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Tempo ewolucji środowiska pracy zwiększa się – również pod względem form zatrudnienia. Zmiany te sprawiają, że współczesna definicja „pracy” odbiega coraz bardziej od tradycyjnej. W artykule omówiono różne koncepcje nowych form pracy, ich występowanie w ramach polskiego rynku pracy oraz możliwe skutki w kontekście psychospołecznych warunków pracy, dla zdrowia i samopoczucia osób pracujących.

W ostatnich latach szczególną uwagę poświęca się dobrostanowi pracowników, a także interwencjom, których celem jest utrzymywanie bądź poprawa tegoż dobrostanu. Dotychczasowe badania wykazały, że jednym ze sposobów utrzymywania lub poprawy zdrowia i samopoczucia pracowników jest budowanie ich zasobów psychologicznych. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie skutecznych interwencji zmierzających ku budowaniu zasobu osobistego, jakim jest kapitał psychologiczny. W artykule przedstawiono typologię interwencji organizacyjnych oraz omówiono model interwencji rozwijającej kapitał psychologiczny pracowników. Następnie opisano przykłady oddziaływań opartych na tych założeniach oraz wiele innych interwencji, które są skuteczne w rozwijaniu kapitału psychologicznego i podnoszą poziom dobrostanu pracowników.

This article focuses on methods and tools to measure worker satisfaction with reference to industrial automation. Despite technological advances in automation, the role of human workers on industrial shop floors remains crucial. To promote humans' roles, production systems should be designed and organized so workers are valued and get satisfactory jobs. The article presents a novel holistic model of worker satisfaction with adaptive automation and working conditions. The model takes into account psychosocial and physical working conditions and the characteristics of the automation system the worker interacts with and its user interface. We propose a questionnaire to be used as a practical tool to assess worker satisfaction with industrial automation, considering also the case of adaptive automation. The proposed version of the questionnaire is the result of pilot testing carried out among shop floor operators and takes into account adjustments derived from end-user feedback.

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki analizy jakości wykonywania zadań koordynacji dwuręcznej. Badania przeprowadzono na czterech grupach zróżnicowanych ze względu na płeć i wiek (20-30 lat i 60-67 lat). Badani wykonywali zadania koordynacji dwuręcznej opracowane w CIOP-PIB oraz testy zawarte w Wiedeńskim Systemie Testów. Wyniki pokazują znaczące różnice w wartościach wskaźników jakości sterowania pomiędzy grupą osób młodszych a grupą osób starszych. Silniejsze zróżnicowanie zaobserwowano w zadaniach koordynacji dwuręcznej. Większe różnice występują także ze względu na wiek niż ze względu na płeć.

The purpose of this article was to describe the concept of challenge and hindrance job demands. It discusses Cavanaugh et al.’s theory and reviews the literature on the impact of challenge and hindrance job demands on employees. In general, the review suggests that challenges are related positively and hindrances negatively with employees’ wellbeing, efficiency and job attitudes. However, the results are not unequivocal. It seems that individual perception - whether an employee perceives job demands as challenging or hindering - plays a crucial role in the relationship. The review also suggests that individual and psychosocial resources play an important role – as mediators and moderators – in the way that hindrances and challenges influence employees. This article also discusses directions of future research.

The aim of the paper was to analyze relationships between employees’ innovativeness and two groups of resources: individual wellbeing of employees and organizational workplace innovation. The results of a questionnaire survey conducted among 519 white-collar workers were obtained. Measurement variables were: employees innovativeness (dependent variable) and the following independent variables (hypothetical innovativeness predictors) – work engagement, meaning of work, job insecurity, symptoms of stress, job satisfaction and work ability, as well as the organizational workplace innovation. Hierarchical regression analysis has shown that various indicators of wellbeing are related to employees’ innovativeness in different ways. Work engagement, work ability and stress symptoms were positively, and meaning of work and job insecurity – negatively related with employees’ innovativeness. Two forms of workplace innovation were positively related with employees’ innovativeness: flexible work and organizing smarter. These organizational factors were strongly related with employees’ innovativeness than individual wellbeing. The interpretation of the results refers to the conversation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 2006) and the argument on two forms of wellbeing: eudemonic and hedonistic wellbeing (Warr and Inceoglu, 2012). Key words: innovativeness, wellbeing, resources, workplace innovation, eudemonic and hedonistic wellbeing

