Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T02:30:36.086Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Occupational Stress and Well-Being

Workplace Interventions Involving Managers/Supervisors

from Part IV - Workplace Interventions Addressing Stress and Well-Being

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2023

By
Leslie B. Hammer ,
Shalene J. Allen  and
Jordyn J. Leslie
Edited by
Laurent M. Lapierre  and
Sir Cary Cooper
Laurent M. Lapierre
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
Sir Cary Cooper
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Get access

Summary

This chapter is based on a systematic review of 29 randomized controlled trials published between the years 2000 and 2020, evaluating the effectiveness of workplace interventions involving manager and/or supervisors aimed at reducing occupational stress and improving the well-being of workers. The critical role of leaders in impacting employee stress and well-being outcomes was the focus. Across each of the intervention studies, five primary themes of focus to improve employee outcomes were identified, including job design and ergonomic workplace conditions, employee psychological health, physical health, safety, and employee received or perceived supervisor support. We conclude the chapter by offering practical recommendations for future avenues of supervisory intervention work with consideration for translational and dissemination-implementation strategies to improve employee stress and well-being.

Keywords

stresswell-beingsupervisormanagerorganizational training intervention
Type
Chapter
Information
Organizational Stress and Well-Being , pp. 389 - 417
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, A. B., Bliese, P. D., Pickering, M. A., Hammermeister, J., Williams, J., Harada, C., … Ohlson, C. (2015). Mental skills training with basic combat training soldiers: A group-randomized trial. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 1752–1764. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000021Google Scholar
American Psychological Association (APA). (2020, December). Stress in America™ 2020: A National Mental Health Crisis. www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/report-octoberGoogle Scholar
Amiri, M., Khademian, Z., & Nikandish, R. (2018). The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Medical Education, 18(1), 158. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1255-6Google Scholar
Anger, K., Rameshbabu, A., Parker, K., Wan, W., Hurtado, D., Olson, R., Rohlman, D., Wipfli, B., & Bodner, T. (2019). Effectiveness of total worker health interventions: A systematic review. In Hudson, H. L., Nigam, J. A., Sauter, S. L., Chosewood, L. C., Schill, A. L. (Eds.), Total worker health (pp. 61–90). American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Anger, W. K., Elliot, D. L., Bodner, T., Olson, R., Rohlman, D. S., Truxillo, D. M., Kuehl, K. S., Hamer, L. B., & Montgomery, D. (2015). Effectiveness of total worker health interventions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(2), 226. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038340Google Scholar
Arnold, K. A. (2017). Transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 381–393. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000062Google Scholar
Avolio, B. J., Reichard, R. J., Hannah, S. T., Walumbwa, F. O., & Chan, A. (2009). A meta-analytic review of leadership impact research: Experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(5), 764–784.Google Scholar
Bavik, Y. L., Shaw, J. D., & Wang, X. H. (2020). Social support: Multi-disciplinary review, synthesis, and future agenda. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0148Google Scholar
Bell, B. S., Tannenbaum, S. I., Ford, J. K., Noe, R. A., & Kraiger, K. (2017). 100 years of training and development research: What we know and where we should go. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 305.Google Scholar
Biron, C., & Karanika-Murray, M. (2014). Process evaluation for organizational stress and well-being interventions: Implications for theory, method, and practice. International Journal of Stress Management, 21, 85–111. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0033227Google Scholar
Burke, M. J., & Day, R. R. (1986). A cumulative study of the effectiveness of managerial training. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(2), 232.Google Scholar
Chari, R., Chang, C. C., Sauter, S. L., Sayers, E. L. P., Cerully, J. L., Schulte, P., Schill, A. L., & Uscher-Pines, L. (2018). Expanding the paradigm of occupational safety and health: A new framework for worker well-being. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(7), 589–593. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000001330Google Scholar
Crain, T. L., Hammer, L. B., Bodner, T., Olson, R., Kossek, E. E., Moen, P., & Buxton, O. M. (2019). Sustaining sleep: Results from the randomized controlled work, family, and health study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 180. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000122Google Scholar
