Research
Validation of effective organizational development approaches that prevent power harassment and lead to improved work engagement
| Research Period | April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2024 ※2023-2024 JSPS Research Fee Research Project (23KJ1686) ※Research Topic for Research Assistance for Industrial Medical Research, 2023 |
| Research Title | Validation of effective organizational development approaches to prevent power harassment and lead to improved work engagement |
| Investigators | General company workers *We are always looking for companies and offices that are willing to cooperate with our research. |
| Research Representative | Momoko Kobayashi |
OBJECTIVES
This study will develop and test an effective organizational development intervention program to prevent power harassment and lead to improved work engagement (a positive and fulfilling state toward work). Programs will be developed to promote empathetic attitudes and appropriate communication between managers and general employees, and the effects of the intervention on managers, general employees, and the workplace as a whole will be tested.
Expected Outcomes
①Theoretical framework: Prevention of power harassment improves work engagement.
②Intervention effects on the intervention group: Intervention group's anger expressivity will decrease, and power harassment awareness (degree of recognition of the behavior as power harassment), perspective taking (attitude and empathy toward others' perspectives), and work engagement will improve.
③Intervention effects on workers in the department to which the intervention group belongs: The experience of power harassment decreases, and department-level resources and work engagement improve. The effect of the intervention on the workers in the department to which the intervention group belongs: The experience of power harassment decreased, and the department-level resources and work engagement increased.
Features of this research
Development of effective programs that work on both power harassment and work engagement
Improving work engagement and preventing power harassment are beneficial to both organizations and workers. Although countermeasures are urgently needed, there is a lack of accumulated intervention research. Although difficulties in acquiring fields exist in the background, this study has already established that cooperation from companies can be obtained. In addition, this study is new in that it uses an organizational development approach to promote improved communication, leading to the development of research. No other study has demonstrated the effects of a single intervention program on both positive and negative aspects of the workplace and work, namely, WE and power harassment, making it advanced and highly significant.
Development and demonstration of the effectiveness of a short-term program that is easy to implement and has high social significance
This study will limit the intervention targets to managers and supervisors or general employees, and will use a short-term intervention method of several hours a day. If an intervention program that is less burdensome for companies and workers can be developed, it will lead to an increase in the number of companies that introduce such programs and to higher motivation among workers.
Although power harassment prevention measures are easily positioned as mental health measures for companies and are often viewed as a cost, they will have great social significance and impact if they not only prevent the negative effects of damage but also show positive effects such as increased vitality, enthusiasm, and productivity of workers.
Intervention Program
- Programs for Managers
For more information, please click here↓
| Program | Outline |
| 1．Power harassment education | To promote understanding of the concept of power harassment, its effects on employees' mental and physical health and corporate labor productivity, measures to prevent power harassment, and this survey. (Lecture) |
| 2．Anger management | To learn the characteristics of anger and how to control it. (Lecture and individual/group work) 1．How anger occurs ２．How to control anger ３．Cognitive and physical coping |
| 3．Relaxation mindfulness | To master the relaxation technique of breathing and the mindfulness technique of paying attention to the breath (lecture and practice) |
| 4．Assertion skill | The goal is to acquire assertion skills, a method of communication that conveys one's opinions, demands, and feelings in a sincere and equal manner while respecting the other party. (Lecture and group work) １．What is assertive communication? ２．Examples of assertive communication for different situations ３．Key Points for Assertiveness |
| 5．Active listening | To acquire active listening techniques that are effective in communicating with subordinates and colleagues, responding to consultations, and during interviews. Learn tips on how to listen and basic posture. (Lecture, practice, group work) |
- Programs for General Employment
The research is currently being conducted at a company and will be made public after completion.
＊We are always looking for companies and offices that are willing to cooperate with our research.
＊We also accept requests for training instructors, etc. Please contact us for more information.
Related Performance (as of R5.5)
Momoko KOBAYASHI・Hiroyuki YAMAGUCHI・Masahiro IRIE（2022） An Examination of Organizational Development Approaches to Prevent Power Harassment and Improve Work Engagement - A Preliminary Study Focusing on Viewpoint Acquisition, Anger Expressivity, and Workplace Resources, The 37th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Momoko KOBAYASHI・Hiroyuki YAMAGUCHI・Shotaro AMANO・Masahiro IRIE（2022） An examination of an organizational development intervention to prevent power harassment and promote work engagement Journal of Occupational Health, 65, 322.
Momoko KOBAYASHI・Hiroyuki YAMAGUCHI・Shotaro AMANO・Masahiro IRIE（2023） An examination of factors that prevent power harassment and lead to improved work engagement: Focusing on viewpoint acquisition, anger expressivity, and workplace resources - Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 37(1)
Momoko KOBAYASHI, Hiroyuki YAMAGUCHI, Shotaro AMANO, Hiroshi IKEDA, Masahiro IRIE (2023) Validation of a Short-term Program for Managersto Prevent Power Harassment Joint Congress of ICOH-WOPS and APA-PFAW