The aim of the thesis is to examine the model of early support; what it is, what it is for and how Taloustuki Kuntapalvelut Oy can adapt it to its daily working life. The purpose of the thesis is also to study and give suggestions on how to motivate employees to answer questionnaires, especially open questions and questions that require in-depth consideration. The theoretical part consists of topics such as the early support model, work ability, mental strain and well-being at work, and the Bergen burnout indicator.
In addition to the theoretical part, there will be an analysis of a survey made for the staff in October 2012. The survey finds the employees in Taloustuki their opportunities to influence well or not. Two key recommendations are given to the case company in this thesis; how to measure the risk of burnout in the jobs that require customer service to prevent absenteeism due to it, and how to motivate staff to respond to various surveys.
INTRODUCTION
Thesis company
Purpose and objectives
Once these factors have been established, consultation takes place between the employer (in this case: team leader), the employee and the company health care (Irma, Early support model, www.taloustuki.fi, intranet). Instead of reporting absences, this thesis presents a tool to measure employee well-being in terms of the risk of burnout. In the second chapter, the concept of labor capacity is introduced and further elaborated.
The third chapter explains the early support model and methods for using it. Chapter five, Bergen burnout indicator, introduces the investigation and interpretation of the results. Chapter Seven explains the survey I created for Taloustuki staff, as well as the results.
WORK ABILITY
Definition of work ability
- Health and work ability
- Professional Skills
- The work itself
If the work feels meaningless and monotonous and work feels like an obligatory part of a life, this can in the long run weaken the work ability and well-being at work (Vihersalo et al. 2004,119). However, if there is a constant rush in the workplace, and no free time at all, this will negatively affect work ability. In order to gain a better understanding of the factors that comprise work ability, an image of work ability explained by the shape of a house will be introduced next.
The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has defined work ability as a building where the foundation consists of personal resources and the top floor is the work itself. Work ability is about compatibility and balance between the employee's own personal resources and the work. Good cooperation between employees and employer is the basis for maintaining a good working ability.
EARLY SUPPORT MODEL
- Definition of early support model
- Results of succesful implementation of the early support model
- When to take the early support model into action
- How to apply the early support model
- When the early support model is not enough
It doesn't have to be either the team leader or the employee who brings it up; occupational health care or a co-worker can also express his or her concerns about another employee (Irma, Early support model, www.taloustuki.fi, intranet). Image 2: Solving a problem in the workplace and in occupational healthcare (Irma, Early support model, www.taloustuki.fi, intranet). When the problem has been noticed at work, the conversation will be held between the team leader and the employee.
Through the conversation, the team leader and the employee try to clarify the situation as much as possible. If the problem is only work-related (for example, a lack of professional knowledge or job dissatisfaction), it can usually be solved within the workplace (Irma, Early support model, www.taloustuki.fi, intranet). When evaluation is done, occupational health care will give a statement both to the supervisor and to the employee (Hirvonen et al. 2004, 25).
FACTORS CAUSING WORK STRAIN
- Physical strain
- Mental strain
- Burnout
- The role of occupational health care
- How to investigate mental strain
- Challenges of evaluating mental strain
- How to define the level of risk at work
- Group discussion and ideation
Where physical strain is aimed at muscles, bones and ligaments as well as the respiratory and circulatory systems, mental strain is primarily aimed at the brain (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 76 & 107). Although mental strain can be noticeable, it is not always visible to the eye. Situations that require responsibility and whose consequences are notable are also stressful and can cause mental strain (Kämäräinen et al.
The solutions for these things can be, as mentioned above, further education and reorganization of work (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 78). In these reports there will be suggestions on how to fix the defects and problems that are observed (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 79). The methods of reporting mental strain are adaptable to a company's needs (eg to the fields, size and policies of the company).
However, these methods must be systematic enough so that they can be reproduced if necessary (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 89). What another respondent finds harmful and disturbing may not matter to another respondent (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 92). It is possible that only one part of the staff is aware of these problems and that others have no idea about it (Kämäräinen et al. 2009,93).
When you need to assess mental loads and stressors and how harmful and harmful they are, you can use this table. This scale is a three-step scale, where the consequences worsen step by step (Kämäräinen et al. 2009, 93). When assessing the likelihood of psychological burdens and stressors, you can use the same three-step scale.
When these types of situations occur repeatedly, the risk of mental strain is likely (Kämäräinen et al .2009, 93).
BERGEN BURNOUT INDICATOR
- The content of BBI
- The use of BBI-15
- Instructions for the use of BBI-15
- Interpretation of the results
These statements relate to declining interest in work and the meaning of work (Näätänen et al. 2003, 45). These statements address the final stage of burnout, when the negative effects of exhaustion and cynicism reach the self. The total scale of the BBI-15 consists of the sum of three subscales. The total sum is considered a tool to measure burnout as a whole ((Näätänen et al. 2003,46).
However, when using the BBI-15 for groups, you should remember that interpreting the results is more challenging. This is because there is not yet enough research data and thus the results and sums must be examined more critically than the results of an individual (Näätänen et al. 2003,71). In talustuki, most of the employees are female, so when you do the BBI-15 anonymously for groups, the results of male respondents will easily come out.
The respondent is asked to choose an option which best describes the current situation quite quickly (Näätänen et al. 2003, 74). This will be done both for subgroups and for the total sum of the responses. With these percentiles, one can conclude to which group (light burnout, severe burnout, no burnout, etc.) the respondent is placed probably and at least (Näätänen et al.
When interpreting the results of the questionnaire, one can concentrate on the scores of three subgroups and their total sum. This is based on the table mentioned earlier and where does the respondent place it (Näätänen et al.). With these pairs or with single factors, the different levels of burnout can be looked at (Näätänen et al.
When defining the level of burnout as a whole, check whether the nearest percentile, compared to the respondent's results, indicates the level of mild (75), medium (85), or severe (95) burnout.
SURVEY FOR THE STAFF OF TALOUSTUKI
Results of the survey
Do you think that answering surveys has a real and concrete effect on the issues they deal with?” As can be seen from the answers, the majority of respondents agree with the question to some extent. This can be interpreted as respondents finding that their answers influence some questions, but not all.
In order to obtain more detailed information about why the respondents feel the way they do, the open question was the multiple choice one. In this thesis, the most common (or the most similar) answers will be introduced.
Open questions and opinions of the staff
All the answers can be found in the appendix. better informed about what happens after the investigation and who is responsible for what.
CONCLUSION
Making of the thesis
The topic of the thesis has been very interesting right from the beginning of this process. The theme and the terms associated with it were new to me, so I had to spend some time in the summer of 2012 reading literature about it. It would take more time and more pages to define these terms and all the issues related to them as thoroughly as possible.
The idea behind these definitions in my thesis is to give someone unfamiliar with these terms their basic idea. This is important for the reader to better understand what the early support model is, what the reasons for it are, and why it is used. However, there were some topics I studied in school that I could use in my thesis.
Productivity of the company is related to absences of the employees, as reduced amount of absences will reduce the costs caused by it. When employees' work ability is in good condition, it is profitable for the company as good work ability and motivating employees form the basis of profit and productivity. Job satisfaction is an important theme of this thesis as it is a part of work ability.
Internal communication of the company has to do with job satisfaction: if the employees think that they are not aware of various things, it causes dissatisfaction among the employees. The idea of what should be in the thesis changed a few times during this process. It's only natural that as you become more familiar with the topic, it's easier to pick up on those issues that seem more important in the grand scheme of things.
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