Frontline client service workers are central to the service elements of any small and medium enterprise. People who have much customer or client contact are seen to be subject to stronger emotional display rules. These display rules may result in compromising the psychological and/or physical health of workers, because they often lead to a disturbing dissonance between felt emotions and the emotions one must exhibit. It is, therefore, of vital importance for service workers to exhibit Emotional Intelligence, which will enable them to manage both their own emotions and their interactions with other people. Their inability to do so may result in stress as well as physical and emotional exhaustion, also known as Burnout. The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between Emotion Work, Emotional Intelligence, Well-being and Social Support of client service workers within small and medium enterprises, A cross-sectional survey design was used. An availability sample was taken from small and medium enterprises employing client service workers in the Mpumalanga Province (N = 145). The Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale (GEIS), Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales (FEWS), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and Social Support Scale, as well as a biographical questionnaire were used as measuring instruments. Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor analysis, inter-item correlation coefficients, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, stepwise multiple regression analysis, and Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyse the data. Principal component analysis resulted in a one-factor solution for Engagement labelled Work Engagement, and a two factor solution for Burnout namely: Disengagement and Emotional Exhaustion. Regarding Social Support, a three factor model was extracted namely; Social Support - Co-worker, Social Support -Supervisor and Social Support - Family. A three factor model was extracted for Emotion Work namely: Emotional Dissonance, Display of Client Care and Extent of Client Interaction. A four-factor solution was extracted for Emotional Intelligence namely: Emotional Expression/Recognition, Use of Emotions to Facilitate Thinking, Control of Emotion as well as Caring and Empathy. An analysis of the data indicated that all of the correlations between the different constructs mentioned below are statistically and practically significant, Disengagement was positively related to Emotional Exhaustion and negatively related to Emotional Expression/Recognition, Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking and Work Engagement. Emotional Exhaustion was positively related to Emotional Dissonance and negatively related to Emotional Expression/Recognition. Emotional Dissonance was positively related to Display of Client Care, while Display of Client Care was positively related to Extent of Client Interaction, as well as Caring and Empathy. Emotional Expression/Recognition was positively related to both Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking and Work Engagement. Emotion Control was positively related to Emotion Use to Facilitate Thinking, while it in turn was positively related to Work Engagement. Finally, Social Support from Co-workers was positively related to Social Support from Supervisors and Family, and Social Support from Supervisors was positively related to Social Support from Family. A multiple regression analysis indicated that Emotion Work, Social Support and Emotional Intelligence predicted 29% of the variance in Work Engagement, 30% of the variance explained in Disengagement and 37% of the variance in Emotional Exhaustion. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) which was used to determine differences between the departmental, age, race, qualification, language and gender groups with regard to Emotion Work, Emotional Intelligence, Well-being and Burnout, indicated no statistical significant differences (p < 0,05). The results indicated a correlation between Emotional Intelligence, Emotion Work and Well-being factors. Emotional Intelligence factors predicted Work Engagement and Emotion Work predicted Emotional Exhaustion. Recommendations were made for the profession of client service work in small and medium enterprises, as well as for future research purposes. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Things develop quickly in today's internet-linked global economy and competition is intense. Speed, cost, and quality are no longer the trade-offs they once were. Today's consumers demand immediate access to high-quality products and services at a reasonable price. Thus, Managers are challenged to speed up the product creation and delivery cycle, while cutting costs and improving quality. Regardless of the size and purpose of the organisation and the technology involved, people are the common denominator when facing this immense challenge. Success or failure depends on the ability to attract, develop, retain, and motivate the employees. The human-resource employee is the drive behind all these voice-to-voice and face-to-face interactions, attempting to represent the emotions, attitudes, and behaviours required by the organisation. The objective of this research study was to determine the relationship between Emotion Work and Well-being among human-resource employees in the chrome industry. The research method consisted of a literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect the data. A non-probability convenience sample was taken from human-resource employees in the chrome industry. