De La Salle University

Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business

Management and Organization Department

Endorsement Form – Integrative Action Research (IAR) Defense

On-site Counselling: Addressing Employee Mental Health Issues in Improving Workplace

Performance

Submitted by:

Analyn Caindoy

On Aug. 11, 2020 during the 3rd trimester of AY2019-2020

Has been examined and approved for presentation to the IAR defense panel.

Dr. Benito Teehankee

Signature over printed name / date

 De La Salle University – Manila
Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business

On-site Counselling: Addressing Employee Mental Health Issues in Improving Workplace

Performance

In partial fulfillment
of the course requirements in
Integrative Action Research

BUS836M
Term 3, A. Y. 2019 – 2020

Submitted by:
Caindoy, Analyn
11787961

Submitted to:
Benito Teehankee, PhD

August 11, 2020

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 Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................................... 6

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. 7

CHAPTER 1 - PURPOSE AND RATIONALE ....................................................................................... 8

Problem / Issue / Opportunity ................................................................................................................... 8

Significance of the Action Research ........................................................................................................ 10

CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT ............................................................................... 11

External content ........................................................................................................................................ 11

Internal content ......................................................................................................................................... 13

Organizational Structure ......................................................................................................................... 13
The Enterprise Health Team ................................................................................................................... 15
Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................................ 16
Health, Wellness and Productivity Programs ......................................................................................... 16
Position of the Researcher ...................................................................................................................... 17

CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY AND METHODS OF INQUIRY ................................................. 18

The Action Research Cycle ...................................................................................................................... 18

Methods of Data Collection ...................................................................................................................... 21

First-Person Inquiry ................................................................................................................................. 22

ORJI ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

Ladder of Inference .................................................................................................................................. 23

Left-Hand Column .................................................................................................................................... 24

Meta-Learning........................................................................................................................................... 24

Second-Person Inquiry ............................................................................................................................. 25

Force Field Analysis.................................................................................................................................. 26

Critical Realism......................................................................................................................................... 26

Four Parts of Speech ................................................................................................................................. 26

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Systems Thinking ...................................................................................................................................... 27

Third-Person Inquiry ............................................................................................................................... 27

Change Management Strategy................................................................................................................. 27

Reframing Matrix ..................................................................................................................................... 29

Eisenhower Matrix.................................................................................................................................... 29

Addressing role duality, organizational politics, and ethical concerns ................................................ 29

CHAPTER 4 – STORIES AND OUTCOMES – FIRST CYCLE ........................................................ 32

Constructing .............................................................................................................................................. 32

Planning ..................................................................................................................................................... 45

Taking Action ............................................................................................................................................ 47

Evaluating Action...................................................................................................................................... 54

CHAPTER 5 – META LEARNING AFTER FIRST CYCLE ............................................................. 54

Content Reflection .................................................................................................................................... 59

Process Reflection ..................................................................................................................................... 60

Premise reflection...................................................................................................................................... 61

CHAPTER 6 – STORIES AND OUTCOMES – SECOND CYCLE ................................................... 61

Constructing .............................................................................................................................................. 61

Planning ..................................................................................................................................................... 64

Taking Action ............................................................................................................................................ 64

Evaluating Action...................................................................................................................................... 65

CHAPTER 7 – META LEARNING AFTER SECOND CYCLE ........................................................ 68

Content reflection...................................................................................................................................... 68

Process Reflection ..................................................................................................................................... 70

Premise Reflection .................................................................................................................................... 70

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What Changed in Me? .............................................................................................................................. 71

What Changed in the Others? ................................................................................................................. 71

What Changed in the Organization? ...................................................................................................... 72

CHAPTER 8 – EXTRAPOLATION TO A BROADER CONTEXT AND ARTICULATION OF

USABLE KNOWLEDGE ........................................................................................................................ 74

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 78

ANNEX ...................................................................................................................................................... 84

List of Tables and Figures

Figure 1. The Problem Cycle .......................................................................................................... 9

Figure 2. Organizational Structure of local Business Unit in Company A2 ................................. 13
Figure 3. Organizational structure of the Enterprise Health team ................................................ 14
Figure 4. Link between local business unit and Enterprise Health team ...................................... 15
Figure 5. The Action Research Cycle (Coghlan, 2019) ................................................................ 19
Figure 6. Spiral Action Research Cycles (Coghlan, 2019) ........................................................... 21
Figure 7. Schein’s ORJI Model (Schein,1999,p.87) ..................................................................... 22
Figure 8. Ladder of Inference (Coghlan, 2019, p.29) ................................................................... 23
Figure 9. Force field Analysis applied .......................................................................................... 41
Figure 10. Fishbone diagram on why people are not using EAP.................................................. 43
Figure 11. Timeline (constructing) ............................................................................................... 44
Figure 12. Kotter's Change Model on onsite counseling .............................................................. 51
Figure 13. registration for onsite counseling ................................................................................ 53
Figure 14. Feedback for onsite counseling ................................................................................... 53
Figure 15. Force Field Analysis - Cycle 2 .................................................................................... 62
Figure 16. Reframing Matrix ........................................................................................................ 63
Figure 17. Onsite counseling initial session ................................................................................. 63
Figure 18. Email request to External EAP provider for a meeting request .................................. 64
Figure 19. onsite (virtual) schedules ............................................................................................. 65
Figure 20. Schedule onsite (virtual) counseling session ............................................................... 66
Figure 21. Eisenhower Matrix used for task prioritization ........................................................... 69
Figure 22. Recent email from HR Manager.................................................................................. 73
Figure 23. Meeting invite to present to senior management on EAP utilization and Ergonomic
Discomfort .................................................................................................................................... 74
Figure 24. Driving forces .............................................................................................................. 76

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 Acknowledgement

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my IAR Adviser, Dr. Benito

Teehankee for his patience on providing his guidance, insights, and his steadfast passion on

action research.

