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BACKGROUND: Despite the developments in Kosovo's healthcare, there are still many challenges that hamper the delivery of proper health-care service. This was especially highlighted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. AIM: This study aims to elucidate the factors that impede proper health service as well as reduce preventable medical errors by focusing on safety as a fundamental principle in patient care and a key component health services quality management. The main goal is to improve the overall approach to the patient by improving the workers performance and redesigning systems, with the goal of reducing patient risk not only in normal working environment but also in new and unusual situations such as COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD(S): In this cross-sectional study, data were collected and analyzed. Two questionnaires were compiled for this research: one was compiled to address patients who sought health services at the Emergency Center;the second questionnaire was designed for the Emergency Center personnel to identify the relationships between the workers, managerial staff, the problems of reporting errors, and similar. Moreover, relevant publications on the impact of the pandemic on the provision of health services were compared. Statistical analysis was done by IBM SPSS version 25. CONCLUSION(S): There is a need for improving Patient Safety Culture in The Emergency Center at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo. By reorganizing working hours for the workers of the Emergency Center, preventable medical errors would be reduced. Raising the capacities of the primary care level would reduce the load of the Emergency Center from interventions, which can be handled without a problem at the lower levels. Continuous professional trainings, as well as trainings focused on stress management, working under time pressure, and relationships between health service providers would significantly improve the level of patient safety in the Emergency Center.Copyright © 2023, Scientific Foundation SPIROSKI. All rights reserved.
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In this fourth industrial revolution of technologies, video conferencing applications are now utilized for online business meetings, online classes, and scientific and experimental purposes engaged in a virtual meeting room due to rigorous cases of coronavirus disease 2019. Several difficulties and technical disruptions were encountered in using the said apps, especially during online classes and business conferences. In connection thereto, this Optimization and Innovative Utilization of Virtual Conferencing Applications dissertation were developed to have a new basis for a technological management approach based on the most commonly used video conferencing applications. The encountered problems, considered factors, and optimization processes were also determined. Descriptive quantitative research was used as methodology, and initial closed-ended questionnaires, evaluation forms with a 4-point Likert scale, interviews, consultations, and testing were the instruments and sources of data. Three hundred one (301) respondents were randomly selected around the Province of Laguna, Philippines, composed of 203 respondents from schools, 78 respondents from companies, and 20 professional evaluators. The developed strategic model was evaluated using 6 out of 8 general characteristics of the ISO/IEC 25010: 2011 system quality model, which includes usability, reliability, performance efficiency, maintainability, compatibility, and security. All data gathered were validated as well as the statistical treatments such as percentage, weighted and composite means, and t-test, which was used to determine the significant difference between the normal and optimized utilization of video conferencing applications. Obtained results revealed that utilizing the developed strategic model was significantly more acceptable and effective rather than the normal utilization of the common apps. The teachers and students and as well as the workers of business enterprises are the beneficiaries of this study to optimize and utilize the said applications for better learning and optimal workflow © 2006-2023 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved
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In the wake of the global pandemic, a challenge for CEOs and boards is to set a stakeholder-acceptable organizational balance between remote and traditional office working. However, the risks of work-from-home are not yet fully understood. We describe competing theories that predict the effect on misconduct of a corporate shift to work-from-home. Using internal bank data on securities traders we exploit lockdown variation induced by emergency regulation of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our difference-in-differences analysis reveals that working from home lowers the likelihood of securities misconduct;ultimately those working from home exhibit fewer misconduct alerts. The economic significance of these changes is large. Our study makes an important step toward understanding the link between the balance of work locations and the risk that comes with this tradeoff. © 2023 The Authors. European Financial Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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This article focuses on what the pandemic reveals about theological work in the academy and imagines a way forward. Too often, theologians are ground down, isolated workers, overworked, and strapped for time. They constantly must choose between progress in the guild and their familial and communal relationships. This false choice starves theologians of meaning and purpose, and, in such scarcity, inflames pursuit of status. However, a communal conception of theological academic work could mitigate some of these frictions. To imagine this possibility, we draw upon our collective experiences of working in Benedictine institutions that also argue for communal approaches to living, learning, and experiencing God. We draw ideas from the Rule of Benedict as a model for life-giving community that we think can be resituated in academic life.
