Chapter 6 explores in greater detail why transnational industrial democracy yields a different approach to labour governance by presenting a structured comparison between the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety (the Accord) and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (the Alliance). The latter was a parallel initiative set by 29 mainly North American retailers and operated as an alternative to the Accord, but was more firmly rooted in a CSR approach. Private governance as a whole has been characterised by competition between overlapping initiatives which often claim to have the same objectives but differ in their institutional design and governance. The Accord and the Alliance reflect these differences. By considering differences and similarities in the design and implementation of these two competing initiatives, this chapter demonstrates how differences in institutional design and governance translate into distinct emphases in implementation. In particular, we find that the inclusion of worker representatives in the design of transnational governance structures leads to the recognition of divergent interests and hence to a more rigorous model of transnational labour governance.

With the shift to a post-industrial, service, and information-based economy, many more jobs are now defined by distinct features of a psychosocial work environment, rather than by material conditions. Accordingly, theoretical models derived from the social and behavioral sciences are required that identify health-adverse stressful aspects of work within organizations. Using a set of quality criteria, this chapter analyzes the similarities and differences of four such models, selected on the basis of available international research evidence. These models are termed ‘demand-control’, ‘effort-reward imbalance’, ‘organizational justice’, and ‘job demand-resources’. Their explanatory contribution, assessment, strength of empirical evidence, and policy impact are compared, and differences are emphasized in terms of their conceptual focus and stress-theoretical basis. Given some overlap, potential benefits of combining these different notions are also discussed, as health effects of cumulative exposure are of interest. In a final section, future considerations point to the need for innovative theoretical developments in view of new challenges of globalized, technologically advanced work and in times of new health hazards, such as Covid-19. Importantly, scientists are expected to contribute to the reduction of a substantial gap between available scientific knowledge and its implementation into practice.

A textbook on organizational stress and well-being wouldn’t be complete without taking a closer look at the stress and well-being of organizational leaders. Leaders’ physical and psychological health can decline, partly due to the demands of their jobs. However, while the job demands of a leadership position are higher than those of other employees, leaders typically have more access to various types of resources. This provokes the question: Is it stressful at the top? Leaders nowadays generally work in work environments characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. However, (effective) leadership becomes even more relevant during times of crisis. This chapter therefore compares leader job demands in the non-crisis and the crisis contexts. The chapter concludes by giving some suggestions on how to cope with leaders’ job demands by looking at two potential strategies for leaders to use – mindfulness and the social identity approach.

Work engagement (WE) research has increased in recent years. In the past 10 years, about 1,000 peer-reviewed papers, 400 PhD theses, and over 100 books have been published on work/employee engagement. Thanks to this research, we know more about what work engagement is, how and when employees experience it, and how work engagement is related to improved organizational well-being, among others. This chapter presents a brief overview of the recent literature with the aim of identifying both lessons learned and gaps in our understanding of the relationship between work engagement and organizational well-being. The chapter specifically aims to offer a comprehensive framework of what work engagement is, how and why WE is experienced by employees, and the way it is conceptually connected to different facets of well-being in organizations, such as physical, psychological/mental, and social well-being. The chapter ends with some theoretical and practical insights, as well as an agenda for further research on the link between WE and well-being and their reciprocal relationship over time in modern and positive organizations.

Preventative, adequately funded, high effort occupational stress interventions have better returns on investment. Conversely, the delivery of training to employees who will never use the knowledge, or already have those skills, wastes their time and organizational resources. Instead, training should start with a needs assessment to diagnose what potential problems should be addressed before they inflict lasting harm. Once these objectives are identified, the program should be designed and delivered, preferably by an expert to ensure transfer of training and minimize liability. Job stress interventions include mindfulness, EAPS, psychotherapy (e.g., acceptance and commitment therapy, exposure therapy; to be delivered by a licensed professional), relaxation, mild physical exercise, and coaching, among others. Some are commercially available, and others are freely available online. Participation should be incentivized, but not mandatory, even though poor attendance is an obstacle to program outcomes.