Apart from my adviser, I would like to thank my MBA professors who positively

impacted my being and for continuously providing thought and soul provoking questions.

To my collaborators, the employees, management and external EAP partner, especially to

my team, Rina, Pao, Junrey, and Dr. Roy for sharing your thoughts and undergoing the action

research process and empathizing with me in the process. My appreciation as well to Neil, my

former boss who started this all and believed that I can always do better. Special shout-out to

Ma. Mercedez (Ched) Tan, my fellow momsh and La Sallian who shared her insights and always

that ray of sunshine.

This will not be possible without our Creator for granting me the patience, passion and

grit to complete this paper.

Finally, to Zhi and Shen for implementing my requests to focus on their studies so I can

also focus on mine, and to my forever frienemy and credit grabber, Papa Josh for doing what I’m

not able to, for continuously leading the family and for providing ear-pinching feedback on my

paper.

Muli, Maraming Salamat!

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 Abstract

Several studies showed the effects of mental wellbeing to employee work performance

and why companies should invest on their employees’ wellbeing. This Action Research explored

on ways to improve Human Performance through increasing the utilization of the Employee

Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP is a counseling service for employees and is part of the

bigger mental health program. It carefully identified the barriers in availing the EAP for the

employees.

The first cycle focused on utilizing the different action research and MBA tools to

correctly identify the barriers to care which affected the utilization of EAP and implement the

changes. The action researcher collaborated with the employees involved, the Enterprise health

team, the management and external EAP.

The second cycle became unexpectedly difficult because the researcher and the

collaborators were also the frontliners in responding to the pandemic. The team revisited the

priorities using action research and MBA tools and agreed that the use of technology and online

support for the onsite counseling is more appropriate during these unprecedented times.

The result showed significant increase in utilization of EAP at the end of the two cycles.

Furthermore, based on gathered data, employees attested to the improvement of their mental

health and work performance.

The two cycles of this action research were shaped from the collaborative minds of

various stakeholders and the common value of the organization on protecting its people and was

guided by the RVR COB’s code of ethics on leading and managing people to promote human

development and for the common good.

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 Chapter 1 - Purpose and Rationale

Problem / Issue / Opportunity

When a worker reports for work, it’s not only the worker – but the entire person reporting

for work. Lynch (2002) found that employees with good health habits or only one health-risk

habit cost employers 4.1 hours per week in reduced productivity, short-term disability and sick

time. The reduced hours per week is reduced more if there are three or more risks. My

organization recognizes that the health of our employees impacts productivity and performance

and one of our programs is the Ergonomic Discomfort program that addresses musculoskeletal

and computer-related injuries which has been running since 2008. In 2018, there has been a

noticeable number of cases that are showing psychosomatic symptoms (anxiety, difficulty

sleeping, etc.). According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, “It is a condition of dysfunction or

structural damage in bodily organs through inappropriate activation of the involuntary nervous

system and the glands of internal secretion. Thus, the psychosomatic symptom emerges as a

physiological concomitant of an emotional state.” They experience pain or physical symptoms

because they are psychologically distressed. These types of cases being handled has been

increasing but when compared against the number of EAP availments, the utilization is very low.

According to Chestnut Global report, Asia Pacific has 4.4% utilization and work stress is at the

6th spot on the types of cases (Donalson, 2017, p.2). The Ergonomic discomfort program with

psychosomatic symptoms does not equate or at least be near with the number of EAP availments.

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 Employee did not avail the EAP Ergonomic/Musculoskeletal
discomfort with psychosomatic
symptoms

Employee is endorsed to use discomfort still present

EAP despite initial interventions

Figure 1. The Problem Cycle

Crofford (2015) in her study shared the chronic musculoskeletal pain is associated with

negative emotions and psychological stress (p.147).

EAP has been existing since 2012 but still, majority of the employees have not utilized

this benefit (2-3% in 2016-2017; and 7% in 2018). No data can be retrieved from 2015 below.

The EAP is core part of the Mental Health umbrella that the company also provides for

our employees. It provides counseling services to help the workforce manage their mental

health. Since this is part of the company’s investment on its people, it will be advantageous for

the employee himself and company performance if it will be utilized well (World Health

Organization, 2019).

It is in this context that the action researcher identified the opportunity – increase

utilization of EAP to improve performance. Further practice of action research, we identified the

causal factor, agreed which causal factor to address and intervention.

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Significance of the Action Research

Our organization’s culture is evident on how we value health and safety of our workforce

because this is part of our global strategies in investing in our People. The company is tracking

the injuries related to work or aggravated by work activities as part of our key performance

indicators. This in turn will determine the economic benefit of the organization. This value is

also emphasized in the RVR-COB Code of Ethics wherein I recognize that “my purpose is to

lead and manage people to promote human development and the common good.”

