Assessing the Impact of Office Automation on Employee Productivity and Health

The pressure to increase productivity is driving many industries to automate. By the year 2000 experts foresee that the VDT will be as common as the telephone is today on the desks of office workers. Just as the mechanization of farm and factory work changed our society and economy in the past, so will the automation of white-collar work influence and change the work process and society. This paper will explore the productivity, cultural, health and mental health issues of office automation. We also discuss the role EAP's can play to help business ameliorate or avoid potential problems associated with the darker side of office automation.     

A Survey of Australian Human Services Agency Software Usage

Human Services agencies use a wide range of software systems to manage caseloads, maintain records, deliver services to clients, and for interagency communication. Some systems are generic, such as Word or Excel, while some are specialized to the organization, such as specialized databases for tracking case notes. Some software systems are shared across organizations. We surveyed nearly 40 Australian Human Services agencies to ascertain the range of software currently in use by agencies and their opinions on it, with a view to identifying promising new Human Services applications. We interviewed representatives from a selection of smaller agencies. This resulted in detailed feedback on key issues to consider when developing and deploying new Human Services software.     

The Impact of Openness on Adoption Agency Practices

ABSTRACT

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of the changing openness-related practices of private U.S. adoption agencies. Staff from private adoption agencies were interviewed at three points in time, in 1987–89, 1993, and 1999, about their current practices and attitudes regarding openness in adoption and any changes that may have taken place since the previous interview. From 1993 to 1999 agencies continued a trend toward offering and encouraging more open adoptions. During this period fully disclosed arrangements became more common and had the greatest growth since 1987, while confidential adoptions continued to decrease in frequency. Mediated adoptions remain the predominant arrangements. Changes in the adoption options offered by the agencies at all three time periods have been driven primarily by the demands of the birthmother for greater openness. However, by final data collection in 1999, most agencies in this sample changed from viewing the birthmother as their primary client to viewing the adopted child as their primary client. Implications for agency practices are discussed.     

The Impact of Small Computers upon Human Services Delivery to Families

No abstract available for this article.     

Building a Faith-Based Human Service Agency

Abstract

Interest in faith-based organizations has increased substantially since the Bush administration made them a priority in the presidential campaign of 2000 and established a special office in the White House to promote their involvement in government supported human services. The primary goal of this initiative is to encourage faith-based organizations, usually understood to mean congregations, to engage their members in supporting services to those most in need. While most research on faith-based organizations is limited to the past decade or two, very little is known about how they operate. This case study of Community Ministries of Rockville, Maryland (CMR) is designed to address this issue. CMR differs from most faith-based organizations in that it neither represents a single congregation nor the traditional faith-related social service agency like Catholic, Jewish, or Lutheran Social Services. The case study features the twenty-five year history of the Executive Director of a faith-based human service organization supported by twenty congregations. It concludes with the identification of major challenges and lessons learned.     

Quality management as knowledge sharing: experiences of the Napa County Health and Human Services Agency

Lacking a coordinated effort in utilizing data and tracking program outcomes, one agency developed a Quality Management (QM) division to facilitate and manage more effective data use. To support this process, the agency sought to develop a collective, agency-wide understanding and investment in improving and measuring client outcomes. Similarly, the agency also focused efforts on creating a culture of transparency and accountability, with goals of improving service, increasing agency integrity, meeting regulatory compliance, and engaging in effective risk management. Operationalizing the QM initiative involved developing procedures, systems, and guidelines that would facilitate the generation of reliable and accurate data that could be used to inform program change and decision-making. This case study describes this agency's experience in successfully creating and implementing a QM initiative aimed at engaging in greater knowledge sharing.     

The Impact of Higher Fixed Pay and Lower Bonuses on Productivity

This study analyzes the effects of performance related pay on productivity exploiting a change in the payment structure of a large Dutch marketing company. Specifically, we investigate the consequences for company sales of higher fixed pay in combination with lower bonuses. Exploiting shift level data of individual workers we find that average productivity decreases when the pay structure shifts more to fixed pay. Further analysis shows that this drop in productivity is larger for older workers and for high-ability employees, while over time the negative effect of the new system becomes smaller.     

The Impact of Gender and Status in a University Setting on Importance of EAP Services

ABSTRACT

Employee groups vary in their perceptions of the importance of EAP services. Women value them more than men, and, in a university setting, office and service workers value EAP services more than do administration and faculty.     

Attitudes and Belief Systems Concerning Urban Services

Attitudes toward urban services cluster in ways indicating thewidespread presence of a variety of organizing abstractionsin mass political belief systems. Nonetheless, since the perceptualbasis of these attitudes is weak, they are not the result ofsophisticated cognitive processes of attitude formation. Thefindings do not show that attitudes toward urban services differdramatically, either in overall constraint or in degree of clustering,from attitudes about national political issues     

Human Services on Cable

No abstract available for this article.     

