This study examines the determining factor of nurses' occupational stress in public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Despite the increasing number of occupational stress studies in the healthcare industry, occupational stress studies are still at an early stage of development in Saudi Arabia, and further research is recommended. The objectives of this research are: (1) to identify the occupational stress levels among nurses in public-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia; (2) to examine the influence of job demands on the anxiety and turnover intention of nurses working in public-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia; (3) to investigate the influence of job resources on the turnover intention and happiness of nurses working in public-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia; (4) to determine the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion on the relationship between job demands and anxiety and turnover intention on nurses working in public-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia; and (5) to ascertain the mediating effects of work engagement on the relationship between job resources and the turnover intention and happiness of nurses working in public-sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted as a two-stage empirical study employing sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach starting with interviews with 15 nurses, analysing the data then revising the questionnaire and distributing to a sample of nurses at five hospitals. The study used thematic analysis to analyse the qualitative data and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and AMOS to analyse the 512 questionnaires. The conceptual model was validated through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), which includes two kinds of models: the measurement model or confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the structural model which is conducted to approve the hypotheses and the performance of the suggested conceptual framework. The study findings indicated that the level of nurses' stress is very high and has negative outcomes if the job demands (stressors) exceed the nurses' abilities. Emotional demands, work-family conflict and workload are the main job demands identified. Procedural fairness and perceived organizational support are identified as the main job resources. This study also examines the mediation role of emotional exhaustion and work engagement. More specifically, its shows that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between emotional demands, work-family conflict, workload and anxiety, whereas emotional exhaustion only mediates the relation between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Conversely, work engagement mediates the relation between procedural fairness and turnover intention and happiness. Contributions of the study, research and practical implications, and future research directions are also discussed.

Första linjens chefer balanserar kraven mellan överordnade och medarbetare. Speciellt problematiskt kan det bli i offentlig verksamhet där politik styr och negativa resultaträkningar präglar sjukvården. För att klara av höga krav och begränsade resurser är olika typer av stöd en viktig faktor för chefernas hållbarhet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur första linjens chefer upplever stöd, vilket stöd som saknas och vilken betydelse stöd har i yrkesrollen. Undersökningen bygger på kvalitativa semistrukturerade enskilda intervjuer med nio enhetschefer från två regioner. En tematisk analys gjordes för att identifiera väsentligt stöd, vilket stöd som anses vara otillräckligt och vilket stöd som är tillgodosett och betydelsen det har i yrkesrollen. Resultatet visade att stödet, framför allt från medarbetarna, ger den viktiga kraften att orka. Resultatet mynnade i slutsatsen att det finns ett behov av stöd för ledarskapsutveckling, ett behov av avlastning, en delaktighet i beslutsprocessen, regelbunden feedback och tydliga ramar och mandat.

En utgångspunkt för arbetslivet bör vara att skapa en arbetsmiljö som ger individer förutsättningar att ingå, kvarstå och utvecklas i arbetet. Arbetsmiljön är betydande för både individers hälsa och verksamheters utveckling samt förutsättningar för tillväxt. Arbetsplatsen betonas därmed vara en betydande arena för förebyggande insatser. Det är arbetsgivaren som har huvudsakligt ansvar för arbetsmiljön. Ingen arbetstagare ska riskera att skadas eller drabbas av ohälsa i arbetet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur psykosocial arbetsmiljö och stress upplevs hos arbetstagare inom restaurangbranschen. För att besvara syftet användes en kvalitativ metod och fem semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. Intervjupersonerna för studien var serviceanställda inom restaurangbranschen. Analys av datamaterial utfördes med en manifest kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Det resultat som framkom visar att arbetstagarna främst har negativa upplevelser av sin psykosociala arbetsmiljö och stress, dock framkommer några variationer gällande nivå av problematik. Deras arbete beskrivs innebära ständig stress och omfattar ett flertal arbetsmiljöbrister. Obalans råder mellan höga krav i arbetet och bristande resurser som påverkar arbetstagarnas hälsa negativt både psykiskt och fysiskt. Arbetstagarna betonar faktorer som överbelastande arbete, bristande återhämtning och ledarskap som påfrestande vilka resulterar i arbetsmiljöproblem. / A starting point for working life should be to create a work environment that gives individuals the ability to enter, remain and progress in work. The work is significant both for individual health and development activities as well as opportunities for growth. Workplace therefore constitutes to be an important setting for preventive interventions. It is the employer who has the principal responsibility for the work. No employee should risk being injured or suffer ill health at work. The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychosocial work environment and stress experienced by workers in the restaurant industry. To answer the purpose a qualitative approach been used and five semi-structured interviews were conducted. Those interviewed for the study were service employees in the restaurant industry. Analysis of the data was performed with a manifest content analysis. The results obtained show that works mostly have negative experiences of their psychosocial work environment and stress, however, is any variations regarding the level of problems. Their work is described involve constant stress and includes a number of work deficiencies. There is an imbalance between the demands of work and lack of resources that affect the health negatively both mentally and physically. Workers emphasize factors of stressful work, a lack of recovery and leadership resulting in health and safety problems.