As the lead occupational health specialist, it is my responsibility to ensure that the team

is fluid during work activities, influence them to be action researchers in the organization

because according to Coghlan (2019), “there can be no learning without action and no action

without learning.”(p.67)

The opportunity on on-site EAP counseling presents a new opening for personal growth

and benefits the organization through maximization of its investment on people. Addressing the

mental health of our employees through EAP will improve their physical being as well. If this is

left unresolved, the mental and physical health of the employees will manifest in their

performance at work and may impact the business through increased absenteeism, negative

impact on productivity and profits, as well as increase in costs to deal with the issue. In

addition, they impact employee morale adversely Ragjopal (2010).

Our EAP provider confirmed that while they cater to a lot of multinational companies,

the potential of on-site EAP counseling was not explored. The on-site EAP counseling is a

proactive approach to address emerging mental health concerns of our employees which also

affects the number of ergonomic discomfort reports that our team handles. If more employees

proactively manage their mental or emotional stressors, there is a lesser chance for these

10
employees to report discomfort which will help the team to re-focus our efforts on other

emerging occupational health threats. Addressing these chronic diseases such as

musculoskeletal diseases and some mental health diseases with will be beneficial for the

company in the long run as cited by O’Donnell et al. (2015).

As an occupational health specialist, the findings and learnings acquired through this

action research will help me develop my project management skills, deepen my insight on

strengthening mental health programs, enable me to handle or improve other health and

wellness projects, and influence team members and collaborators to think as an inside action

researcher. My collaborators, mainly my team will be able to focus our efforts on potential

emerging occupational threats and enable us to manage our workload better. Tackling and

providing an adjunct activity in the mental health program will further increase my visibility in

the organization as the senior management tracks the performance of this program.

The implementation and measure can be completed in 2 cycles because no additional

budget was requested to the management, prior engagements, presentations and approvals were

started in November 2019. The scope of this action research will not include the community

culture outside the company and correlational study of ergonomic discomfort and EAP.

Chapter 2: Background and Context

External content

Due to the sensitivity and nature of the topic which may be considered as health data

under General Data Protection Regulation, the action researcher cannot divulge the identity of

the organization and collaborators in this paper, apart from the advice from the Corporate Affairs

and Legal. Company A1 is used to pertain to the parent company and Company A2 is used to

11
pertain to the shared service company where the action researcher is affiliated, and the action

research took place.

Company A1 operates in 84 countries with four main operations (upstream, midstream,

downstream, and alternative energy). The California-based Company A1, ranked 15th in the

Fortune 500 companies (https://fortune.com/fortune500/2020/search/) as of March 2020. It has

two subsidiaries in the Philippines – the downstream business and shared service center through

Company A2.

Company A2 is the first regional headquarters established in the Philippines in 1998

servicing Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions.

(Bergeron, 2003) described Shared Services as a “collaborative strategy in which a subset of

existing business functions are concentrated into a new, semi-autonomous business unit that has

a management structure designed to promote efficiency, value generation, cost savings, and

improved service for the internal customers of the parent corporation, like a business competing

in the open market”.

According to Richter (2019), Shared service centers (SSCs) are firms’ new paradigm for

enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in business support activities. Studies show that firms

with SSCs can reduce costs up to 30% compared to firms using conventional organizational

concepts. Zeynip (2007), SSC can also be defined as a “strategy of standardizing, streamlining,

and consolidating common business processes in an organization, to improve efficiency and

effectiveness with both cost reduction and overall profitability in mind.”

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Internal content

Organizational Structure

Company A2 is led by the management committee composed of five business unit heads

(Human Resource, Information Technology, Procurement, Service Center, and Finance). It is

represented and headed by the finance business unit head who is also the country’s general

manager.

They are joined by functional managers who directly reports to different regional

managers but are indirectly reporting to the five main business unit heads for government

reporting, budget and headcount.

Finance
General Manager

Information
Technology

Procurement

Service Centers

Human Enterprise
Resources Health
Figure 2. Organizational Structure of local Business Unit in Company A2

Our team, Enterprise Health is one of the functional groups in Company A2.

Functionally, our operations reports to the Regional Health and Medical Headquarters located in

Singapore.

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 Regional
Health and
Medical
Manager

Country
Special Health Planning Clinical Health and
Projects Administrator Coordinator Medical
Manager

Lead
Medical Occupational Metrics and
Reporting
Coordinator Health Specialist
Specialist

Provincial
Medical Doctor RSI Specialist Ergo Specialist
Nurses (5) Medical (2) (1) (1)
Doctors (3)

Figure 3. Organizational structure of the Enterprise Health team

14
 Figure 4. Link between local business unit and Enterprise Health team

The Enterprise Health Team

The Core company values include Integrity and Trust, Diversity and Inclusion, High

Performance, Partnership, and Protect People and the Environment. Staying true to these values

of Protecting People and the Environment, the company’s culture rests on prioritizing safety and

health of its workforce. Company A2 has several programs centered on employees’ health and

wellness, and a dedicated Health and Medical team to run and improve these programs.

The team is headed by the Country Medical Manager who reports to the Regional

Medical Manager. Locally, the country medical manager is supported by three full time

employees who run the entire health and wellness programs in the country and Asia-Pacific. The

team acts as the primary resource for health-related concerns and creation/improvement of health

programs for employees in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific region. Main responsibility is to

support the business through helping the employees’ well-being and productivity.

15
Stakeholders

Our main stakeholders are the employees of each business unit – ensuring that there are

programs for their health and wellness to support them with their work tasks. The team also

provides reports, updates and issues to the management committee in the Philippines and to the

regional managers for Asia-Pacific. Apart from this, the team is also part of the Crisis

Management Committee in addressing health-related outbreaks.

