A Participatory Approach to Identify Key Areas for Sustainable Work Environment and Health in Employees with Flexible Work Arrangements

Sofie Bjärntoft, David M. Hallman, Camilla Zetterberg, Johan Larsson, Johanna Edvinsson and Helena Jahncke
Additional contact information
Sofie Bjärntoft: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden
David M. Hallman: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden
Camilla Zetterberg: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden
Johan Larsson: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden
Johanna Edvinsson: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden
Helena Jahncke: Department of Occupational Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Gävle, 80176 Gävle, Sweden

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Flexible work arrangements are common worldwide, but knowledge on how to achieve a sustainable work environment is sparse. The aim of this study was to use a participatory approach to identify concrete suggestions and key areas for improvement that were considered relevant, effective, and feasible for promoting good work environment and health at organizational, work group and individual level (O-G-I), among office employees with flexible work arrangements. Eight focus group interviews (including 45 employees) were conducted in a large Swedish government agency in 2017. By using a Tree diagram approach, employees made a total of 279 suggestions for improvements, which were sorted into O-G-I levels and mapped into 18 key areas. We found that 13 key areas addressed organizational level (e.g., improving leadership, policy, job demands, and work efficiency), two key areas addressed group level (create common rules of availability and activity-based working), and three key areas addressed individual level (e.g., individuals’ responsibility to clearly communicate their availability). The participatory process was effective in obtaining concrete suggestions and key areas in need of improvement, which may provide an action plan that can guide organizations in developing interventions to promote good work environment and health in flexible work.

Keywords: job autonomy; participative; work environment; health promotion; sustainable work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13593/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13593/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13593-:d:698307

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().