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While vicarious trauma from hearing traumatic material when working with clients has long been recognised, the concept that much vicarious trauma stems from systemic challenges, and work conditions, is a more recent development. There has been a willingness to recognise the toll on individuals of client stories, however this has allowed organisations to minimise other aspects of the work that are also impactful. Never has this been truer than in the last two years with the Covid-19 pandemic, when workers have experienced their own sense of risk at work, alongside a sense of possible expendability from their organisations. Workers may have felt obliged to keep meeting client need, whilst managing their own personal distress or worry. The article explores areas that contribute to vicarious, work-related trauma, other than hearing the narratives of those who have experienced trauma themselves. Individual and organisational practices, such as organisational culture;variability of the workload;conditions of the work environment;access to professional development;and the provision of quality supervision. The impact of each will be considered, with the aim not just to avoid vicarious trauma or burnout, but to proactively address issues that may impair the functioning of an integrated and fully cognisant professional.
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A sizeable number of employees throughout Canada are continuing to telework following the COVID-19 pandemic. Cou-ples who telework may experience tension between their work and personal life. Telework may also have positive and negative impacts on work-life wellness depending on employee circumstances. For example, teleworking women with children may be expected to prioritize their home and family over their work. COVID-relat-ed restrictions have eased across Canada, which allow for increased freedom around home and work arrangements. It is plausible that a long-term shift towards allowing employees to work remotely full or part-time will occur, and with that, there will be associated changes in family dynamics as both part-ners adjust to this "new normal. " In response to the complex rela-tionship between teleworking and work-life wellness in the context of couples, the first author has pro-posed a study to research work-life wellness for teleworking couples, addressing the research question, "how do teleworking couples construct and cultivate work-life wellness together? ". It is anticipat-ed that this study will foster under-standing of work-life wellness in teleworking couples, and inform policies, counselling techniques, and future research.
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Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of home-based teleworking globally. Coupled with this, there are rising concerns about workplace cyberbullying. However, less studies have explored workplace cyberbullying in non-western countries. The purpose of the current study is to examine whether workplace cyberbullying affects employees' intention to stay and to find out the mechanisms underlying the relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected among Indian home-based teleworkers. Data were analysed using SmartPLS and SPSS-PROCESS macro. Findings: Results show that workplace cyberbullying negatively impacts intention to stay and affective commitment acts as a mediator between this link. The results also reveal that workplace social capital moderates the negative effects of workplace cyberbullying on affective commitment. The results further confirm that workplace social capital moderated the indirect impact of workplace cyberbullying on intention to stay via affective commitment. Practical implications: This study highlights the potential of leveraging workplace social capital in order to reduce the negative effects of workplace cyberbullying. Originality/value: These findings can complement the previous studies on the impact of negative work events on affective commitment and intention to stay as well as extend researchers' understanding of the underlying mechanism between workplace cyberbullying and intention to stay. Furthermore, this research explains how employees can utilise social resources from workplace social capital to mitigate the negative outcomes of workplace cyberbullying. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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[Background] Front-line medical staff are an important group in fighting against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and their mental health should not be ignored. [Objective] This study investigates the current situation and influencing factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among front-line anti-epidemic medical staff during COVID-19 epidemic. [Methods] Medical staff who had participated in fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic wereselected from three grade III Class A hospitals and four grade II Class A hospitals in a city of Hubei Province by convenient sampling method in May 2020. The survey was conducted online using the Post-traumatic Stress Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) as the main survey tool to investigate current situation and characteristics of PTSD among these participants. A total of 1120 questionnaires were collected, of which 1071 were valid, and the effective rate was 95.6%. [Results] Of the 1071 participants, the average age was (32.59+/-5.21) years;the ratio of male to female was 1: 5.02;the ratio of doctor to nurse was 1:5.8;nearly 70% participants came from grade III Class A hospitals;married participants accounted for 75.4%;most of them held a bachelor degree or above (86.5%);members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) accounted for 22.9%;50.9% had junior titles;the working years were mainly 5-10 years (42.8%);more than 80.0% participants volunteered to join the front-line fight;95.1% participants received family support;43.0% participated in rescue missions;78.1% participants fought the epidemic in their own hospitals;more than 60% participants considered the workload was greater than before;34.4% participants fought in the front-line for 2-4 weeks, and 23.5% participants did for more than 6 weeks. There were 111 cases of positive PTSD syndromes (PCL-C total score >=38) with an