My master's degree thesis concerns with bullying in the workplace, which is long-lasting psychological terror of employees. For the bullying in the workplace, there are two specific terms used in Czech language, mobbing and bossing, according to a person, who is causer of bullying in the workpace. If the aggressor is a collegue of a victim of the bullying, we speak about mobbing. If the victim is bullied by his or her boss, we use the term bossing. My thesis is divided into two main parts, the theoretical part with the description of the problem of bulling in the workplace and the research, which was made by question-form. The theoretical part is composed of four chapters. Chapter one deals with bullying in general, its causes and with terminology used for bullying in the workplace. The second chapter describes mobbing, its typical features, causes, phases and illustrates personalities of aggressor and his or her victim. It also makes recommendation for prevention of mobbing, gives advice, how to defend against mobbing and provides examples of typical attacks. This chapter also concentrates on consequences of bullying in the workplace, which can be very serious, because the bullying in the workplace can damage mental condition of the victim, cause the employer material damage and destroy the...

The degree of transfer of technical training to workplace behavior was evaluated using a Solomon Four-Group experimental design. Additionally, all groups received retrospective pretests. Subjects were 103 technicians in an electronics company. Supervisors rated technicians on behaviorally anchored rating scales which were developed and labeled as behavior description scales for simplicity. Analysis of variance revealed no effect for training nor pretest. A training-pretest interaction effect was revealed for one dimension (Communication with Support Groups). Analysis of covariance revealed main effects for pretesting for two dimensions (Problem Solving and Communication with Supervisor) and a pretest-training interaction-for one dimension (Problem Solving). Except for one dimension, t tests revealed no significant differences between traditional pretests and retrospective pretests, thus negating a hypothesized response shift bias.

Introduction The Swedish Work Environment Authority has developed a new guideline that gives employees a great responsibility to promote a good working environment and prevent ill health among their employees. The reason that these guidelines have been developed is that illness among employees at work in Sweden has increased. Background At a workplace in a medium sized city in Sweden a group of employees was offered to participate in a health promotion intervention. The goal of the intervention was to give the employees the best conditions for prosperous health and a chance to improve their lifestyle, if they had a need for it. With the help from a coach, the employees worked in groups and individually in areas such as stress, nutrition, physical activity, ergonomics and mental health, and it was the individual´s needs and interests that guided the entire process. The aim of the study was to examine what the participants experienced when participating in a workplace intervention with focus on health promotion. The method used in the study was a semi-structured interview with four participants, both men and women aged twenty five to sixty three, which were subsequently analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. The result showed that the workplace as an arena was of great importance for the individuals. It was perceived as positive that the intervention took place during work hours, otherwise it would have been doubtful that the participants would have participated. It was important for the individuals to discuss the process they went through with their colleagues. However, all participants experienced a sense of shame and did not want to share their inner thoughts with their colleagues. It turned out to be difficult to formulate their individual goals, their focus was instead on what others expected from them. The conclusion was that fear of failure among the participants was the reason why they did not want to share their individual goals with their colleagues. In order to continue to feel motivated for a change in life style, the support from the coach and colleagues was necessary. / Inledning Arbetsmiljöverket i Sverige har tagit fram nya riktlinjer där arbetsgivaren har fått ett större ansvar att främja en god arbetsmiljö och förebygga ohälsa hos sina anställda. Anledningen till att dessa riktlinjer utformats är att ohälsa bland anställda på arbetsplatser i Sverige har ökat. Bakgrund På en arbetsplats i en mellanstor stad i Sverige erbjöds en grupp anställda att delta i en hälsofrämjande intervention. Målet med interventionen var att ge personalen de bästa förutsättningar till välmående och en möjlighet att förbättra sin livsstil, om de upplevde ett behov av det. Med hjälp av en coach fick de anställda arbeta i grupp och individuellt inom områden såsom stress, näringslära, fysisk aktivitet, ergonomi och mental hälsa och det var individens behov och intresse som styrde processen. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur deltagarna upplevde att det var att delta i en arbetsplatsintervention beträffande hälsofrämjande insatser. Metoden för studien var semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra deltagare, både män och kvinnor i åldrarna tjugofem till sextiotre år gamla, som sedan analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att arbetsplatsen som arena var av stor betydelse för individen. Det upplevdes positivt att interventionen pågick under arbetstid annars hade det varit tveksamt om deltagarna skulle ha deltagit. Det var viktigt för deltagarna att diskutera processen som man genomgick tillsammans med sina arbetskamrater. Däremot upplevde samtliga intervjuade en känsla av skam som man inte gärna ville dela med sig av till sina arbetskamrater. Att formulera sina individuella behov var till en början svårt för alla då de fokuserade mer på vad andra förväntade sig att de skulle åstadkomma. Slutsatsen är att rädslan för att misslyckas gjorde att de inte villa dela med sig av sina individuella målformuleringar till sina arbetskamrater. För att deltagarna skulle känna motivation för en livsstilsändring så var stödet från arbetskamrater och coach positivt.