Dimoff, J. K., & Kelloway, E. K. (2019). With a little help from my boss: The impact of workplace mental health training on leader behaviors and employee resource utilization. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000126Google Scholar
Eden, D. (2020). The science of leadership: A journey from survey research to field experimentation. The Leadership Quarterly, 101472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2020.101472Google Scholar
Eklöf, M., & Hagberg, M. (2006). Are simple feedback interventions involving workplace data associated with better working environment and health? A cluster randomized controlled study among Swedish VDU workers. Applied Ergonomics, 37(2), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2005.04.003Google Scholar
Feltner, C., Peterson, K., Palmieri Weber, R., Cluff, L., Coker-Schwimmer, E., Viswanathan, M., & Lohr, K. N. (2016). The effectiveness of total worker health interventions: A systematic review for a national institutes of health pathways to prevention workshop. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165, 262. https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-0626Google Scholar
Ganster, D. C., & Rosen, C. C. (2013). Work stress and employee health: A multidisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085–1122. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313475815Google Scholar
Goh, J., Pfeffer, J., Zenios, S. A., & Rajpal, S. (2015). Workplace stressors & health outcomes: Health policy for the workplace. Behavioral Science & Policy, 1, 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsp.2015.0001Google Scholar
Halbesleben, J. R. B., Neveu, J.-P., Paustian-Underdahl, S. C., & Westman, M. (2014). Getting to the “COR”: Understanding the role of resources in conservation of resources theory. Journal of Management, 40, 1334–1364. http://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314527130Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Brady, J. M., & Perry, M. L. (2020). Training supervisors to support veterans at work: Effects on supervisor attitudes and employee sleep and stress. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(2), 273–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12299Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Johnson, R. C., Crain, T. L., Bodner, T., Kossek, E. E., Davis, K. D., … & Berkman, L. (2016). Intervention effects on safety compliance and citizenship behaviors: Evidence from the work, family, and health study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(2), 190. http://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000047Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Anger, W. K., Bodner, T., & Zimmerman, K. L. (2011a). Clarifying work–family intervention processes: The roles of work–family conflict and family-supportive supervisor behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020927Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., Zimmerman, K., & Daniels, R. (2007). Clarifying the construct of family-supportive supervisory behaviors (FSSB): A multilevel perspective. In Perrewé, P. L. & Ganster, D. C. (Eds.), Research in occupational stress and well-being: Vol. 6. Exploring the work and nonwork interface (pp. 165–204). Elsevier Science/JAI Press.Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Truxillo, D. M., Bodner, T., Pytlovany, A. C., & Richman, A. (2019b). Exploration of the impact of organisational context on a workplace safety and health intervention. Work & Stress, 33(2), 192–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2018.1496159Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Truxillo, D. M., Bodner, T., Rineer, J., Pytlovany, A. C., & Richman, A. (2015). Effects of a workplace intervention targeting psychosocial risk factors on safety and health outcomes. BioMed Research International. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/836967Google Scholar
Hammer, L. B., Wan, W. H., Brockwood, K. J., Bodner, T., & Mohr, C. D. (2019). Supervisor support training effects on veteran health and work outcomes in the civilian workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), 52. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/apl0000354Google Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513.Google Scholar
Hornung, S., Rousseau, D. M., & Glaser, J. (2008). Creating flexible work arrangements through idiosyncratic deals. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 655. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.655Google Scholar
Hurtado, D. A., Okechukwu, C. A., Buxton, O. M., Hammer, L., Hanson, G. C., Moen, P., Klein, L. C., & Berkman, L. F. (2016). Effects on cigarette consumption of a work–family supportive organisational intervention: 6-month results from the work, family and health network study. Journal of Epidemiol Community Health, 70(12), 1155–1161. http://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2015-206953Google Scholar
