Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Social capital can be defined as the resources in the social relations in a workplace which can potentially facilitate cooperation. Three types of social capital can be defined. Bonding social capital refers to the resources in the social relations between colleagues working closely together, for example in a team. Bridging social capital refers to the resources in the social relations between teams at a workplace. Linking social capital refers to the resources in the social relations between the teams and management. The aim of this study is to explore whether social capital can be enhanced through planned interventions, to identify how effective different types of interventions are, and if social capital can improve efficiency while maintaining or enhancing the wellbeing, work engagement, and health of the employees.
Who can participate?
Employees at six companies in the Danish dairy industry
What does the study involve?
All employees are invited to fill in a questionnaire addressing the four types of social capital (within teams, between teams, in relation to the immediate management, in relation to the overall management and the company as a whole), as well as measures of the psychosocial work environment, work engagement, and wellbeing. A workshop is then held for each participating team. The purpose is to develop interventions designed individually to fit the team in question. The main point is that the employees participate in the development of the intervention. In the process of developing the interventions the results of the questionnaire are presented and discussed. When an intervention has been agreed upon, an action plan is formulated. The participating teams work independently on their individual interventions (action plans) for between 10 and 12 months. At the end of the intervention period, all employees are invited to fill in the questionnaire again. We measure any changes in the four types of social capital, the psychosocial work environment, work engagement, and wellbeing, as well as productivity and absence due to sickness. Focus groups and interviews are conducted with representatives from each action plan.
Possible benefits and risks of participating
There are several potential benefits for the participants. Firstly, participation may encourage the employees as well as management to enhance their dialogue about their cooperation and psychosocial work environment. Secondly, if the implemented interventions show the desired effects, they may experience improved social capital, wellbeing, work engagement, and productivity. Finally, participation may equip the dairies to work with the social capital as well as other aspects of the psychosocial working environment in the future. One risk of participating is that the company and/or employees may become aware of or become more focussed on problems and conflicts at the workplace. This could be problematic if not dealt with appropriately.
Where is the study run from?
Six Danish dairy companies
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
June 2014 to January 2017
Who is funding the study?
The Danish Work Environment Research Fund (Arbejdsmiljøforskningsfonden (AMFF))
Who is the main contact?
Dr Thomas Clausen
Trial website
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
001
Study information
Scientific title
Intervention project on social capital, efficiency, engagement, health and well-being in the dairy industry
Acronym
Study hypothesis
1. Interventions designed particularly to the team and in cooperation with the team members can enhance the social capital of the team
2. Different types of interventions will differ in their efficiency at enhancing the different types of social capital
3. An increase in the social capital will lead to an increase in employees’ work engagement, their psychosocial work environment, their wellbeing, health, and productivity
Ethics approval
In Denmark an approval from an ethics committee is not required for research of this nature.
Study design
Multi-case intervention study based on the intervention mapping method
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Non randomised study
Trial setting
Other
Trial type
Other
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Social capital
Intervention
Based on the baseline results, the participants will be involved in intervention mapping workshops, where the participants design their own interventions (action plans) to enhance the social capital of their team. This will be achieved by discussing what they see as the underlying reasons for or factors leading to the results, identify the most salient problem areas for the team, and finally, discuss possible solutions to these problems. The researchers facilitate the process as well as provide suggestions, based on the literature, for possible solutions to the identified problems. When an intervention has been agreed upon, an action plan will be formulated where each step of the intervention is clearly described, persons responsible for the execution of the intervention noted, an evaluation plan described and finally, the success criteria of the intervention formulated. Thereafter the teams work independently on the interventions.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
The level of the four types of social capital (within team, between teams, in the relationship with the immediate management, in the relationship with the overall management and company as a whole) at the team level and company level. This will be measured with the newly developed social capital questionnaire (Borg et al. 2014). The qualitative assessment of primary and secondary outcomes will be undertaken about 9 months after implementation of action plans. The quantitative assessment of primary and secondary outcomes will be undertaken about 12 months after implementation of action plans.
Secondary outcome measures
1. Psychosocial work environment, measured with scales from the Danish Psychosocial Questionnaire that is currently under development at the NRCWE (Influence at work, Possibilities of performing core work tasks, and Psychological demands)
2. Work engagement, measured with UWES9 (Schaufeli et al. 2002).
3. Psychological wellbeing, measured with WHO-5 (Bech et al. 2003)
4. Sickness absence
5. Productivity measured with productivity indicators that the researchers will identify in collaboration with the participating workplaces
The qualitative assessment of primary and secondary outcomes will be undertaken about 9 months after implementation of action plans. The quantitative assessment of primary and secondary outcomes will be undertaken about 12 months after implementation of action plans.
Overall trial start date
01/06/2014
Overall trial end date
01/01/2017
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Employees at Danish dairies
Participant type
All
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
Approximately 750 employees from a total of approximately 70 teams
Participant exclusion criteria
1. Persons not working at the six participating dairies
2. Employees in the six dairies who did not belong to a Work team
Recruitment start date
01/06/2014
Recruitment end date
01/01/2015
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Denmark
Trial participating centre
Six Danish dairy companies
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Denmark
Funders
Funder type
Research organisation
Funder name
The Danish Work Environment Research Fund (Arbejdsmiljøforskningsfonden (AMFF))
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
To be confirmed at a later date
Intention to publish date
01/01/2018
Participant level data
To be made available at a later date
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list