Samenvatting
Purpose – In many organizations, a major part of the daily activities is perceived as concentrated work (53% in this study). Hence, a lack of privacy at the workplace may be considered as a serious environmental stressor. Activity-based work environments usually provide non-assigned private rooms, to be used on an as-need basis. Is this an effective stress management solution?
Design/Methodology – Repeated measurements were collected, using a mobile application. Respondents provided data about their activities, the workplaces they used, and the degree of job strain they experienced. They also filled out a questionnaire regarding psychological and job characteristics.
Results – A total of 3480 measurements was provided by 114 respondents, working at a Dutch public service organisation. The availability of private rooms did not seem to provide an effective stress management solution. Only 17% of the concentrated work was indeed performed in these rooms. When other types of workplaces were used, this caused (strong) dissatisfaction in 40% of the occasions. This dissatisfaction correlated with individual differences regarding need for privacy (p = .026).
Limitations – Because only one specific organization and work environment is studied, further research is needed to test the generalizability of our findings.
Research/Practical Implications – When performing concentrated work, people often choose not to use a private room, despite their dissatisfaction. Further research should focus on explaining and possibly influencing this behaviour.
Originality/Value – Repeatedly measuring activity type together with workplace type and workplace satisfaction, provides a solid basis to analyse behavioural patterns and environmental stressors within activity-based work environments.
Design/Methodology – Repeated measurements were collected, using a mobile application. Respondents provided data about their activities, the workplaces they used, and the degree of job strain they experienced. They also filled out a questionnaire regarding psychological and job characteristics.
Results – A total of 3480 measurements was provided by 114 respondents, working at a Dutch public service organisation. The availability of private rooms did not seem to provide an effective stress management solution. Only 17% of the concentrated work was indeed performed in these rooms. When other types of workplaces were used, this caused (strong) dissatisfaction in 40% of the occasions. This dissatisfaction correlated with individual differences regarding need for privacy (p = .026).
Limitations – Because only one specific organization and work environment is studied, further research is needed to test the generalizability of our findings.
Research/Practical Implications – When performing concentrated work, people often choose not to use a private room, despite their dissatisfaction. Further research should focus on explaining and possibly influencing this behaviour.
Originality/Value – Repeatedly measuring activity type together with workplace type and workplace satisfaction, provides a solid basis to analyse behavioural patterns and environmental stressors within activity-based work environments.
Originele taal-2 | English |
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Aantal pagina's | 1 |
Status | Published - mei 2015 |
Evenement | European Association of Work and Organizational Behaviour (EAWOP) Congress 2015 - Oslo Congress Center and Clarion Hotel Royal Christiania, Oslo, Norway Duur: 21 mei 2015 → 23 mei 2015 https://www.eawop2015.org/ |
Conference
Conference | European Association of Work and Organizational Behaviour (EAWOP) Congress 2015 |
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Verkorte titel | EAWOP2015 |
Land/Regio | Norway |
Stad | Oslo |
Periode | 21/05/15 → 23/05/15 |
Internet adres |