Inceoglu, I., Thomas, G., Chu, C., Plans, D., & Gerbasi, A. (2018). Leadership behavior and employee well-being: An integrated review and a future research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.12.006Google Scholar
Kajiki, S., Izumi, H., Hayashida, K., Kusumoto, A., Nagata, T., & Mori, K. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of the effect of participatory ergonomic low back pain training on workplace improvement. Journal of Occupational Health, 16-0244. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.16-0244-OAGoogle Scholar
Karlqvist, L., & Gard, G. (2013). Health-promoting educational interventions: A one-year follow-up study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 41(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494812467504Google Scholar
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations (Vol. 2). Wiley.Google Scholar
Kawakami, N., Kobayashi, Y., Takao, S., & Tsutsumi, A. (2005). Effects of web-based supervisor training on supervisor support and psychological distress among workers: A randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine, 41(2), 471–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2005.01.001Google Scholar
Kawakami, N., Takao, S., Kobayashi, Y., & Tsutsumi, A. (2006). Effects of web‐based supervisor training on job stressors and psychological distress among workers: A workplace‐based randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Health, 48(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.48.28Google Scholar
Kelly, E. L., Moen, P., Oakes, J. M., Fan, W., Okechukwu, C., Davis, K. D., Hammer, L. B., Kossek, E. E., King, R. B., Hanson, G. C., Mierzwa, F., & Casper, L. M. (2014). Changing work and work–family conflict: Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Sociological Review, 79(3), 485–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414531435Google Scholar
Kelloway, E. K., & Barling, J. (2010). Leadership development as an intervention in occupational health psychology. Work & Stress, 24, 260–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2010.518441Google Scholar
Ketelaar, S. M., Schaafsma, F. G., Geldof, M. F., Kraaijeveld, R. A., Boot, C. R. L., Shaw, W. S., Bültmann, U., & Anema, J. R. (2017). Implementation of the participatory approach for supervisors to increase self-efficacy in addressing risk of sick leave of employees: Results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 27(2), 247–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-016-9652-3Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., Thompson, R. J., Lawson, K. M., Bodner, T., Perrigino, M. B., Hammer, L. B., Buxton, O. M., Almeida, D. M., Wipfli, B., Berkman, L. F., & Bray, J. W. (2019). Caring for the elderly at work and home: Can a randomized organizational intervention improve psychological health? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000104Google Scholar
Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., Marlow, S. L., Joseph, D. L., & Salas, E. (2017, July 27). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000241CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaMontagne, A. D., Keegel, T., Louie, A. M., Ostry, A., & Landsbergis, P. A. (2007). A systematic review of the job-stress intervention evaluation literature, 1990–2005. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 13(3), 268–280. https://doi.org/10.1179/oeh.2007.13.3.268?Google Scholar
Lesener, T., Gusy, B., Jochmann, A., & Wolter, C. (2020). The drivers of work engagement: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal evidence. Work & Stress, 34(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2019.1686440Google Scholar
Linton, S. J., Boersma, K., Traczyk, M., Shaw, W., & Nicholas, M. (2016). Early workplace communication and problem solving to prevent back disability: Results of a randomized controlled trial among high-risk workers and their supervisors. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 26(2), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-015-9596-zGoogle Scholar
Litwiller, B., Snyder, L. A., Taylor, W. D., & Steele, L. M. (2017). The relationship between sleep and work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(4), 682. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000169Google Scholar
Milligan-Saville, J. S., Tan, L., Gayed, A., Barnes, C., Madan, I., Dobson, M., Bryant, R. A., Christensen, H., Mykletun, A., & Harvey, S. B. (2017). Workplace mental health training for managers and its effect on sick leave in employees: A cluster randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(11), 850–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30372-3Google Scholar