Health, Wellness and Productivity Programs

The Health, Wellness, and Productivity programs of the company is aimed at achieving

Human Performance. Pershing (2006), defined it as “a systematic approach to improving

individual and organizational performance.” While the US Department of Energy (2009) defined

human performance as, “a series of behaviors carried out to accomplish specific task objectives

(results).”

Our company defines Human Performance as the way work systems, culture, processes

and equipment, interact as a system. It is a philosophical shift in thinking, redefines safety – not

the absence of incidents, but the presence of safeguards, builds on our Operational Excellence

success and targets serious incident reduction and fatality prevention. It identified four major

error traps – Organizational factors, Task demands, Individual factors, and Work environment.

Organizational factors (i.e. change, inadequate training, unclear roles, etc.), Task

demands (i.e. high workload, multitasking, inadequate job planning), Individual Factors (i.e.

stress, fatigue, distraction), and Work environment (challenging peer interactions, poor

equipment interface, etc.). The focus of the Health, Wellness, and Productivity programs is on

addressing Individual factors (physical and psychological well-being), which influences why

employees make mistakes to make it easier for them to get it right and harder to get it wrong.

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 According to Rajgopal (2010), “Work-related stress is a major cause of occupational ill

health, poor productivity and human error. This means increased sickness absence, high staff

turnover and poor performance in the organization and a possible increase in accidents due to

human error. Work-related stress could also manifest as heart disease, back pain, headaches,

gastrointestinal disturbances or various minor illnesses; as well as psychological effects such as

anxiety and depression, loss of concentration and poor decision making.” (p.148)

The company has an ergonomic discomfort program addressing musculoskeletal diseases.

This is implemented by the Enterprise Health team and the specialists are Physiotherapists. This

program won the 2018 Wellness company of the Year from ASIA CEO Awards.

Company A2 has a mental health program in place to help our employees with their

mental wellbeing. Under this program is the EAP which provides free counseling services from a

range of concerns (financial, parenting, stress, depression, anxiety, addiction, legal, interpersonal

relationships, work, and others).

Position of the Researcher

I am the Lead Occupational Health Specialist based in the Philippines, supporting

Philippines and other Asia-Pacific locations on creating and implementing Health, Wellness and

Productivity programs depending on the risk of their population. I’m directly reporting to the

Country Medical Manager and on dotted line reporting to the HR business unit head for special

projects. The team sees me as one of the subject-matter experts on musculoskeletal disorders or

ergonomic discomforts and different health and medical processes. Lastly, I provide

recommendations to the business unit heads on how to improve the overall health and

productivity of their group. Apart from these, as a health care practitioner, I advocate for mental

health, ergonomics and HIV. Reason why this paper is close to my heart.

17
 Chapter 3 – Methodology and Methods of Inquiry

This action research hopes to improve performance by addressing the mental well-being

of employees through improving the accessibility of EAP (on-site EAP counseling).

The Action Research Cycle

Coghlan (2019) cited in the context of business and management, action research is defined as an

emergent inquiry process in which applied behavioral science knowledge is integrated with

existing organizational knowledge and applied to address real organizational issues. It is

simultaneously concerned with bringing about change in organizations, in developing self-help

competencies in organizational members and adding to scientific knowledge. Finally, it is an

evolving process that is undertaken in a spirit of collaboration and co-inquiry.

Action research was used in this paper in the hope to resolve an organizational concern

using a scientific and structure approach to the issue together with my collaborators who are

directly and may be indirectly impacted of the changes.

What resonated to me as an action researcher is what Coghlan (2019) said that in action

research, there are various ways of knowing. He mentioned about knowing through experience

(experiential knowing), knowing through presentational form (through art), and through a

propositional or scientific mode where you know conceptually. One can also know in a religious

or spiritual form, or practical mode which is characterized by skillful action. He also shared that

action research is a collaborative, democratic partnership and lastly, that action research builds

on the past, takes place in the present with a view to shaping the future. Lastly, that action

research engages action researchers in interiority – recognizing and holding different forms of

knowing while attending to their own subjectivity.

18
 Coghlan (2019) mentioned that the action research cycle is composed of a pre-step,

context and purpose, and four basic steps (constructing, planning action, taking action and

evaluating action).

Figure 5. The Action Research Cycle (Coghlan, 2019)

With pre-step, Coghlan (2019) discussed the different forces driving change, assessment

of these forces which may help recognize the potency and nature of demands. Apart from this, he

also mentioned that a critical consideration for this pre-step is establishment of collaborative

relationships with those who have ownership or need to have ownership.

Coghlan (2019), discussed the four steps after identifying the pre-step with context and

purpose:

Constructing – this is a dialogic activity in which the stakeholders of the project engage

in constructing what the issues are.

I had a meeting with the team to present the observations I noticed with our ergonomic

discomfort program and the EAP (EAP) utilization report. This is to get consensus within the

team if the increasing number of ergonomic discomfort reports with psychosomatic symptoms is

the same with theirs. The relationship of EAP utilization against the ergonomic discomfort with

psychosomatic symptoms were laid out on the table for discussion. This is to validate the

19
observations made in late October 2019. A focused group discussion was also held with the

different employees from different business units.

Planning – after the constructing phase, it follows from exploration of the context and

purpose of the project, and construction of the issue, and is consistent with them.

