EUPAN/TUNED Social Dialogue Working Group Stockholm 2009-09-16 Combating stress in national...

EUPAN/TUNEDSocial Dialogue Working Group

Stockholm 2009-09-16

Combating stress in national administrations

Maria Gruvstad, Växjö University

23-04-21 2

EUPAN/TUNED Stockholm 090916, Maria Gruvstad

I will talk about….

Universities as workplaces

Changes in working life

Växjö University – where were we?

Short description of the ”HALV” project

Description of one part of the project, number 7:

To manage a flexible working situation – about self-governing competence

23-04-21 3


Universities as workplaces

High degree of professionalism

Activities ruled by ideas and values Independence and strong motive for work

Exposure to examination, assessment, evaluation Constant competition High degree of freedom, flexibility - but no limits Tradition of time-limited, collegial leadership →

confidence from colleagues, constant changes of managers, constant training of new leaders, some lack of identification with the role as leader

23-04-21 4


Not only universities…

Work more often organized as projects, constant changes in activities, complex realities

Increasing information flow, quick development

Demand-Control model, Effort-Reward Imbalance model, Vitamin model….

Lack of support

Need for ”self-governing competence”

23-04-21 5


Where were we?

Lack of systematic work environment management Increasing number of employees on long-term

sick-leave Increasing number of employees on all kinds of

sick-leave Stress-related illness Conflicts and other problems due to imperfection in

leadership Unawareness in the role as leader within the

academic framework Vulnerability of doctoral students, defects in the

organization of PhD education Tensions between different occupational groups etc….

23-04-21 6


Forming a project…

Cooperation between the social partners at VXU, the occupational health service and others

Application to ”Satsa friskt” in June 2005 Decision in June 2005 Project-start 1 July 2005 End of project 30 September 2008 Parallel evaluation-process

Grant from Satsa friskt 4 680 000 SEK Funding from VXU 5 237 750 SEK

23-04-21 7


Goals

Decrease (halve) absence due to illness Use the occupational health service in a more proactive

way Increase knowledge and understanding of the

significance of leadership on health Support the development of academic leadership Initiate and provide conditions for health promotive

processes in the organization and in individual employees

Strengthen co-operation between social partners in matters of work environment

Reach a situation where employees at VXU feel that the conditions for working to a reasonable extent, achieving good results, feel job satisfaction and staying healthy have improved in comparison to previous studies that have been carried out

23-04-21 8


”HALV” project - content

1. Health competence

2. Academic leadership

3. Doctoral students

4. Administrative support systems

5. Fields of tension between core activities and administrative support functions

6. Support and development for middle managers and safety representatives

7. To manage a flexible working situation – about self-governing competence

23-04-21 9


Subproject 7 – ”The organizing of work for teachers”

To manage a flexible working situation – about self-governing competence

23-04-21 10


The main purpose of the project

To support the teachers in a work situation characterized by great flexibility in terms of where,

when and how you perform your tasks

In other words…

How can I as an individual feel as good as possible when the demands are high and time is limited?

23-04-21 11


Parts in the project

Time registration (one year)

Seminars (six)

Diary writing (one week)

Stress Profile ® (in the beginning and in the end)

23-04-21 12


Stress Profile®

224 questions related to work life

Based on recent research on stress-related diseases

Purpose: to give the individual a clear outline of how one experiences one’s work and life situation and how one manages problems, if any

23-04-21 13


Time registration

A simple Exceltemplate where one registers

working hours every day.

Purpose: to give the individual an overview: How

much do I work? When and where do I work?

How do I distribute my working hours on different

tasks?

NB! The purpose is not control!

23-04-21 14


23-04-21 15


Seminars

Content:

1. Time and priority

2. The Stress Profile + time and priority

3. Stress and tools to handle it

4. ”What are my tasks?”

5. Stress and tools…

6. The Stress Profile + summary

Purpose: to promote reflection and increase knowledge about self-governing competence

23-04-21 16


Diary

One week of writing a diary based on thoughts

and feelings about the work situation

Purpose: to give the participants an opportunity to

reflect upon their work situation

23-04-21 17


23-04-21 18


Evaluation of HALV 7

Statistics from time registration (on group level)

Stress Profile (group level)

Interviews with participants

23-04-21 19


Results I (time registration)

On the average (unpaid) overtime work after one year of time registration: 89 hours = two hours per week

May not sound very much, but in ten years it would mean more than 20 unpaid weeks of work!

Perhaps the participants would have worked even more if they had not been registrating how much they actually worked?

23-04-21 20


Results II (Stress Profile)

Slightly higher degree of job satisfaction and ability to manage stress

Experience of decreased load with regard to among other things time pressure

Decreased internal demands and higher self-esteem

Considerably decreased type A-behaviour (aggression, irritation and distrust)

23-04-21 21


Results III (interviews)

Stress Profile: true picture, good to discover risk zones

Time registration: better overview, less bad conscience

Seminars: advice, support and new perspectives

Logbook: good help for organizing one’s thoughts, ”others feel the same as I do”

23-04-21 22


More information?

Report from this project (in Swedish):

http://www.vxu.se/intranet/halv/larares_narvaro/

More about HALV-project + anthology ”Bredden ger spetsen” (in Swedish) can be downloaded from:

http://www.satsafriskt.nu/

Tools:http://www.vxu.se/org/forvaltning/personalsektion/verktygslada-1/

Mail to:[email protected]

[email protected]

EUPAN/TUNED Social Dialogue Working Group Stockholm 2009-09-16 Combating stress in national...

Documents

Transcript of EUPAN/TUNED Social Dialogue Working Group Stockholm 2009-09-16 Combating stress in national...