overall positive rate of 10.4%, and the scores of reexperience [1.40 (1.00, 1.80)] and hypervigilance [1.40 (1.00, 2.00)] were higher than the score of avoidance [1.14 (1.00, 2.57)]. The results of univariate analysis revealed that PTSD occurred differently among participants grouped by age, political affiliation, working years, anti-epidemic activities location, accumulated working hours in fighting against COVID-19, having child parenting duty, voluntariness, family support, whether family members participated in front-line activities, and rescue mission assignment (P<0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the incidence rates of reporting PTSD syndromes in medical personnel aged 31-40 years (OR=0.346, 95%CI: 0.164-0.730) and aged 41 years and above (OR=0.513, 95%CI: 0.319-0.823) were lower than that in those aged 20-30 years;the incidence rates of reporting PTSD syndromes in medical staff who were CPC members (OR=0.499, 95%CI: 0.274-0.909), volunteered to participate (OR=0.584, 95%CI: 0.360-0.945), and received family support (OR=0.453, 95%CI: 0.222-0.921) were lower than those did not (P<0.05);the incidence rates of reporting PTSD syndromes among medical workers who had child parenting duty (OR=2.372, 95%CI: 1.392-4.042), whose family members participated in front-line activities (OR=1.709, 95%CI: 1.135-2.575), and who participated in rescue missions (OR=1.705, 95%CI: 1.133-2.565) were higher than those who did not (P<0.05). [Conclusion] The positive PTSD syndrome rate is 10.4% in the front-line anti-epidemic medical staff. Age, political affiliation, voluntariness, family support, having child parenting duty, with a family members participating in the fight, and rescue mission assignment are the influencing factors of PTSD.Copyright © 2021, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.
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Since it was first identified in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged countries globally. To prevent the rapid spread of the virus, governments around the world have implemented policies such as closing cities and prohibiting gatherings, making direct communication and contact between people difficult. This has not only caused major changes in human life patterns but has also affected the beliefs and assumptions of drama therapists. Compared with that of online psychological counseling, which has been thoroughly researched, the implementation of online drama therapy is still in an exploratory stage. Research has demonstrated that online drama therapy can achieve the same benefits as in-person therapy. Online drama therapy effectively integrates various resources, experiences, and techniques and has the potential to reach out to cross cultural, environmental, and individual borders. Using three-dimensional game technology, therapy can be provided on virtual visual platforms to communicate in a dynamic and visual manner. In addition, online media can be used to overcome geographical limitations, reduce time and economic costs, and enables more clients to receive drama therapy courses. Through the camera, more can be learned about the life of the client, such as their living space and relationships with family members, which helps the therapist to adjust the treatment process. The client's lens is also a window for the therapist to understand their personal life and space. The close-up nature of the screen makes it easier for the therapist to observe the client's facial expressions and potential body language cues, which can be regarded as a form of close communication. This new type of drama therapy uses online platforms as a medium and provides clients with assistance using dynamic images and visual media;however, a lack of analysis and research regarding how online drama therapy should be performed in practice persists. Therefore, this study explored the practical experience of practitioners in drama therapy online groups to accelerate the promotion of online drama therapy. This study had three main research questions: (1) What is the difference between online drama therapy and physical drama work? (2) What are the working methods and strategies of online drama therapy? (3) What are the challenges of online drama therapy? To explore the practical experiences of drama therapists in online groups, this study adopted semistructured in-depth interviews with three drama therapists. The study participants had 5 years of experience in drama therapy and had provided online drama therapy for more than 1 year. The practitioners were all licensed drama therapists: two from the U.K. and one from North America. Their clients included teenagers, children, voluntary clients, college students, youth groups, and adult community groups. After contacting the three research respondents using online messaging, explaining the purpose of the research, and confirming the respondents' wishes, the interview outline was sent by email. The researcher, who was a senior drama therapy and psychological counseling practitioner served as the interviewer, and each semistructured in-depth interview was conducted using an online platform according to the convenience of the interviewee in accordance with epidemic prevention measures. Each interview was approximately 60 minutes long and provided insight into the experience shared in response to the research questions. After data collection, we used thematic analysis to analyze the interview transcripts and used triangulation to compare unified data among coresearchers to improve reliability and validity. The results were as follows: First, the differences between traditional and online drama therapy included that the therapeutic relationship shifted from "presence in a relationship” to "one-way relationship”;participants shifted from closed groups to more open groups;the therapy strategy shifted from interventional to supportive work;group leadership shifted from improvisational to hi hly structured;and the space for the entirety of the therapy shifted from a physical conversation space to a highly anonymous online space. Second, the working methods and strategies used in online drama therapy included: Using imagination and rituals to create a virtual space, using digital media to enhance the self-expression of participants, using real-life materials to strengthen the transformation of virtuality into reality, using images