Denna studie ämnar undersöka om det existerar ett samband mellan självskattad arbetsbelastning och välbefinnande. Ytterligare ämnar studien undersöka hur stort detta samband är och i vilken riktning sambandet är. Tidigare undersökningar visar att nästan alla svaranden ansåg att normen på arbetsplatsen var att ha en hög arbetsbelastning och att de inte vågade ta upp sina bekymmer kring arbetsbelastning och välbefinnande. Ytterligare visar forskning att en tredjedel av svaranden upplevde en mycket hög arbetsbelastning. Detta är därmed ett aktuellt problem. För att undersöka syftet har en enkätundersökning genomförts med 60 respondenter mellan åldrarna 20–64 (M=34.07; SD=11.48), varav alla hade ett arbete. Resultatet visar att det existerar ett signifikant samband mellan självskattad arbetsbelastning och välbefinnande. Sambandet indikerar att låga skattningar på välbefinnande är relaterat till höga skattningar på arbetsbelastning. Resultatet visar även att det existerar olika bakgrundsfaktorer som påverkar välbefinnandet, dessa faktorer är ålder och om den anställda är heltidsanställd eller deltidsanställd. Slutsatserna är att det existerar ett signifikant samband mellan självskattad arbetsbelastning och välbefinnande på en måttlig nivå. Ytterligare slutsatser är att välbefinnandet även påverkas av anställdas ålder och typ av anställning.

This study is a novel application of I/O Psychology principles to the U.S. swine industry. The Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) recently identified caretaker motivation related to compliance with biosecurity behaviors as a priority needing to be better understood. This exploratory study seeks to identify if there is indeed a worker motivation issue within the industry that is impacting compliance with biosecurity, and if so, establish both a baseline of motivation and a better understanding of the primary influencing factors. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Job Demands/Resources Model of Burnout as a framework, an online survey was developed using items, adapted or in original form, from previous research and established measures. A total of 139 caretakers from five pork production companies participated in the survey and form the study's sample population. Results suggest the swine industry's problem with biosecurity compliance is not a motivationally driven issue, but findings were unable to provide evidence supporting a conclusive determination. Results for attitude (TPB) and job resources (JD-R) suggest further investigation into the rewards, supervisor support, and performance feedback categories of job resources could be promising avenues for continuing to explore what drives biosecurity non-compliance. Valuable insight was obtained about the swine industry and the caretaker role, and results are promising for improving quality of data collected as the research continues applying I/O theories and models to the swine industry for the purpose of investigating worker resources and attitudes. Continuing this research will help one of the largest industries in the United States to better understand the interactions and motivations behind worker attitudes and perceptions towards biosecurity adherence and to enhance positive outcomes for employees, farms, and consumers.

Hög arbetsbelastning har i tidigare forskning lyfts fram som särskilt påtagligt i skolkuratorers arbetsmiljö. Yrkesrollen beskrivs som ensam och på grund av komplexa arbetsuppgifter finns inte tid för främjande och förebyggande arbete. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur skolkuratorer upplever sin organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljö. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med 11 skolkuratorer i åldrarna 26-57 år. Materialet analyserades med tematisk analys. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten var krav- och resursmodellen. Resultatet visade att skolkuratorerna upplevde ansvar över ett stort antal elevärenden vilket gav upphov till kvantitativa krav, samt komplexa arbetsuppgifter som krävde stor kognitiv ansträngning. Dessutom hade skolkuratorerna en otydlig arbetsbeskrivning och upplevde rollkonflikt. Gällande resurser upplevde skolkuratorerna gott socialt stöd från kollegor och genom handledning, samt emotionellt stöd från ledningen. Ytterligare framträdande resurser var upplevd autonomi och återkoppling från elever. Trots en jämn fördelning mellan antalet funna krav och resurser beskrevs kraven som något tyngre vilket resulterade i en obalanserad arbetsmiljö.

