Abstract A Kleinian Analysis of Organisations: Implications for Employee Health and Well-Being. This dissertation considers research that was conducted into the impact of organisational style of operation upon the health and well-being of individual employees. A Kleinian analysis of organisations, from a psychoanalytic perspective, highlights the defining characteristics of different organisations within the study. The intent of the thesis is to argue that the different types of organisations impact upon the health and well-being of their employees. Six organisations were studied using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Extensive interviews were conducted with 120 employees from those organisations. A Kleinian Analysis Questionnaire and a Kleinian Analysis Rating Scale (new psychoanalytic techniques aimed at promoting dialogue with employees) assisted in the analysis and positioning of the organisations. The findings suggested that organisations can be distinguished in Kleinian terms and that these differences produce a range of health effects for employees. In the qualitative parts of this research extensive discussions took place with the employees of organisations considered to be in either the Depressive position or the Paranoid – Schizoid positions. Using the Kleinian Analysis Questionnaire (KAQ), a great deal was revealed about the emotional lives of their organisations and the impact of these realities on their own individual emotional lives and on their mental and physical health. Organisational employee assistance programs (EAPs) were considered in terms of how support was extended to employees within the studied organisations and how the efficacy and utilization of EAPs were affected by organisational classification of either Depressive or Paranoid-Schizoid. A range of quantitative measures were employed in the study and included the broad health measures SF-36, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life - Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW) and the Work Environment Scale (WES). Employees in the Depressive organisations described their workplaces as open, encouraging, creative, flexible and democratic in process. They described how the stated values and mission statements of their organisations were consistent with their own personal values and how their work as described by Gabriel (2002) enhanced their sense of self esteem and self image. There were abundant examples of their organisations providing support, described in psychoanalytic terms as ‘containment’. The quantitative results, in part, supported the qualitative results by demonstrating that the employees of Depressive organisations had a better rate of recovery from psychological issues arising from personal and workplace matters. In contrast, employees from Paranoid – Schizoid organisations described their workplaces as defensive, blaming, scapegoating, rigid and concrete, where organisational behaviour was often inconsistent with the organisation’s stated values and mission statements. They described some of the competitive activity as inconsistent with their own personal values and at times giving rise to anxiety. This discord had reflections on the emotional health of individuals. This was borne out in the quantitative aspects of the study which also found that the mental health of individuals and their rate of recovery from psychological issues were adversely affected by the lack of ‘containment’ afforded to them by their organisations. The results strongly demonstrated the value of EAPs as mechanisms of support for employees and revealed differences in the impact upon health and well-being of employees between the two Kleinian organisational types in addition to differences in the levels of utilization and involvement. Keywords: Kleinian Analysis; Health Implications; Employee Assistance Programs; Containment Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC): 150305:50%; 150311:25%; 179999:25%
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/254097 |
| Creators | John McManus |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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