Workforce

About: Workforce is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 32140 publications have been published within this topic receiving 449850 citations. The topic is also known as: labour force & labor force.

Lifestyle health promotion interventions for the nursing workforce: a systematic review.

Abstract: Aims and objectives. Study aims were to identify the efficacy of lifestyle health promotion interventions intended to improve behavioural health risk factors and/or behavioural or clinical outcomes of working-age nurses. Background. Nurses constitute around half the health workforce but global shortages and an ageing profile challenge future supply. The occupational hazards and stresses of nursing are well known. Health promotion, possibly workplace-based, presents opportunities to safeguard the health of nurses. Design. This was a systematic review undertaken in line with guidance for reviews in health care. Methods. Seven electronic databases were searched from 2000–2011 and references of relevant papers. Two reviewers independently reviewed and critiqued retrieved papers and extracted data. Methodological features were described using the CONSORT checklists; risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook classification. Results. With design inclusion criteria relaxed to include an uncontrolled trial, only three intervention studies were retrieved, from the United States, Canada and Taiwan. All had limitations and high risk of bias, but benefits were reported. Outcomes included fewer cigarettes smoked during the intervention period, down from mean (SD) 20 (8)–12 (9) per day (p < 0·001); significantly reduced fat mass (0·68 vs. 0·07 kg; p = 0·028); and significant gains across a battery of fitness assessments. The paucity of work focused on nurses’ health behaviours was the important finding. Conclusion. The workplace is a potentially fruitful location for health promotion intervention but nurses have seldom been recognised as a target participant group. Given the international priority ascribed to nursing workforce retention, this is a missed opportunity for occupational health planning. Potential benefits to nurses’ welfare and well-being may accrue from well-designed intervention studies. Relevance to clinical practice. Nurse leaders have a key role in driving recognition, spearheading commitment and development of targeted, whole-organisation programmes to promote health profile improvement for the nursing workforce.

The Economic Impact of Employee Behaviors on Organizational Performance

Abstract: Consider a recent quote from the Wall Street Journal (July 14, 2003): “It’s no longer about what you own or build; success is hinged to the resources and talent you can access.” Unfortunately, recent statistics indicate that American workplaces are not doing a very good job of managing the talent they currently have. Thus Only 14 percent of American workers say they are very satisfied with their jobs. Twenty-five percent say they “are just showing up to collect a paycheck” (The Stat 2005). From January 2004, to January 2005, 24 percent of American workers voluntarily quit their jobs, a 13 percent rise since the previous year. That figure varies widely by industry, though, with relatively low rates in manufacturing and transportation (roughly 15 percent), and relatively high rates in leisure and hospitality, retail, and construction industries (ranging from about 25–45 percent) (Employment Policy Foundation 2005). To appreciate what that means for an individual firm, consider the number of people Wal-Mart employed at the end of 2004—1,600,000 people (Fortune 500, 2005). Its annual employee turnover rate is 44 percent—close to the retail industry average (Frontline 2005). Each year, therefore, Wal-Mart must recruit, hire, and train more than 700,000 new employees just to replace those who left. Women now outnumber men in managerial and professional jobs, yet many leave even blue-chip employers because they do not feel valued, their companies do not offer flexible-employment policies, or their work is not intellectually challenging. Rather than leave the workforce, most resurface at companies that offer more progressive policies (Deutsch 2005).

Employment transitions for older nurses: a qualitative study.

Abstract: Aim. This paper aims to explore the influences on employment related decision making in respect of nurses over 50 in the United Kingdom. It investigates the retirement and labour market relationship through the diverse experiences of older nurses and stakeholders in nursing. Background. The ageing of the United Kingdom nursing workforce constitutes a potential challenge for the National Health Services. There is evidence of increasing efforts to address this issue by encouraging older nurses to remain in the profession, dissuading early retirement and attracting nurses who have retired to return to nursing. However, decision-making by older nurses is influenced by a wide spectrum of factors and perceived employment options. Background. The paper is based on research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as part of its Transitions Over 50 programme. It derives from concern about inadequate knowledge of, and under-developed policy responses to, the ageing United Kingdom workforce and the specific implications of this age shift for the nursing labour market. The research consisted of interviews with nurses over 50 and key stakeholders in nursing in the United Kingdom. Stakeholders included employers, advisers and policy makers in nursing. Method. Interviews with older nurses and stakeholders in nursing were conducted over a period of 12 months. They included face-to-face and telephone semi-structured interviews with 84 nurses over 50 and 18 key stakeholders in nursing in the United Kingdom. Stakeholders included employers, advisers and policy-makers. Findings. Employers, policy makers and advisers and older nurses all identified a range of influences on nurses’ employment decisions including a lack of flexible hours, the stress of work, pension-related expectations and the pace of change. Some of these related to negative aspects of work that led nurses to leave (‘push’ factors), and others to the presence of positive factors in nursing or in pension options (‘pull’ factors). Conclusion. The study highlighted the need for increased implementation of more flexible hours of work and greater availability of part-time hours for older nurses. It revealed the salience of improved pay, adequate and flexible pensions provision, and opportunities for continued professional development to the recruitment and retention of older nurses.

The role of communication in managing reductions in work force

Abstract: Reductions in work force (downsizing, delayering, resizing, outplacement, layoffs, demassing) are used by organizations to achieve desired economic goals and ensure survival. However, these reductions often negatively affect the work behaviors and attitudes of continuing employees and thus, may detract from the success of the reduction in work force. The purpose of this study was to increase our understanding of the effects of multiple workforce reductions on survivors by extending Brockner's (1988) model and outlining the role of communication in the process so that researchers and practitioners can better predict and control for the effects of workforce reductions. In pursuit of this goal, a causal model of effects on survivors was developed and then tested with data collected in a large, midwestern insurance company that implemented two workforce reductions. The hypothesized model was inconsistent with the data and subsequently was rejected. A revised model was then tested and found to fit at ...

Recasting the Academic Workforce: Why the Attractiveness of the Academic Profession Needs to Be Increased and Eight Possible Strategies for How to Go about This from an Australian Perspective.

Abstract: This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds itself, and would provide a very shaky foundation on which to build the future workforce. There is an overarching need for a fresh conceptualisation of academic work that is authentic and feasible and suggestions are offered of what this might look like. A number of strategies are proposed how such a recasting might be implemented. The paper works from Australian research, and make suggestions for other systems.