Griet Van de Voorde
S2225476
NOHA Master Thesis
Word count: 23,877
(without appendix)Professor Bartjan Pennink
Stress in the field….a challenge for the
humanitarian organisations!
Humanitarian field workers’ perspective on organisations involvement in
stress coping.
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Index
Acronym List ... 5
Chapter 1: Introduction ... 6
1.1 Why this study? ... 6
1.2 Knowledge Gaps within this field of study ... 7
1.3 Research Question ... 9
Objectives ... 9
1.4 Research Design ... 10
1.5 Utility ... 12
Chapter 2: What has been written on this topic before? ... 13
2.1 Where is the management of people lacking in the non-profit sector?... 13
2.2 Which factors influence stress and time pressure stress in humanitarians?... 15
2.3 How do stress and time pressure stress affect humanitarians? ... 19
Prevention... 23
Intervention ... 23
2.4 What are organisational interventions and how can they reduce stress? ... 24
Organisational culture ... 25
2.5 Conclusion ... 28
Chapter 3 : Research Design ... 30
Phase one: semi-structured interviews of umbrella organisation representatives ... 30
Phase two: the questionnaire for humanitarian workers ... 32
Disadvantages of using an online questionnaire ... 33
Phase three: Processing the data gathered by phase one and two ... 34
Chapter 4 : Descriptive analysis of what humanitarian field workers tell us ... 34
4.1 Some general questionnaire participant information ... 35
4.2 The responsibility of stress ... 36
4.3 Strategies to address stress in the field ... 39
4.4 Perception of stress among humanitarian field workers ... 44
4.5 Policies on stress in organisations ... 48
4.6 Measures to combat stress ... 54
4.7 Organisational culture ... 58
4.8 Conclusion ... 60
5.1 Importance of the stress issue in the humanitarian sector... 64
5.2 Responsibility of stress ... 65
5.3 Policies, codes and checks ... 66
5.4 The stressful environment and its evolution ... 68
5.5 To standardize or not? ... 71
5.6 Conclusion ... 72
Chapter 6 : Discussion ... 74
6.1 A critical glance at methodology ... 74
6.2 Have the research objectives been completed? ... 75
Chapter 7: Conclusion ... 77
References... 79
Appendix ... 82
Appendix 1 Terminology that needs clarification ... 82
Stress ... 82
Time pressure ... 82
The humanitarian sector ... 83
Appendix 2a: overview of contacted organisations ... 84
Appendix 2b: platforms of publication of questionnaire link ... 84
Appendix 3: Questions umbrella organisations semi-structured interviews ... 85
Appendix 4 : Transcript of Mr. Herman Mosselmans interview, ECHO ... 86
Acronym List
ALNAP = Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action
CEO = chief executive officer
CONCORD = European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development EAP = employee assistance programme
ECHO = European Commission Humanitarian Office
HPN = Human Practice Network
HQ = head quarter(s)
NOHA = Network on Humanitarian Action
NGO = non-governmental organisation R&R = rest and recuperation
SMI = stress management intervention
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Why this study?
With the growing need for professionalization of the international humanitarian sector there is also a growing need for good leadership. ((ELRHA 2010); (VOICE 2006); (RedR/ Humanitarian Futures Programme Conference 2009) & (Van Brabant 2009)) Good leadership can entail many things, managing him- or herself and their impact on the team, but the same goes when dealing with stress, good leadership is effectively dealing with stress for themselves as well as for his or her team. ALNAP (via (Potter et al. 2002)) finds that poor staffing practices in the humanitarian sector lead to high staff turnover, which is detrimental to the success of humanitarian action. For retention of staff and optimal decision making of staff, the managing of stress and time pressure are essential to achieve positive outcomes of humanitarian actions.(Potter et al. 2002) However according to James (James 2008) good leadership starts with adequate management of yourself, it is not just about managing relations with others.
As demonstrated by major players in the humanitarian sector, such as ECHO (Potter et al. 2002), is that the quality of aid depends on the quality of staff designing and managing.
A remarkable finding however is that high staff turnover is a characteristic of the humanitarian sector, however most move to other organisations, but stay within the humanitarian sector. (Van Brabant 2009) This stresses the need for the professionalization of the whole sector and a sector-wide approach to counter this lack of stress coping mechanisms.
organize stress management courses, such as the Antares Foundation or Groupe Urgence rehabilitation développement (URD). When these are organized, courses are numerously attended and found most useful. (Potter et al. 2002)
From literature coming from umbrella organisations and coordinating bodies it has come forth a few time that stress really plays an important role in contributing to better leadership within the humanitarian sector, therefore its effects should not be underestimated.
1.2 Knowledge Gaps within this field of study
As most humanitarian personnel work in the most complex types of situations, this implies that they are working in environments of insecurity and under constant attack of external stressors. (McFarlane 2004) Working in an insecure environment, with a potential threat for your life, has been shown to have detrimental effects on mental stability of persons. (Van Brabant 2000)
Constantly being in such environments and being far away from your normal support networks and coping environments can make it rather difficult to find a good way in which you can deal with all types of stress. (McFarlane 2004) Even though some humanitarian personnel might not be under threat of life, they might experience things and hear stories which makes them aware of life-threatening situations. Furthermore, these persons are working in a new environment, with new people with whom communication is not always obvious. Cross-cultural barriers often arise and make it rather difficult to deal with certain items or to find the right time and place to deal with stress. (McFarlane 2004)
Not only may cultural differences arise with colleagues or companions, this might also be the case with their physical environment, persons might experience a feeling of social isolation and might not be understood or accepted by the local population. (McFarlane 2004)
deal with daily stressors or pressures and that stress will return after being back in the field. (Walkup 1997) Most of the current sector mechanisms such as R&R, pre-briefing and debriefing are solely targeted at expats while national staff faces the same conditions, but no organisational support regarding dealing with stress is set up for them.
As briefly mentioned before, stress is not always regarded as bad. There is a positive form of stress, which is mostly seen as a certain amount of time pressure, which actually pressures people to get started on tasks. (Van Brabant 2000) This pressure might be a good thing, it certainly carries certain consequences, especially in the humanitarian sector.
