the patrons), reported more positive well-being. Employees who perceived that people were demanding, and were not appreciative of what clubs did for the community reported reduced meaningfulness, a reduced sense of influence over their duties and work environment, and reduced well-being. Findings also illustrated the key role of influence, and, in particular, the meaningfulness dimension, in the empowerment, commitment, and well-being of employees in an industry delivering a gambling service. The findings of this research have implications for managerial interventions designed to promote the empowerment, commitment and well-being of employees who deliver a gambling service. By developing and strengthening the organisational resources that facilitate the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, managers are also likely to reduce the negative effects of the demands and conflicting influences of the external and internal gambling-related challenges on employees. This research program is distinctive in that research has not previously examined the impact of internal and external challenges and resources of a gambling industry on the empowerment, work attitudes, and well-being of its employees. There has, also, been no prior research focused on the work attitudes of employees in the Queensland club industry. Future research needs to replicate the findings of the present research program. The challenges and resources that were found to affect employees in the club industry, however, may be organisation specific. There is, therefore, a need for further research that compares the impact of factors related to the delivery of a gambling service in the club industry with different gambling industries, such as the hotel and casino industries. To provide further insight into the effects of empowerment on employees' work outcomes, a performance measure, such as patron satisfaction could be included. Future studies could also examine group differences in perceptions of climate-based and gambling-related influences on the empowerment, work attitudes and well-being of employees, as a function of their occupational level. The interviews of the present research program implied that employees in different organisational positions might respond differently to both the external and internal environmental factors of the organisation.

Sammanfattning Datum: 18 januari 2013 Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp Institution: Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutveckling Författare: Simon Brodahl Pontus Eliasson David Wahlberg Titel: Jag är organisationen Handledare: Johan Grinbergs Nyckelord:Delaktighet, engagemang, delaktighet i beslutsfattande frågor, psykologiskt ägandeskap, anställdas välbefinnande och kunskapsspridning. Frågeställning:- Finns det ett gemensamt synsätt på delaktighet och engagemang inom ABB Motors & Generators?- Vad kan göras för att öka delaktigheten och engagemanget inom produktionsdelen och vad kommer detta leda till?- Vad bör ABB: Motors & Generators ha i åtanke vid applicerandet av delaktighet inom produktionsdelen i framtiden? Syfte: Syftet är att utifrån teoretiska referenspunkter analysera ABB:s verksamhet ur ett engagemangs- och delaktighetsperspektiv som ligger till grund för en analytisk diskussion vilken utmynnar i förbättringsförslag. Metod: Den teoretiska referensramen är konstruerad med hjälp av vetenskapliga artiklar och litteratur som behandlar ämnet engagemang och delaktighet. Det empiriska materialet består av en kvalitativ studie bestående av tre djupintervjuer. Slutsats: ABB Motors & Generators innehar ett tankesätt som behövs för att främja ökad delaktighet och engagemang hos de anställda. För att öka medarbetarnas engagemang till organisationen, krävs det att kommunikationen är bra mellan de olika funktionerna. Det är även viktigt att produktionsdelen känner förtroende för ledningen samtidigt som ledningen ger medarbetarna bekräftelse. Genom att få de anställda att vilja engagera sig i organisationens bästa, uppnås även flera positiva effekter. Kunskap sprids vilket främjar delaktighet, kompetens, konkurrenskraft och skapar möjligheter till att bli en lärande organisation.

The aim of this study was to examine and compare job demand and resource perception of hospital employees in Iceland and Sweden as well as their self-efficacy and intention to quit. These variables have high predictability for attitudes and behavior. Since the two countries were impacted differently by the global financial crisis of 2008, it is interesting to investigate whether these factors differ between them. A cross-sectional data was collected in public hospitals among specialized and unspecialized healthcare employees who responded to a self-administrated questionnaire. Quantitative methodology was used to analyze the differences between the groups. A MANOVA revealed no significant differences in resource perception, self-efficacy and intention to quit. However, unexpectedly, perception of job demands was significantly higher in Sweden. The literature behind this comparison sheds a light on how work conditions and employee well-being can be improved by managing resources and demands. It yields insight into how improvements can be wrought in such a complex system as healthcare in times of financial restrictions. On a practical level, this study emphasizes the importance of fair demands and good resources as a key to well-being because balanced levels of these factors enable employees to respond effectively to their work environment, be more satisfied, motivated, have high self-efficacy and be less likely to quit their jobs. Finally, areas were identified where future research is needed.

