Federica Emanuel

Although Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship (GDEC) are proposed as complementary in educational policy documents, they are still perceived as interrelated fields but with specificities that tend to depower projects aimed at either domain. The research-training project presented aimed to develop awareness in teachers of different school levels of what ESD and GDEC share, and then proceed with associations to co-design educational programs on global competence. Surveys to assess the starting level and the effectiveness of the diverse interventions are included. The paper presents the outcomes related to teachers’ perceptions (N=219) at the beginning of the training and students’ global competence (N=4.426) before the start of the interventions in schools. Per un’educazione globale. Una ricerca-formazione per integrare sviluppo sostenibile e cittadinanza globale. Sebbene l’Educazione alla Sviluppo Sostenibile (ESS) e alla Cittadinanza Globale (ECG) siano proposte come complementari nei documenti di politiche educative, sono ancora percepite come ambiti interrelati ma con specificità che tendono a depotenziare i progetti mirati all’uno o all’altro campo. Il progetto di ricerca-formazione presentato si propone di sviluppare negli insegnanti di diversi livelli scolastici consapevolezza su ciò che accomuna ESS e ECG, per poi procedere con associazioni ad una co-progettazione di percorsi didattici sulla competenza globale. Sono previste rilevazioni per valutare il livello iniziale e l’efficacia dei diversi interventi. Il contributo presenta gli esiti relativi alla percezione degli insegnanti (N=219) all’inizio del percorso formativo e alla competenza globale degli alunni (N=4.426) prima dell’avvio degli interventi nelle scuole.

Passion for work is an important individual factor related to the quality of working life. Flow at work is an optimal experience in which the individual is immersed in, loves and enjoys the work. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between passion for work (harmonious and obsessive), flow at work (as a mediator) and exhaustion in a sample of Italian nurses. About 270 nurses participated in the study: this profession is characterized by intrinsic motivation but is also subjected to fatigue and distress. The results show that harmonious passion increases flow at work which, in turn, decreases exhaustion; moreover, flow mediates the relationship between harmonious passion and exhaustion. Obsessive passion has no significant effect on flow at work, but directly increases exhaustion. The study shows that harmonious passion and flow at work contribute to alleviate exhaustion, while obsessive passion instead increases feelings of distress.

In recent years, changes in business, new technology, and greater competitiveness and dynamism have all resulted in a need for new skills. This study focuses on soft skills in accounting education, exploring the viewpoints of both graduates and employers. Our main question is to better understand if there is a right match between graduates’ perceptions and companies’ expectations of the skills that are needed. 251 Italian graduates (Department of Management) and 74 Italian joint-stock companies completed a self-report questionnaire. Graduates attributed a higher level of importance to the following macro-areas of skills: task orientation, motivation, self-awareness, valorisation, and interpersonal relationships. Graduates, compared to companies, underestimated the importance of other soft skills and one specific technical skill, and overestimated other technical skills. Graduates’ views are partially in accordance with employers’ views; accounting education still needs to progress and the engagement of academics is fundamental to enhance the skills required by employers.

In Italy, the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (Autorità Nazionale Anti-corruzione—ANAC) has developed a questionnaire to assess the organizational well-being of employees within public agencies. The study aimed to explore the relationship among variables in the ANAC questionnaire: Several job resources (lack of discrimination, fairness, career and professional development, job autonomy, and organizational goals’ sharing) and outcomes of well-being at work, such as health and safety at work and sense of belonging. The research was carried out among workers in an Italian hospital in Northwest Italy (N = 1170), through an online self-report questionnaire. Data were grouped into two job categories: Clinical staff (N = 939) and non-clinical staff (N = 231). The hypothesized model was tested across the two groups through multi-group structural equation modeling. Results showed that health and safety at work and sense of belonging had significant positive relationships with the other variables; some differences emerged between the determinants of the two outcomes and among groups. The study aims to identify some reflections and suggestions regarding the assessment of well-being in the health care sector; implications for practice are identified to promote organizational well-being and health in organizations.

Background: Cemeteries workers are deserving of attention because they are exposed to various psychosocial risks: these workers are subject to painful contacts and daily exposed to a work content linked to death experiences and the emotions associated with them. Secondary trauma develops from this continuous contact with others’ suffering; operators working with this type of traumatic content and dynamic could suffer from emotional disorders (Figley, 1995). Therefore, the secondary traumatic stress (STS) is seen as an occupational risk factor (Bride et al., 2004) and cemetery workers are subject to this risk. Studies on this topic have focused on the operators of emergencies, social, and health sectors; little attention has been given to cemetery workers. Aim: The present study considers the relations between the dimensions composing the STS and the psychological and physical symptoms, the perception of exhaustion, and the positive and negative emotions at work in a group of cemetery workers. Moreover, differences among occupational tasks are explored considering the different possibilities of contact with clients and trauma contagion. Methods: The study included a qualitative phase (interviews and focus groups) and subsequently a quantitative phase (self-report questionnaire) and involved 114 participants in a cemetery organization in northern Italy, divided into technicians employees (TE), technicians and specialists of decoration and garden (TS), gravediggers (GR) administrative and front office employees (AFO). Levels of secondary trauma and psychophysical symptoms were assessed, and correlations were calculated in the total sample and for the different job categories of employees. Results: AFO and TS showed the highest levels of STS and psychophysical symptoms, in particular for symptoms related to anxiety, sadness, insomnia, and gastric and musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of considering the STS among also this category of workers, since they are exposed daily not only with death, but also with suffering people; grief and emotional skills are important to cope with these job characteristics cemetery workers are not trained on this. It is important to monitor symptomatic levels not only to avoid chronicity, but also to provide employees with psychological support and training about secondary trauma and its consequences.