Master of Public Health / Department of Kinesiology / Mary McElroy / Background and Purpose: Registered nurses (RN’s) are well positioned to provide physical activity counseling (PA counseling) to their hospital patients. RNs educate during ‘teachable moments” as hospital patients often find themselves in a state of readiness to make lifestyle changes such as increases in regular physical activity. Although the health benefits of physical activity are well documented, PA counseling has not been well studied among the nursing population or in the hospital environment. The main purpose of this study was to identify the percentage of RNs who provide PA counseling to their patients and to explore the factors which contribute to their decisions to provide PA counseling. Methods: A web-based survey was used to gather information from 323 hospital-based RNs employed at five hospitals in four states. The survey gathered information including current physical activity levels, thirteen perceived barriers to physical activity based on the Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale, and information regarding whether RNs provide PA counseling to their hospital-based patients. Results: RNs reported an average of 3.3 barriers to being physically active. One hundred and eighty- seven RNs provided PA counseling to their patients (57.8%) and 133 did not provide PA counseling (41.1%). The presence of barriers to being physically active was related to PA counseling for nine of the thirteen barriers. The following hypotheses were supported: 1) RNs who report lower levels of perceived barriers to being physical active were more likely to provide PA counseling than those who report higher levels of perceived vigorous physical activity were more likely to provide PA counseling than those who reported lower levels of light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity. Conclusion: The findings from this study revealed RNs who are physically active and report fewer barriers to physical activity were more likely to provide PA counseling to their hospital-based patients. Future research needs to address types and quality of PA counseling as well as utilize theory driven intervention designs.

D. Litt et Phil.

Based on an intense small scale study which observed a small team of operations personnel who work in a telecommunications company within the oil industry, this thesis examined employee reactions to management communication. Employee interpretations and reactions after each communication from the management team were analysed as the ‘organisational story’ ‘unfolds’ from the ‘other side’ (i.e. employee perspective) instead of the rather usual/dominant one (i.e. managerial perspective). Behaviour was observed from an interactionist, interpretive and critical perspective and analysed in the light of several managerial and communication theories with the aim of critically examining the claims of the post-modern organisation theory (i.e. humanisation of work) and certain communication theories. An ethnographic approach, which enabled the researcher/participant to conduct participant observation in a real setting, ensured deep understanding of social situations and human actions. The results of this study suggest that upward communication is problematic due to the power settings that exist in organisations. Based on Goffman’s theory, it is suggested that employee ‘performance’ is affected by certain rules and conventions which shape organisational psychology and interpersonal relations. Therefore, the utopian claims of the post-modern organisation theory along with the rather simplistic assumptions of some of the literature on communication need to be re-evaluated and re-defined in the search for a more critical understanding of communication. This thesis concludes that contrary to the utopia of the post-modern organisation, the reality of organisational life and communication reflects the persistence of the modern organisation and the power structures which dominate it.