The purpose of the present study is to find the relationship between characteristics of working life such as job demands (e.g. workload), and job resources (e.g. colleague support) and job attachments of employees, such as burnout, work engagement, and workaholism. Moreover, the effects of work characteristics on physical health, organizational commitment and work-family balance are investigated. Additionally, the relationship between three major employee attachment styles to work, namely, burnout, workaholism and work engagement was examined. Psychometric qualities of the main study scales were established through a pilot study. Data for the main study were collected from 266 Turkish hotel and health care service employees. The results of regression analyses showed that job demands have effect on burnout and work engagement / whereas job resources are related to increased workaholism and decreased burnout. Work engagement predicted physical well-being, increased organizational commitment, and work-family harmony whereas burnout had a negative effect on these outcomes. Workaholism was related only to organizational commitment. Mediation analyses showed that burnout mediated between job demands, and resources and perceived health, organizational commitment and work-family harmony, whereas work engagement mediated only between job resources and the above consequences. A proposed job stress framework was tested through Job Demand and Resources (JD-R) Model. Structural Equation Modeling results exhibited good fit to the model, thus providing support for employee well-being aspect of JD-R Model. The analyses also showed that burnout, workaholism and work engagement are different constructs. Implications for managers, limitations of the study and suggestions for future studies were presented.

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2015 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The industrial psychology literature related to call centres highlights the negative aspects of call centre work environments and the resultant adverse impact on workers’ well-being. Call centres have been labelled the “coal mines of the 21st century”, “assembly lines in the head” and “satanic mills” (Janse van Rensburg, Boonzaier, & Boonzaier, 2013, p. 2). High levels of stress, high staff turnover and burnout are all factors that are often experienced by call centre agents (Banks & Roodt, 2011). However, Van der Colff and Rothman (2009) report that some call centre agents, regardless of the high job demands, do not develop burnout. These agents cope better than others under highly demanding and stressful work conditions. To build on these findings, the present study took a detailed look at factors affecting the well-being of employees working in call centres. Specifically, the question was asked, “Why is there variance in work engagement, job burnout and intention to quit amongst the employees in call centres?” The job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014) was used as a framework to investigate the well-being of call centre agents employed in the outbound departments of two branches of a Cape Town call centre. The primary objective of this study was to develop and empirically test a structural model, derived from theory, explaining the antecedents of variance in work engagement, job burnout and intention to quit amongst call centre employees. The antecedents comprise transformational leadership (as a job resource), emotional intelligence and psychological capital (as employees’ personal resources), and emotional labour (as job demands) present in a call centre environment. An ex post facto correlational design was used to test the formulated hypotheses in this research study. Quantitative data was collected from 223 call centre agents by means of non-probability convenience sampling. A self-administered hard-copy survey was distributed to the two call centre branches, given that call centre agents agreed to participate in the research study. Measuring instruments consisted of (1) the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-17) questionnaire (Schaufeli et al., 2002), (2) the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001), (3) the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS) (Ding & Lin, 2006; Lee, 2000), (4) the Emotional Demands and Emotion-rule Dissonance scales (Xanthopoulou, Bakker, & Fischbach, 2013), (5) the adapted Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5x short) (Van Aswegen & Engelbrecht, 2009), (6) the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Gignac, 2010) and (7) the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007). The data was analysed using item analyses and structural equation modelling (SEM). A PLS path analysis was conducted to determine the model fit. From the 21 hypotheses formulated in the study, six were found to be significant. It is noteworthy, however, that 12 of the non-significant paths were related to the moderating effects. Hypotheses 1, 3 and 8 were also found to be not significant. However, hypotheses 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 were all found to be statistically significant and therefore supported the JD-R theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014), which postulates that job demands are generally the most important predictors of job burnout, whereas job resources and personal resources are generally the most important predictors of work engagement. Also, it was found that call centre agents experiencing a high level of work engagement were less inclined to leave the organisation. The study’s findings shed light on the importance of developing interventions that can foster job and personal resources in the pursuit of optimising work engagement. In addition, the call centre agents can be bolstered in coping with existing job demands and cumulatively this also results in a decrease in the employees’ level of burnout and in their intention to leave the company. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Bedryfsielkundige literatuur met betrekking tot inbelsentrums beklemtoon die negatiewe aspekte van die werkomgewing van inbelsentrums en die gevolglike nadelige effek op werkers se welsyn. Inbelsentrums is reeds beskryf as die “steenkoolmyne van die 21ste eeu”, ‘”monteerbande in die kop” en “sataniese meule” (Janse van Rensburg, Boonzaier, & Boonzaier, 2013, p. 2). Hoë vlakke van stres, hoë personeelomset en uitbranding is faktore wat gereeld deur inbelsentrum-agente ervaar word (Banks & Roodt, 2011). Van der Colff en Rothman (2009) rapporteer egter dat ten spyte van hulle hoë werkvereistes, sommige inbelsentrumagente nie uitbranding ervaar nie. Hierdie agente vaar beter as ander onder hoogs veeleisende en stresvolle werkomstandighede. Om verder te bou op die navorsing wat reeds onderneem is, kyk die huidige studie na die faktore wat moontlik die welsyn van werknemers in inbelsentrums affekteer. Met ander woorde, dit soek na die antwoord op die navorsingsinisiërende vraag: “Hoekom is daar verskille in die werksbegeestering, werksuitbranding en intensie om die organisasie te verlaat onder werknemers in inbelsentrums?” Om op hierdie navorsingsinisiërende vraag te kan reageer, is die job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014) gebruik as raamwerk spesifiek om die welsyn van inbelsentrumagente wat in die uitbel-departemente binne twee takke van ‘n bekende uitbelsentrum, geleë in Kaapstad, te ondersoek. Die hoofdoelwit van hierdie studie was om ’n strukturele model te ontwikkel en te toets wat die antesedente van variansie in werksbegeestering, werksuitbranding en die intensie om die organisaie te verlaat, onder inbelsentrumwerknemers verklaar. Die spesifieke antesedente wat in hierdie studie getoets is, was transformasie-leierskap (as ’n werkshulpbron), emosionele intelligensie en sielkundige kapitaal (psychological capital) (as werknemers se persoonlike hulpbronne), en emosionele arbeid (as werkseise) wat in ‘n inbelsentrum-omgewing teenwoordig is. ʼn Ex post facto korrelasie-ontwerp is gebruik om die geformuleerde hipoteses in hierdie studie te toets. Kwantitatiewe data is by 223 inbelsentrumagente deur middel van nie-waarskynlikheids gerieflikheidsteekproeftrekking ingesamel. ’n Selfgeadministreerde hardekopie-opname is in die twee takke van die inbelsentrum versprei, aangesien hulle ingestem het om aan die studie deel te neem. Die opname het spesifieke latente veranderlikes gemeet wat op die studie van toepassing is deur gebruik te maak van betroubare en geldige meetinstrumente. Hierdie instrumente sluit in (1) die Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-17) vraelys (Schaufeli et al., 2002), (2) die Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001), (3) die Turnover Intention Scale (TIS) (Ding & Lin, 2006; Lee, 2000), (4) die Emotional Demands en Emotion-rule Dissonance skale (Xanthopoulou, Bakker, & Fischbach, 2013), (5) die aangepaste Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5x kort) (Van Aswegen & Engelbrecht, 2009), (6) die Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Gignac, 2010) en (7) die Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007). Die versamelde data is deur middel van item-analise en strukturele vergelykingsmodellering geanaliseer. ’n PLS pad-ontleding is onderneem om modelpassing te bepaal. Vanuit die 21 hipoteses wat vir hierdie studie geformuleer is, is ses bevind om betekenisvol te wees. Dit is egter merkwaardig dat 12 van die nie-betekenisvolle bane verband gehou het met modererende effekte. Hipoteses 1, 3 en 8 is ook bevind om nie-betekenisvol te wees. Hierdie nie-betekenisvolle bane kan op grond van verskeie redes ontstaan. Hipoteses 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 en 9 is egter almal bevind om statisties betekenisvol te wees en ondersteun dus die JD-R teorie (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014). Hierdie teorie hou voor dat werksvereistes oor die algemeen die belangrikste voorspellers van werksuitbranding is, terwyl werkshulpbronne en persoonlike hulpbronne oor die algemeen die vernaamste voorspellers van werksbegeestering is. Dit is ook bevind dat inbelsentrumagente wat ’n hoë vlak van werksbegeestering ervaar, minder geneig is om die organisasie te verlaat. Die studie se bevindings werp lig op die belangrikheid daarvan om ingrypings te ontwikkel wat werks- en persoonlike hulpbronne kan kweek in die nastrewing van die optimering van begeestering en om inbelsentrumagente te help om die bestaande werkseise te hanteer. Gevolglik sal hierdie uitkoms lei tot ’n vermindering in die werknemers se vlakke van uitbranding en in hulle intensies om die organisasie te verlaat.

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.

Föreliggande studie undersökte sambanden mellan chefers arbetskrav (logikkonflikter, buffertfunktion), resurser i arbetet (resursbalans, stödjande ledning) samt personliga resurser (självmedkänsla, gränssättning) och upplevd konflikt arbete-privatliv. Data insamlade från 1 817 chefer analyserades med bivariata korrelationer och viktad regressionsanalys. Resultaten påvisade signifikanta positiva samband mellan samtliga arbetskrav och konflikt arbete-privatliv samt signifikanta negativa samband mellan samtliga både arbetsresurser och personliga resurser och konflikt arbete-privatliv. Inga signifikanta interaktionseffekter återfanns för några arbetskrav eller resurser i arbetet och konflikt arbete-privatliv, och inte heller för självmedkänsla-buffertfunktion och konflikt arbete-privatliv. Signifikanta negativa interaktionseffekter återfanns för både självmedkänsla och gränssättning i relation till logikkonflikter och konflikt arbete-privatliv, samt gränssättning-buffertfunktion och konflikt arbete-privatliv. Studien bidrar till ny kunskap gällande betydelsen av chefers personliga resurser för minskad konflikt arbete-privatliv.