Working life is under great change, and what is referred to as decent work and work-related health is put on the agenda in today's work life and in the future of work.
Organizations' need for productive, flexible, and proactive employees must be balanced with a focus on safeguarding employees' health, well-being, and lives outside work.
Demands are therefore made on both organizations and employees in facilitating work processes that ensure employees as well as the organizations a balance between different goals in an increasingly psychosocially demanding work life.
What is our research focus?
In the research group in Work Motivation and Optimal Functioning, we study processes related to organizational psychology with a focus on the importance of the work environment and individual factors in relation to motivation, performance, work-related health, and generally optimal work functioning among employees.
Both constructive and destructive processes related to these topics are studied. The goal is to contribute to knowledge about how organizations and employees can succeed in optimizing productivity and work-related health. The research group also aims to have a practical? impact by sharing research results with the stakeholders who can benefit from the research.
How we conduct our research
We study the relevant phenomena as they are experienced through both quantitative and qualitative methods, and also develop interventions with the goal of improving these processes in employees and organizations.
Motivational processes in occupational health (MOTIVATION)
A major focus in both science and practices today is well-being in the workplace. The aim of the project is to use motivational concepts to better understand occupational health in the 21st century.
We want to combine research into important factors in the work environment with the knowledge we have about motivational processes. The purpose is to gain greater insight into what is required if we want healthy and productive employees and organizations.
Work motivation is an important factor to consider when it comes to occupational health. The reason is that motivation represents the energy that activates employees’ behavior in the workplace. Motivation originates in the interaction between the individual and the work environment. We want to increase knowledge about not only "why", but also "how" the workplace has implications for employee health and well-being.
MOTIVATION – Motivational processes in occupational health (MOTIVATION)
Remote work for all: Implications of motivation and job recovery for work-related health and performance in the context of home office (REMOTE)
Organizations now plan for long-term use of remote work, and both employers and employees navigate a complex and evolving landscape.
Understanding how this new way of organizing work affects employees, in relation to both their performance and work-related well-being, is essential to enable remote work that is sustainable and productive for organizations and society as a whole.
REMOTE aims to increase understanding of the opportunities and challenges for employees in remote working arrangements, to secure employees’ occupational health and continuing work performance over time.
Remote and flexible work arrangements: A cross-national study focused on implications of leaders and employees
We are a partner in this externally funded project from NordForsk led by Umeå University. The project runs over the next four years (from 2023) with a budget of around NOK 9 million.