Effectiveness of a healthy work organization intervention: ethnic group differences

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health Psychology
• Organizational Behavior
• Sociology of Work

Background:

• Workplace interventions aim to improve organizational climate and employee health.
• Ethnic disparities in intervention outcomes are not well understood.
• Participatory approaches may yield differential benefits across ethnic groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate ethnic group differences in the effectiveness of a healthy work organization intervention.
• To assess the intervention's impact on organizational climate and worker health.
• To explore the role of employee problem-solving teams in intervention outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Quasi-experimental design comparing intervention and control groups across 21 retail stores.
• Implementation of employee problem-solving teams in 11 intervention stores.
• Pre- and post-intervention assessments of organizational climate, health, and well-being.

Main Results:

• The intervention positively affected organizational climate and worker health and well-being.
• Significant variations in intervention effectiveness were observed across ethnic groups.
• Black and Hispanic employees showed the greatest improvements in organizational climate due to the participatory intervention.

Conclusions:

• Healthy work organization interventions can be effective but exhibit ethnic disparities.
• Participatory interventions, like employee problem-solving teams, may disproportionately benefit minority ethnic groups.
• Findings support social identification and self-categorization theories in explaining differential intervention outcomes.