Ambiguous job factors in knowledge work

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Ambiguous job factors in knowledge work

• Ole H. Sørensen Dorte Boesby Dahl, NFA
• Presentation at EAWOP 2009
• Job Stress and Employee Well-being Stress
  Management

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Motivational question

• Are knowledge workers (symbol work,
  professionals, typically a formal
  education)exposed to factors at work not
  captured by conventional job-stress theories
• (demand-control-support, effort-reward)

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Knowledge workers and stress
Outcome measures are not significantly different
from national mean
Deviation from national mean.
(Source NFA COPSOQ, 2005 provisional figures)
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Knowledge work psychosocial dimensions
Deviation from national mean.
(Source NFA COPSOQ, 2005 provisional figures)
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Method

• Mapping employees attributions of work factors
  to
• strain (arousal and negative emotions)
• engagement (arousal and positive emotions)
• using cause-effect diagramming (fishbone)
• Six workplaces and a total of 22 focus groups
  with
• 7-12 employees
• 5-10 managers (about employees)
• management, employee reps., HRM, HS

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Cause-effect diagram - fishbone
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Examples of fishbone content
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Series of focus groups
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Findings

• The usual suspects
• high demands and short deadlines (time pressure)
• lack of recognition (low rewards), negative
  critique
• work-family conflict
• control issues
• Other (new) issues
• professional pride
• working with other professions
• disruptions at work knowledge sharing
• planning of work (bad) constraining systems
• management vacuum
• meaning (lack of)

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3 central ambiguities

• Professional pride and personal integrity
  Professionalism, great challenges, good results,
  and pride - closely coupled to identity (hard to
  draw the line)
• Planning and complexitySeek challenging,
  meaningful, and complex projects- build-in
  problems (difficult to plan, tight deadlines,
  lack of control)
• Frames and conditions for workFlat hierarchies
  and several project leadersKnowledge sharing and
  concentration conflictsWant of self-management
  but call for leadership as well- management
  vacuum and problems between colleagues

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More information

• Please contact
• Ole H. Sørensen, senior researcher
• E-mail ohs_at_nrcwe.dk
• Phone [phone]