BAKGRUND: Långa sjukskrivningar och psykisk och fysisk ohälsa beror oftast på dålig psykosocial arbetsmiljö, som mobbning, kränkande särbehandling och trakasserier. Mobbningen är ett globalt problem som orsakar betydande kostnader för individens hälsa, sjukhusorganisationen och samhälle. SYFTE: Att beskriva hur mobbning påverkar utsatta sjuksköterskor och konsekvenser som kan uppstå på arbetsplatsen. METOD: En allmän litteraturstudie genomfördes grundad på 11 vetenskapliga artiklar. Artiklarna innefattade både kvantitativ och kvalitativ forskning. Dataanalysen genomfördes med induktiv ansats där meningsenheter med samma tema identifierades och delades i tre kategorier. RESULTAT: Det framkom tre kategorier i resultatet; påverkan på hälsan, påverkan på personalomsättning och påverkan på sjuksköterskans arbete. Resultatet visade på negativa effekter av mobbning för utsatta sjuksköterskor, organisationen med personalomsättning och för patientsäkerheten. Utsatta sjuksköterskor påverkades och visade  olika psykiska symtom, som depression, ångest, posttraumatiskt stressyndrom (PTSD) och utbrändhet. Konsekvenser av mobbning och utsatthet hos sjuksköterskor drabbade även patientsäkerheten och vårdkvalitén, samt att det  fick konsekvenser på sjukhusorganisationen med ökad personalomsättning. KONKLUSION: Genom ökad kunskap och förståelse kan man hitta effektiva sätt att hantera och utreda mobbning tidigt på arbetsplatsen. Detta kan leda till förbättringar i ett både kort- och långsiktigt perspektiv för sjuksköterskors hälsa, personalomsättning på sjukhus och ökad patientsäkerhet. / BACKGROUND: Long sick leave and mental and physical illness are usually caused by poor psychosocial work environment where bullying, offensive treatment and harassment are present. Bullying is a global problem that has significant costs to the individual's health, the hospital organization and society. OBJECTIVE: To describe how bullying affects vulnerable nurses and consequences that may arise in the workplace. METHOD: A general literature study was conducted based on 11 scientific articles. The articles included both quantitative and qualitative research. The data analysis was carried out with an inductive approach, where opinion units with the same theme were identified and divided into three categories. RESULTS: There were three categories in the results; impact on health, impact on staff turnover and impact on the nurses´ work. The results showed the negative effects of bullying amongst nurses, and the negative effects bullying had on the organization in terms of staff turnover and patient safety. Exposed nurses showed various psychological symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and burnout. The consequences of bullying and nurses exposure to it also affected patient safety, the quality of care and the hospital organization through increased staff turnover. CONCLUSION: Through increased knowledge and understanding one can find effective ways to handle and investigate bullying earlier in the workplace, which lead to improvements in a short- and long-term perspective for nurses' health, staff turnover in hospitals and increased patient safety.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / The objective of the research is to understand the learning affordances offered at Insure Company, a large financial sector institution in South Africa and to explore how employees exercise their agency in responding to these opportunities for learning. The study draws on the concept of co-participation (Billett, 2004: 03) to explore how learning at work is shaped through learning affordances in the workplace on the one hand and engagement with these learning affordances on the other. Drawing on data gathered through interviews and analysis of company policies, this case study discusses how employees learn to perform their roles competently, how they access guidance and support from peers and more experienced colleagues and how they respond to these opportunities for learning. It also discusses the factors which enable or constrain their learning and agency. The research confirms that negative perceptions of workplace learning - as informal, unplanned, unstructured, limited to particular contexts and not transferable - are inaccurate. It supports the argument that there should be a clear understanding about how learning proceeds in workplaces and how best that learning should be organised. It is hoped that this case study makes a useful contribution towards developing such an understanding.

The workplace, in general, has been perceived as a comparatively violence-free environment. There have been many studies conducted on workplace violence in the helping profession in health-related occupations that involve substantial contact with clients, such as pre-hospital care, emergency medicine and nursing. However, there is a paucity of research that has explored the social workers’ experiences of workplace violence in South Africa. Workplace violence inflicted on employees may come from both internal sources, such as co-workers, and clients and external sources, such as robbers or muggers. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 15 social workers from the Limpopo Department of Social Development in the Waterberg District. The study endeavoured to explore the experiences of social workers regarding workplace by external parties. Seven overarching themes and a number of sub-themes emerged from a detailed Thematic Content analysis. The themes highlighted a wide range of psychosocial factors associated with workplace violence. The themes examined are, namely: psychosocial effects on social workers, workplace resources and environment, management of workplace violence and human supervision, and types of workplace violence. The main finding of the study highlighted a lack of organisational resources that contributed to workplace violence and led to frustrations experienced by clients and social workers. This report concludes with a brief discussion of the psychosocial impact of workplace violence and recommendations.

Student Number : 9410914W - MA research report - School of Social Work - Faculty of Humanities / The study aimed at exploring the perceptions of occupational social workers on how their service provision has been affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The focus was on whether they thought that the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the workplace had led to a shift in their service provision. That was done through: - An investigation of ways in which social worker’s service provision has had to be adjusted in the context of HIV/AIDS in the workplace. - An assessment of the extent to which occupational social workers perceive their HIV/AIDS services at macro level to be acknowledged as valuable by management and the workforce. - An exploration of perceptions of occupational social workers on how HIV/AIDS has affected their relationship with management The research was quantitative and qualitative in approach and the design used was descriptive. Various sectors like manufacturing, government departments, para-statal, military and finance that employ social workers were identified. A list of occupational social workers was obtained from the School of Social Work, University of the Witwatersrand and from the Gauteng EAP Association. A non-probability sample of twenty seven social workers participated in the study. Semi structured interviews lasting for approximately forty five minutes were used as a form of data collection. Data collected was analysed through simple descriptive statistics and development of core themes and common concerns. The findings indicated that most occupational social workers perceived their services not to have been affected by HIV/AIDS, management and employees to have regarded their HIV/AIDS macro practice as valuable and their relationship with management have not been affected negatively by HIV/AIDS.