Background Physical activity and physical functioning have been reported to change over retirement transition, but the results have been inconsistent, and the two constructs have not been studied ...concurrently. The objective of this study was to examine concurrent changes in physical activity and physical functioning during transition to retirement among public sector employees, and to examine if occupation, sex, marital status, body mass index (BMI), alcohol consumption and smoking status are associated with observed different multi-trajectory paths. Methods 3,550 participants of the Finnish Retirement and Aging study responded to an annual survey on physical activity and physical functioning (SF-36) before and after retirement. Group-based multi-trajectory analysis was used to identify clusters with dissimilar concurrent changes in physical activity and physical functioning. Multinomial regression analysis was used to describe the associations between covariates and the probability of being classified to a certain cluster. Results Participants were 63.4 (SD 1.4) years old, 83% women, 65% professional workers. Four trajectories of concurrent changes in physical activity and physical functioning were identified, one with decreasing physical functioning and low activity, one with increasing high activity and stable high functioning and two with fluctuating moderate physical activity and stable high functioning. Single, women, obese participants and risk-users of alcohol were more likely to be classified into group with low physical activity and declining physical functioning. Conclusions Low physical activity below the level usually recommended was associated with lower physical functioning during retirement transition. These findings could be useful when planning interventions for retirees to maintain their physical functioning level.
PurposeLittle research into organizational learning in the public sector in developing countries' is known. In this paper, the authors investigated the context of organizational learning in the ...public banks in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic field research was employed by spending a month inside each of two public banks in Egypt. The ethnographic experience was operationalised by using direct observations of learning processes, procedures and practices, semi-structured interviews with learning specialists and focus group discussions with bankers. The authors used thematic analysis to determine the main themes in the previous data collection methods of ethnographic approach.FindingsThe findings confirmed a lack of clear focus for the organizational learning practices employed by the banks, which highlights issues of seriousness in undertaking and/or tackling organizational learning, and increased doubts in relation to the added value of the different forms of formal trainings bankers participate in. To enhance the culture and maintain effective functioning of formal organizational learning, the authors suggest considering the following three categories of barriers: purpose-related barriers, implementation and evaluation barriers.Originality/valueDespite the generalisability caveats associated with the organizations studied, the authors believe that this paper contributes to the existing theory of organizational learning as it provides insights and understanding on the purpose, frame, conduct and results of organizational learning in the public sector. More specifically, the study is unique and is different from previous relevant studies as it relies on ethnographical approach in exploring how organizational leaning practices are perceived in public banks in developing countries.
Based on the leadership-member exchange perspective, this study proposes that subordinates are more likely to express their voice in a leader-supported work environment, and this relationship is ...stronger when they have close social ties with their supervisor. In the case of subordinates supported by supervisors, public service motivation serves as a psychological mechanism to promote them to express voice behavior. This study also explains the boundary effect of the supervisor-subordinate’s guanxi perspective in affecting supervisor support and subordinate’s voice behavior. A longitudinal survey of 136 front-line public officers has been conducted to check this theoretical model in China, and their data verified the moderated-mediation model results. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed.
Public health and social interventions are critical to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Ethiopia has implemented a variety of public health and social measures ...to control the pandemic. This study aimed to assess social distancing and public health preventive practices of government employees in response to COVID-19. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,573 government employees selected from 46 public institutions located in Addis Ababa. Data were collected from 8.sup.th to 19.sup.th June 2020 using a paper-based self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables (perceived effectiveness of facemask wearing to prevent coronavirus infection, and COVID-19 testing). Majority of the participants reported facemask wearing (96%), avoiding close contact with people including handshaking (94.8%), consistently followed government recommendations (95.6%), frequent handwashing (94.5%), practiced physical distancing (89.5%), avoided mass gatherings and crowded places (88.1%), restricting movement and travelling (71.8%), and stayed home (35.6%). More than 80% of the participants perceived that consistently wearing a facemask is highly effective in preventing coronavirus infection. Respondents from Oromia perceived less about the effectiveness of wearing facemask in preventing coronavirus infection (adjusted OR = 0.27, 95% CI:0.17-0.45). About 19% of the respondents reported that they had ever tested for COVID-19. Respondents between 40-49 years old (adjusted OR = 0.41, 95% CI:0.22-0.76) and 50-66 years (adjusted OR = 0.43, 95% CI:0.19-0.95) were less likely tested for coronavirus than the younger age groups. Similarly, respondents from Oromia were less likely to test for coronavirus (adjusted OR = 0.26, 95% CI:0.12-0.56) than those from national level. Participants who were sure about the availability of COVID-19 testing were more likely to test for coronavirus. About 57% of the respondents perceived that the policy measures in response to the pandemic were inadequate. The findings showed higher social distancing and preventive practices among the government employees in response to COVID-19. Rules and regulations imposed by the government should be enforced and people should properly apply wearing facemasks, frequent handwashing, social and physical distancing measures as a comprehensive package of COVID-19 prevention and control strategies.