Worldwide adverse impacts of occupational stressors are timeless concerns to humanity. These impacts not only disrupt mental and health well-being of workers and their families but also impede growth and prosperity of organizations, societies, and nations. In this chapter, we first reviewed to what extent occupational stressors have created burdens on organizations and nations in terms of economic costs (e.g., productivity loss and health care cost) and health outcomes (e.g., morbidity and mortality). After that, we reviewed work-related legislations enacted to address five occupational stressors (i.e., age discrimination, racial discrimination, sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and workplace bullying). To conduct the review, we surveyed these legislations across each continent/ geopolitical region, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, the UK, and the US. Finally, we summarized the progress of occupational stress research and offered ways of advancing preventive organizational stress management.

This chapter is based on a systematic review of 29 randomized controlled trials published between the years 2000 and 2020, evaluating the effectiveness of workplace interventions involving manager and/or supervisors aimed at reducing occupational stress and improving the well-being of workers. The critical role of leaders in impacting employee stress and well-being outcomes was the focus. Across each of the intervention studies, five primary themes of focus to improve employee outcomes were identified, including job design and ergonomic workplace conditions, employee psychological health, physical health, safety, and employee received or perceived supervisor support. We conclude the chapter by offering practical recommendations for future avenues of supervisory intervention work with consideration for translational and dissemination-implementation strategies to improve employee stress and well-being.

This chapter reviews research on work–nonwork balance, starting with early research on the topic and discussing how the conceptualization and measurement of balance has changed over time. Drawing from social psychological research on attitudes and person-environment fit theory, balance is defined as a multi-dimensional construct with three facets: affective balance, effectiveness balance, and involvement balance. The measurement of both global balance and the facets of balance is discussed. The literature that examines the link between balance and employee well-being is reviewed. Finally, directions for future research on work–nonwork balance are discussed.

This chapter addresses how senior managers (executives, directors) and immediate managers (those to whom employees report directly) can protect, if not enhance, employees’ mental health. We begin by defining the broad concept of employee “mental health.” We then review scientific literature addressing senior and immediate managers’ potential roles in supporting employee mental health. Although more has been published on immediate managers, much of that work has failed to provide practically useful insights, because of vague conceptualizations, poorly developed measures, or insufficient integration across related topics of study. To help fill that gap, we propose a comprehensive behavioral taxonomy of mental health–supportive supervision. This taxonomy integrates evidence-based insights on the types of behavior that immediate managers should avoid, those they should display, and helpful actions advocated by mental health first aid training programs. Lastly, we list several pressing avenues for future research.

There are three primary theoretical perspectives detailing why gender differences in workplace stressors may exist: the differential exposure perspective, the psychological/coping perspective, and the biological sex differences perspective. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how and at what point gender is proposed to influence the stressor–well-being process in addition to summarizing empirical evidence regarding gender differences in the mean levels of common work stressors: work–family conflict, job demands, job autonomy/decision latitude, work hours, and career concerns. Gaps in the present literature are identified and recommendations for future research are provided.

This chapter investigates the association between frontline manager behavior and employee psychological and physical well-being. Based on the results of a comprehensive literature review of empirical research, we summarize the links between leadership and employee well-being using two broad categories – constructive (e.g., transformational, leader-member exchange) and destructive (e.g., abusive supervision) leadership. We define key concepts and consider the similarities and differences between micro, macro, and meso-level moderators and mediating mechanisms that have been studied in the last decade of scholarly research. Areas for future research are discussed, and promising directions for this area of study are suggested.

In this chapter, we outline the main and emerging issues in the measurement of workplace well-being, considering positive and negative markers of well-being. The chapter has four main sections. First, we present a brief history of major developments in the measurement of well-being, providing an overview of prominent concepts in the field and contextualising the other sections. Second, we outline recent developments in how to establish monetised benefits from changes in well-being, which can inform policy makers and organizational decision makers on cost-effective interventions to improve well-being. Third, because one of the core elements of well-being, affective experience, is highly volatile, we consider issues in assessing the dynamics of well-being. Finally, we examine variability between people in well-being and why between-person variability might matter.

Recent years have seen a considerable body of scholarly work on the phenomenon of ‘technostress’. Expressed briefly, technostress is the stress individuals experience because of their use of information technology (IT). It happens when they are not able to deal with the demands placed by IT use in a healthy manner. The literature over the last decade has developed a good understanding of why technostress occurs in both work and non-work–related use of IT, and its adverse effects. Scholarly interest has now turned to how such effects can be mitigated and how individuals can cope with technostress, which is the focus of this chapter. We examine technostress mitigation and coping in both the work and non-work settings.