Organisational structures and processes for health and well-being: insights from work integration social enterprise

Abstract

Background Previous research on employee well-being for those who have experienced social and economic disadvantage and those with previous or existing mental health conditions has focused mainly on programmatic interventions. The purpose of this research was to examine how organisational structures and processes (such as policies and culture) influence well-being of employees from these types of backgrounds. Methods A case study ethnographic approach which included in-depth qualitative analysis of 93 semi-structured interviews of employees, staff, and managers, together with participant observation of four social enterprises employing young people. Results The data revealed that young people were provided a combination of training, varied work tasks, psychosocial support, and encouragement to cultivate relationships among peers and management staff. This was enabled through the following elements: structure and space; funding, finance and industry orientation; organisational culture; policy and process; and fostering local service networks.. The findings further illustrate how organisational structures at these workplaces promoted an inclusive workplace environment in which participants self-reported a decrease in anxiety and depression, increased self-esteem, increased self-confidence and increased physical activity. Conclusions Replicating these types of organisational structures, processes, and culture requires consideration of complex systems perspectives on implementation fidelity which has implications for policy, practice and future research.

Transition from work integration social enterprises to ordinary employment in situations of low employability: results of an intervention programme

“…In the words of support technicians, it seems that “indirect support” (rehearsing an interview, preparing a good CV, working on socio-labour strategies/skills, getting together with colleagues to “strengthen” each other, supporting by revising legal regulations […]) is the most common form of accompaniment, starting from the idea that people are the ones who take the initiative in granting employment. Accompaniment linked to social support (Chan, 2015), job search techniques (Gómez-Torres, 2019; Liu et al , 2014; McQuaid and Lindsay, 2002), as well as emotional well-being (Joyce et al , 2022; McKinnon et al , 2020; Panari et al , 2020), are elements considered in previous studies that have also been corroborated in this case through the participation of support technicians.…”

“…Recognising employment as an innate good that gives people meaning through contributions to society and the economy (McKinnon et al , 2020), it is crucial to highlight its role as a key element in the well-being of people (Joyce et al , 2022). As mentioned previously, well-being is one of the variables influencings search processes.…”

“…To create significant employment opportunities or paths of access to ordinary employment for people with greater difficulties (Joyce et al , 2022), WISEs offer opportunities to develop the necessary skills (Barton et al , 2022) as well as support and guidance (Rey-Martí et al , 2021). The results show that support and guidance are especially relevant in the transition process from WISEs to the ordinary market.…”

“…The literature shows that beyond the contributions that WISEs make to the qualification of people with greater difficulties in accessing ordinary employment, they highlight the differential conditions they offer, allowing them to approach and adapt to different personal and social situations. Relevant aspects are the structure and culture of the work environment (Joyce et al , 2022), long adaptation periods and intensive support (Lysaght, 2022), employer attitudes towards employee difficulties (McQuaid and Lindsay, 2002) or traits, capacities and behaviours that generate social value (Rey-Martí et al , 2021), and strengths of social enterprises. Its generalisation to the ordinary market is not simple; therefore, the accompaniment of workers once they finish their itinerary in the WISE, can contribute to prospecting and placement.…”

Promoting the Integration of Elderly Healthcare and Elderly Nursing: Evidence from the Chinese Government

“…Therefore, we need to calculate the index weight in the subgroups. According to the guiding ideology of the SOFPDCHE and the related literature [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], we eventually concluded five important indexes, i.e., the main policies, the medical resources, the natural resources, the economic support, and the personnel training and employment encouragement. Meanwhile, we adopted the entropy method [ 35 , 36 , 37 ] to measure the weight values of these five indexes.…”