Purpose: Based on the three-dimensional model of Meyer and Allen (1991), this study outlined organizational commitment profiles (OCP) for public service workers working at two federal universities, ...as well as sociodemographic and occupational characteristics associated with these profiles. Originality/value: OCP emerged as part of the Brazilian research scenario on organizational commitment (OC), as well as discussions that approached the implications of such profiles, in the public sector and public higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology included quantitative, descriptive, and field-based approaches. In the study, 470 respondents worked in administrative areas of two federal universities in Northeast Brazil in three occupational categories: technical servants, managers, and outsourced workers. The techniques used were exploratory factor analysis and latent profile analysis. Findings: As a basis for modeling the factorial structure of the OC scale (affective, normative, and continuance dimensions), four OCP were identified: uncommitted, affective-continuance commitment, moderate, and affectively committed. The uncommitted were primarily men and workers with less job tenure. The majority of the affective-continuance commitment and affectively committed were occupied by technical public servants and outsourced workers, while managers concentrated on the affective-continuance commitments. Keywords: organizational commitment profiles, federal universities, public sector, survey, quantitative research Objetivo: Esta pesquisa objetivou delinear os perfis de comprometimento organizacional (PCO) de diferentes trabalhadores do servico publico, em duas universidades federais, tomando como base o modelo tridimensional de Meyer e Allen (1991), e discutir caracteristicas sociodemograficas e ocupacionais associadas a tais perfis. Originalidade/valor: Os resultados permitiram a emergencia de novos PCO no cenario de pesquisa brasileiro sobre comprometimento organizacional (CO), assim como discussoes que abordam as implicacoes de tais perfis, considerando o cenario do setor publico e das instituicoes de ensino superior (IES) publicas. Design/metodologia/abordagem: Trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa, descritiva e de campo. O campo de pesquisa foi constituido por 470 respondentes de tres categorias ocupacionais distintas: servidores tecnicos, gestores e terceirizados, atuantes em areas administrativas de duas universidades federais do Nordeste. Utilizaram-se as seguintes tecnicas: analise fatorial exploratoria e analise de perfis latentes. Resultados: Considerando a estrutura fatorial da escala de CO (dimensoes afetiva, normativa e de continuacao), foram delineados quatro PCO: descomprometidos; comprometidos de combinacao afetivo-continuacao; moderados; e comprometidos afetivamente. Os trabalhadores com menor tempo de servico e do genero masculino predominaram entre os descomprometidos. Os servidores tecnicos e os terceirizados predominaram entre os comprometidos de combinacao afetivo-continuacao e os comprometidos afetivamente, enquanto os gestores concentraram-se entre os comprometidos de combinacao afetivo-continuacao. Palavras-chave: perfis de comprometimento organizacional, universidades federais, setor publico, survey, pesquisa quantitativa
The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant emerged shortly after COVID-19 vaccines became available in 2021. We describe SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections in a highly vaccinated, well-monitored US Embassy ...community in Kampala, Uganda. Defining breakthrough infection rates in highly vaccinated populations can help determine public health messaging, guidance, and policy globally.
Increased working from home has imposed new challenges on public service employees, while also granting opportunities for job crafting. Grounding on the Job Demands-Resources model and Hobfoll's ...Conservation of Resources theory this exploratory research aims to investigate the work-nonwork balance of employees one and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the research focus lies on employees' job crafting strategies to optimize their working from home experience concerning boundary management and energy resource management.
Twelve semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with public service employees from different sectors in Germany. The experiences were content analyzed using the software MaxQDA and inductive and deductive categories were derived.
Boundary management comprised different strategies such as communicative (e.g., negotiating work time), physical (e.g., going to the garden), temporal (e.g., logging off in between the work day) and behavioral (e.g., prioritizing tasks) strategies. The job crafting strategies regarding energy management included preventing exhaustion (e.g. taking breaks), healthy cooking and energy management in case of sickness (e.g. deciding on sick leave).
This qualitative case study enriches research on job crafting by offering insights on boundary tactics and energy resources management strategies for remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results point out different starting points for employees and decision makers, how a work-nonwork balance, energy management and thus employees' wellbeing may be increased when working from home in the future.
The study design and methodology were approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Cologne and the study was prospectively registered (Ref No. 21-1417_1).
"The research analyses the leadership styles prac ticed in the Romanian public administration, the gender differences regarding the practiced leader ship and in terms of exhibiting behaviors that ...could lead to the development of civil servants’ resilience, trying to investigate the relation between leadership, gender, and resilience. The paper contributes to the scientific literature in the field by analyzing three concepts that are not usually explored together and especially in the public administration. The research methodology consists of a sociological survey con ducted in the Romanian public administration where 766 civil servants agreed to participate. The research revealed that the studied leaders present a mix of characteristics where transforma tional and transactional behaviors are predominant. Regarding gender differences, both men and wom en are considered to lead in a similar manner, but a higher preference for male leaders was observed. Men’s leadership behaviors are better appreciated, indicating the presence of gender stereotypes and a certain level of prejudice against women. The studied leaders possess the necessary character istics for developing civil servants’ resilience, being perceived as exhibiting supportive, encouraging, and motivating attitudes when their subordinates faced difficult moments in their careers. Also, the exis tence of a direct relation between transformational leadership and resilience was observed."
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