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, the Frankfurt Emotion Work Scales, Greek Emotional Intelligence Scale, Emotional Labour Scale, and Social Support Scale were used as measuring instruments. The data was analysed by making use of descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, factor-analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analyses of variance (multivariate analysis of variance and ANOVA), calculated using SPSS. Compared to the the guidelines of a > 0,07 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994), all of the scales of the measuring instruments have normal distributions except for Engagement where the kurtosis was positively skewed. Compared to the guidelines of a > 0,07 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994), the Cronbach alpha coefficient of all the constructs is considered to be acceptable. A factor analysis confirmed four factors of Emotion Work, consisting of Emotional Dissonance, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, the Display of Empathy, and the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. Emotional Intelligence also consists of four factors namely the Use of Emotion, Caring Empathy, the Control of Emotions, and Expression Recognition. Well- being consists of two factors namely Exhaustion and Engagement. Finally, Social Support consists of three factors Co-worker Support, Supervisor Support, and Family Support. An analysis of the data indicated that all of the correlations between the different constructs mentioned below are statistically and practically significant. The Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy is positively related to Emotional Dissonance. The Display of Empathy is positively related to Emotional Dissonance as well as to the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions. The Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions is negatively related to the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy. Exhaustion is negatively related to Engagement, the Use of Emotions, and the Control of Emotions. Engagement is positively related to Co-worker Support, the Use of Emotion as well as to the Control of Emotions. Family Support is positively related to both Supervisor Support and Co-worker Support. Supervisor Support is positively related to Co-worker Support. The Use of Emotion is positively related to Caring Empathy and the Control of Emotions. Caring Empathy is positively related to the Control of Emotions, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, and the Display of Empathy, while it in turn is negatively correlated to the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. The Control of Emotions is negatively related to the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. Emotional Dissonance is positively related to both the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions and the Display of Empathy. Finally, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions is positively related to the Display of Empathy. In a multiple regression analysis with Emotional Dissonance as dependant variable and with demographic variables, as independent variable a statistically significant model was produced. More specifically, 11% of the variance predicted in Emotional Dissonance was explained by gender, age and ethnicity. In a multiple regression analysis indicated that Emotional Intelligence (specifically the Use of Emotion), Emotion Work (specifically Emotional Dissonance), and Social Support (specifically Co-worker Support) predicted 31% of the total variance in Engagement. Emotional Intelligence (specifically the Use of Emotion and the Control of Emotions), Emotion Work (specifically Emotional Dissonance and the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions), and Social Support (specifically Co-worker Support) predicted 43% of the total variance in Exhaustion A multivariate analysis of variance, which was used to determine differences between ethnic, age, and gender groups with regard to Emotion Work, indicated that participants in the African ethnic group experienced higher levels of Emotional Dissonance than participants in the White ethnic group. Female participants display higher levels of Emotional Dissonance, the Display of Positive/Pleasant Emotions, and the Display of Empathy, while male participants experienced higher levels of the Display of Negative/Unpleasant Emotions. The age group of 42 to 51 experienced lower levels of Emotion Work owing to the experience of Emotional Dissonance, than participants in the age groups of 21 to 31, 32 to 41, and 52 to 66. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Resource Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Socialsekreterare verkar vara frånvarande i samhällsdebatten. Det är problematiskt, dels för att det ur en demokratisk aspekt är viktigt med insyn i offentlig förvaltning, dels för vikten av att någon – till exempel den aktör med mest kompetens på området – ger röst åt de utsatta i samhället som kan ha svårt att göra sig själva och sina behov hörda. Syftet med uppsatsen är att visa socialsekreterares syn på eventuella hinder som finns för dem att kommentera och debattera sociala frågor i det offentliga rummet. För att uppnå det genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex stycken personer som jobbar med myndighetsutövning inom socialtjänsten. I intervjuerna kom det fram att det finns saker som hindrar socialsekreterarna att engagera sig i det offentliga samtalet. Dessa hinder verkar grunda sig i en krock mellan myndighetskulturen och idealet av socialarbetarrollen. Socionomen har under sin utbildning fått särskild professionskunskap men måste, när denne kliver in i socialtjänsten, förhålla sig till att förmågan att underordna sig organisationens sätt att arbeta på och att förvalta statlig makt värd­eras högst. Utifrån ett nyinstitutionellt perspektiv kan en förklaring till socialsekreterarnas tystnad vara att det inte ligger i myndighetens intresse att de ska uttala sig offentligt. Det riskerar att skada legitimi­teten vilket är ett hot mot organisationens existens. Därför växer det fram en icke stöttande kultur där rädsla och oro frodas, och där det inte skapas tydlighet kring ifall det ingår i socialsekreterarrollen att främja social förändring även på strukturell