The perspectives of upper management and employees about work demands and the necessary coping mechanisms in social care organizations

Abstract

The purpose of my study was to explore the perspectives of upper management and employees about work demands. Both managers and employees were asked about their perceptions of work demands experienced by employees and of the necessary coping mechanisms to overcome these work demands. To start the data collection process, I liaised with the Foundation for Social Welfare Services [FSWS] so that it could serve as my gatekeeper and aid in recruiting participants. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four managers whilst two focus groups were conducted with different employees to collect the data. Focus group 1 consisted of five participants whereas focus group 2 consisted of seven participants. After this stage, data analysis was carried out by using thematic and constant comparative analysis. The perspectives of work demands and their effects on employees were mentioned by both the managers and employees. Work demands were divided into internal and external demands. Internal demands considered tasks like recording, emergencies, and emails whereas the external demands considered the pressures created by stakeholders outside the organization. Different views of the effects of work demands regarding personal wellbeing were outlined. Managers believed that problems in personal life effect the way someone copes with work demands whilst the employees voiced the opposite opinion. Moreover, participants also mentioned three concepts which form part of emotional wellbeing as being prevalent, secondary trauma, burnout, and frustration. Job Demands-Resources [JD-R) interventions, that is, job redesign, training, job crafting and strengths, were outlined as coping mechanisms together with other concepts, that is, psychosocial safety climate [PSC], positive organizational behaviour [POB], employees’ wellbeing and engagement, which were both part of, and contributors to, the JD-R model.