From the sheer amount of literature on the topic of stress management, the majority focuses on dealing with stress once it has become too much, so post-peak coping mechanisms. (Van Brabant 2000) Solely one-off education, such as a briefing session before departure, about stress has been proven to be insufficient when it comes to preventing stress to accumulate to an extent that influences others. (Bunce 1997) Other mechanisms for dealing with stress are mostly focused at dealing with stress on an individual basis. (Richardson, Rothstein 2008)
Further, group performance often depends on the way in which ‘the weakest link’ can cope with stress (Pepinsky, Pepinsky & Pavlik 1960), therefore it is in the organisation’s interest to make sure all staff can adequately cope with time pressure and stress, including national personnel. The most efficient way to ensure that all personnel can cope with the stress, is to apply a good organisational mechanism which facilitates coping and reduces the vulnerability of the ‘weakest link’.
Kocher and Sutter (Kocher, Sutter 2006) showed that when people are under pressure they are unable to process all information adequately and this might affect decisions negatively. In a context where peoples’ lives are dependent on the leader’s or group’s decisions, the organisation will be interested in reducing this type of errors to a minimum.
retain this experience and optimalize the coping with stress in its workings and therefore optimalize its performance.
Despite there being a clear need for mechanism to manage stress and time stress, personally or collectively, courses and trainings in these topics are rarely offered to humanitarians.
Therefore also the perspective of Antares Foundation or Groupe Urgence rehabilitation développement (URD) will be incorporated in order to get the perspective of the suppliers of stress training and what these agencies regard as the main obstacles.
As other frameworks are set up for financial management or project management as a good practices framework and minimum standard, this should also be the case for stress management as this can have a substantial impact on project and sector outcomes and organisational culture.
As the previous part illustrated that the current organisational mechanisms currently in place such as R&R are ineffective and an organisation or team is only as strong as how the ‘weakest link’ deals with stress or time pressure stress. Often individual coping is insufficient at this point and it affects the organisational culture, therefore it is in the most interest of the organisation to look at a way how it can develop mechanisms to deal with stress and time pressure stress.
1.3 Research Question
Is there a place for the organisation in the facilitation of coping with stress for humanitarian field workers?
Objectives
Overall objective:
To make the overall objective easier to answer, the researcher has subdivided the objective in four specific objectives that can be answered in a more concrete way.
Specific objectives:
1. To identify the need for organisational mechanisms and identify present mechanisms to cope with stress and time pressure stress.
2. To identify the use of organisational mechanisms to deal with stress and time pressure stress in other work environments.
3. To research satisfaction and/or the need of present organisational coping mechanisms, if any.
4. To identify sector-wide improvements that can be made in the humanitarian sector on how to improve personnel and organisational coping with stress and time pressure stress.
1.4 Research Design
To answer the specific objectives we use them throughout the different chapters. Chapter two gives a theoretical answer to specific objective one, where we illustrate the need that has been identified in other pieces of research and then build upon these results in order to get deeper into the need in chapter four and five.
Chapter two also gives some examples of how other sectors (such as a surgical environment) deal with stress and time pressure stress and what factors influence the stress perceived there.
Due to the close proximity of Brussels, where some regional head quarters are, physical access to important actors was simplified. Umbrella organisations such as VOICE, ALNAP, ECHO, People In Aid, RedR, InterHealth and CONCORD were approached and were contacted for semi-structured interviews on a personal or Skype basis.
Via these umbrella organisations, this research was able to get a grasp of the policies adhered to by the umbrella organisation’ members. The researcher made use of convenience sampling and strived for three to six interviews at the umbrella organisation- level of the humanitarian sector. However, participation rate of the umbrella organisations was low with only 28% of organisations willing to participate, which equals two out of seven. The interviewed umbrella organisations contributed to answering specific objective two via these semi-structured interviews. Limited attention was given to the inclusion of policy documents in the study, solely due to the fact that there were few to none that could be incorporated.
In order to answer objective three whether the current organisational coping mechanisms suffice, field personnel needed to be contacted, the online LinkedIn professional network appeared to suit this purpose perfectly. Therefore to address specific objective three, surveys were send to as much members as possible and thus convenience sampling will once again be used. Before, the actual sending of the survey to the target population, As this research relies on convenience sampling, representativeness of the wider humanitarian sector is questionable at this stage.
The results of the survey, completed by field personnel helped in comparing results from objective one and three will bring the researcher closer to answering specific objective four. Chapter four also identifies the need for organisational mechanisms outside the theory. Often, mechanisms were mentioned that were not so visible in the literature available.
Ethical issues arose to a limited extent during this research. Anonymity was guaranteed to all respondents and no results were shared with others except for the anonymous end results with all participant bodies and individuals if they requested so.
The discussion chapter, chapter six, aimed at answering objective four. With the help of chapter five, the chapter indicates results of the survey and organisational level that would improve humanitarian worker coping immensely in the field.
1.5 Utility
This research potentially will contribute to reducing the high personnel turnover rates within the humanitarian sector. (Khoury, Analoui 2010) As this high turnover is a serious obstruction to the professionalization of the humanitarian sector, it is an important matter to deal with. Loss of personnel implies loss of training, loss of expertise and loss of experience. Among others these three make up qualities that an effective leader should have. (Van Brabant 2000) Consequently, a better understanding of stress of humanitarian field workers also contributes to higher resilience of personnel to stress and more effective leadership within the sector, which contributed directly and indirectly to better outcomes of sector projects.(ALNAP 2009)
Chapter 2: What has been written on this topic before?
Previous to initiate the research done on stress of the field worker it is important to frame the current research in research that has been done previously and highlight the most important finding in order to adequately research the stress of humanitarians.
2.1 Where is the management of people lacking in the non-profit sector?
Hilhorst (2002) points out that times in the non-profit sector have changed and even more so for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as they are subjected to new humanitarian principles. Aside from the classic principles such as neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity arises new principles such as accountability, appropriateness and contextualization. (Minear and Weiss,1993 (via (Hilhorst 2002))). It is precisely this ‘new’ humanitarian action principle of accountability , that according to (Crawford, Bryce 2003) is the key to NGO success in combination with good performance.
