Is a CSR Policy an Equally Effective Vaccine Against Workplace Mobbing and Psychosocial Stressors?

Psychosocial hazards and work-life balance: the role of workplace conflict, rivalry, and harassment in Latvia

Background

Even though the link between the psychosocial work environment and work-life balance (WLB) has been thoroughly researched, there is limited evidence evaluating the impact of workplace violence, sexual harassment, conflicts, and rivalry on WLB.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,471 respondents in Latvia from December 20, 2021, to July 14, 2022. WLB was measured through a survey question assessing the frequency of work-life imbalance, with responses categorized into dichotomous variables. The study evaluated the association between the selected workplace psychosocial hazards (conflicts, rivalry, psychological abuse, physical abuse, and sexual harassment), work characteristics, socio-demographic factors, and WLB by using binomial logistic regression.

Results

Our study reveals a significant lack of WLB among Latvian employees. A striking one-third of the respondents (30.9%, n = 762) reported experiencing this imbalance. The odds of WLB decrease with age, with the youngest age group having twice the odds compared to the oldest age group. Lower education levels and lower income groups also show significantly lower odds of WLB. Notably, those who have experienced selected workplace psychosocial hazards, such as sexual harassment or psychological abuse, have five- and three-times higher odds of work-life imbalance (aOR = 4.90 with 95% CI 2.06-11.67 and aOR = 3.47 with 95% CI 2.75-4.35, respectively). All types of conflicts at work significantly increase the odds of a lack of WLB. Our findings also indicate that WLB varies depending on various work characteristics, such as job position, work sector, company size, length of service, and remote or on-site work.

Conclusion

Our study highlights the importance of addressing WLB in the context of workplace conflicts, rivalry, violence, and harassment. It provides indirect evidence favoring leadership quality and manager training instead of employee training in diminishing psychosocial hazards. Practical implications include prioritizing leadership development programs focusing on conflict resolution and fostering a supportive organizational culture to improve employee WLB.

Internal Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Burnout: An Employee Management Perspective from the Healthcare Sector

Purpose

The issue of burnout has been identified as one of the most pressing challenges in organizational management, impacting the ability of an organization to succeed as well as employee productivity. In the healthcare industry, burnout is particularly prevalent. Burnout has received increasing attention from scholars, and different models have also been proposed to address this issue. However, burnout is on the rise in healthcare, especially in developing countries, indicating the need for more research on how to mitigate burnout. Research indicates that internal corporate social responsibility (ICSR) has a significant impact on employee behavior. However, little attention has been paid to exploring how ICSR might effectively reduce healthcare burnout. This study aims to investigate how ICSR and employee burnout are related in the healthcare sector of a developing country. In addition, we tested how subjective well-being and resilience mediate and moderate the effect of ICSR on employee burnout.

Methods

Data were collected from 402 healthcare employees working in different hospitals in Pakistan. In our study, we used a self-administered questionnaire as a data collection instrument. We have adapted the items in this survey from reliable and already published sources. Data collection was carried out in three waves.

Results

Hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling (SEM). Software such as IBM-SPSS and AMOS were used for this purpose. ICSR significantly reduces healthcare employees' burnout, according to the results of the structural analysis. The relationship between ICSR and burnout was also found to be mediated by subjective well-being, and resilience moderated the relationship between ICSR and subjective well-being.

Findings

In light of our findings, hospitals can take some important steps to resolve the problem of burnout. The study specifically stresses the importance of ICSR as a contextual organizational resource for preventing burnout among healthcare employees.

Does bullying in the hospital affect the health-related quality of life of health professionals?

BACKGROUND: This study investigates workplace harassment among Greek NHS employees and its impact on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we highlight that the consequences of workplace harassment and the concomitant damaged satisfaction can negatively affect health-related quality of life in Public Hospitals. METHODS: A sample of 343 employees from five Athens-based hospitals, including doctors, nurses, administrative and technical personnel, completed the Greek versions of the Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terrorization (LIPT) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36). Multiple logistic regression identified factors associated with mobbing, and adjusted odds ratios were computed. RESULTS: Out of the 37.5% of the employees who reported experiencing mobbing, 22.7% were bullied daily, and 49.2% almost daily. Furthermore, 66.7% were bullied by colleagues of the same grade, while 58.7% were from superiors. Regarding HRQoL, all SF-36 dimension scores were significantly lower (p < 0.001) for the mobbing victims, compared to others not having suffered workplace harassment. CONCLUSION: The existence of mobbing in the Greek NHS is evident, and that harms health. Preventing workplace harassment should be high on policymakers’ agendas to improve human resource management and health system performance.

Energy Intensity of Steel Manufactured Utilising EAF Technology as a Function of Investments Made: The Case of the Steel Industry in Poland

The production of steel in the world is dominated by two types of technologies: BF + BOF (the blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace, also known as integrated steel plants) and EAF (the electric arc furnace). The BF + BOF process uses a lot of natural resources (iron ore is a feedstock for steel production) and fossil fuels. As a result, these steel mills have a significantly negative impact on the environment. In turn, EAF technology is characterised by very low direct emissions and very high indirect emissions. The raw material for steel production is steel scrap, the processing of which is highly energy-consuming. This paper analyses the energy intensity of steel production in Poland as a function of investments made in the steel industry in the years 2000–2019. Statistical data on steel production in the EAF process in Poland (which represents an approximately 50% share of the steel produced, as the rest is produced utilising the BF + BOF process) was used. Slight fluctuations are caused by the periodic switching of technology for economic or technical reasons. The hypothesis stating that there is a relationship between the volume of steel production utilising the EAF process and the energy consumption of the process, which is influenced by investments, was formulated. Econometric modelling was used as the research method and three models were constructed: (1) a two-factor power model; (2) a linear two-factor model; and (3) a linear one-factor model. Our findings show that the correlation is negative, that is, along with the increase in technological investments in electric steel plants in Poland, a decrease in the energy consumption of steel produced in electric furnaces was noted during the analysed period.

The Influence of Internal Marketing and Job Satisfaction on Task Performance and Counterproductive Work Behavior in an Emerging Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic

To reduce the spread of the virus, authorities have imposed restrictive measures, such as limiting movement of individuals, shutting down non-essential stores, imposing a general or local quarantine, along with physical distancing and isolation of vulnerable people. Remote working has become the 'new normal' for many organizations, engendering further challenges for employees, who have started experiencing anxiety, technostress caused by digitalization and lack of social interaction, frustration, occupational burden, counterproductive work behavior, exhaustion, burnout, depersonalization, and increased turnover intention. All these factors, corroborated by prolonged restrictions, have contributed to a decrease in employee satisfaction, diminishing performance and generating a counterproductive behavior. Based on Social Exchange Theory, this research plans to investigate the influence of internal marketing on job satisfaction, task performance, and counterproductive work behavior in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in an emerging market, namely Romania. Based on a quantitative research study among 850 employees, we show that internal marketing strongly and significantly impacts job satisfaction, while insignificantly impacting task performance and counterproductive work behavior. Job satisfaction actuates task performance in a significant and positive manner, contributing to a reduction in counterproductive work behaviors. This paper highlights the effects of internal marketing orientation on job satisfaction, and the effects of job satisfaction on job performance and counterproductive work behaviors.