ABSTRACT
Despite governmental efforts to close the gender gap and global calls including Sustainable Development Goal 5 to promote gender equality, the sobering reality is that gender inequities continue to persist in Canadian global health institutions. Moreover, from health to the economy, security to social protection, COVID-19 has exposed and heightened pre-existing inequities, with women, especially marginalized women, being disproportionately impacted. Women, particularly women who face bias along multiple identity dimensions, continue to be at risk of being excluded or delegitimized as participants in the global health workforce and continue to face barriers in career advancement to leadership, management and governance positions in Canada. These inequities have downstream effects on the policies and programmes, including global health efforts intended to support equitable partnerships with colleagues in low- and middle- income countries. We review current institutional gender inequities in Canadian global health research, policy and practice and by extension, our global partnerships. Informed by this review, we offer four priority actions for institutional leaders and managers to gender-transform Canadian global health institutions to accompany both the immediate response and longer-term recovery efforts of COVID-19. In particular, we call for the need for tracking indicators of gender parity within and across our institutions and in global health research (e.g., representation and participation, pay, promotions, training opportunities, unpaid care work), accountability and progressive action.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the world of work causing a significant shift from working in the office to working from home. Studies have shown that many employees do not want to return to the office on a full-time basis and that they expect that their work environments will include teleworking going forward. However, many leaders have had challenges managing remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and numerous organizations have been unclear and inconsistent about what work arrangements will look like in the future. Although several leadership studies since the COVID-19 pandemic have focused on leading during a crisis, empirical studies on the behaviors and mindsets needed to navigate the future of work is sparse. This research applied the Complexity Leadership Theory lens to the study of leadership behaviors and mindsets during this period of ambiguity and complexity which the COVID-19 pandemic introduced into the workplace. This exploratory study used a phenomenological approach to gain the perspectives of 20 senior HR leaders who are dealing with the ambiguity and complexity of novel human resource challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Four major findings resulted from this study. First, many factors shifted the balance of power from the employer to the employee to decide workforce including changing workforce expectations, the volatility and duration of the pandemic, as well as employee productivity while working from home. Second, senior HR leaders found establishing guidelines, and purposeful communications effective in helping them adapt to the future workplace. Third, the study found that mindsets play a key role in shaping decisions as senior HR leaders navigated the future workplace. Finally, senior HR leaders used enabling leadership competencies to influence stakeholders to navigate the novel situation of the future workplace ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings have implications for practice as they provide useful insights and strategies to senior HR leaders who are responsible for establishing work arrangements for their organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the world of work causing a significant shift from working in the office to working from home. Studies have shown that many employees do not want to return to the office on a full-time basis and that they expect that their work environments will include teleworking going forward. However, many leaders have had challenges managing remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and numerous organizations have been unclear and inconsistent about what work arrangements will look like in the future. Although several leadership studies since the COVID-19 pandemic have focused on leading during a crisis, empirical studies on the behaviors and mindsets needed to navigate the future of work is sparse. This research applied the Complexity Leadership Theory lens to the study of leadership behaviors and mindsets during this period of ambiguity and complexity which the COVID-19 pandemic introduced into the workplace. This exploratory study used a phenomenological approach to gain the perspectives of 20 senior HR leaders who are dealing with the ambiguity and complexity of novel human resource challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Four major findings resulted from this study. First, many factors shifted the balance of power from the employer to the employee to decide workforce including changing workforce expectations, the volatility and duration of the pandemic, as well as employee productivity while working from home. Second, senior HR leaders found establishing guidelines, and purposeful communications effective in helping them adapt to the future workplace. Third, the study found that mindsets play a key role in shaping decisions as senior HR leaders navigated the future workplace. Finally, senior HR leaders used enabling leadership competencies to influence stakeholders to navigate the novel situation of the future workplace ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings have implications for practice as they provide useful insights and strategies to senior HR leaders who are responsible for establishing work arrangements for their organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Despite governmental efforts to close the gender gap and global calls including Sustainable Development Goal 5 to promote gender equality, the sobering reality is that gender inequities continue to persist in Canadian global health institutions. Moreover, from health to the economy, security to social protection, COVID-19 has exposed and heightened pre-existing inequities, with women, especially marginalized women, being disproportionately impacted. Women, particularly women who face bias along multiple identity dimensions, continue to be at risk of being excluded or delegitimized as participants in the global health workforce and continue to face barriers in career advancement to leadership, management and governance positions in Canada. These inequities have downstream effects on the policies and programmes, including global health efforts intended to support equitable partnerships with colleagues in low- and middle- income countries. We review current institutional gender inequities in Canadian global health research, policy and practice and by extension, our global partnerships. Informed by this review, we offer four priority actions for institutional leaders and managers to gender-transform Canadian global health institutions to accompany both the immediate response and longer-term recovery efforts of COVID-19. In particular, we call for the need for tracking indicators of gender parity within and across our institutions and in global health research (e.g., representation and participation, pay, promotions, training opportunities, unpaid care work), accountability and progressive action.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic presented many sudden challenges regarding food, including grocery shopping changes (eg, reduced store hours, capacity restrictions, and empty store shelves due to food hoarding), restaurant closures, the need to cook more at home, and closures of food access programs. Eat Well Saskatchewan (EWS) implemented a 16-week social media campaign, #eatwellcovid19, led by a dietitian and nutrition student that focused on sharing stories submitted by the Saskatchewan public about how they were eating healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe the implementation of the #eatwellcovid19 social media campaign and the results from the evaluation of the campaign, which included campaign performance using social media metrics and experiences and perspectives of campaign followers. METHODS: Residents of Saskatchewan, Canada, were invited to submit personal stories and experiences to EWS about how they were eating healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic from April to August 2020. Each week, one to three stories were featured on EWS social media platforms-Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter-along with evidence-based nutrition information to help residents become more resilient to challenges related to food and nutrition experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who submitted stories were entered into a weekly draw for a Can $100 grocery gift card. Social media metrics and semistructured qualitative interviews of campaign followers were used to evaluate the #eatwellcovid19 campaign. RESULTS: In total, 75 stories were submitted by 74 individuals on a variety of topics (eg, grocery shopping, traditional skills, and gardening), and 42 stories were featured on social media. EWS shared 194 #eatwellcovid19 posts across social media platforms (Facebook: n=100; Instagram: n=55; and Twitter: n=39). On Facebook, #eatawellcovid19 reached 100,571 followers and left 128,818 impressions, resulting in 9575 engagements. On Instagram, the campaign reached 11,310 followers, made 14,145 impressions, and received 823 likes and 15 comments. On Twitter, #eatwellcovid19 made 15,199 impressions and received 424 engagements. Featured story submission posts had the best engagement on Facebook and the most likes and comments on Instagram. The EWS social media pages reported increases in their following during the campaign (Instagram: +30%; Facebook: +14%; and Twitter: +12%). Results from the interviews revealed that there were two types of campaign followers: those who appreciated hearing the stories submitted by followers, as it helped them to feel connected to the community during social isolation, and those who appreciated the evidence-based information. CONCLUSIONS: Numerous stories were submitted to the #eatwellcovid19 social media campaign on various topics. On Instagram and Facebook, posts that featured these stories had the highest engagement. During this campaign, EWS's social media following increased by more than 10% on each platform. The approach used for the #eatwellcovid19 campaign could be considered by others looking to develop health promotion campaigns.