Introduzione: La valutazione dello stress lavoro-correlato e del benessere organizzativo è definita da specifiche indicazioni normative. L’Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione (ANAC) ha proposto alle Pubbliche Amministrazioni un questionario per la rilevazione del benessere organizzativo. Obiettivi: Lo studio, in accordo con la Job Demands-Resources Theory, si pone l’obiettivo di analizzare la relazione tra richieste (carico lavorativo, discriminazioni percepite) e risorse lavorative (supporto di superiori e colleghi, autonomia, equità, possibilità di carriera, senso di appartenenza) ed esiti di malessere e benessere (stress lavoro-correlato, esaurimento emotivo, soddisfazione lavorativa). Metodi: La ricerca ha coinvolto un ente pubblico e ha previsto la somministrazione di un questionario self-report (N=414, 60% della popolazione). Il questionario ANAC è stato integrato con domande tratte dalla letteratura nazionale e internazionale sul tema del benessere e malessere al lavoro. Risultati: Le regressioni multiple evidenziano la relazione tra outcome e richieste e risorse lavorative. Lo stress lavoro-correlato mostra una relazione positiva con le richieste (carico lavorativo, coefficiente di regressione β=0.22; discriminazione percepita β=0.14) e negativa con alcune risorse (supporto dei superiori β=-0.21 e senso di appartenenza β=-0.11). L’esaurimento emotivo presenta una relazione negativa con alcune risorse lavorative, possibilità di carriera (β=-0.14), autonomia (β=-0.21) e senso di appartenenza (β=-0.25). La soddisfazione lavorativa mostra una relazione positiva con tutte le risorse lavorative considerate. Conclusioni: Lo studio ha cercato di integrare la valutazione del benessere e dello stress lavoro-correlato, sottolineando l’importanza di mettere in relazione i diversi outcome con variabili lavorative classificabili come richieste e risorse. I risultati permettono di individuare indicazioni per la pratica e per la promozione del benessere in organizzazione.

Turnover intentions refer to employees’ intent to leave the organization and, within call centers, it can be influenced by factors such as relational variables or the perception of the quality of working life, which can be affected by emotional dissonance. This specific job demand to express emotions not felt is peculiar in call centers, and can influence job satisfaction and turnover intentions, a crucial problem among these working contexts. This study aims to detect, within the theoretical framework of the Job Demands-Resources Model, the role of emotional dissonance (job demand), and two resources, job autonomy and supervisors’ support, in the perception of job satisfaction and turnover intentions among an Italian call center. The study involved 318 call center agents of an Italian Telecommunication Company. Data analysis first performed descriptive statistics through SPSS 22. A path analysis was then performed through LISREL 8.72 and tested both direct and indirect effects. Results suggest the role of resources in fostering job satisfaction and in decreasing turnover intentions. Emotional dissonance reveals a negative relation with job satisfaction and a positive relation with turnover. Moreover, job satisfaction is negatively related with turnover and mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover. This study contributes to extend the knowledge about the variables influencing turnover intentions, a crucial problem among call centers. Moreover, the study identifies theoretical considerations and practical implications to promote well-being among call center employees. To foster job satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions, in fact, it is important to make resources available, but also to offer specific training programs to make employees and supervisors aware about the consequences of emotional dissonance.

Background: Work-related stress evaluation is a legal requirement for companies that, in some cases, might be seen as an opportunity to examine wellbeing at work and the dimensions related to it, through the involvement of employees. To that end, this study considers the job demands-resources model as a theoretical framework. Objectives: The study has a twofold objective: a) to describe the process of subjective evaluation carried out in the Italian plant of a pharmaceutical company; and b) to show and discuss results of the analyses performed on variables, examining in detail the relationship between two outcomes (job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion) and some job demands (workload and job effort), job resources (safety climate, clarity of roles, clarity and applicability of procedures, supervisor relational justice and colleague support), and personal resources (internal locus of control and job-related self-efficacy). Methods: The research was conducted through focus groups and a self-report questionnaire that involved all plant employees. Final respondents were 143 (85.1% of employees). Results: The regression model, with job satisfaction as a dependent variable, showed a positive relationship with some organizational resources: clarity of roles, clarity and applicability of procedures, supervisor relational justice and colleague support. The regression model, with emotional exhaustion as a dependent variable, showed a positive relationship with two job demands, workload and job effort, and a negative relationship with job-related self-efficacy. Conclusions: The study confirmed how important it is to consider wellbeing at work, in its cognitive and emotional dimensions, and its relationship with job demands and resources, within subjective evaluation of work-related stress. Starting from the study results, the research identified a plan of interventions designed for specific areas of improvement.