As defined by Edwards and Hune (1996, via (Hilhorst 2002)), NGO accountability is seen as the methods and means by which private persons and organisations report to higher authorities or institutions for which this higher entity can hold the reporting entity responsible for any of the actions or non-actions it has taken.
“Evaluation after evaluation has emphasized that if there is one single aspect that most determines the quality of aid, it is the quality of the staff designing and managing it.” and
“(…)Despite these significant efforts, however, human resources management requires
greater attention within humanitarian aid agencies in general and within ECHO in particular”.
(Franklin Advisory Services S.A: Evaluation of Humanitarian Aid Actions Stipulated under Article 20 of Council Regulation (EC) N° 1257/96 of 20.6.1996, Brussels, 04/1999)
It is this precise quote coming from Potter et al. (2002) that illustrates more than ever the need for good management systems within humanitarian action and more precisely good management systems of the human resources which are present within these types of organisations. The experience and expertise which are commonly acquired on the job within in this sector is often lost due to a high turn-over of personnel and related to that the loss of these personnel members expertise. (Khoury, Analoui 2010) As illustrated by the above quote coming from an ECHO sector group working document, is that the quality of the personnel within NGOs determines the efficiency and effectiveness of projects or programs in the field. This project efficiency and effectiveness directly relate back to the performance and accountability of NGOs, which determine its success as mentioned by Crawford and Bryce (2003). Even more so, good NGO human resources practices can be linked back to other new humanitarian principles aside from solely accountability. Minear and Weiss (1993, via (Hilhorst 2002)) also talked about appropriateness and contextualization as a new humanitarian principle. These new principles, however, require a close study of the project area and environment, which might not immediately come out of a needs assessment performed before project set-up. The people on the ground are the first to hear and react to changing situations and new ideas that arise from beneficiaries.
with guiding principles such as the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), often forgotten is the standardized approach to dealing with human resources issues. The high personnel turn-over is not solely an issue of a few organisation, but is a sector-wide problem for which no solutions have been found thus far. As employees of different organisations work face the same difficult environments and obstacles, a need for a harmonized approach when it comes to dealing with stress and time pressure stress might influence the sector’s performance in a positive way. (Ehrenreich, Elliott 2004) Up to now, there is no platform on which good practices can be shared between and within organisations as how to deal with stress of international aid workers.
As the health of humanitarian workers is essential to the smooth running of third sector programs, it is important to have a look at why being in a high pressure environment leads to stress and how this stress affects peoples’ abilities.
2.2 Which factors influence stress and time pressure stress in
humanitarians?
Time pressure is a phenomenon that is studied often, especially for professions or sectors where seconds can change a persons’ life. However in the humanitarian field this phenomenon has not been studied yet to the same extent, however often humanitarian actors also have to make decisions that can alter a person’s entire existence.
actors are never made up of one individual person on the ground, and their work can never be done by one individual on his or her own; the effect time pressure has on group dynamics to reach complete the multi-facetted task is also very important. In these types of situations, difficult work environments are seen as a set of variables that, in interaction with personal, social and economic histories, which modify group interaction, which ultimately has a direct effect on reaching the pré-set goal. (Pepinsky, Pepinsky & Pavlik 1960)
From the study done by Pepinsky (1960) , it is able to summarize that when groups perform a simple task under time pressure, they are often not able to cope adequately and are therefore not stronger than ‘the weakest link’ within their group. In this case an increase in time pressure actually leads to a decline in output and a deterioration of the group dynamic. In this study, the subjects of study were only working on simplistic tasks, however most decisions that have to be made by humanitarians in the field require some multi-tasking and could not be considered to be as straight-forward as assembling an object. (James 2008) Following this research, one is able to imagine that stress induced by time pressure might deteriorate group atmosphere, which in the end might result in a deteriorated efficiency of the project of programme supplied to beneficiaries as the conformity of the group weakens. (Pepinsky, Pepinsky & Pavlik 1960)
some individuals exert projects differently when it comes to time pressure. In Gevers, van Eerde and Rutte (2001), they research the manner in which and therefore the groups they form perform under time pressure. High levels of time pressure can cause an inability to act, loss of enthusiasm and a general avoidance of the task. (Nordqvist, Hovmark & Zika-Viktorsson 2004) Striking in Gevers, van Eerde and Rutte(2001) is that the perception of time pressure plays is more important role than the actual time pressure that is present. Generally speaking, there are groups which need time pressure in order to get started on a project and finish it on time. Although individuals characteristics regarding time pressure potency can be overthrown when it steps into a group where the group belief is completely different. Therefore group dynamics, beliefs and perceptions of time pressure directly affect the outcome the group will achieve. (Gevers, van Eerde & Rutte 2001)
To start, group dynamics and group morale affect the perception of time pressure directly via experience of other members, organisational coping mechanisms or organisational culture. Organisational culture is seen as a shared vision, shared objectives and the team willingness to reach set goals. It is stressed that well-designed team processes and functioning are important as they determine the collective ability of groups and the whole sector, as almost no one works on an individual basis in the non-profit sector. (Nordqvist, Hovmark & Zika-Viktorsson 2004)
a feeling of being valued and appreciation. Further, the leader would need to rely on his leadership and management skills more than if there was no time pressure. Therefore he/she is more likely to create a pleasant group atmosphere and raise team morale, which, as already illustrated, results in less time pressure for the group and better outcomes of the task at hand. Organisational culture can be linked to this issue of intergroup relations as the management style the leader uses reflect the organisational culture they want to maintain.
Fourthly, it is human nature that when an individual is under time pressure he/she gathers less information and processes this information faster with results in retaining less. As the study by Kocher (2006) highlights, when there is limited time for decision making the information processed is indeed less and there is less consistency and reasoning behind decisions made. All in all, this means that the quality of decision made in these high pressure circumstances is lower. Overall, the individual (or group) has to make a trade-off between the quality of the decision, being able to weigh the pros and cons, and the speed or pressing nature of the issue. Especially in a humanitarian intervention this trade-off might be a real reality as some decisions that a person makes are about life and death of others. The amount of stress due to the inability or unwillingness to make this trade-off will build up quickly and influence the decision this person makes. (Kocher, Sutter 2006)Therefore also to contain a high quality standard intervention, individuals should be able to cope with time pressure in order to make the right decisions at the right time and place.
he/she is representing other people and is not solely defending his/her own needs. This dependency on the negotiating of this one individual or group results in a larger weight placed on ‘their shoulders’ and results in a higher experience of stress. Generally, the negotiator illustrates a higher willingness to cooperate, but will behave more competitively at the same time and are less likely to abandon their demands set forth. (Mosterd, Rutte 2000)
Being aware of factors that influence time pressure and the effects they might have on humanitarians is important. However, it is important to illustrate the severe obstacles that humanitarians might face when dealing with stress and time pressure stress.