Introduction PEROSH stands for the Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and Health. One of the joint research projects run from the PEROSH network deals with Wellbeing at Work, within which scientific representatives from five European countries have developed a set of initiatives aimed at improving working lives. Methods In order to allow employers and workers to better understand the determinants of wellbeing at work, a model of wellbeing at work was developed, based on scientific knowledge, in three meetings which experts from different fields attended. Results The WellbeingTree was developed as both a visually attractive and interactive graphic, but also to allow better understanding of wellbeing issues, and their determinants, at work. The tree incorporates abstracts, studies and case studies gathered from the international Wellbeing at Work conferences, but also relies on literature reviews and original articles. The symbol of a tree was adopted because effects of optimising worker wellbeing can be represented as the tree’s fruits, and the roots of the tree were designed to represent the precursors, or antecedents, of wellbeing. The roots and branches thus give the user of the tree an opportunity to appreciate the wide variety of influences that may positively, or indeed negatively, influence wellbeing. A variety of sources of feedback about its usefulness have been received, and work is ongoing within PEROSH to develop these further. Discussion We are now developing the tree further graphically, and it will be populated over time with references to scientific studies and cases. An interactive, ‘clickable’ version will be developed for use by employers, where clicking on a particular area of the tree will display relevant content. Our European approach to worker wellbeing has successfully developed a tool that we believe will be a useful resource for all those with responsibility for wellbeing of workers.

Objectives: Most research on the negative impact of restructuring on employees’ health considers restructuring involving personnel reduction. The aim of this study was to explore the assumption that the type of restructuring, business expansion versus restructuring not involving expansion (only reductions and/or change of ownership), influences its psychological responses: appraisal of the change, psychosocial working conditions and well-being after the change. Material and Methods: The study was carried out among 857 employees that experienced restructuring in 2009 and/or 2010 and 538 employees from companies not restructured at that time. The main variables, i.e., assessment of change in terms of personal benefits and losses, psychosocial job characteristics and well-being were measured using a questionnaire developed in “The psychological health and well-being in restructuring: key effects and mechanisms” project (PSYRES). Results: It was found that the employees who experienced business expansion in comparison to those who experienced exclusively change of ownership had a higher appraisal of change, while those who experienced restructuring not involving business expansion did not differ from those who experienced change of ownership. As far as psychosocial working conditions are concerned, those employees who experienced exclusively business expansion did not differ from those in the not restructured companies (except for quantitative demands that were higher), while most psychosocial working conditions of the employees who experienced restructuring not involving expansion were poorer than in the not restructured companies. Also, well-being measures of the employees who experienced exclusively business expansion did not differ from those in the not restructured companies (except for innovative behavior that was even higher), while well-being measure of those who experienced restructuring not involving expansion was poorer than of those in the not restructured companies. Conclusions: Restructuring involving exclusively business expansion is not a threat to psychosocial job characteristics (except for quantitative demands) or to employees’ well-being. Therefore, the type of restructuring should be taken into account when the restructuring – psychological health relationship is discussed.

Background The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of the performance of bimanual coordination tasks with specific characteristics on the changes in quality of coordination, musculoskeletal load of the upper limbs and cognitive functions. Methods and findings A group of 26 people aged 60-67 years performed 6 sessions of bimanual coordination training. Each session included set of tasks that varied depending on the shape in which the cursor moved, the coordination mode (in-phase, anti-phase, complex) and the tracking mode (imposed or freely chosen speed). Performance was assessed by: Error, Variability and Execution. The load of upper limb muscles was expressed with the value of the normalized EMG amplitude. Cognitive functions were evaluated using the Vienna Test System. The Variability and Error values obtained during the sixth training session decreased by more than 50% of the initial values. Tasks with freely chosen speed showed changes from 15% to 34% for Error and from 45% to 50% for Variability. For tasks with imposed speed and coordination mode anti-phase or complex it was between 51% and 58% for Error and between 58% and 68% for Variability. Statistically significant differences between load during the sixth training session compared to the first session occurred in three out of four muscles and were between 9% to 39%. There were statistically significant differences in motor time and no differences in variables describing attention and working memory. Conclusions Coordination mode is meaningful for improving coordination skills; tasks in the anti-phase and complex are recommended. Tracking mode also plays a role, tasks with an imposed cursor movement speed have greater potential to improve coordination skills than tasks with freely chosen. Improved control skills resulted in the reduction of upper limb musculoskeletal load. It can be assumed that an increase in coordination skills with the use of appropriate training can help to reduce musculoskeletal load.

The cultural and institutional context in Poland can influence patterns supportive for workplace innovation. Highlighting technological innovation only and neglecting the workplace improvement in the case of Poland is associated with low work engagement. It is recognized that one of the central aspects of workplace innovation is the active involvement of employees in the innovation process. Hence, we investigate the following research questions: What is the role of employees in the process of designing and implementing workplace innovation and change in Poland? What is the impact of formal and informal organisational structures in this process? The chapter uses a qualitative approach based on in depth interviews and focus groups to answer those questions. We conclude that interaction between the individual (employee) and the structural level (organisation) may result in a gradual destruction of innovation, because innovation processes in Polish companies seem contrary to what workplace innovation WPI) stands for: WPI stresses an engaging role for employees to succeed in innovation, while Polish companies seem to do the opposite.