Einelti á vinnustað, vinnuskipulag og líðan starfsmanna

Abstract

Introduction: The study assessed the association between well-being, work-environment and employees? health among the personnel in savings- and other banks? branches with reference to whether they had been exposed to bullying at work. Methods: A questionnaire based on the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work was sent to all employees (N=1847) in the spring of 2002. The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. Results: The response rate was 80% with 1475 employees returning the questionnaire. Women were 86% (n=1192) of the responders. About 15% of the employees (n=209) had experienced some form of harassment in connection with work. The majority of those had experienced bullying (8% (n=110)). The victims of bullying were more likely to have poor psychosocial work-environment and were less likely to have experienced a positive relationship with supervisors and other staff. There was only minimal association between bullying and seeking medical attention for a selected number of medical conditions. The victims of bullying were more likely to have experienced significant stress recently (p=0.025), to be mentally exhausted at the end of the workday (p=0.013), to have significant sleep difficulties (p=0.001), and poor mental health (p<0.0001), and to be dissatisfied in their job (p<0.0001). Conclusion: In the light of the association between work organization and bullying it is of importance that supervisors and employers are well versified in communication skills as pertains to staff relations and recognizing psychosocial risk factors in the employees' work environment. As victims of bullying are more dissatisfied with their work than others, it is likely that if they become sick and link their illness to the workplace, that they will quit their job. In light of this it is of importance to study the experience of bullying among those receiving benefits due to long-term sickness absence or disability.

Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að kanna líðan, vinnu­umhverfi og heilsufar starfsmanna í útibúum banka og sparisjóða með hliðsjón af því hvort þeir hefðu orð­ið fyrir einelti í starfi. Efniviður og aðferðir: Spurningalisti sem byggist á Norræna spurningalistanum um sálfélagslega þætti í vinnu (General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychologi­cal and Social Factors at Work) var lagður fyrir alla starfsmenn vorið 2002, samtals 1847 manns. Útreikningarnir voru gerðir með SPSS tölfræðiforritinu. Niðurstöður: Alls svöruðu 1475 starfsmenn spurninga­listanum, svarhlutfallið var 80%. Konur voru 86% (n=1192) svarenda. Um 15% starfsmanna (n=209) höfðu orðið fyrir ýmiss konar áreitni í starfi, meiri hluti þeirra, 8% (n=110), hafði orðið fyrir einelti. Þolendur eineltis voru líklegri en aðrir til að búa við slæmt sálfélagslegt vinnufyrirkomulag og höfðu síður upplifað jákvætt samband á milli starfsmanna og stjórnenda. Lítil tengsl voru á milli eineltis og þess að hafa leitað læknis vegna tiltekinna heilsufarsþátta. Þolendur voru líklegri en aðrir til að hafa fundið fyrir mikilli streitu nýlega (p=0,025), vera andlega úrvinda eftir vinnudaginn (p=0,013), hafa oft átt við svefnvandamál að stríða (p=0,001), búa við slæma andleg heilsu (p<0,0001) og vera óánægðir í starfi (p<0,0001). Ályktun: Vegna tengsla sem í ljós komu á milli vinnu­fyrirkomulags og eineltis er mikilvægt að stjórnendur kunni vel til samskipta og þekki áhættuþætti í sálfélagslegu vinnuumhverfi starfsmanna. Þar sem þolendur eineltis eru ósáttari með starf sitt en aðrir má ætla að þeir hætti frekar störfum ef þeir veikjast og tengi veikindin vinnu sinni. Því er mikilvægt rannsóknarefni að skoða algengi eineltis á meðal þeirra sem þiggja bætur hjá Tryggingastofnun ríkisins.