Organizational climate in Spanish Public Health Services: Administration and Services Staff

The main goal of this research is to explore the organizational climate perceived by administrative and healthcare personnel working in Spanish healthcare services, analyzing the differences according to their health specialization, sex, age and professional status. The sample was made up of 3,787 individuals working in the administrative and healthcare services of the Public Health System of the Principality of Asturias, 88.7 % were working in specialist care and 11.3 % in primary care. Mean age was 51.88 (standard deviation of 6.28); 79.9 % were women and 20.1 % men. The organizational climate was assessed with the CLIOR scale. The organizational climate perceived is moderately positive, with a global mean of 3.03 on a scale of 1 to 5 points. The differences are statistically significant (p < .01) according to specialty, age and profession. A better working climate is perceived in primary care than in specialist care, and among older as compared to younger workers. The results indicate that the working climate perceived by administration and services staff employees in the Spanish healthcare context is moderately positive, with a better perceived climate in primary care than in specialist care.     

Job design,opportunities for skill utilization,and intrinsic job satisfaction

Arguably, job designs that provide for high levels of employee control also provide increased opportunities for the development and exercise of skill. Perceived skill utilization has consistently been found to be amongst the strongest predictors of job-related affective well-being, yet is frequently neglected in studies of work redesign. In this article, a theoretical framework linking the key job characteristics of perceived control and perceived cognitive demand to perceived skill utilization and intrinsic job satisfaction is presented. Results from one cross-sectional study and one longitudinal study are reported that support the mediational influence of perceived skill utilization on the perceived job control?–?job satisfaction relationship only. The relationship between perceived job demand and perceived skill utilization was mixed but no mediating effect was evident. It is argued that the level of both perceived demand and perceived control dictates the nature of the joint influence of both job characteristics on perceived skill utilization and work attitudes such as job satisfaction.