The contemporary working environment is characterised by constant change and increased cognitive and emotional demands on employees. At the same time, long-term employment is no longer guaranteed and often employees are not loyal to one organisation throughout their careers. These changes alter and threaten the viability of the employment relationship. Employees still provide a competitive edge for organisations and their expectations should be managed in such a way that the current organisation remains the employee’s employer of choice. If employers fail to achieve this, employees will be less satisfied and voluntary turnover will result, with detrimental effects on the organisation, both directly and indirectly. In order to ensure the retention of valuable employees, organisations need to identify the predictors of employees’ intention to leave and the nature of the relationships between these factors. Previous studies focused on evaluating the content of the psychological contract and its relation to employee well-being and intention to leave. However, the focus should be less on what employees expect from employers and more on whether these expectations are being fulfilled, now and in future, and whether employees perceive it as fair. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the outcomes of the psychological contract, the evaluation of the state of the psychological contract and its predictive ability remains largely unexplored. More research is also needed to identify mediators in the psychological contract domain. Employability emerged as a coping resource for employees in times of uncertainty. Unfortunately, the more employable employees are, the more likely they will leave the organisation. Due to the assumed positive relationship between employability and performance, organisations should aim to enhance the employability of their employees but at the same time they should seek ways to retain these employees. Empirical research on the outcomes of perceived employability is limited and more research is also needed to identify moderators. The objectives of the study were 1) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) mediates the relationship between employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation; and 2) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) moderates the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the significance of the relationship between the variables simultaneously. Two structural models were evaluated; one with employee well-being as mediator and one with the state of the psychological contract as moderator. The results indicated that employee well-being partially mediates the negative relationship between the state of the psychological contract and intention to leave. The state of the psychological contract played a significant role in predicting individual outcomes. The results also indicated that perceived employability had a positive relationship with intention to leave. This is in line with previous international studies. Contrary to what was expected, no significant relationship was found between perceived employability and employee well-being. Furthermore, the state of the psychological contract did not moderate the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. The results highlighted the importance of well-being as a factor in employees’ intention to leave the organisation. Recommendations were made for organisations and futher reseach. / Thesis (MCom (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The contemporary working environment is characterised by constant change and increased cognitive and emotional demands on employees. At the same time, long-term employment is no longer guaranteed and often employees are not loyal to one organisation throughout their careers. These changes alter and threaten the viability of the employment relationship. Employees still provide a competitive edge for organisations and their expectations should be managed in such a way that the current organisation remains the employee’s employer of choice. If employers fail to achieve this, employees will be less satisfied and voluntary turnover will result, with detrimental effects on the organisation, both directly and indirectly. In order to ensure the retention of valuable employees, organisations need to identify the predictors of employees’ intention to leave and the nature of the relationships between these factors. Previous studies focused on evaluating the content of the psychological contract and its relation to employee well-being and intention to leave. However, the focus should be less on what employees expect from employers and more on whether these expectations are being fulfilled, now and in future, and whether employees perceive it as fair. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the outcomes of the psychological contract, the evaluation of the state of the psychological contract and its predictive ability remains largely unexplored. More research is also needed to identify mediators in the psychological contract domain. Employability emerged as a coping resource for employees in times of uncertainty. Unfortunately, the more employable employees are, the more likely they will leave the organisation. Due to the assumed positive relationship between employability and performance, organisations should aim to enhance the employability of their employees but at the same time they should seek ways to retain these employees. Empirical research on the outcomes of perceived employability is limited and more research is also needed to identify moderators. The objectives of the study were 1) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) mediates the relationship between employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation; and 2) to determine whether the state of the psychological contract (as perceived by the employee) moderates the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. Structural equation modelling was used to establish the significance of the relationship between the variables simultaneously. Two structural models were evaluated; one with employee well-being as mediator and one with the state of the psychological contract as moderator. The results indicated that employee well-being partially mediates the negative relationship between the state of the psychological contract and intention to leave. The state of the psychological contract played a significant role in predicting individual outcomes. The results also indicated that perceived employability had a positive relationship with intention to leave. This is in line with previous international studies. Contrary to what was expected, no significant relationship was found between perceived employability and employee well-being. Furthermore, the state of the psychological contract did not moderate the relationship between perceived employability and employees’ well-being and their intention to leave the organisation, respectively. The results highlighted the importance of well-being as a factor in employees’ intention to leave the organisation. Recommendations were made for organisations and futher reseach. / Thesis (MCom (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought uncertainty to the global economy and companies around the world have been significantly affected by the pandemic. Companies in the traveling and hospitality, retail, and pharmaceutical industries have been particularly affected. This paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee well-being in these industries among small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) and larger-sized ones. The results showed that COVID-19 has had a negative effect on CSR and employee well-being in ten case study companies, based in the European Union. This negative effect could be overturned, however, if companies adopt certain measures. More concretely, five key factors have been identified: (i) leadership/management style; (ii) CSR form and orientation; (iii) alignment of CSR with the institutional environment, (iv) organizational changes, and (v) positive employees’ perceptions and reactions. Therefore, companies at all levels should pay more attention to the impact of COVID-19 on CSR and employee well-being and take countermeasures in order to mitigate the effects on the industry and advance sustainable development.