Managers and Mental Health: Mental Illness and the WorkplaceSchott, Richard L.
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800201pmid: N/A
Mental illness is prevalent in modern society and in our organizations. Though our knowledge of mental disorders has greatly increased over the past few decades, managers' understanding and acceptance of the pervasiveness, treatment, and impact on organizational life has lagged behind. Partly because modern psychiatry and clinical psychology are relatively new fields of practice (just a century ago the seriously mentally ill were being locked away in insane asylums), mental illness still carries a stigma. We rarely disclose our depressed moods, our feelings of anxiety, or other mental symptoms to our work colleagues; yet our organizational chit chat is full of discussions of allergies, broken bones, influenza, even cancer—“legitimate” subjects because they are “medical.” At the same time, the self-help sections of bookstores are full of titles on a range of mental illness. For example, Listening to Prozac, a discussion of a new class of drugs for depression, and The Road Less Traveled, practical advice from psychiatrist Scott Peck, are national best-sellers. In this article, I hope to introduce the reader to the symptoms and treatment of the most common mental disorders found in the workplace and suggest to managers how they may facilitate mental health.
Integrated Managerial Training: A Program for Strategic Management DevelopmentWatad, Mahmoud; Ospina, Sonia
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800202pmid: N/A
The notion of strategic training is premised upon the idea that organized developmental activities must be directly linked to the mission or the core business of the organization. This article presents a case study of a managerial training program implemented in a large nonprofit organization. The training program encouraged dialogue among managers of different hierarchical levels with different areas of expertise, to help improve the processes of vertical and horizontal integration required for effective performance. The program enabled participants to link their local decisions and daily operations to the broader organizational mission, consequently improving organizational effectiveness and learning. This paper suggests that human resource managers and trainers can enhance the effectiveness of managerial training programs by making a conscious effort to provide opportunities for horizontal and vertical integration within the training experience, independent of the content areas addressed in the program. Some of the consequences of implementing this approach include a more open and expanded communications process, the generation of professional attachments, bonding between members of the managerial team, and better coordination of services among participants from the various hierarchical levels and functional areas.
Healthy Work: Ideal and Reality among Public and Private Employed Academics in SwedenAronsson, Gunnar; Bejerot, Eva; Härenstam, Annika
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800203pmid: N/A
In what does healthy work for persons with an academic background consist, and how great is the perceived gulf between actual work and healthy work? A random sample of 5,700 members of the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO) was taken in order to investigate their images of healthy work (in a very broad sense). Two groupings of work aspects emerged as particularly important. The first can be designated as work intellectuality—that work provides intellectual stimulation and is performed freely and independently, that innovative thinking and initiative-taking are appreciated, and that personal qualities can be utilized constructively. Great discrepancies between ideal and reality were evident in the latter two aspects. The second significant set of aspects was the value of work—benefit of the work to society and the extent to which it accorded with personal values. Here, the correspondence between ideal and actual work was relatively high. Lowest ranked of the twelve aspects which were judged to constitute healthy work were being well paid and having opportunities for career advancement. Rank orders and discrepancies are analyzed for seven occupational groups: physicians, dentists, teachers, engineers, university teachers, lawyers and economists. Comparisons are made by gender, age, employer, and position.
Protective Service Physical Ability Tests: Establishing Pass/Fail, Ranking, and Banding ProceduresBiddle, Dan; Sill, Nikki Shepherd
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800204pmid: N/A
Physical ability tests have undergone intense scrutiny in the courts since the 1970s. A recent survey of court-disputed police and fire physical ability tests showed a successful defense rate of less than 10%.1 Faced with such odds, public sector agencies have focused on the development, validation, and use of physical ability tests. A physical ability test supported by a thorough validity study but poorly used, is just as likely to lose in court as a test poorly developed and validated. Numerous researchers have thoroughly examined performance differences between men and women on physical ability tests.2,3 Since job-related physical ability tests are likely to reflect such differences, setting pass/fail cutoffs that accurately reflect the physical ability levels required for successful job performance is a key consideration for any protective service agency involved in physical ability testing. A variety of practices are followed by public sector agencies for using physical ability test scores: pass/fail cutoffs, top-down ranking, banding or grouping passing applicants, and weighting or combining the physical ability test results with other pre-employment tests. This article will limit discussion to evaluating the use of physical ability test scores outside of other selection devices, although the principles herein may be used for combining physical ability test scores with other pre-employment tests.
Globalization of Human Resource Management: A Cross-Cultural Perspective for the Public SectorKim, Pan Suk
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800205pmid: N/A
Human resource management can include two large areas: personnel management and development functions. This paper attempts to shed light on development functions, which have tended to be somewhat disregarded in traditional public personnel administration and international public administration education. The primary objective is to answer some of the most critical questions regarding human resources in a global perspective. How can executives develop a multicultural management group? What role should human resources play in the management of negotiations and international collaboration? How can cross-cultural competencies best be developed?
Crisis, Culture and Charisma: The New Leader's Work in Public OrganizationsValle, Matthew
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800206pmid: N/A
This paper argues that the changing nature of public service requires new leadership and that the primary goal of leaders in public organizations today should be the development of, as the organization's primary core competence, an adaptive organizational culture. The changing nature of public service will be discussed in terms of the external and internal environmental forces impacting public organizations, the expanded and diverse missions that make up the work of the members of these organizations, and the style of leadership appropriate in order to take steps to create the organizational energy necessary for action. The model presented emphasizes the interaction of the environment, the followers, and the leader and describes this interaction as a combination of crisis, culture, and charisma.
State of California: Civil Service Testing Moves into CyberspaceCoffee, Karen; Pearce, Jim; Nishimura, Roberta
doi: 10.1177/009102609902800209pmid: N/A
The State of California has successfully implemented an employment application and civil service testing process on the Internet for its largest entry level professional classification, Staff Services Analyst. This innovative selection process, the first of its kind is available to the public twenty-four hours a day via the Internet or telephone. Since its debut in June 1996, this examination has been well received by candidates and state departments and has helped the state to realize a considerable savings in staff time and money as compared to a traditional written examination. This technology is already being applied to other examinations and is well on its way to becoming a common testing format. This paper describes the development and implementation of the Staff Services Analyst examination as well as some of the many issues to be considered when exploring the new frontier of Internet civil service testing.For the past several years, the California State Personnel Board (SPB) has been exploring ways to utilize new technology to streamline the process of recruiting and selecting candidates for employment. An interdepartmental task force was created to explore cost effective, efficient, flexible ways to administer quality testing procedures. The task force focused on the Staff Services Analyst (SSA) classification since this is one of the few entry level professional classifications tested on an open basis (open to members of the public). The resulting new exam consists of a scored life experience questionnaire and is available on a continuous basis on both the Internet and telephone. This nearly paperless examination represents a quantum leap forward in the application of new and innovative technologies, which significantly improves the effectiveness and efficiency of civil service testing procedures.