Organizational health in public-sector workplaces: a mixed-method study

Le résumé fourni par la source

Purpose Organizational health refers to work environments that promote both employee health and work productivity. As there is no consistent definition of this concept, this mixed-methods study contributes to the characterization and operationalization of organizational health in the public sector. Methods To characterize organizational health, data from two focus group interviews, with six municipal work environment specialists and ten key stakeholders, were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Quantitative data, consisting of two survey items, on self-assessed production loss due to health and work environment problems (estimated on a 10-point Likert scale ranging from no to complete production loss) and sickness absence statistics were collected from a Swedish municipality. Results Results showed that organizational health is indicated at the organizational level by the presence of sufficient preconditions for fulfilling objectives, at the workplace level by team capability and stability, and at the individual level by employees with low sickness absence, multiple development opportunities, and job satisfaction. Workplaces with organizational health were operationalized as workplaces where at least 80% of employees estimated their productivity loss due to health problems as ≤ 5, and productivity loss due to work environment problems as ≤ 3 on 10-point Likert scales, yielding a proxy indicator of organizational health. Of 330 workplaces in the municipality, 70 had organizational health, having less sickness absence than did the remaining workplaces [adjusted odds ratio 0.78 (95% CI 0.75–0.81)]. Conclusion Organizational health is a multifaceted concept. The operationalization captures some aspect of the qualitative findings on organizational health. The operationalized definition, that is, the absence of productivity loss due to adverse individual health and work environment conditions, has implications for future research and practice.

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