2.3 How do stress and time pressure stress affect humanitarians?
Having determined that time pressure and stress are omnipresent in a humanitarian working environment, it is also important to look at what stress actually is and how it affects humanitarian action workers.
According to Cooper (1997) there are three levels at which stress can be dealt with. The primary level, being looking at ways how to reduce the actual stressors. Secondary level how to cope and manage stress, when the stressors for example cannot be eliminated. And finally, the tertiary level, being how to combat the effects of stress. Even though Cooper (1997) defines stress management mechanisms solely as dealing with stress once it occurred; this research defines stress management mechanisms at all levels mentioned before. Although mechanisms at a organisational level can occur at all levels, most interesting for this research are first and second level, how people cope with stressors or how they can be prevented. Most non-profit organisations already foresee some mechanisms on how to combat the symptoms of stress once it became too much to handle for the individual or group. As mentioned in the Cooper research, third level interventions might be successful however when the person returns to the same stressful environment, the stress is likely to occur again and long-term effects are unclear. Therefore mechanisms that education people on how to deal with stress better or how to remove stressors from their environment tend to be more efficient but difficult. However long term effects remain unproven. ((Cooper, Cartwright 1997) & (Richardson, Rothstein 2008))
activities take place, can also be very stressful, especially in a humanitarian action context. Further there is the aspect of job satisfaction and opportunities for growth within the job.(Cooper, Cartwright 1997) If employees feel helpless within their job environment, feel they are not contributing or feel out of control, this might also contribute to stress on the job. (Chen et al. 2009)
For the humanitarian sector these aspects of ‘employee safety’ need to be addressed an monitored as less stress would imply happier and healthier employees as stress poses a risk to health.(Cooper, Cartwright 1997) However, as simplistic as this may sound, stress is a dynamic phenomenon and in rapidly changing environments and situations ,stress is likely to have a persistent presence. Thus it is important to keep stress at a healthy, manageable level with which each individual can cope. Stress levels in certain situations need to be monitored and risk assessments might help to provide conclusive answers regarding stress levels of humanitarian action workers. Briefly touched upon before is the professionalization of the non-profit sector, this idea could be expanded employee safety as well. Employee safety in the development and humanitarian sector is characterized by both insecurity and health.((McFarlane 2004)& (Van Brabant 2000)) Security assessments are done on a regular basis by international actors , however no international organisation takes any measures regarding stress, which largely affects health (Cooper, Cartwright 1997). As implementing stress management mechanisms carry a certain significant cost, which might weigh rather heavy on the organisational balance scale, organisations should be rewarded for good efforts they have done. Besides environmental audits and certificates, why not create a stress audit which also awards certificates for good human resources stress management practices? (Cooper, Cartwright 1997) Because the cost of such an implementation scheme could be rather large, an humanitarian organisation network could be set up such as ALNAP or could be integrated into ALNAP in order to support NGOs which are unable to cover the costs and still stay accountable to donors and beneficiaries.(Cooper, Cartwright 1997) Up to this day, minimum standards that are present in the international aid sector are non-enforceable guidelines and often not adhered to. (Porter & Emmens, 2009 ; via (Curling, Simmons 2010))
Group support also contributes to more job satisfaction, less absenteeism and less depressive symptoms. Therefore group support or group morale can definitely be seen as a coping strategy of stress by a certain group of individuals. (Chen et al. 2009)
It is advised by the Human Practice Network (HPN) (Salama 1999) that due to the absence of normal supportive frameworks of employees such as family, friends or partner it is important to provide support at three different level to individuals. In order to guarantee and enhance psychological health of relief workers; individual, social and organisational resources should be provide to facilitate coping with stress or other types of stressors. Training courses can be provided and make individuals understand dangers better, provide a gentle social environment and create formal and informal policies regarding mental health and stress within the organisation. (Salama 1999)
InterAction has defined staff care as ‘self care and institutional responses to stress among humanitarian workers in particularly difficult and stressful environments’, while USAID extends this definition to include ‘broad issues ranging from personal emergency preparedness and response to staff wellness on a day-to-day basis, including physical and psychological wellbeing in the workplace’.
(Porter & Emmens, 2009 via (Curling, Simmons 2010))
The study by Curling & Simmons (2010) finds that international staff (expatriates) encounter higher levels of stress than national staff. This is most likely due to the fact that international staff are appointed to positions where more responsibility is awarded to them and that they are not accustomed to this new environment in which they find themselves. Both at head quarters (HQ) and at field level this pattern occurred. However, this should not imply in any way that less attention should be paid to stress or time stress of national staff. Some mechanisms are already in place for expatriates such as ‘Rest and Recuperation (R&R)’ time and ‘Home Leave’ policies, where the individual is taken out of the stressful environment and is on obligated leave. However no policies such as the above are foreseen for national staff, they cannot be removed from this stressful environment, as this is most likely their home. (Curling, Simmons 2010)
speaking, there are two broad types of coping: positive and negative coping. (Curling, Simmons 2010) Negative coping consists turning to bad habits or items to deal with (daily) stress, examples are turning to alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and others. Positive coping, on the contrary, is defined as reliance on spiritual or religious practices, social activities, physical activities or professional support as a means of coping with stress. (Curling, Simmons 2010)
A positive note is that 5 times more individuals relied on positive coping mechanisms rather than negative ones according to the study by Curling and Simmons (Curling, Simmons 2010). Most successful coping strategies were those that involved some sort of social activity or group support, be it attending an organized social activity or having peer helpers, who are not external but trained peers, to talk to and who can help you deal with stressors or manage problems at the exact moment they arise. Again this all relates back to the group dynamic and atmosphere and the informal atmosphere that allows these kinds of practices within an organisational culture. It is this peer helper support mechanism that seems to be a good price-quality balance service to be provided to employers. Although upon return or during ‘Home Leave’ professional practices are advised as sometimes peer helpers can be too close to the situation or person to see the full extent of the stress level and symptoms. (Curling, Simmons 2010) The peer helpers system again emphasizes the importance of an easy organisational culture and good staff relations, amongst themselves and between staff and the head quarters. Strong and sustained management of stress levels, such as through stress audits, are the key to keeping international aid workers happy and healthy. (Semmer, 2008; via (Curling, Simmons 2010))
supervisor-subordinate relations. As Kinicki (1994) illustrated in his research that the social support from peers, but even more importantly from supervisors as this can positive effects on coping with time pressure and can increase the locus of control for team members. (Kinicki, Vecchio 1994)
Stress affects humanitarian workers in a variety of ways, ranging from the personal level to the group level, when it starts to affect the group or team dynamics, within a compound for example.