to catalyze role-playing, and promoting self-talk through virtual mirroring. Third, the challenges of online drama therapy included that the online platform limited the possibilities of interaction in theater, the dilemma of instrument theatre creation by verbal or metaphorical supplementation, the mental labor of familiarity at a high concentration and high uniformity, and the challenge of environmental privacy in therapy. The results of this research revealed that: (1) The objective perception experience in the digital work environment reduces the possibility of exploration and transformation of the client's emotional experience. Therefore, online drama therapy is not only a simple transfer of physical drama therapy technique to the computer but influences the essence of the experience. (2) Online drama therapy encourages the client to engage in role-playing and emotional release from a first-person performer position. The client simultaneously occupies a third-person audience position because of the mirroring that occurs on the screen. This process causes the simultaneous mental states of clients as both performers and audience members. (3) Online drama therapy practitioners must enhance clients' understanding of each other's behavior using the guidance of highly structured activities and language, and at the same time, they must consider the client's ability to create spontaneously. Therefore, practitioners must direct and exhibit rich imagination. However, thinking about the themselves as shown through the screen to create an aesthetic experience and having to consider the relationship between the image and the psychology of the client using logical reasoning causes a high degree of psychological labor for practitioners. Three recommendations are proposed by the researcher, based on the findings of the study. First, how practitioners should balance trauma intervention and emotional support in a digital environment is an ethical matter that requires further investigation. Second, training model should be designed that promotes a new type of online drama therapy that enhances drama therapists' ability to use digital technology and new media, improving the editing and directing ability of practitioners in image analogy and logical derivation and deepening the exploration and integration of clients' perceptual and rational experiences. Third, attention should be paid to the high degree of psychological labor that online drama therapy causes practitioners. Being aware of the sense of isolation and limitation caused by screen work, reducing performance anxiety related to work effectiveness, and undertaking self-adjustment and relaxation are necessary. Finally, through the interpretation of practitioners' practical experiences in this study, practical reference material for the application of online drama therapy can be expanded. We also hope that online drama therapy can be a "virtual vaccine,” offering the possibility of rehabilitating the body and mind among individuals suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023, National Taiwan Normal University. All rights reserved.
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COVID-1 9 led to an extraordinary increase in both telework and remote work, exposing some of the fragilities and loopholes of the Portuguese applicable regulation and leading the Portuguese Parliament to approve a new law on teleworking in the form of an amendment to the Labour Code aimed at extending the protection of teleworkers. This paper intends to analyse this new regulation implemented by Law No. 83/2021 of 6 December regarding its concept and scope of application;the telework agreement and the principle of volunteering;teleworkers' rights and employers' duties related to equipment, tools and teleworking-related expenses;employers' duty to abstain from any contact during rest periods;privacy and data protection;health, safety and work-related accidents;and the right to telework, namely for work-life balance reasons. The final objective is to provide a critical overview of the legal regulation, assessing its strengths and weaknesses.
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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The virus is primarily spread between people during close contact via small virulent droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, and talking, with less common infection spread by touching a contaminated surface and then touching one's face. The coronavirus pandemic has also disrupted the provision of social work services ranging from child welfare and school social work to clinical and psychiatric social work. During the COVID-19 emergency, states and localities issued emergency stay-at-home orders requiring the temporary closure of nonessential businesses, including some private social work practices. As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, social work practice will adjust to the needs of the client groups. The most vulnerable and marginalized populations will experience greater impacts on their health;welfare;economic stability;and access to medical care, education, and technology. Social work will have a valuable role to play in the amelioration of negative impacts that are devastating the United States and the world. The infusion of telemedicine and teletherapy in social work practice seems inevitable, and it is hoped that these will provide an efficient and effective new social work practice modality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic created considerable challenges for the food supply chain. One of the industries hardest hit was the agricultural and agri-foods industry. This industry has long faced worker shortages and regularly relied on temporary foreign workers. In this case, Roosters, a chicken processing and production company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, had just come off a very costly 12-day closure following a COVID-19 exposure risk in two of its processing plants. With the company back in operation a new safety policy has been implemented to limit future virus exposure and shutdown risks. The policy, however, targets a small group of temporary foreign workers, one of whom is challenging the lengths the company can go in the name of protecting employees from the virus and the company from losses due to closure. © 2022 Neilson Journals Publishing.