Upon reaching a collaborative conclusion from the groups, the team will identify the plan

of action. Another meeting was set to establish, detail the plan and who will take ownership of

the action items. This way, everyone is accountable and there is shared responsibility amongst

the team.

Taking Action – Plans are being implemented and interventions made collaboratively.

Coghlan (2019).

When plans are established and the goals are clear to everyone, the team can then proceed

with the implementation as one. Eyeing at the same goal will make the movement of each team

member more fluid.

Evaluating Action – These are the outcomes of the action, both intended and unintended

and are examined if the original constructing fitted, actions taken matched the constructing,

action was taken in an appropriate manner, and what feeds into the next cycle of constructing,

planning, and action which will lead to creation of another cycle. Coghlan (2019).

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 Figure 6. Spiral Action Research Cycles (Coghlan, 2019)

Methods of Data Collection

According to Coghlan (2019), action research data comes through engagement with

others in the action research cycles. Every action, even the very intention and presence of

research is an intervention and has political implication across the system. (p.134). Accordingly,

it is more appropriate to speak of data generation than data gathering. Participation and

observation in the activities and discussions is key in data generation.

As the insider action researcher, data gathered came from meetings, focused group

discussions, journal entries through the Momento app and survey questionnaire to the

participants. Coghlan (2019) cited Nadler (1977) that survey can be considered for data

gathering. It was further mentioned in the text that data-gathering tools need to be designed to fit

both the organizational setting and the purpose of the research (p. 136). For this action research,

survey was sent to the participants who used on-site counseling.

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 The three types of inquiry used for data collection are first, second and third person.

These were used to gather insights, feedback, and potential intervention.

First-Person Inquiry

Coghlan (2019) said that, “at its core, first-person practice means that your own beliefs,

values, assumptions, way of thinking, strategies and behavior, and so on are afforded a central

place of inquiry in your action research practice.” He further noted that it is done by the

individual himself to have the awareness and act on purpose. (p.7).

The first-person inquiry helped me understand myself better and enabled me to

collaborate better with other people without judgement.

ORJI

Schein (1999a) method is a useful framework for journal-keeping. The ORJI model

(Observation, Reaction, Judgement, Intervention) focuses on what goes on inside our head and

how it affects our covert behavior. Action researchers Observe with our senses of what is

actually occurring in the environment(O); react emotionally to what has been observed (R);

analyze, process and make judgements based on observations and feeling (J); and intervene in

order to make something happen (I).

Figure 7. Schein’s ORJI Model (Schein,1999,p.87)

22
 Schein (1999a) noted that there are traps in the cycle – Misconception which is due to

pre-judgement, expectations, defenses or false attributions, we do not accurately perceive what

happened or why; Inappropriate emotional response which could be coming from two reasons of

misperception of what happened and overreact emotionally or have an emotional response that in

itself is inappropriate; Analysis and Judgement based on Incorrect data or faulty logic and

Intervening on Seemingly correct judgement that are in fact incorrect. Schein likewise shared

how to fall from these traps – Identify possible bases of misperception, Identify Own Emotional

Response Biases, Identify Cultural Assumptions in Judgement and Reason, Institute Systematic

Checking Procedures (explicit questioning, silence as an intervention), and Maintaining a Spirit

of Inquiry.(p.86-100).

I used Momento app for journaling to write down my observations and thoughts, how I

felt that time and my reflection afterwards. I built the habit of questioning my thoughts, if they

are valid or assumptions.

Ladder of Inference

According to Argyris et.al (1985), the ladder of inference shows how meanings and

assumptions are attributed to selected observable data and experiences, and conclusions and

beliefs are adopted on which actions are based.

Figure 8. Ladder of Inference (Coghlan, 2019, p.29)

23
 Coghlan (2019), “the ladder of inference helps us retrace our steps from what was

directly observed behavior, reasoning and the conclusions we draw (p.40).

During my MAR, the reflections I had using the ladder of inference helped

me understand the context of the other person rather than skipping into conclusions.

Usually, it is so easy to make conclusions and skip one part of the ladder

because of prejudices or I may have felt back then that I already handled that same situation.

Since then, I tried to practice the LOI to help me become more objective or focused on the

situation and stop me from drawing conclusions prematurely. With my Ladder of Inference, I

used it during the Focused Group Discussion, it was completed because we went through each

step of the ladder and consciously checking if we have skipped a step during the process.

Left-Hand Column

Coghlan (2019) cited Argyris’ technique of right hand/left hand column to uncover

privately held inferences and attributions in second practice. It can be used to mentally fill in the

left-hand columns to help with our communication

I used this technique in one of the meetings I had and learned that I have been

withholding my thoughts. I discovered myself more through reflection when I audited my

thoughts. I realized that my thoughts are not exactly bad but can be improved and that I need to

stay on the reality of what’s happening to prove or disprove my assumptions and biases.

Meta-Learning

This action research underwent two cycles. The first cycle is the core action research

cycle (Coghlan,2019, p.12) cited Zuber-Skerritt and the second cycle, the reflection cycle, which

is an action research cycle.”

24
 According to Mezirow (1991) as cited by Coghlan (2019) that there are three forms of

reflection:

1. Content reflection: you think about the issues and what you think is happening.

2. Process reflection: you think about strategies and procedures, and how things are

being done.

3. Premise reflection: where you critique underlying assumptions and perspectives.

Second-Person Inquiry

Coghlan (2019), “Second-person inquiry or practice addresses their ability to inquire into and

work with others on issues of mutual concern, through face-to-face dialogue, conversation and

joint action. It imposes an important challenge as to who is involved in the research, and how.”