Prevention
In this section we have a brief look at the prevention of international aid workers being faced with stress. Most likely the stressors cannot be taken away, however other practices such as selection and background checks might facilitate the placing of the right person at the right position.
Holtz et al. (2002) put forth that the selection of international aid workers is just as critical to stress management as training post selection. A switch to international aid work can occur at different stages of an individual’s live. Often it was due to wanting to change paths or to recover themselves after a dramatic experience In order to be able to provide adequate quality of services it is necessary that international aid workers are stress resistant or are trained to be more stress resistant, therefore it can be necessary to go back to see in which way the individuals dealt with stress on previous occasions. This reasoning is valid for both national as international staff, as both parties are equally accountable for the quality of services delivered on the ground.
Intervention
Interventions can take place at the primary, secondary or tertiary level.(Ivancevich et al. 1990, van den Bossche, Houtman 2003) Stress intervention research has been done over the years, however organisational interventions remain under-researched and are hardly researched at all within the humanitarian sector. An example of an organisational intervention is a stress management intervention.
(Ivancevich, Matteson, Freedman, & Phillips, 1990; via (Richardson, Rothstein 2008)) Ultimately, it is not of importance at which level employers try to aim to reduce stress and via which means as the benefits always affect employee performance. Be it via relaxation exercises, education or cognitive interventions. The singled out effects of stress interventions such as in Richardson and Rothstein (2008) have a positive influence on the perception of stress for most, except for stress education which had no effect to the actual perception and awareness of stress. Nevertheless, combining different mechanisms of intervention made all support mechanisms have a bigger and more significant effect to reduce stress. Long term ‘treatment’ or sessions spread over time also proved to have certain advantages as to refresh lessons learned and to obtain a more holistic approach to stress interventions. (Richardson, Rothstein 2008)
2.4 What are organisational interventions and how can they reduce stress?
Already in earlier years, scientists such as Parker (1983) identified the need for stress scientists to move away from the individual approach of stress management and devote more focus to organisational mechanisms of coping, bet it at an theoretical and an empirical level. The lack of literature tends to divert social responsibility for stress of employees away from organisational management. (Dewe, O'Driscoll 2002) Years later Bunce (1996, via(van den Bossche, Houtman 2003)) identified that some individual interventions have been proven to be unsuccessful and that scientists solely focus on short-term effects. Also in the humanitarian sector this is the case, as most humanitarian workers do undergo some sort of debriefing process upon return and receive some follow-up assistance during a short period of time. It has been stated more than once that individuals experience stress in a different way and that they cope with it differently as well. However, some commonalities can be drawn within an organisation when it comes to stress of employees within a certain organisation or organisational environment when they share some identical perceptions, such as the compound of an humanitarian organisation. ((Hemmelgarn, Glisson & James 2006)&(Ivancevich et al. 1990))Organisational culture
The most commonly used definition of organisational culture is “ a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group, as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration, that has worded well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, is to be taught to new members entering the organisation as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems”.
Still used most commonly over two decades after Schein (1990, via (Länsisalmi, Peiró & Kivimäki 2000) first defined this definition in 1990.
What is actually meant by the above definition is that organisational culture determines the manner in which a certain group, such as an organisation or a team in an isolated compound do things there as they have always been done. No matter if relates to dealing with security threats, celebrations, success or stress for that matter. However, whenever this organisational culture has implications for this group as a whole, we can say that it affects collective stress levels, opposed to that are the organisational coping methods as prescribed by the organisational culture. (Länsisalmi, Peiró & Kivimäki 2000) Collective stress can emerge from two distinguishable types of sources, be it an imperfect adaptation to the external environment as a group. The second type of collective stress can occur when there arise frictions within this closed off community, be it that not all members can adequately cope with stress or that team make-up is insufficient to deal with challenges ahead. (Länsisalmi, Peiró & Kivimäki 2000)
individual’s role within the team and is key for team development over the length of the project or mission.(Länsisalmi, Peiró & Kivimäki 2000)
It is the relationship between the value of the team member for the group and the organisational expectations of this member that will determine the coping status of the individual and to some extent the group’s coping as dependency between members might be high. (Bennett et al. 2001) Bennett (2001) illustrated this with a study of nurses within the health service sector, the appreciation, social support and clarity within the task was essential to the well functioning of the team. This is no different in the humanitarian sector, whether they are providing health services or not, as the mess one member leaves behind is dumped upon another member. Therefore clarity about responsibilities and expectations is also essential for well-functioning humanitarian teams.
The most optimal response to stress is not an organisational intervention or an intervention on the individual level, but stress has to be tackled on multiple levels as they are all interlinked. (Parker, DeCotiis 1983) Hall and Mansfield (1971) illustrate that organisational stress, stemming from any stressor, lays a certain strain on organisational dynamics and internal workings. The collective response which is taken at that time, largely determined by the organisational culture, results in the amount of stress experienced on the individual level and how this effects the individuals’ working capacity and how he/she must response to this organisational coping.