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Businesses have been impacted particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a decline in productivity. Whether a remote work policy boosts the firm's productivity is still debatable. We use the COVID-19 World Bank Enterprise Survey, a cross-sectional dataset that covers Jordan and Morocco, to empirically examine this question. We use the propensity score matching technique to estimate the causal effect between remote work and firm performance. Results suggest the existence of a positive impact, suggesting that remote work policies cause an increase in productivity. In a further investigation, we perform our regression by country and firm size. Coefficients are found to remain positive in both countries but statistically significant only in Morocco. Regarding firm size, coefficients are found to be positive and statistically significant across all models. The paper offers some recommendations for policymakers in both countries to mitigate the ongoing crisis on firm performance.
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Life balance is prioritizing work and personal life to create a meaningful, quality lifestyle. Work addiction is overworking at the expense of life balance. COVID-19 disrupted K-12 schools and counseling delivery services nationwide. Like many other front-line helping professionals, school counselors responded to the complex and challenging work conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors examined life balance and work addiction among 145 practicing school counselors nationwide. The results of a multiple regression analysis examined the extent to which stress/anxiety and sleep disturbance predicted work addiction. We discuss the findings in light of practice and research. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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PurposeThe post-COVID-19 era is characterised in the professional field by a deterioration in the psychological health of employees and by "The Great Resignation". These phenomena require managers to rethink both organisational and HR strategies to protect their workers' health, to retain them in their job and, in fine, to ensure the sustainability of the organisation. However, studies have demonstrated that high performance work systems (HPWS), which are currently the dominant approach in human resource management, are related to an intensification of work and consequently a deterioration of employees' health (conflicting outcomes perspective). At the same time, workers' well-being has been shown to be associated with numerous organisational outcomes, such as individual performance. However, relatively few articles have investigated win-win organisational practices or programmes that promote the well-being and consequently performance of workers. These include virtuous organisational practices (VOPs), which specifically aim to enhance employees' well-being, considered not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself (mutual gains perspective). This paper aims to develop the general hypothesis that VOPs could increase employees' performance by protecting their health and thus offer an alternative to HPWS. Design/methodology/approachWe review relevant current research on psychological well-being and work performance and present innovative systems of organisational practices such as VOPs that create psychologically healthy workplaces and enhance workers' optimal functioning (well-being and performance). FindingsBased on theoretical arguments and empirical studies, we hypothesise that alternative practices such as VOPs can increase employees' performance while protecting their health and encouraging them to stay in the organisation. Research limitations/implicationsAfter this review, we discuss future avenues for research to encourage the scientific community to test this hypothesis. Practical implicationsFinally, we make a number of specific recommendations about how to (1) appraise, design and implement VOPs, (2) enhance organisational communication and managerial adherence to VOPs, and (3) train managers in R.I.G.H.T leadership behaviours. Originality/valuePresentation of an original approach in this research field: the VOPs.
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The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sudden shift to virtual work and events, with the last two years enabling an appropriated and rather simulated togetherness - the hybrid mode. As we return to in-person events, it is important to reflect on not only what we learned about technologies and social justice, but about the types of events we desire, and how to re-design them accordingly. This SIG aims to reflect on hybrid events and their execution: scaling them across sectors, communities, and industries;considering trade-offs when choosing technologies;studying best practices and defining measures of "success"for hybrid events;and finally, identifying and charting the wider social, ethical, and legal implications of hybrid formats. This SIG will consolidate these topics by inviting participants to collaboratively reflect on previous hybrid experiences and what can be learned from them. © 2023 Owner/Author.
