Working with individuals who have experienced homelessness. Stresses and Successes

Purpose Staff who work with vulnerable people with multiple needs are known to experience high levels of stress and burnout, as well as high levels of job satisfaction. This paper explores the experiences of staff working in a project with individuals experiencing long term homelessness in Lincolnshire. Design/methodology/approach An evaluation of a project working with individuals experiencing long term homelessness included a focus group set up to explore the experiences and well being of front line staff and managers. One to one interviews with staff were also held to provide more in depth data about the experiences of individual staff members. Findings Six key themes were identified from the discussions with participants. Decision latitude and the ability to follow service users on person centred journeys over long periods of time were positive aspects of the work which were highly valued and seemed to contribute to high levels of job satisfaction. Things which also made a positive contribution were elements of support provided by the employer and a number of personal coping strategies. Themes identified which had a negative impact on well-being related to high workloads and to the multiple and competing demands from service users and other agencies. Originality/value Few studies of any kind have explored the experiences and wellbeing of staff working in the frontline of homelessness services. This small scale qualitative study provides a number of suggestions for further research with this population. Findings cannot be generalised but match those of other recent studies which suggest high levels of stress but little evidence of burnout, and that carefully developed workplace support mechanisms play a key role in maintaining commitment to the role and preventing burnout

HRD in SMEs - a research agenda whose time has come

As can be seen from its website, and reiterated in numerous editorials (e.g., Anderson, 2017; Nimon, 2017; Reio & Werner, 2017), Human Resource Development Quarterly (HRDQ) provides a central focus on human resource development (HRD) issues as well as the means for disseminating empirical research across the breadth of the discipline. Furthermore, the listing of keywords on its website indicates the importance HRDQ places on knowing more about learning in workplace settings as it includes words and phrases such as workplace issues, workplace learning, organizational studies, and workplace performance. This is in line with general increased interest in organizational learning in recent years (Higgins & Aspinall, 2011). Therefore, it is concerning that HRDQ seldom reports on an area of workplace learning in a sector that, in many countries throughout the world, encompasses approximately 99% of all businesses, provides over 50% of employment, and can generate around 50% of national turnover (Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development [CIPD], 2015; Coetzer & Perry, 2008; European Commission, 2016; Federation of Small Businesses, 2015; Hamburg, Engert, Anke, & Marin, 2008; Matlay, 2014; Mellett & O'Brien, 2014; U.K. Parliament, 2014; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). If you have not yet guessed, this area of learning, which is vital to economies across the globe, occurs in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Consequently, in this editorial, we seek to explore the extent of this omission, not only in HRDQ but also in other journals, and then investigate possible reasons for this. We hope that by emphasizing both the importance of and the lack of reported research into HRD in SMEs, we will encourage further dialogue and submissions related to this important topic

Resilience training in the workplace from 2003 to 2014: a systematic review

Over a decade of research attests to the importance of resilience in the workplace for employee well-being and performance. Yet, surprisingly, there has been no attempt to synthesize the evidence for the efficacy of resilience training in this context. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to provide a systematic review of work-based resilience training interventions. Our review identified 14 studies that investigated the impact of resilience training on personal resilience and four broad categories of dependent variables: (a) mental health and subjective well-being outcomes, (b) psychosocial outcomes, (c) physical/biological outcomes, and (d) performance outcomes. Findings indicated that resilience training can improve personal resilience, and is a useful means of developing mental health and subjective well-being in employees. We also found that resilience training has a number of wider benefits that include enhanced psychosocial functioning and improved performance. Due to the lack of coherence in design and implementation, we cannot draw any firm conclusions about the most effective content and format of resilience training. Therefore, going forward, it is vital that future research uses comparative designs to assess the utility of different training regimes, explores whether some people might benefit more/less from resilience training, and demonstrates consistency in terms of how resilience is defined, conceptualized, developed, and assessed

Varieties of institutional renewal: The case of apprenticeship in the US, England, and Australia

This study analyses attempts to renew apprenticeship over the last three decades in three liberal market economies—US, England, and Australia. We conceptualise institutional renewal as entailing both revival, or growth in apprentice starts, and extension, or widening its occupational base. The paper contributes to the literature by considering reasons for the attempted renewal and offering an assessment of the outcomes of renewal. It also contributes to research at the intersection of institutional and comparative training literature by developing the concept of institutional renewal and applying it to apprenticeship. It is concluded that in quantitative terms renewal had some success in England and Australia, but the effect of intervention is more uncertain in the US. The paper also identifies a paradox that policies to promote apprenticeships have undermined the quality of training in England and Australia, leading to questions about the sustainability of renewal

Reviewing The Benefits of Health Workforce Stability

This paper examines the issue of workforce stability and turnover in the context of policy attempts to improve retention of health workers. The paper argues that there are significant benefits to supporting policy makers and managers to develop a broader perspective of workforce stability and methods of monitoring it. The objective of the paper is to contribute to developing a better understanding of workforce stability as a major aspect of the overall policy goal of improved retention of health workers. The paper examines some of the limited research on the complex interaction between staff turnover and organisational performance or quality of care in the health sector, provides details and examples of the measurement of staff turnover and stability, and illustrates an approach to costing staff turnover. The paper concludes by advocating that these types of assessment can be valuable to managers and policy makers as they examine which policies may be effective in improving stability and retention, by reducing turnover. They can also be used as part of advocacy for the use of new retention measures. The very action of setting up a local working group to assess the costs of turnover can in itself give managers and staff a greater insight into the negative impacts of turnover, and can encourage them to work together to identify and implement stability measures