Figure 1 : The organisational and individual adaptation model by (Hall, Mansfield 1971)
individual coping that will decline or increase the organisational strain within the team.(Pepinsky, Pepinsky & Pavlik 1960) Which would require an intervention on its own as is determined by organisational culture. (Hall, Mansfield 1971)
When it comes to organisational interventions there is not just one clear-cut answer, there are endless possibilities on how to implement these. Implementation for these interventions is therefore also a crucial factor for success. (Saksvik et al. 2002)
Organisational interventions primarily have the aim of reducing the amount of stressors experienced by the group. It can do so in a variety of ways. (van den Bossche, Houtman 2003) First of all, the organisation can tackle its own structure, processes or policies. The effect of these will primarily be noticeable in a change of organisational culture as this will definitely change the ‘way we do things’. (van den Bossche, Houtman 2003) Secondly, there are the type of interventions that attempt to rearrange roles within the group such as redefining team roles, altering participation methods or reducing role conflicts. Again here we come back to the collective responsibility and clear communication. As every team member should be aware of their role within the group, what is expected from them and the responsibility they carry. (Länsisalmi, Peiró & Kivimäki 2000)
Finally, there are the type of interventions that change tasks within the roles of members or within the group. This can imply providing additional trainings to make the combination of individual and expected tasks a closer fit. (van den Bossche, Houtman 2003)
Another organisational task intervention might be adding a feedback position to a team member’s tasks when it has been found that there is a need for more feedback within the group. To make this a structural intervention, the organisation could set-up a specific feedback policy which guarantees team members feedback within one week after completion of an assignment. (Vagg, Spielberger 1998)
As Parker (1983) illustrated in his research that optimal stress intervention and prevention can only take place when there is a multi-faceted approach.
Accordingly there are also interventions which can take place at the interface level between organisational and individual level.(van den Bossche, Houtman 2003) Most common type of intervention here are the employee assistance programmes (EAP). When these consulting or support services are provided by a professional the intervention lingers more towards an organisational intervention, but EAPs can also be implemented via peer-support mechanisms. (Kirk, Brown 2003) In which case there is no easy way to classify this EAP as an organisational or an individual level intervention. These types of interventions might however require some additional organisational support, such as workshops on peer support.
As stressed previously, it is not easy to say whether an individual approach is more effective than an organisational one. (Michie 2002) As most often happens is that interventions focus solely on the individual, but this coping or prevention is always influenced by the organisational culture. So what is certain is that both approaches deserve attention within the research field as both are severely interlinked and both will affect organisational or project outcomes. (van den Bossche, Houtman 2003)
2.5 Conclusion
Stress research is quite a new field of research, and has developed over the years in a variety of sectors. The humanitarian field, however remained under-researched for a long stretch of time when it on topics such as stress and time pressure stress.
interventions are possible to counter stress; primary, secondary and tertiary –level interventions are common.
Battling stress at some levels is more common than on other levels, however, combined they have the most significant effect on reducing stress for employees and increasing productivity, efficiency and organisational culture of employees.
Chapter 3 : Research Design
As this research consists of three interrelated phases, it is important to separate decisions made for phase one, which are the semi-structured Skype (or face-to-face) interviews. These interviews will aid the research in identifying current challenges on stress in the field and whether current mechanisms are sufficient (from the organisational point of view), this answers specific objective one and three. Phase two, which is the questionnaire for the humanitarian workers identifies current organisational coping mechanisms in place (but from the humanitarian worker view) and whether these mechanisms help reduce the stress they experience. The final phase consists of a comparison between phase one and two, therefore it is important to remember which decisions were made for what reason. From the final phase the research will be able to identify the challenges and thus incorporate them in answering specific objective four, which puts forward improvements that can be made to overcome the challenges between the organisational and field level.
Phase one: semi-structured interviews of umbrella organisation
representatives
A total of six umbrella organisations and one policy leading organisations were contacted to participated in the semi-structured interviews. The selection of these organisations was not too specific as it are the six largest umbrella organisations and a sector-leading policy agency that are most involved in humanitarian policies and are not United Nations affiliated. These organisations were mentioned most in other sector reports and were therefore contacted in the hope to get a sector-wide view of the issues among members when it comes to stress or time pressure stress of its employees.
identified coping mechanisms, which have already been illustrated through chapter two, and thus have already been stated in the literature, the researched poses additional questions to get more concrete information to dig deeper into the incompatibility of ideas that seems to be present between the organisational and field level. This phase of the research will thus answer specific objectives one and three, as it identifies current mechanisms and researches the organisational satisfaction with those mechanisms. A further advantage is that new issues can be discovered during the interview process and the interviewer is able to go deeper into this and use this information for future interviews, if deemed appropriate.
Invitations to participate were sent directly to, what seemed according to organisation websites, the correct contact person regarding this research topic. In total three emails were returned as a default email address, in this case the invitation was sent to the next contact person that seemed suited to represent the organisation regarding the issue, according to the organisation website.
As the initial concept of the semi-structured interviews was to be executed via the means of using online communication software, Skype, to be more specific. Interviews would be recorded using the ‘MP3 Skype Recorder’ software. After first positive responses to the research, some objections were raised about the use of Skype for these interviews as the respondents were raising IT security reasons. When feasible for the interviewer, face-to-face interviews also became an option to conduct the semi-structured interview after all.
Constant follow up (email, phone) was required to get some responses of specialized agencies. In total only 2 out of 7 organisations contacted were willing to participate.1 Thus response rate was solely 28%, this in itself is an indication as to the degree of importance that the whole of the sector attaches to issues such as stress. Similar issues arose as in the studies done by (Ehrenreich, Elliott 2004) and (McCall, Salama 1999). In the study done by Ehrenreich (2004) where he contacted NGOs on similar issues, response rate was solely 17%.
The leading questions2 of the semi-structured interview were based on the questions asked in the questionnaire, but adjusted the umbrella organisational-level to maximize comparability between both types of data collection.
As one organisation would not authorize the use of Skype for an interview, the researcher travelled to the Brussels area to conduct the interview, required by a normal recorder. The other interview was conducted over Skype and was recorded with ‘MP3 Skype Recorder’ software.
Phase two: the questionnaire for humanitarian workers
In order to get an idea about the type of questions posed at employees regarding stress, the researcher searched for the questionnaires that were encountered in the literature, which are: the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire, the organisational role stress scale and the Occupational Stress Questionnaire. The only questionnaire that could be retrieved was the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, United States. In this document referral was made to the British variant, being The Scale of Occupational Stress, used during The Bristol Stress and Health at Work Study, United Kingdom.