The Impact of Gender and Marital Status on Attitudes and Responses to Unemployment

The study examined differences in job search intensity, attitudes toward unemployment, and related responses among a sample of Israelis, based on gender and marital status (single vs. married). The findings indicate that gender-based differences were greater than those based on marital status. Regarding the impact of gender, women were more likely than men to reject jobs because of conflict with family responsibilities or unsuitable working conditions. Both men and women mentioned gender atypical characteristics of occupations as a reason for rejecting employement, although this tendency was especially prevalent among married women. Women also reported more stress reactions and decline in health as an outcome of unemployment. Regarding the impact of marital status, married men tended to seek jobs more intensively than respondents in the other research groups. Single respondents of both sexes were more likely than their married counterparts to view unemployment as a personal advantage because it gives them more time to themselves. Moreover, married respondents of both sexes were more likely to reject job offers because of conflict with family responsibilities or unsuitable working conditions. In light of the findings, practical recommendations for counselors are provided.     

The Impact of Training Videos on Attitudes About Parenting After Divorce

Many U.S. states require divorcing parents to take education classes about the impact of divorce on parents and children. As educators, psychiatrists, social workers, and others create these classes, it is important to evaluate what elements of the curriculum are effective in achieving targeted outcomes. Successful Coparenting After Divorce (https://coparenting.fsu.edu) is a free online divorce education course that focuses on issues such as the emotional impact of divorce, conflict reduction, and skills for parental cooperation. The course also includes videos covering topics including examples of negative and positive parental behavior, and testimonials from children. Pilot testing of the videos and the overall course impact with divorcing parents (n = 218) suggested that the videos’ utility were significantly related to the positive change in parents’ perceptions of their relationship with their former spouse, and their child-focused attitudes. Implications for practitioners who design or provide divorce education to parents are discussed.     

The Impact of Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Workplace Issues on Productivity

People in organizations lack the skills, knowledge, tools, and resources to effectively address gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workplace issues. Consequently, most organizations fail to attain optimum performance from the approximately ten percent of their population who are sexual minorities. Two examples of what occurs when these issues are not addressed are: (1) gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered employees do not feel included in the organization. When people, any people, are excluded rather than included it is almost impossible to expect optimal performance; and, (2) organizations send messages to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees that encourage them to hide their sexual orientation at work. When employees devote energy to hiding-as gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered employees often do to protect themselves and their livelihood-performance suffers. In this article, these workplace issues are brought out of the corporate closet and into the mainstream of business performance.     

The Effects of a Web-Based Intervention on College Students' Knowledge of Human Papillomavirus and Attitudes toward Vaccination

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that college students know relatively little about human papillomavirus (HPV), and that educational interventions increase knowledge of HPV. However, to date, there are no published studies testing the effects of computer-based education on attitudes toward being vaccinated in this population. The present study of 119 college students explored the effect of a web-based intervention on participants' knowledge of HPV and attitudes toward HPV vaccination. Participants were randomized to a web-based, self-administered HPV educational intervention or to a control group. Knowledge and attitudes were assessed at baseline, after the completion of the intervention, and at one-month follow-up. At baseline, women knew more than men about risks and symptoms of HPV. At immediate and long-term follow-up, the intervention group had better knowledge of HPV and more positive attitudes toward HPV vaccination than the control group. There were some gender differences in response to the intervention; increases in knowledge of HPV were greater in men, while changes in attitudes toward vaccination were larger in women.     

Knowledge capture and the retirement of the director of finance: succession planning in the San Mateo County Human Services Agency

Concern over the impending retirement of several top-level managers led a county agency to engage in efforts aimed at more efficient succession management. Administrators developed plans to prevent the loss of invaluable knowledge and wisdom accompanying retirement of experienced agency leaders. The agency's Director of Finance (DoF) was one of the first key figures projected to retire, and a succession plan was implemented to transfer his knowledge for use after his departure. The knowledge transfer process involved three stages, including: (1) employing the DoF as teacher, having him develop curricula and conduct trainings; (2) engaging the DoF as mentor, allowing an existing staff member and the DoF's successor to shadow and be coached by the DoF; and (3) developing a knowledge management system that could be used after the DoF departed. This case study describes the knowledge transfer process and experiences shared by the DoF and this agency.     

CSV Protective Services as an Agency of Change?

This paper describes a systemic team approach that has been used successfully with a young statutory client at risk, in reuniting him safely with his family of origin. The approach provides an opportunity to move away from a restrictive view of statutory intervention toward utilising the legal framework, to assist families and protective workers to co-operate in the young person's safe return home.     

Nonprofit Organizations and Human Services in Greece: The Residual Segment of a Weak Sector

The majority of Greek nonprofit organizations active in the field of human services belong in two categories: the first is homes for the elderly that provide assisted living to seniors and the second is philanthropic societies, which primarily fight against poverty. This paper argues that this sector is small in terms of membership, voluntary performance, beneficiaries, and budget. Nonprofit organizations have succeeded in developing close relationships with local communities, as well as in providing essential alleviation quickly and flexibly. On the other hand, organizations are very dependent on the state and they keep beneficiaries away from decision making; moreover, their contribution to building social capital is trivial and participation in policy-making minimal. The lack of collective representation prevents an open society and hinders communication with government.