(p.7).

Schein (2013) second practice that “you need to be attentive to how you engage with

others in the inquiry process, in building relationships, listening well and having a range of ways

of interacting with them so that collaborative inquiry and joint action can take place.

Schein (1999) identified three forms of active inquiry – pure inquiry, diagnostic inquiry,

and confrontive inquiry. Pure inquiry is pure listening to account of experiences of the issues at

hand. Diagnostic inquiry used to elicit and explore their stories of what is taking place.

Confrontive Inquiry is where sharing of your own ideas, challenging the other to think from a

new perspective. The three forms of active inquiry were utilized during team meetings and

focused group discussions. The confrontive inquiry allowed me to play a devil’s advocate during

meetings which challenged our thoughts on improving our services. (p.45).

25
Force Field Analysis

Coghlan (2019) cited Kurt Lewin’s force field analysis as the most useful tool for

assessing and creating interventions. It’s based on assumptions that there are forces driving

change and restraining forces in every situation.

Critical Realism

Based on “Action research as a form of social inquiry” by Winter and Munn-Giddings,

make a critical realist theory to explain the causes (actors, structures, forces/powers, conditions)

that brings about the proposed issue. Research by Rogers & Teehankee (2020) supports that the

goal is not to identify the false beliefs but to uncover the causes of those beliefs in their

discussion on explanatory critique.

The main issue being addressed in my IAR is the low utilization of EAP (EAP) in the

workplace despite the increase in reported ergonomic discomforts. The main actors in my IAR

are the employees not availing the EAP benefit wherein some of them shows psychosomatic

discomforts. The team based on observations and interviews noticed that there is an increasing

number of discomforts related to somatization but doesn’t tie up with the utilization report from

our vendor.

Four Parts of Speech

Torbert (2015) that the four parts of speech is useful to the action inquiry role. He suggested the

four parts as:

Framing – stating the purpose of the dialogue

Advocating – stating objectives, options, perception, feeling or recommendations for the

action.

26
 Illustrating – Providing more context on the story to make the advocacy more solid.

Inquiring – asking others to understand their perspectives

Systems Thinking

Senge (1990) on his works on Systems Thinking said, “In systems thinking, linear cause-

and-effect analysis is replaced by viewing patterns of interaction which mutually influence each

other.” He further stated that business and other human endeavors are also systems and are

interrelated to each other and not visible but Systems Thinking makes it clearer to see the whole

patterns and not the individual part of the pattern.

Third-Person Inquiry

Coghlan (2019) on third person inquiry or practice “aims at creating communities of

inquiry, involving people beyond the direct second-person action. Third person is impersonal and

is actualized through dissemination by reporting, publishing and extrapolating from the concrete

to the general.”

Related literature aids to better understand the situation of this action research and

validate as well if there studies in the past or current that are relevant. The electronic database of

De La Salle University was utilized to search for journals and books. Sources also came from

company-sponsored sites. Related literature topics cited in this action research focused on the

issues on musculoskeletal disorders, mental health disorders, work factors that influence these

diseases, and addressing the barriers in health care.

Change Management Strategy

John Kotter created the Kotter’s Change Management Model as a process for leading

change. According to (Gupta, 2011) the Kotter’s Change management model “enables

27
executives if identify, inspire and execute actions for creating culture of innovation” (p.3). will

be used for this action research. (Kotter, 2011) It introduced the Eight-step process for leading

change:

1. Establishing a sense of urgency – help others see the need for change through a bold,

aspirational opportunity statement that communicates the importance of acting

immediately.

2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition – Key players are involved, getting the right skills

from all the areas needed and building a credible reputation that is established in the

organization.

3. Creating a vision – Clarify how the future will be different from the past and how can this

“future” state become a reality.

4. Communicating the vision – to create a shared sense of a desired future and keeps the

team motivated and coordinated towards achieving the vision.

5. Empowering others to act on the vision – by removing the barriers as possible in the

implementation

6. Planning for and creating short-term wins – by creating visible an clear-cut results as

stepping stones so that the team can see that their efforts contributes to the overall

change.

7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change – includes a step to

consolidate the improvements and highlights the continued effort to produce still more

change.

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 8. Institutionalizing new approaches – new practices made as part of the change effort.

He noted that the fundamental goals underscoring most transformation – increase in

revenue/profits or decrease costs and become more effective or efficient, or both.

This model will guide me as an action researcher in achieving the objectives to address the

identified issue. Kotter model will help me as well focus on preparing employees for the

transition rather that change implementation itself, the model is also collaborative as evidenced

in the 8-step process.

Reframing Matrix

Mind Tools (2018) discussed the reframing matrix devised by Michael Morgan, “the

reframing matrix is a simple technique that helps examine problems from distinct viewpoints.” It

helps in having a fresh pair of eyes especially when looking for a solution.

The Reframing matrix uses the 4Ps perspective – product, planning, potential and people

with the problem or question at the middle of the four-box grid.

Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix, also referred to as Urgent-Important Matrix to help decide on which

tasks should be prioritized based on urgency and importance. The first quadrant are tasks that are

important and needs to be done in the same day. The second quadrant, labeled as “schedule” are

important activities but not urgent. The third quadrant are tasks that can be delegated because

they are less important than others but perceived as urgent. The final quadrant are activities that

should not be done at all because it is neither important nor urgent.