nivå. I en rituell socialiseringsprocess internaliserar social­sekreterarna organisationens trosuppfattningar till sina egna. De här sakerna bidrar till att socialsekre­terarna inte ger sig ut för att kommentera och debattera sociala frågor i det offentliga rummet. / Social service workers seem to be silent in public debate. For the sake of democracy, it is important there is transparency in public administration, hence the silence is problematic. It is also problematic because of the importance that someone – for instance the player with the most competence, experi­ence and expertise in the field – functions as a voice for the vulnerable who may have difficulties mak­ing themselves and their needs heard. The aim of this thesis is to show the views of social service workers on potential obstacles for them to comment and debate social issues in public debate. To accomplish this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six persons working with responsi­bility for public authority within the social service. From the interviews it appeared that there are things hindering the social service workers to engage in social debate. These obstacles seem to be based on a clash between the authority culture and the ideal of the social worker role. The social worker has from his or her education gained certain professional knowledge but has to, when entering the social service, relate to that knowledge being valued less than the ability to subserve the organiza­tion’s way of working and to administer government dictat. From a neo-institutionalism perspective, one explanation for the silence of the social workers is that it is not in the organization’s interest that they should speak publicly. That risks hurting the legitimacy which is a threat to the organization’s very existence. Therefor a non-supporting culture grows where fear and anxiety flourish, and no intel­ligibility is created about if it is a part of the social service worker’s role to encourage social change also on a structural level. In a ritual socialization process the social service workers internalize the organization’s beliefs. These things contribute to social service workers not commenting on or debat­ing social issues in public debate.

Occupational hearing loss resulting from noise exposures encountered in the workplace affects millions of workers and costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually in Workers’ Compensation costs in the United States alone. Some industries have been well studied, and the presence of hazardous noise in the work environment established and documented. The restaurant industry is one in which little current data exists, but in which there may be cause for concern. This work sought to quantify noise exposures for cooks, servers, and dishwashers and to determine whether or not any of these workers are at risk for Noise Induced Hearing Loss. Further, the researchers wanted to know what environmental factors present in the restaurants had the greatest impact on noise exposures for each exposure group. Statistical analysis was conducted on selected factors, and while nearly all were found to have significant effects on noise exposure for servers, only the number of minutes worked explained variance in exposures for cooks and dishwashers when all factors were included in analysis. These two groups are the ones most likely to be overexposed and they typically worked more than 480 minutes on the day the sample was collected. Efforts to control exposure must take these extended shifts into careful account. The study was limited by relatively small sample size, with 124 cooks, 119 servers, and 91 dishwashers employed at nine different restaurants participating. Future efforts to explain and characterize the sources of variation in noise exposure for these three groups should include greater numbers of participants and structure the data in a way that allows the effects of selected factors to be more clearly seen.

The objective of this study was to determine some of the effects of child protective service investigations on families, children and the workers, when the allegations are determined to be unfounded and no abuse and/or neglect is further suspected.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a different personality trait between Department of Children's Services, intake and carrier workers. If there is a difference, does it effect job satisfaction when the worker is placed in a position that is not compatible with their personality trait?

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) is a concept of enhanced web apps which aim to erase the difference between web and native apps. The concept of PWA introduces several benefits, including simpler distribution and development, which makes web apps a viable option for many businesses. The installation process of a PWA is different from native apps and this study aims to understand whether or not it has an impact on the users will to install the PWA. PWA:s are installed directly from the browser, rather than an app marketplace. Said installation process is suspected to be unknown to many which might influence the impact. In this study, several papers on the topic are studied. A PWA is developed from scratch which is used as a platform for a user test, hosting a brief introduction of the topic as well as guiding participants through the installation process. In conjunction with the user test a survey is conducted to collect the impressions from their experience in the user test. The result of the survey shows indications that the suspected lack of knowledge and experience was correct, and that the installation process is not to complicated.Additionally, results show that many probably will not bother to install a PWA, even if it is available. Therefore, I argue that the installation process does have an impact in its current form. Alternatives to the installation process used in this study do exist and are discussed in this paper.