Questions from these questionnaires that could be applicable for this current study were compiled into one list and altered to fit the current research topic. However, the amount of questions specifically handling organisational mechanism of dealing with stress was limited. Therefore, it was found that the compiled list was, besides too long, out of focus with reaching the research objectives set forth in chapter one. Therefore each question was tested against the research objectives in chapter one.
Questions were altered in order to receive high-quality answers to answer specific objective one and three. Get deeper into what are the current mechanisms, how important the humanitarian workers find them and how satisfied they are with them. To improve smooth functioning of phase three it was decided by the researcher to start from the semi-structured interview questions used in phase one and adapt them to fit a questionnaire format. Some of the questions that were deemed most useful from the compiled questionnaire list were added to the questionnaire.
The outcome of this change in approach to the questionnaire was that questions between both phases would become highly comparable as the majority of the questions were identical, solely slightly altered to fit the participants of each phase. The length of the questionnaire was also heavily reduced via this measure and therefore more likely to be filled out by more participants. The higher comparability between phase one and two also facilitated phase three of the research and thus answering specific objective four, which is identifying recommendations to overcome the challenges between both research levels (organisational and individual).
Reaching humanitarian workers was facilitated by the use of social media, however this required constant monitoring of link locations.3 To facilitate the registration of
participant responses the researcher opted for the use of an online questionnaire, via the use of Google Docs forms. The researcher used the NOHA Alumni network and
personal contacts of fellow NOHAs to reach humanitarian field workers who had a recent field experience. However these ‘traditional’ methods were not the most efficient ways to reach humanitarian field workers. The most successful method of reaching field workers was via the professional network site LinkedIn. Most groups have a closed off structure and the manager of the group checks whether the person has connections within the humanitarian world or has interest in this world, to minimize spam and assure serious conversations. In total the online questionnaire link was published on discussion fora of 14 LinkedIn groups and on 5 Facebook groups. Especially when Alertnet
LinkedIn information manager labeled the questionnaire as a ‘manager’s choice’ the amount of responses increased immensely over a short period of time. Before the amount of responses increased slowly and took a lot of effort and creativity to reach respondents.
Disadvantages of using an online questionnaire
The use of an online questionnaire simplified the gathering of 73 responses over a short period of time, one month, but some disadvantages were clear by the use of this method. Often it was not very clear even though the link was published there and was clearly visible, some people who wanted to respond did not understand clearly how to participate in the research. A possibility is that these people did not read the information
given as a whole and thus solely see the title and respond with a comment. Follow up of the different publishing platforms, however, was a simple method to reduce these misunderstandings to a minimum.
Secondly and most importantly, the disadvantage of using a Google Docs form is that the respondent still has to submit their responses after the final ‘thank you for participating’-text pops up. Even though this is clearly indicated in this text, the researcher believes that some responses were lost in this way. There is no way the researcher could do anything to minimize these defaults other than to explicitly stress the need for submission when publishing the link. However when respondents have all the good will in the world but do not read the information regarding the research, this fact may be missed.
Overall, the use of an online questionnaire published on social media networks was a good way to gather data in a short period of time although it has its disadvantages such as any other research method. But it is very important to be aware of them to minimize the amount of default entries .
Phase three: Processing the data gathered by phase one and two
The processing of the data varied according to the type of data gathered. For the interviews the researcher transcribed the recorded interviews and gained a general idea of the answers provided and positions held by the interviewees. Further there was a search for quotes to be used in chapter five, the comparative analysis. The comparative analysis and the discussion chapter, following chapter five will answer specific objective four to identify improvements that can be made. The processing of the questionnaire data varied for open-ended questions and closed questions. The analysis of closed questions was done numerically and graphically. The analysis of the open-ended questions required the studying of every single answer and grouping diverse related types of answers together and then continue the analysis identical to the closed questions analysis methods.
Chapter four will be more focused on the descriptive analysis of the questionnaire results coming from individual humanitarian respondents to later on compare data of both research methods in chapter five. The following chapter will cover general questionnaire statistics as well as direct questionnaire results.
Numerical or graphical data is accompanied with a short description to provide clarity. Important to mention before hand is that depending on questions the number of participants varies depending on the order and answers on previous questions and/or whether the participant was willing to complete non-obligatory questions.4
4.1 Some general questionnaire participant information
In total the questionnaire was completed and submitted by 73 participants. The questionnaire was directed at humanitarian worker of which we see that 51% is active in majority relief activities, about 20% is active in relief or development activities equally. And 29% is active in the field that is more related to development type of activities. Further we wanted an indication of how knowledgeable the participants actually are about what happens at field level.
4 The n-number in every graphical illustration mentions the amount of participant included in that specific
graph. 4% 25% 27% 22% 22%
Graph 1 : Participant's time spent at field level
Illustrated by Graph 1 we get an indication of how much time the participant actually spends at field level. This graph is not implying that people who do not spend half or more of their time at field level are unknowledgeable about issues there. Over 70% of participants of this questionnaire spent 50% or more of their time at field level. This might be an interesting fact to keep in mind when looking at the following responses. As can be noted here is that even though the questionnaire was aimed at humanitarian field workers, this is open to interpretation. The extent of time which one has to spend at the field varies strongly for when to consider themselves a humanitarian field worker.
4.2 The responsibility of stress
The following section looks at how the humanitarian aid worker sees the responsibility of stress, who should take the majority of the responsibility or is there actually a need for someone to take the responsibility when it comes to a personal issue such as stress? This section helps answering specific objective one, as how important humanitarian workers find stress also gives an indication of the extent of the need for organisational coping mechanisms. It could be possible that the humanitarian worker finds that the majority of the responsibility lies with the individual, in that case the need for creating organisational mechanisms would be lower and thus more individual-coping-focused mechanisms would need to be developed.
Both Graphs above, 2a and 2b, are related to questions that actually ask about the same aspect, whether the organisation or the individual should be responsible for the stress the individual person experiences in the field. The number of participants indicating that they think the responsibility should be shared equally between both parties remains almost the same. Striking is that when people are faced with a personal response rather than being obligated to choose on or the other, they seem to find the organisation less responsible, 23% compared to the 36% from Graph 2a.