Addressing role duality, organizational politics, and ethical concerns

Coghlan (2019) cited Roth (2007) said that the insider action researcher is first

29
an employee of his/her organization, and second is a researcher. In addition to these two roles a

third role evolved when the insider action was seen as an internal consultant to the organization.

In my current role, I am expected to lead the team while doing my action research. Through

consistent practice of reflection and other tools in action research, I became more aware of my

thought process and emotions especially on not forcing the concern that I initially observed.

Task Process
First Person Holding and valuing both sets of roles Catching internal responses to
simultaneously conflicting demands and
dealing with them
Second Person Holding and managing demands of both Role negotiation with
roles, particularly in situations of significant others
conflicting roles demands

Third Person Developing practical knowledge of how Linking experience of role

dual roles impact on action research and duality with theory
contribute to insider action research role
identity theory

Table 1. Role duality in first-, second, third person practice (Coghlan, 2019)

He further discussed the four challenges:

1. Knowing how to operate successfully

2. Translating ideas into the appropriate language for each world.

3. Knowing the language of the organization and the academic community.

4. Learning to put on different hats, so that multiple roles are an asset rather than a burden

(p.85)

On organizational politics, at the start of this action research, my team

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(collaborators) are aware that I am conducting this study in our organization. My manager, HR

business partner, Corporate Affairs manager and Data Privacy Compliance specialists are aware

of this action research. I carefully explained to them in detail the data that I will be using for this

action research. They provided good insights and reminded of the limitations of the information

that I can share especially due to the nature of my action research. I constantly verify with the

team, my manager and the HR manager if the goals of my project are aligned and supports the

business goals for the year. Coghlan (2019) provided a table in dealing with organizational

politics and ethical considerations.

Table 2. Ethics and politics in first-,second, and third-person practice

Coghlan (2019) cited that there are four ethical principles according to Gellerman:
1. Serve the good of the whole

2. Treat others as we would like them to treat us.

3. Always treat people as ends, never only as means; respect their being and never use them

for their ability to do; treat people as persons and never as subjects.

4. Act so we do not increase power by more powerful stakeholders over the less powerful

Apart from the values that we have in the organization such as Integrity,

the RVR-COB Code of Ethics provides additional guiding principles on being a La Sallian

student and future business leader. It states that, “I recognize that my purpose in the society as a

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La Sallian business leader is to lead people and manage resources to promote human

development and the common good, and to create value that no single individual can create

alone.” During this action research, I collaborated with my team, other senior leaders and

employees to improve the health delivery of our EAP. This is in the hope that more employees

will use this resource to improve their mental health and consequently improve performance.

Chapter 4 – Stories and Outcomes – First Cycle

Constructing

In 2017, as part of process improvement for our mental health program, the EAP was

moved to our team, Enterprise Health. Improvements were made since then including cost

savings from vendor sourcing, improving contract coverage, relaunch of the program and

collaboration with other teams such as the Organizational Capability and Diversity groups in the

organization. Prior to moving the EAP to our team, we already noticed that some of the

discomfort reports from our Ergonomic discomfort program in the past years are not consistent

with the symptoms of physical illness/injuries related to work and non-occupational activities. It

was in 2018 that these types of ergonomic discomfort reports have increased significantly.

After applying the different IAR tools, the team agreed that the main problem is that EAP

utilization of 2-7% is low due to difficulty accessing the physical location of the EAP provider.

During interviews with the employees who are experiencing ergonomic discomforts, this

is the typical flow of our conversation when they are presenting with psychosomatic symptoms.

In this method, I am not merely diagnosing or providing recommendations to the employees but

I’m collaborating with them, asking what their thoughts are and give him an idea on how to

address his concern. It also allowed me to understand their concerns.

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Type of Inquiry
Pure Inquiry
Diagnostic Inquiry
Confrontive Inquiry
I have applied systems thinking in different scenarios during the entire cycle and mainly
it helped the team see the entirety of the issue and things that we could have missed.
Systemic questioning
Establishing circuitry
When A does X, what does B
do? What does A do next?
Question Feedback/Response
Can you share with me EE: I have back and neck
what’s the most bothersome pain when I wake up and in
discomfort you’re currently the afternoons.
experiencing?
What do you think is causing EE: I think it’s because of
your discomfort? workload and I have trouble
sleeping at night because I
think about the work that I
have not completed for the
day. My customers might get
mad.
Have you tried talking to one EE: No, I saw in your
of our counselors through sharepoint site that it’s
EAP? somewhere in Pasig and it’s
just too far from my
residence.
Table 3. Inquiries
How I have applied Systems thinking?
Me: During interview with an employee who has ergonomic
discomfort with psychosomatic symptoms, I endorse the
employee to EAP. But during follow-up, employees did not
avail EAP service. I talked to my team and we discussed the
next steps.
33

