From Annual Measurements to Daily Improvements: Evaluation of a Method for Improving Systematic Work Environment Management
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Enrolling By Invitation
- Sponsor
- Karolinska Institutet
- Enrollment
- 45
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Employee survey results
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this project is to evaluate a practical method for improving systematic work environment management (SAM) by focusing on health-promoting factors rather than identifying risk-factors, and deficiencies. It will also explore how Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) can support goal-setting and evaluation within SAM. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Which health-promoting factors are prioritized, and what organizational-level initiatives are developed?
- How does using GAS influence goal achievement related to health-promoting factors?
- How do employees, managers, and HR representatives perceive the use of GAS?
- What factors help or hinder the implementation of GAS and goal attainment?
Participants will:
Apply GAS within their organizations to set and evaluate goals Engage in a participatory process to identify key health-promoting factors Assess progress and the impact of interventions over time Researchers will analyze the effectiveness of GAS in enhancing SAM (experiment vs control group) and develop tools to support sustainable, healthy workplaces in the municipal sector.
Detailed Description
This project aims to test and evaluate a practical method for enhancing systematic work environment management (SAM), shifting the focus from identifying deficiencies to achieving goals centered on health-promoting factors. Competence supply is one of the greatest challenges for Swedish municipalities, and deficiencies in organizational and social work environments contribute significantly to sickness absence, poor mental health, and well-being. This issue threatens municipalities' ability to fulfill their responsibilities to citizens. Active systematic work environment management (SAM) has been identified as a potential solution, yet many municipalities rely on annual assessments focused on shortcomings, without providing indicators for concrete solutions, goal achievement, or measurable progress.
There is a lack of knowledge on how SAM should be designed to prioritize health-promoting factors (i.e., workplace conditions that support employee health and sustainable employment) at an organizational level. Additionally, there is a need for goal indicators that are motivating, measurable, and applicable at both unit and organizational levels.
To address these pressing needs, we propose applying the Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) method. GAS serves as both a goal-setting and evaluation methodology, previously applied successfully at the individual level. We suggest that GAS can help organizations formulate concrete and tailored desired states related to specific interventions, thereby enhancing improvements in health-promoting factors.
GAS offers several advantages for enhancing SAM. First, goal-setting theory suggests that GAS facilitates the establishment of achievable and relevant goals. A participatory design is crucial, fostering a shared mental model of objectives. Second, GAS promotes data-driven decision-making and accountability within SAM, enabling workplaces to systematically assess progress and the impact of work environment initiatives. Third, GAS is versatile and universal, serving as a general framework adaptable to different organizations and their specific contexts and objectives.
The project will address the following research questions:
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •work unit must have >3 employees, working within municipal sector, no other major organizational changes
Exclusion Criteria
- •Units with <3 employees, other major organizational changes
Arms & Interventions
Control group
Business-as-usual condition: This group follows established processes for systematic work engagement management (SAM)
We will employ a randomization approach using a two-arm stepped-wedge design. This design allows for a sequential roll-out of the intervention across study arms while maintaining a randomized allocation schedule. The stepped-wedge approach ensures that all participants eventually receive the intervention, while still permitting valid between-group comparisons at different time points. Importantly, this design also enables the inclusion of an additional measurement point, which will strengthen our ability to assess both short-term and longer-term intervention effects.
Experiment group
Works with Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) as part of systematic work engagement management (SAM)
We will employ a randomization approach using a two-arm stepped-wedge design. This design allows for a sequential roll-out of the intervention across study arms while maintaining a randomized allocation schedule. The stepped-wedge approach ensures that all participants eventually receive the intervention, while still permitting valid between-group comparisons at different time points. Importantly, this design also enables the inclusion of an additional measurement point, which will strengthen our ability to assess both short-term and longer-term intervention effects.
Intervention: GAS for SAM (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Employee survey results
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 2 years
The results from the annual employee survey will be the primary outcome in this study. The municipality uses e.g., HME index from Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) and are developing specific items for measuring health factors built on research based questions. 1. Fair and transparent organization: Colquitt, 2001; COPSOQIII; Rawlins, 2008 2. Leadership (present, trusting, engaging): Carless et al. 2000 3. Participation and influence: Astvik et al. 2020; QPS Nordic 4. Communication and feedback: Astvik et al. 2020 5. Prioritization of work tasks: Astvik et al. 2020; COPSOQIII; Semmer et al. 2007; Åkerblom et al. 2021 6. Lifelong competence development: COPSOQIII; Singer et al. 2012; OSA 7. Systematic work environment management in daily practice: Berthelsen et al. 2020 8. Early interventions and work adjustments: COPSOQIII Responses are rated on a five point (1-5) Likert-scale (higher score better outcome)
Employee survey results
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 2 years
The results from the annual employee survey will be the primary outcome in this study. The municipality uses e.g., HME index from Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) and are developing specific items for measuring health factors built on research based questions. 1. Fair and transparent organization: Colquitt, 2001; COPSOQIII; Rawlins, 2008 2. Leadership (present, trusting, engaging): Carless et al. 2000 3. Participation and influence: Astvik et al. 2020; QPS Nordic 4. Communication and feedback: Astvik et al. 2020 5. Prioritization of work tasks: Astvik et al. 2020; COPSOQIII; Semmer et al. 2007; Åkerblom et al. 2021 6. Lifelong competence development: COPSOQIII; Singer et al. 2012; OSA 7. Systematic work environment management in daily practice: Berthelsen et al. 2020 8. Early interventions and work adjustments: COPSOQIII Responses are rated on a five point (1-5) Likert-scale (higher score better outcome)
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported
Investigators
Sebastian Heikklä
Principal Investigator
Karolinska Institutet