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PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationship between polychronicity, job autonomy, perceived workload, work-family conflict and high work demand on the health-care employee turnover intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted quantitative research in private hospitals using a self-administered questionnaire, and 264 respondents participated. The authors also used an analysis of moment structures to determine the relationship between independent and moderating variables. FindingsThe results show a significant positive relationship between polychronicity, job autonomy, perceived workload, work-family conflict and high work demand, affecting turnover intention. This study also found the moderating effect of high work demand on work-family conflict and turnover intention. Research limitations/implicationsThis research was limited to hospitals in Bahrain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the findings highlight the factors associated with health-care employee turnover intention and only five factors were identified. Practical implicationsThis study enhances the theoretical and practical effects of turnover intention. The results provide a competitive benchmark for hospital managers, administrators and governing bodies of employee retention. Social implicationsIt advances economics and management theory by enhancing the understanding of health-care employees' turnover intention in Bahrain. It serves as a basis for future large-scale studies to test or refine existing theories. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to adopt extrinsic variables in self-determination theory to measure the turnover intention of health-care employees. However, using resources in a crisis can be applied to any disaster.
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This conceptual paper examines voluntary versus mandatory cloud-based training, generating recommendations to harmonise the complementarity of face-to-face and online media in future careers. Technological change was already accelerating when the COVID-19 pandemic response turbocharged transformations of knowledge dissemination in training, thus impacting learning and competency development for the future. The methodology applies comprehensive, structured literature review following PRISMA guidelines with development of a novel conceptual framework illuminating facets of knowledge dissemination. Exploring the context of workplace training and the future of careers with aid of NVivo it was found that altered social cues in cloud training are generating changes in learner attention span, engagement, and peer-to-peer interaction, potentially increasing contract cheating. It is hence recommended that stakeholders demarcate theoretical and practical learning outcomes to develop hybrid cloud media and face-to-face knowledge dissemination to accentuate professional accreditation requirements, engagement and etiquette in virtual spaces, and improve understanding of work-home balance.
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PurposeDuring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, employers struggled to develop virtual onboarding (VO) experiences among new employees. Prior research has examined VO processes. This study, by contrast, compares online commentaries in relation to current research findings to determine a functional description of effective VO.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative, inductive thematic analysis, the researchers explored new employees' online, anonymous, public commentary about the employers' VO experiences. Through analyzing 83 posted communications, the researchers sought to not only categorize themes, but to also identify meaning within the employees' commentary. From the thematic analysis, meaningful themes were established and compared to existing literature to identify comprehensive trends in effective VO.FindingsThe analysis developed nine themes of discussion question (DQ) prompts and nine themes of discussion responses. The professionals' online discussion about VO in the workplace as well as attributes of each theme was compared to contemporary VO research. In combination with a review of established literature of effective VO and an examination of organizational socialization theory, the study confirms that some virtually onboarded employees are excelling with, and some are challenged by the communication deficiencies of the remote experience. Employee experiences are highlighted to develop a description of contemporary effective VO experiences to support future workplace efficiencies.Research limitations/implicationsData were gathered via Blind and each response shared on Blind is subject to the viewpoint of the participants. For future research, face-to-face interviews might offer context regarding new hires' VO experiences. Also the generalizability is impacted because not all participants of VO participate via Blind. Participant bias is possible given the perceived dissatisfaction or negative experiences. Future research can perform a national random study of employees. Finally, the data and participants in this study were USA based. Future research should consider other international contexts such as Europe.Practical implicationsThe thematic findings of this study yield valuable practical recommendations. New hires that experience VO are seeking improved virtual communication channels between themselves and the managers and colleagues of the hires. As such, corporate managers/trainers can implement a virtual mentoring program to have senior employees prepare and guide new hires into employees' new remote working environment to reduce employees' uncertainty. To improve VO processes in a post-pandemic society, corporate managers/trainers can incorporate social media communication given that employees participate in social media to develop their careers. With social media work groups, new virtual hires can be better socialized through effective peer-to-peer informal internal communications where the hires can freely ask questions and build better work relationships.Social implicationsIn each onboarding experience and evident in each of the five themes, learning is an underlying concept. New employees are describing that it is challenging to development organizational shared values, skills, attitudes, knowledge, abilities, behaviors and relationships in a VO process. As organizational leaders continue to develop VO experiences, a focus on learning as dependent on the virtual learning process and content can be significant in terms of creating a positive employee VO learning experience. Originality/valueThe findings are unique in exploring new hires' self-reported VO experiences. This study offers insight into effective VO practices such as developing virtual trainings that are well planned, engaging and supporting of relationships, collaborations and career goals.