An appraisal of key factors in the implementation of occupational stress interventions

Empirical research on stress intervention in organizations, and experience from organizational change programmes in general, indicates that obtaining intended change is often more difficult than it had been conceived to be at the outset. in order to facilitate the accomplishment of stress prevention and effective organizational change, this paper examines the importance of the social and cognitive processes influencing the implementation of any i ntervention. It states that if change is to be managed skilfully, it is imp ortant (1) to create a social climate of learning from failure, (2) to prov ide opportunities for multi-level participation and negotiation in the desi gn of interventions, (3) to he aware of tacit behaviours that possibly unde rmine the objectives of interventions, and (4) to define roles and responsi bilities before and during the intervention period.