Abstract

Many researchers and policy makers have recommended that organizational-level interventions (such as participatory changes to job design) should be used as a first resort when tackling work-related stress. However, there is limited evidence that points to the effectiveness of these interventions. In this presentation we will argue that these interventions need to be better monitored, managed and modified in order to fit workers’ diverse and fluctuating needs and circumstances. Findings from a variety of organizational-level intervention studies point to the need for rapid intervention process evaluation. There is growing evidence that: participatory organisational change processes involve demands that may not be universally welcomed; workers’ individual differences mean that there is heterogeneity in change impacts; the working conditions targeted for intervention are not equally problematical for all employees; workers’ evaluations of intervention activities can significantly vary between individuals and across time; and intervention activities may not always fit neatly into pre-existing hierarchical organisational structures. These problems mean that organizational-level intervention processes need to be more responsive to workers’ heterogeneous values, preferences, needs, experiences, competencies, perceived work demands and work contexts. We will describe how intervention process evaluation data can be quickly and frequently gathered to identify the contextual factors and individual differences that support (or inhibit) intervention exposure and outcomes. This will include a presentation of prototype measures and a discussion of practical examples of the ways in which process evaluation data can be used to make intervention activities better fit employees’ needs and circumstances.