578 Occupational Health Psychology
the OHC serves an integrating function by bringing together
the multiple support services in the organization to form a
multidisciplinary team. Change management or stress man-
agement teams have been shown to be effective tools for
building organizational health (Murphy, 1988). By including
management and labor representatives on the team, decisions
made can be implemented into action more readily.
Organizational Consulting
OHC staff work with individuals, work teams or units, and
the larger organization. The baseline provides overall organi-
zational data for initial planning. However, much of the real
work is conducted at a work unit level. OHC staff consult
with individual work units, conducting evaluations and inter-
ventions into the speci“c dynamics and issues arising in the
work team. Organization development processes, both tech-
nostructural and process consulting (Beer & Walton, 1990;
Schein, 1988), are used in business units experiencing prob-
lems, those at high risk for problems, as well as those desir-
ing to enhance functioning. The Sacramento OHC used an
organizational health assessment (OHA) process to diagnosis
work unit problems and aid management and labor represen-
tatives in developing a plan for intervention. Using that
information, work unit impact teams were convened to im-
plement the change process. Repeat OHAs at the end of six
months and one year provided outcome information on
which to base decisions on change program continuation or
modi“cation. Team development and management-coaching
strategies conducted for all business units complemented the
more intensive organizational intervention strategies.
At a broader, organizational level, the Sacramento OHC
facilitated development of a labor-management partnership
council as a proactive problem-solving body (Schwartz &
Adkins, 1996). A partnership council brought together labor
and management leaders prior to organizational changes
so that consensus could be achieved in advance rather than
con”icts resolved after the fact. The successful functioning of
the council reduced grievances and unfair labor practice
complaints. In many ways, the partnership council also
served as a board of directors for the OHC, further integrat-
ing organizational health programs into the business culture
and providing a powerful champion for OHC-recommended
policies and practices.
Information Broker
Information ”ow in or ganizations is notoriously inef“cient
and ineffective, but essential for development of a sense of
control for individual workers. OHC staff facilitate the ”ow
of information and “nd ways to ensure that accurate informa-
tion is conveyed and that systems and methods of communi-
cation function effectively.Targeted Training and PreventionOHC program development is not intended to overstep the
domains of other human resources and personnel support
services. On the contrary, targeted areas include situations
that fall across disciplinary lines or that may be neglected by
current functions in the organization. Common examples
include suicide prevention, workplace violence prevention,
con”ict mediation, and training of the general workforce, as
well as support personnel in occupational stress, organiza-
tional change, and organizational health.Worksite SupportSupervisory and social support, both peer and family, have
demonstrated utility in reducing the negative impact of both
occupational and personal stress. The OHC functions to bring
enhanced support services to the workforce, increasing avail-
ability and evaluating the effectiveness of available services
in meeting the needs of a changing workforce. Support is
provided through employee assistance programs, workplace
health promotion, worksite stress management, peer counsel-
ing, and occupational health and safety, including occupa-
tional mental health services.Surveillance, Monitoring, and EvaluationOHC programs and policies are extracted from the literature
available and targeted using epidemiological estimates, base-
line information, and organizational assessment data. Process
and outcome measures demonstrate the value of ongoing pro-
grams and advocate an improved work environment. Bring-
ing together metrics from across all levels of assessment,
surveillance, and evaluation and across disciplinary lines in
the organization enables a comprehensive look at organi-
zational health and effective ongoing planning for improved
organizational wellness.
The Sacramento OHC incorporated assessment, forma-
tive, and summative evaluation strategies at the work unit
and overall organizational levels. Needs assessments focused
on organizational risk factors and individual vulnerabilities,
as well as protective factors or capacity at both levels. The
state of strain or signs and symptoms of ill health were also
evaluated and monitored. Outcome measures at a corporate
level included health care utilization rates, workers• compen-
sation costs, and productive years lost to behaviorally related