Psykisk ohälsa ökar i Sverige och kostar samhället stora summor varje år i bland annat sjukskrivningar. Arbetsrelaterad stress är en vanlig orsak till psykisk ohälsa och socialtjänstarbetare är en särskilt utsatt grupp. Att vistas i skogen kan dock minska stress och förbättra den psykiska hälsan. Denna studie undersöker sambandet mellan skogsvistelse och psykiskt välbefinnande genom att jämföra två yrkesgrupper, socialtjänstarbetare och skogstjänstemän.Resultaten visade ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan ett högre egenupplevt psykiskt välbefinnande och mer skogsvistelse på fritiden. Det fanns dock ingen signifikant skillnad mellan grupperna socialtjänstarbetare och skogstjänstemän avseende psykiskt välbefinnande, vilket indikerar att skogsvistelse i en arbetssituation inte medför samma återhämtning som skogsvistelse på fritiden gör.Skogen är viktig för den hållbara samhällsplaneringen och skogsvistelse kan vara ett verktyg för bättre folkhälsa. Vidare forskning bör fokusera på vilken typ av skogsvistelse som får bäst effekt samt hur skogen bör skötas för att ge mest samhällsnytta.

This is an interdisciplinary master's level thesis that explores links among technical writing, training manuals, surveillance, and anti-union rhetoric used with service workers in select American chains and franchises. Brief histories are provided, including those of technical writing, the rise of unions in America, and how technical writing became inextricably linked with labor. A major shift occurred in the 20th century when workers began interacting less with products and more with the public. The research focuses on training manuals, techniques, and rehearsed dialogues of McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Panera, and Publix, though similar organizations are referenced. Service worker language, uniforms, and store decorum are sometimes analyzed for their rhetorical content. The idea of a single, technically written training manual in the service sector is a misnomer; training is delivered through a pastiche of manuals, videos, computers, apps, flipcharts, and on the job training. Unions are avoided through franchising (and therefore eat outlet not possessing enough workers to organize), creating conditions of high turnover rates, rhetoric, and use of euphemism. Global corporations are likened to "superfiefdoms," with service workers equated to modern serfs. If the world has evolved into supercorporations, it is argued then that the Publix employee-owned model may be the best approach and the most dignified of all. The technical writing and instruction in state-sponsored and federalized school pedagogies, which emphasize drills and compliance, may be culturally linked to the training found in these entry-level service jobs, and more academic study exploring these links is called for.

ChatGPT is a newly launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered model with several functions, providing the user with human-like responses. Recently, ChatGPT have gain a lot of recognition and popularity. The aim of this research is to examine the perceptions of ChatGPT from a Swedish professional service workers (PSW) perspective. More precisely, the study explores how the usage of ChatGPT in regard to supporting various work tasks is perceived. Additionally, the aim is to examine what factors could influence the perceptions regarding the model, and how the information provided is viewed by PSWs. The research uses a qualitative approach, and the data is collected through semi-structured interviews. Moreover, the study uses a thematic analysis for the analysis of data gathered. Additionally, the study uses Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to explore the factors influencing PSWs perception of ChatGPT. The findings show that PSWs believed that ChatGPT could be used to support some of their work tasks. The model was seen as easy to use and had its benefits, such as perceived increased productivity and efficiency. However, the findings also indicate that there are several challenges that could influence the overall usage of ChatGPT. Overall, both performance expectancy and effort expectancy showed to be important factors of the evaluation of ChatGPT usage in this study. Moreover, the findings indicate that the functions and information provided by ChatGPT could influence the perceptions. For example, lack of references, lack of human touch, and security issues were found to influence the interviewed PSWs. Additionally, the study concludes that there are several perceived areas of improvements regarding ChatGPT. This research contributes with knowledge about ChatGPT from a PSWs perspective and how it could be used for work related tasks.