19%
45% 36%
Graph 2a : How respondents see the responsibility of dealing with stress
More Inidividual Responsibility Shared Responsibility More Organisational responsibility n = 73 12% 11% 41% 14% 8% 14%
Graph 2b : How respondents divide stress responsibility between the Organisation and the Individual
Further it is important to explain the category ‘other’ in Graph 2b as this does represent 14% of responses. Included in this category are participant responses such as that they are unsure or that they think each has the responsibility for one specific aspect of the causes of stress or that it should vary according to the personal experience of the humanitarian worker.
Another striking result when participants were asked about the stress perceived by their peers or team peers; the overall result is that 68% of participants believes that their peers suffer from stress to a degree of more than 50%.
Graph 3, placed above, specifically asks the participants to which degree the organisations has the responsibility to address the stress problem. The number of participants that thinks the organisation has less than 50% of responsibility seems to be 21%, which is more or less in line with previous results. Also for the shared responsibility the results remain equal to the results displayed in Graph 2a and 2b. Consequently, there seems to be some consistency in the answers when it comes to the responsibility of addressing the stress. However, the way in which the question might be phrased, be it open or closed responses due seem to have a minor impact and a larger variety of results is possible.
7%
14%
45% 26%
8%
Graph 3: Respondents' view on degree of Organisational Responsibility to address problems
What has become clear is that humanitarian field workers do not see stress as something they are responsible for on their own. But on the other hand they do not blame the organisations as well for the stress they are perceiving. There seems to be level of understanding that both concerned parties have a particular role to play in the reduction of stress in the field.
4.3 Strategies to address stress in the field
Interesting to know is what types of actions the participants are familiar with, be it because they have been implemented in their own field environment. Here we clearly identify organisational actions taken to address stress, by the questions listed below, we answer specific objective one from the humanitarians’ point of view.
First we will have a look at the types of strategies that have been reported by the 53% of participants where the organisation has taken some measure to deal with stress in the field.
As illustrated in Graph 4, almost all forty respondents indicated that there was some sort of stress management training or briefing used within their organisations practices. This is foremost the most commonly used technique among the research’ participants. Stress management actions are followed by communication measures and R&R or leave agreements. R&R and leave agreements are clear, however communication would need
R&R/ leave agreements Stress management / briefings/ trainings Communicati on measures Recreational/ Social events Reduction Workload/ Time Management Security Measures Accomodatio n adjustments % 40,00% 95,00% 42,50% 27,50% 10,00% 10,00% 5,00% 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00% 90,00% 100,00% Ty p e o f i n te rv e n tion in % o f r e sp o n ses
Graph 4: Types of Actions mentioned by respondents that was taken in their Organisations
some additional explanation. Communication measures are focused on improving simple things, over 42% of these communications measures solely existed on improving communication between HQ and the field. Further included actions are more input from the field in measures being taken at HQ-level and M&E systems being put in place. But there was also attention in facilitating communication within the team at field-level, be it on a personal or professional basis.
Actions such as security measures and reduction of workload require some more resources and therefore less common among the participants. Recreational and social events, in contrast, are implemented in over one in four organisations. It resulted that these activities are fairly easy to implement and have a lower impact on financial resources of the organisation. Aside from the financial aspect is it a perfect measure to combat stress as it is a time (and place) where the humanitarian worker can fully let go of work and socialize with other humanitarians or finally mentally let go of work. The possibility of doing sports is also included in this category of recreational activities and represents little over 27% of this category.
Even though having actions in place to combat is a positive phenomenon, but more importantly is the effectiveness of the measure and the effect it has on the actual stress perceived by the humanitarian worker or his/her capacity to deal with the present stress. Therefore it is also important to have a look whether the way the above actions are perceived is identical by both organisation and individual. To research whether measures that have been taken are satisfactory to the field worker, it is important to questions humanitarian workers on how effective they find present mechanisms and whether this is in accordance with the organisations’ view on the matter in order to answer specific objective three and thus later work towards possible improvements for objective four.
Most important observations to mention when it comes to Graph 5a and 5b is that there is a clear difference when it comes to the category of the actions being very effective. One in ten humanitarian worker finds the measures taken very effective, in contrast to the humanitarian worker thinking that one in four organisations find their intervention effective. Obviously this is dependent on the type of interventions, as some are more effective than others. But the difference of 15% is clear. A larger proportion (18%) of participants also finds the actions not effective compared to the 7% by organisations as communicated by the humanitarian worker.
5% 2%
68% 25%
Graph 5a: Effectiveness interventions as perceived by Organisations according to respondent
Not at all Rather Not Somewhat Very n = 40 5% 13% 73% 10%
Graph 5b: Effectiveness of interventions as perceived by Humanitarian workers
Not at all Rather Not Somewhat Very
However this should not imply that interventions are ineffective as over 80% of participants do find that these actions do have a positive (be it moderate or explicitly) have an impact on the stress in the field. There is a slight difference with the humanitarian workers thinking that over 90% of organisations find these measures effective.
As humanitarian workers clearly have an idea about a measure being effective or not, it is interesting to also find out if they were in charge, which types of measures they would put in place. Are they the same types of actions undertaken in their organisations or do they see things differently? The answers in the following part help the researcher in answering the satisfaction and new possible interventions that could be feasible from the humanitarian worker ‘s stand point.
The categories in Graph 6 illustrate what types of interventions the humanitarian workers would tackle when they are able to make the decision. The measures they choose might give an indication of what seems to be problematic in their experience and what seems to be a thing they see as an (easy) to overcome issue.
Again communication and relations with HQ seem to require a lot of work and 73% of participants would work on this issue. This category contains communication, include staff input, feedback and general organisational procedures which would need improvement. Improve Personal Relations IN the field Improve Relations with higher levels Clear time and space to relax and have time-off Improve human resources support/pr actices Improve Time Manageme nt Improve Working environme nt Regular trainings or workshops Better Financial Compensat ion % 53,73% 65,67% 65,67% 59,70% 11,94% 19,40% 22,39% 5,97% 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00% 90,00% 100,00% M e n tion e d in % o f r e sp o n ses
Graph 6: Ideal Interventions put in place from view of humanitarian worker