Moen, P., Kelly, E. L., Fan, W., Lee, S. R., Almeida, D., Kossek, E. E., & Buxton, O. M. (2016). Does a flexibility/support organizational initiative improve high-tech employees’ well-being? Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Sociological Review, 81(1), 134–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415622391Google Scholar
Morken, T., Moen, B., Riise, T., Hauge, S. H. V., Holien, S., Langedrag, A., Olson, H.-O., Pedersen, S., Saue, I. L. L., Seljebø, G. M., & Thoppil, V. (2002). Effects of a training program to improve musculoskeletal health among industrial workers – effects of supervisor’s role in the intervention. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 30(2), 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8141(02)00090-2Google Scholar
Mullen, J. E., & Kelloway, E. K. (2009). Safety leadership: A longitudinal study of the effects of transformational leadership on safety outcomes. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(2), 253–272. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908X325313Google Scholar
National Safety Council. (2020, February 20). Work injury costs. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/costs/work-injury-costs/Google Scholar
Olson, R., Crain, T. L., Bodner, T. E., King, R., Hammer, L. B., Klein, L. C., Erickson, L., Moen, P., Berkman, L. F., & Buxton, O. M. (2015). A workplace intervention improves sleep: Results from the randomized controlled Work, Family, and Health Study. Sleep Health, 1(1), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.11.003Google Scholar
Schill, A. L., & Chosewood, L. C. (2013). The NIOSH total worker health™ program: An overview. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000037Google Scholar
Schnall, P. L., Dobson, M., & Rosskam, E. (2009). Unhealthy work: Causes, consequences, cures. Baywood Pub. Co.Google Scholar
Selye, H. (1946). The general adaptation syndrome and the diseases of adaptation. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology, 6(2), 117–230. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem-6-2-117Google Scholar
Semmer, N. K. (2007). Recognition and respect (or lack thereof) as predictors of occupational health and well-being. Paper presentation at World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Shaw, W. S., Robertson, M. M., McLellan, R. K., Verma, S., & Pransky, G. (2006). A controlled case study of supervisor training to optimize response to injury in the food processing industry. Work, 26(2), 107–114. https://doi.org/1051-9815/06/517.00Google Scholar
Smith, T. D., Hughes, K., DeJoy, D. M., & Dyal, M. A. (2018). Assessment of relationships between work stress, work–family conflict, burnout and firefighter safety behavior outcomes. Safety Science, 103, 287–292.Google Scholar
Stansfeld, S. A., Kerry, S., Chandola, T., Russell, J., Berney, L., Hounsome, N., Lanz, D., Costelloe, C., Smuk, M., & Bhui, K. (2015). Pilot study of a cluster randomised trial of a guided e-learning health promotion intervention for managers based on management standards for the improvement of employee well-being and reduction of sickness absence: GEM Study. BMJ Open, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-007981Google Scholar
Takao, S., Tsutsumi, A., Nishiuchi, K., Mineyama, S., & Kawakami, N. (2006). Effects of the job stress education for supervisors on psychological distress and job performance among their immediate subordinates: A supervisor‐based randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Health, 48(6), 494–503. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.48.494Google Scholar
Tamers, S., Chosewood, L., Childress, A., Hudson, H., Nigam, J., & Chang, C.-C. (2019). Total Worker Health® 2014–2018: The novel approach to worker safety, health, and well-being evolves. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 321. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030321Google Scholar
Van Knippenberg, B., & Sitkin, S. B. (2013). A critical assessment of charismatic–transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board? Academy of Management Annals, 7, 1–60.Google Scholar
Warr, P. B. (2011). Work, happiness, and unhappiness. Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Zohar, D. (2002). Modifying supervisory practices to improve subunit safety: A leadership-based intervention model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(1), 156. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.87.1.156CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zohar, D., & Polachek, T. (2014). Discourse-based intervention for modifying supervisory communication as leverage for safety climate and performance improvement: A randomized field study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(1), 113. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034096Google Scholar
Zwetsloot, G. I., Van Scheppingen, A. R., Bos, E. H., Dijkman, A., & Starren, A. (2013). The core values that support health, safety, and well-being at work. Safety and Health at Work, 4(4), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2013.10.001Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×