Diagnostic Convergent Interviewing to Inform Redesign Toward Sustainable Work Systems for Paramedics

Lara Thynne and John Rodwell
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Lara Thynne: Department of Management & Marketing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia
John Rodwell: Department of Management & Marketing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: Many paramedics are working under levels of fatigue that would warrant immediate removal from the workplaces in other industries and such high levels of fatigue indicate a work system that is not sustainable. Sustainable work systems (SWS) build on a sociotechnical systems approach to work redesign. To diagnose the key issues in a work system, and inform any redesign or interventions, a powerful diagnostic tool, such as convergent interviewing, may be helpful. Convergent interviewing was applied to a paramedic context, extending the standard sociotechnical systems approach to work and non-work systems. The inductive convergent interviewing process was able to encapsulate the complexity of the key issues associated with fatigue and recovery in the system that is the paramedics’ lives. The issues raised could then be used to inform system changes in a move toward more sustainable work practices for paramedics.

Keywords: convergent interviewing; sustainable work systems; systems modeling; paramedics; change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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