Alignment for achieving a healthy organization
(2013) p.107-125- Abstract
Modern working life is characterized by change and competiveness. It is also characterized by a drift away from low-skilled work to more complex jobs and increased social interaction. This means that the human resources employees and their skills, competencies, engagement and motivation are the greatest asset of many organizations. This has implications for how an organization can be healthy, i.e. create an environment that will contribute to employee health, wellbeing and motivation as well as achieve business outcomes. In this chapter, we will draw on theories from work and organizational psychology and behavioral psychology, and our own research, to describe what we believe to be the fundament of a healthy organization. We will do... (More)
Modern working life is characterized by change and competiveness. It is also characterized by a drift away from low-skilled work to more complex jobs and increased social interaction. This means that the human resources employees and their skills, competencies, engagement and motivation are the greatest asset of many organizations. This has implications for how an organization can be healthy, i.e. create an environment that will contribute to employee health, wellbeing and motivation as well as achieve business outcomes. In this chapter, we will draw on theories from work and organizational psychology and behavioral psychology, and our own research, to describe what we believe to be the fundament of a healthy organization. We will do this by introducing the concept of alignment, which will be used to illuminate the healthy organization. Alignment can be described as the lining up of different aspects of what is going on in an organization so that they create a common thread. This cuts across different layers and processes in the organization; thus vertical, horizontal and diagonal alignments will be described. In the second part, we will use the framework of alignment to illuminate why occupational health interventions need to be integrated with the organizations strategy and systems in order to create sustainable change. Implications of alignment for participatory approaches, intervention fit, program theories, the role of management and more will be discussed. In the third part, we will describe the implications of our view of an aligned, healthy organization for designing and evaluating interventions in organizations. This includes arguing for changing the roles and responsibilities of researchers and practitioners, and how this change can be beneficial to the organization as well as the quality of the research.
(Less)
- author
- von Schwarz, Ulrica Thiele and Hasson, Henna LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013-01-01
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Health, Organizational behavior management, Participatory approach, Performance, Strategic goals
- host publication
- Salutogenic Organizations and Change: The Concepts Behind Organizational Health Intervention Research
- pages
- 19 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84956496003
- ISBN
- 9789400764705
- 9789400764699
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-94-007-6470-5_7
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 638b9573-7b67-4058-bd22-b9e0953ee593
- date added to LUP
- 2016-10-19 15:14:23
- date last changed
- 2024-06-28 17:15:51
@inbook{638b9573-7b67-4058-bd22-b9e0953ee593,
abstract = {{<p>Modern working life is characterized by change and competiveness. It is also characterized by a drift away from low-skilled work to more complex jobs and increased social interaction. This means that the human resources employees and their skills, competencies, engagement and motivation are the greatest asset of many organizations. This has implications for how an organization can be healthy, i.e. create an environment that will contribute to employee health, wellbeing and motivation as well as achieve business outcomes. In this chapter, we will draw on theories from work and organizational psychology and behavioral psychology, and our own research, to describe what we believe to be the fundament of a healthy organization. We will do this by introducing the concept of alignment, which will be used to illuminate the healthy organization. Alignment can be described as the lining up of different aspects of what is going on in an organization so that they create a common thread. This cuts across different layers and processes in the organization; thus vertical, horizontal and diagonal alignments will be described. In the second part, we will use the framework of alignment to illuminate why occupational health interventions need to be integrated with the organizations strategy and systems in order to create sustainable change. Implications of alignment for participatory approaches, intervention fit, program theories, the role of management and more will be discussed. In the third part, we will describe the implications of our view of an aligned, healthy organization for designing and evaluating interventions in organizations. This includes arguing for changing the roles and responsibilities of researchers and practitioners, and how this change can be beneficial to the organization as well as the quality of the research.</p>}},
author = {{von Schwarz, Ulrica Thiele and Hasson, Henna}},
booktitle = {{Salutogenic Organizations and Change: The Concepts Behind Organizational Health Intervention Research}},
isbn = {{9789400764705}},
keywords = {{Health; Organizational behavior management; Participatory approach; Performance; Strategic goals}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
pages = {{107--125}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
title = {{Alignment for achieving a healthy organization}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6470-5_7}},
doi = {{10.1007/978-94-007-6470-5_7}},
year = {{2013}},
}