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The purpose of this study is to examine the protective effect of social support on psychological health and how it differs by gender in the context of part-time employment.

The sample consisted of 22,786 employees from four service sector organisations. Structural equation modelling was used to test a moderated mediation model assessing the relationship between employment status (part-time vs full-time) and psychological health mediated by social support (from management and colleagues) and moderated by gender.

Social support from management and colleagues was associated with fewer symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Notably, management support had a stronger association than that of colleagues’ support on each of the three health-related variables. Social support was also found to be a mediator of part-time working on health such that lower social support led to increased health symptoms. Moreover, we found moderating gender effects between social support and psychological health such that colleague support had a stronger effect on reduced depression and stress among men than women whilst management support had a stronger effect on reduced anxiety for women. Finally, significant moderated mediating paths were found, but further research is needed to identify other potential moderators of the mediating effects.

The findings suggest complex relationships between part-time employment, social support, psychological health and gender not examined in previous studies. It highlights the value of diverse sources of support and the necessity of addressing specific gender's needs for enhancing psychological health of part-time employees.

In Great Britain, the ‘”Management Standards” were launched in 2004 and formally published in 2007 by the Health and Safety Executive to help organizations manage work‐related stress. The purpose of this paper is to examine how these Standards are translated into organizational practice.

The research uses case studies carried out in five large organizations drawn from the public and private sectors in Great Britain.

Senior management commitment and worker participation are key to managing work‐related stress and are commonly reported across organizations, although to variable form and depth. The solution chosen to identify stress issues is a short assessment of all staff via annual staff surveys, coupled with in‐depth assessments of groups at risk. Common practice also includes combining individual and organizational interventions. One significant challenge emerges as the translation from identified stress issues to focussed interventions and their evaluation.

The implementation processes outlined in this study are by no means exhaustive due to the small sample size but are consistent with previous research.

The findings suggest that the HSE Management Standards approach for dealing with stress issues is do‐able. Refining the information in the HSE guidance on implementing and evaluating interventions and broadening the current focus on organization‐level interventions is needed.

Publication of case studies of the implementation of the Management Standards has been limited. This paper illustrates the efforts made by large organizations to integrate national guidance on stress and this could be used for guiding and improving stress management in similar work settings.

The purpose of this paper is to identify key enablers and challenges in the implementation of a comprehensive approach to the management of employee well‐being.

A large organization which had implemented such an approach was chosen as a case study. Company documents and data regarding the corporate well‐being strategy were analysed, informing the content of the approach. Interviews with implementers and managers were conducted to identify how it was done.

The focal organization had several health management systems capable of addressing the requirements for employee well‐being management. These included occupational safety and health, health promotion, management of ill‐health and human resource management. Key enablers identified were strong senior leadership support, dedicated resources, involvement of stakeholders and intensive communication. Challenges revolved around the integration of these systems into a coherent whole, striking a balance between a focus on occupational risks and lifestyle risks; readiness of managers to bring attention to the concept of employees’ well‐being and their ability to monitor employees’ health‐related needs. Together with a target‐driven work culture, these challenges worked against promoting well‐being.

This case study is exploratory. Further research needs to gather direct views of both managers and employees on how the well‐being approach had been received. Explanatory research models that integrate health promotion and work management systems to better inform implementation strategy and the roles of managers are needed.

The paper shows that line managers need to make greater use of regular management processes such as work planning, formal and informal interactions, and resourcing, to monitor employees’ well‐being needs. They also need to continually self‐assess how their own leadership style may affect employee well‐being.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of mindfulness training (MT) on employee well-being. Mindfulness is the awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, sensations, actions and surroundings in the present moment.

The authors used pre-post training measures and a four-week follow-up on a sample of 23 employees from a UK-based organization. The MT group (n=12) received a weekly two-hour training over eight weeks whilst the control group (n=11) received no training. Qualitative interviews (n=36) were conducted with the MT group at three time points to further assess the subjective experiences of training participants.

Compared to the control group, the MT group significantly increased their mindfulness skills including observing and acting with awareness. Scores on well-being, i.e. satisfaction with life, hope and anxiety also improved and were generally maintained at follow-up. Some improvements were seen in the control group too but there was a larger difference in change scores in the MT group on most variables. Qualitative data show additional benefits of MT such as improved concentration at work and better interpersonal relationships. More practice at home led to greater benefits suggesting a dose-response relationship between the amount of practice and substantial benefits.

