Managing implementation: roles of line managers, senior managers, and human resource professionals in an occupational health intervention

J Occup Environ Med. 2014 Jan;56(1):58-65. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000020.

Abstract

Objective: To contrast line managers', senior managers', and (human resource) HR professionals' descriptions of their roles, tasks, and possibilities to perform them during the implementation of an occupational health intervention.

Methods: Interviews with line managers (n = 13), senior managers (n = 7), and HR professionals (n = 9) 6 months after initiation of an occupational health intervention at nine organizations.

Results: The groups' roles were described coherently, except for the HR professionals. These roles were seldom performed in practice, and two main reasons appeared: use of individuals' engagement rather than an implementation strategy, and lack of integration of the intervention with other stakeholders and organizational processes.

Conclusions: Evaluation of stakeholders' perceptions of each other's and their own roles is important, especially concerning HR professionals. Clear role descriptions and implementation strategies, and aligning an intervention to organizational processes, are crucial for efficient intervention management.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administrative Personnel
  • Health Promotion / organization & administration*
  • Humans
  • Internet
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Occupational Health*
  • Perception
  • Personnel Management
  • Professional Role*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Workplace / organization & administration