Barriers and facilitators to implementing workplace health and wellbeing services in the NHS from the perspective of senior leaders and wellbeing practitioners: a qualitative study

Abstract Background The National Health Service (NHS) seems appropriately placed to be an exemplar employer in providing effective and proactive workplace health and wellbeing services for its staff. However, NHS staff sickness absence costs an estimated £2.4 billion. Evidence suggests staff health and wellbeing services delivered in the NHS can improve health, productivity and sickness absence and yet the adoption of these services remains a challenge, with few examples nationally. This research aimed to explore the perceptions of NHS senior leaders and health and wellbeing practitioners regarding barriers and facilitators to implementing workplace health and wellbeing services for staff in the NHS. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with NHS staff, consisting of four senior leaders, four heads of department and three health and wellbeing practitioners in one region of the UK. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Themes describe the experience of delivering workplace health and wellbeing services in the NHS, and barriers and facilitators to implementation from senior decision makers. Barriers to implementation of services include; a busy and pressurised environment, financial constraints and reluctance to invest in staff health and wellbeing. Barriers to staff engagement were also reported and include difficulty of access to health and wellbeing services and lack of time. Initiating services were facilitated by financial incentives, a supportive organisational structure and culture that takes a preventative, rather than reactive, approach to staff health and wellbeing. Facilitators to implementing health and wellbeing services include a coherent, strategic approach to implementation, effective communication and advertisement, being creative and innovative with resources and conducting a needs analysis and evaluation before, during and after implementation. Conclusions Barriers to the successful initiation and implementation of health and wellbeing services in the NHS are numerous and range from front-line logistical issues with implementation to high-level strategic and financial constraints. Adopting a strategic and needs-led approach to implementation and ensuring thorough staff engagement are amongst a number of factors that facilitate implementation and help overcome barriers to initiation of wellbeing programmes in the NHS. There is a need for a culture that supports staff health and wellbeing in the NHS

Flexible Working and Performance: A Systematic Review of the Evidence for a Business Case

Interest in the outcomes of flexible working arrangements dates from the mid 1970s, when researchers attempted to assess the impact of flexitime on worker performance. This paper reviews the literature on the link between flexible working arrangements and performance related outcomes. Taken together, the evidence fails to demonstrate a business case for the use of flexible working arrangements. This paper attempts to explain the findings by analysing the theoretical and methodological perspectives adopted, as well as the measurements and designs used. In doing so, gaps in this vast and disparate literature are identified and a research agenda is developed

Employers’ recruitment of disadvantaged groups: exploring the effect of active labour market programme agencies as labour market intermediaries

This article draws on an original comparative survey of employers in the UK and Denmark to analyse the role of active labour market programmes (ALMPs) in employers' recruitment of disadvantaged groups. Using the framework of Bonet et al. to conceptualise agencies delivering ALMPs as labour market intermediaries (LMIs), the effect of ALMPs on employers' recruitment was tested against organisational factors involving firm size and selection criteria. Although ALMPs marginally increased employers' probability of recruiting the long-term unemployed in both countries and lone parents in Denmark, their effect was negligible compared with firm size and employers' selection criteria. While ALMP agencies have the potential to increase employers' recruitment of disadvantaged groups, this is constrained when they act as basic ‘information provider’ LMIs. ALMP agencies' inability to act effectively as ‘matchmaker’ LMIs leads to a failure to overcome rigid intra-organisational barriers to such recruitment

The cost effectiveness of NHS physiotherapy support for occupational health (OH) services

Background: Musculoskeletal pain is detrimental to quality of life (QOL) and disruptive to activities of daily living. It also places a major economic burden on healthcare systems and wider society. In 2006, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) established a three tiered self-referral Occupational Health Physiotherapy Pilot Project (OHPPP) comprising: 1.) telephone advice and triage, 2.) face-to-face physiotherapy assessment and treatment if required, and 3.) workplace assessment and a return-to-work facilitation package as appropriate. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the pilot service. Methods: A pragmatic cohort study was undertaken, with all OHPPP service users between September 2008 and February 2009 being invited to participate. Participants were assessed on clinical status, yellow flags, sickness absence and work performance at baseline, after treatment and at 3 month follow up. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives and cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year (cost/QALY) was calculated. The cost-effectiveness analysis assessed the increase in service cost that would be necessary before the cost-effectiveness of the service was compromised. Results A total of 515 patients completed questionnaires at baseline. Of these, 486 were referred for face to face assessment with a physiotherapist and were included in the analysis for the current study. 264 (54.3%) and 199 (40.9%) were retained at end of treatment and 3 month follow up respectively. An improvement was observed at follow up in all the clinical outcomes assessed, as well as a reduction in healthcare resource usage and sickness absence, and improvement in self-reported work performance. Multivariate regression indicated that baseline and current physical health were associated with work-related outcomes at follow up. The costs of the service were £194-£360 per service user depending on the method used, and the health gains contributed to a cost/QALY of £1386-£7760, which would represent value for money according to current UK thresholds. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the service would remain cost effective until the service costs were increased to 160% per user. Conclusions: This pragmatic evaluation of the OHPPP indicated that it was likely to be feasible in terms of service usage and could potentially be cost effective in terms of QALYs. Further, the study confirmed that improving physical health status for musculoskeletal pain patients is important in reducing problems with work capacity and related costs. This study suggests that this type of service could be potentially be useful in reducing the burden of pain and should be further investigated, ideally via randomised controlled trials assessing effectiveness and cost-effectiveness