Inviting participants to have a greater amount of practice between sessions may further increase the benefits of mindfulness. Future research should consider a longer follow-up period to further explore the sustainability of the training benefits.

Employing a mixed-method approach, this study showed that MT is a viable psychological intervention for enhancing employee well-being.

Although efforts have been made to specify the concept and the process of psychosocial risk management (PSRM), there is still a lack of knowledge on overcoming initiation and implementation barriers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how PSRM was implemented in different work contexts (under difficult and favourable conditions concerning the extent of management’s commitment and participative practices). Success factors are derived from the different work contexts.

This study compares PSRM approaches across organizations in four European countries. A total of 41 interviews with 60 organizational stakeholders were carried out and supplemented with a corporate documents analysis. Commonalities and differences within and between ten organizational case studies were analysed from which good practice and lessons learnt could be extracted.

The authors found different approaches based on the extent to which organizational capacity (management commitment and participative practices to prevent psychosocial risks) was taken into account. Where capacity was restricted, external support was necessary to initiate and to implement the process. Where capacity was high, integration of PSRM into routine processes and connection with already existing processes was a dominating topic.

Currently, enabling and hindering factors are not systematically prioritized according to the specific context in which PSRM takes place and often they are not differentiated according to the level (e.g. personal, processual, structural and cultural) where they are situated. This study identifies PSRM versions at those different levels which can help in tailoring specific measures to the workplace conditions.

This paper aims to use embodied theory to analyze consumer experience in a retail brandscape, Hollister Co. By taking a holistic, embodied approach, this study reveals how individual consumers interact with such retail environments in corporeal, instinctive and sensual ways.

The primary source of data was 97 subjective personal introspective accounts undertaken with the target age group for the store. These were supplemented with in-depth interviews with consumers, managers and employees of Hollister.

The authors offer a conceptualization of consumers’ embodied experience, which they term The Immersive Somascape Experience. This identifies four key touch points that evoke the Hollister store experience – each of which reveals how the body is affected by particular relational and material specificities. These are sensory activation, brand materialities, corporeal relationality and (dis)orientation. These may lead to consumer emplacement.

The authors propose that taking an “intelligible embodiment” approach to consumer experiences in retail contexts provides a deeper, more holistic understanding of the embodied processes involved. They also suggest that more anthropological, body-grounded studies are needed for the unique insights they provide. Finally, they note that there is growing consumer demand for experiences, which, they argue, points to the need for more research from an embodied experience perspective in our field.

The study reveals the perils and pitfalls of adopting a sensory marketing perspective. It also offers insights into how the body leads in retail brandscapes, addressing a lack in such approaches in the current retailing literature and suggesting that embodied, experiential aspects of branding are increasingly pertinent in retailing in light of the continued growth of on-line shopping.

Overall, the study shows how an embodied approach challenges the dominance of mind and representation over body and materiality, suggesting an “intelligible embodiment” lens offers unique insights into consumers’ embodied experiences in retail environments.

Undergraduates are highly susceptible to the development of mental health difficulties. Afro-Caribbean students are particularly vulnerable to the pressures of university yet are less likely than other ethnic groups to receive early intervention. This paper aims to understand the barriers and facilitators that Afro-Caribbean undergraduates perceive towards accessing mental health services in the UK.

Critical Incident Technique was used as the qualitative method because it explores the critical factors that contribute to or detract from a specific experience. Seventeen Afro-Caribbean undergraduates participated in five focus groups. This involved engaging in a novel psychosocial activity that incorporated vignettes to encourage the identification of barriers and facilitators to service access. The data were analysed thematically to generate categories of critical incidents and wish-list items.

Analysis revealed rich data from a sub-group rarely researched within UK literature. Fifteen barriers, eleven facilitators and five wish-list items were identified. The importance of mental health literacy, social networks, cultural sensitivity and concerns surrounding services underpinned many categories.

Findings provide a new perspective on barriers reported in previous literature. Novel facilitators were highlighted where, although psychological and sociocultural factors were deemed valuable, structural changes were most desired. Recommended changes illustrate innovative interventions that could make services accessible for young adult Afro-Caribbean populations. Future research should explore the barriers and facilitators identified by Afro-Caribbean undergraduates across various universities who have successfully accessed and engaged with services. This could provide a holistic perspective on viable facilitators enabling access despite the presence of barriers.