Digital Transformation: Inevitable Change or Sizable Opportunity? The Strategic Role of HR Management in Industry 4.0

Background: The impact of technologies on workers has been a recurring theme in occupational health psychology. In particular, the sudden digital transformation of the last two decades, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has stressed the urgency to investigate new ways of working that are characterized by flexibility and a constant increase of autonomy. In this perspective, this study aims to investigate the state of the art of the innovation process in Italian factories, explore whether and how digitalization can be seen as an opportunity, and imagine a new way of working characterized by adaptability, resilience, and openness to change. Methods: Thirty in-depth interviews of Italian experts in HR management were collected and analyzed using a mix-method approach. Results: The findings underline the Italian HR experts' perceptions of the risks associated with rapid changes required by technological progress in terms of workers' wellbeing and satisfaction and suggest how important it is that organizations rapidly set up learning and training programs to guide workers to the acquisition of new skills required by Industry 4.0. Conclusions: Future workplaces will be characterized by extreme versatility, which requires workers to increasingly have both technical and soft skills as well as the ability to collaborate and build functional relationships.

Is a Good Boss Always a Plus? LMX, Family–Work Conflict, and Remote Working Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study investigated the relationships between leader–member exchange (LMX) and workers' perceptions of family–work conflict (FWC) and between LMX and satisfaction with remote working (SRW). It also assessed the moderating effect of employees' ability to cope (AC) with the work in the interaction between LMX and FWC. Using a cross-sectional design, this study tested a moderated mediation model using Model 7 of Macro 'PROCESS';for SPSS. The study sample consisted of 455 employees engaged in remote working activities during the COVID-19 health emergency. Surprisingly, the results showed that LMX was positively associated with FWC, while the latter was negatively associated with SWR. There were neither direct nor indirect effects of LMX on SRW, but the moderation of the AC with work on the relationship between LMX and FWC was significant and negative. In particular, the results showed that, in workers who reported lower values of AC, the increase in the quality of LMX also corresponded to an increase in FWC. Conversely, in employees with very high AC, as LMX increased, FWC decreased. Good relationships with the boss in a new and challenging situation such as remote working during COVID-19 threatens employees' well-being when accompanied by poor coping skills. This study sheds light on these mechanisms and opens new questions in the literature about family–work conflict and remote working.

Safety Management and Wellbeing during COVID-19: A Pilot Study in the Manufactory Sector.

BACKGROUND: The rapid spread of COVID-19 has generated anxiety and concerns among the whole population, by also affecting people's working life quality. Although several studies underlined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare sector, very few studies investigated the consequences in the occupational sectors with low risk of contagion. METHOD: 220 full-time in-presence workers of the manufacturing sector agreed to participate in a study of cross-sectional design during September and October 2020. Data were collected by means of a self-reported questionnaire conceived to investigate the constructs of the COVID-19 concerns, both the personal contribution and the supervisor support to workplace safety, the organizational commitment to safety, and finally, the level of workers' exhaustion. RESULTS: This study highlights that COVID-19 concerns represent a significant source of stress since it is significantly associated to higher levels of exhaustion among workers. Furthermore, the findings show the relevance of resources related to employee's personal contribution to safety management as well as the role of climate variables. CONCLUSIONS: These results promote knowledge on the role of COVID-19 concerns in affecting psychological wellbeing at work, as well as the impact of both individual and job-related resources that may prevent exhaustion at work. Finally, the present findings also have implications for organizations and the maintenance of their commitment to safety.

Safety Management and Wellbeing during COVID-19: A Pilot Study in the Manufactory Sector

Background: The rapid spread of COVID-19 has generated anxiety and concerns among the whole population, by also affecting people's working life quality. Although several studies underlined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare sector, very few studies investigated the consequences in the occupational sectors with low risk of contagion. Method: 220 full-time in-presence workers of the manufacturing sector agreed to participate in a study of cross-sectional design during September and October 2020. Data were collected by means of a self-reported questionnaire conceived to investigate the constructs of the COVID-19 concerns, both the personal contribution and the supervisor support to workplace safety, the organizational commitment to safety, and finally, the level of workers' exhaustion. Results: This study highlights that COVID-19 concerns represent a significant source of stress since it is significantly associated to higher levels of exhaustion among workers. Furthermore, the findings show the relevance of resources related to employee's personal contribution to safety management as well as the role of climate variables. Conclusions: These results promote knowledge on the role of COVID-19 concerns in affecting psychological wellbeing at work, as well as the impact of both individual and job-related resources that may prevent exhaustion at work. Finally, the present findings also have implications for organizations and the maintenance of their commitment to safety.

Working during a Pandemic between the Risk of Being Infected and/or the Risks Related to Social Distancing: First Validation of the SAPH@W Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led the worldwide healthcare system to a severe crisis in which personnel paid the major costs. Many studies were promptly dedicated to the physical and psychological consequences of the COVID-19 exposure among healthcare employees, whereas the research on the other working populations has been substantially ignored. To bridge the current lack of knowledge about safe behaviors related to the risk of COVID-19 contagion at work, the aim of the study was to validate a new tool, the SAPH@W (Safety at Work), to assess workers' perceptions of safety. METHODS: A total of 1085 participants, employed in several organizations sited across areas with different levels of risk of contagion, completed an online questionnaire. To test the SAPH@W validity and measurement invariance, the research sample was randomly divided in two. RESULTS: In the first sub-sample, Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated the adequacy of the SAPH@W factorial structure. In the second sub-sample, multi-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed that the SAPH@W was invariant across gender, ecological risk level, and type of occupation (in-person vs. remote working). CONCLUSIONS: The study evidenced the psychometric properties of the SAPH@W, a brief tool to monitor workers' experiences and safety perceptions regarding the COVID-19 risk in any organisational setting.

Risk Management and Learning Climate in Emergency Contexts: A Qualitative Study

Background: Several researchers have questioned the strategies necessary for effective risk management as well as of human error and its consequences, looking at both positive and negative consequences. Starting from this perspective, this study intended to investigate risk management in the emergency context due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of five in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers of multinationals, asking them to talk about the management of their human capital and the policies of error and safety management adopted in their organizations before, during, and after the pandemic. Results: Qualitative interviews analysis revealed three interesting clusters related to crisis, trust, and risk management;quantitative results, instead, confirmed the existent link between crisis and error management and the strategic role of organizational management in the diffusion of a climate in which is possible to learn from both success and failure. Conclusion: In summary, preliminary results seemed to confirm what emerged from the most recent literature, which is the urgency for organizations to create a culture of intelligent risk-taking that leads to learning and improved knowledge and that includes the participation of all workers. Moreover, this study also underlines the possibility of extending the advantages of Error Management Training in emergency context.

Work From Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Impact on Employees' Remote Work Productivity, Engagement, and Stress.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic made working from home (WFH) the new way of working. This study investigates the impact that family-work conflict, social isolation, distracting environment, job autonomy, and self-leadership have on employees' productivity, work engagement, and stress experienced when WFH during the pandemic. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected through an online questionnaire completed by 209 employees WFH during the pandemic. The assumptions were tested using hierarchical linear regression. RESULTS: Employees' family-work conflict and social isolation were negatively related, while self-leadership and autonomy were positively related, to WFH productivity and WFH engagement. Family-work conflict and social isolation were negatively related to WFH stress, which was not affected by autonomy and self-leadership. CONCLUSION: Individual- and work-related aspects both hinder and facilitate WFH during the COVID-19 outbreak.