Establishing patterns
What patterns are evident over
time?
Exploring meaning
What are the meanings held in
the system? What are the
common meanings attributed
to events and actions?
Exploring covert rules
What unarticulated and hidden
rules govern behavior?
Exploring the time dimensions
How do time delays have an
impact on the system?
The team convened and completed case analyses on several discomfort reports that
presents with unusual symptoms. Further interviews with our employees who were under the
ergonomic discomfort program showed that 76% of the cases have an aspect of emotional
- Establishing circuitry helped me establish the next
action items from my end. The exercise also helped
my other team members to map out the activities
associated with the issue.
Me: Did you notice regular occurrences?
Pao: Yes, from my interviews with employees, they
complain of bodily discomfort with mental health aspect.
Rina: From my end, recommendations were given to avail
EAP but on follow-up, they haven’t done so because they
have a lot of things in mind.
- The patterns observed by the team was validated
through the interviews.
Me: Rina, may I verify what did the employee meant with,
“…so many things in mind?”
Rina: They meant that they have work tasks, family issues
and financial concerns that needs to be prioritized more than
their mental health.
- The clarification made the analysis of the situation
clearer and avoided assumptions at the start.
Me: Are there unstated rules in the process?
Rina: I think there are because we do not have access to the
names of employees who will undergo the counseling
because of data privacy. I feel that the employees are
personally accountable to their mental health, but our
responsibility is to inform and provide them with resources.
- Identifying the hidden or unarticulated rule helps us
recognize our limitations.
Me: How will the wait-and-see affect our service delivery?
Pao: The longer that we postpone the implementation of on-
site counseling, the longer the possibility that there are
employees who will not avail the EAP because of the
identified barriers.
Rina: Additionally, the longer this is delayed, the higher the
chances that our workload will increase due to reported
discomforts.
- The time dimension cemented the urgency and
importance of the on-site counseling.
Table 4. Systems Thinking Practice
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 health either showing signs of anxiety, loss of interest which manifests as absenteeism, stress at

work, relationship with office mates and/or families.

These types of cases should simultaneously be addressed with EAP. (Tausig & Fenwick,

2013) cited in their book on Work and Mental Health in Social Context that Job-related stress

has been linked to poor health behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption,

gastrointestinal disorder, cancer, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease-related

mortality and of course to psychological disorder, including depression and burnout.

In the past years, while we have a number of ergonomic discomfort cases, there were

very few who shows psychosomatic symptoms. It was in 2018 that I started to notice from my

cases that there’s a growing number of bodily discomforts showing psychosomatic symptoms.

The trend continued in 2019.

I used the Ladder of Inference, to help me make a better conclusion regarding the

situation.

Steps in the Ladder of Description of my thought process for each step

Inference
Take ACTIONS based on myI requested for a meeting and an FGD to discuss and test my
beliefs conclusion to better assist our employees. It is of best
interest (health) of our employees to consult EAP whether
proactively or reactively when they have mental health
concerns.
Adopt BELIEFS about the We may need to increase the visibility of EAP in the office
person and situation to promote the program.
Draw CONCLUSIONS Low utilization of the EAP may be due to lack of awareness
of employees.
Make ASSUMPTIONS based These employees may have hesitations for not using EAP.
on meanings added
Add MEANINGS (cultural Utilization rate for EAP is low compared to the number of
and personal) ergonomic discomfort cases that presents with
psychosomatic signs and symptoms.
Select DATA from what I Utilization rate for EAP is 2-7%.
observe
OBSERVE data and I and my other specialists have been receiving
experiences psychosomatic discomfort reports from the employees.

35
 Bodily discomforts are not consistent with signs and
symptoms for a disease. I felt frustrated and regretful that the
EAP is not utilized because as a health care professional, I
think that addressing our psyche is equally important as
addressing our physical aspect.
Table 5. Ladder of Inference as applied

I requested for an FGD and first meeting with the team happened in January 21, 8:00AM.

The collaborators were employees who both utilized EAP in the past and those who have not.

Participants were from IT, HR, Procurement, Finance and Service Centers. My goal in the

meeting then was to check on my thoughts and get the feel of the ground on employees’

perception on EAP (EAP). Due to data privacy, I cannot disclose the names of the participants

because some of them are employees who used EAP service before. Prior to the FGD, I talked

with my manager regarding the data that I received from our vendor. I saw that the percentage of

utilization was low, ranging only from 2-7% utilization compared to the 76% ergonomic

discomfort cases with psychosomatic symptoms. The goal of the FGD is to identify barriers in

accessing EAP service. ORJI was used during the FGD.

Observation • What did I observe? (Through During the FGD, the facilitator started with
the five senses of sight, an ice breaker for the group to loosen up
hearing, touch, smell, and taste) and get to know the members of the group.

I noticed that the IT folks are the ones more

responsive on providing feedback and
suggestions. They keep on raising their
hands and pasting post-its on the board. The
finance group tends to ask questions and
clarifications on items that are vague for
them. Their voices were audible and clear.
One of the participants who is particularly
new to the company only talks when asked
and speaks very softly that we had a hard
time hearing her. When asked to place her
post-its on the board, I saw her hands
shaking and her voice breaking a bit when
asked.

36
Reaction • How did I react? What
feelings (emotions) were
aroused in me?
Judgment • What was my judgement
about what happened?
• What thoughts (assessments
and analysis of causes, if
any) or evaluations
(considerations of
right/wrong, good/bad,
acceptable/unacceptable,
etc.) did the event trigger?
• What personal values and
principles did I consider
and how?
Intervention • What did I do about it?
How did I intervene?
(Remember that doing
nothing or remaining silent
is also an intervention.)
While I know most of the attendees, I can
sense some awkwardness between the
participants because they do not know each
other especially during the introductions. I
feared that I may not extract the information
that I needed from the group because they
are not “close” enough or does not know
each other enough for the activity. For the
shy one, I felt that I needed to help and calm
her and so I smiled to make her feel more
comfortable with the group. As the FGD
was on-going, I was surprised with the
inputs of the participants because I feel that
it was an eye opener. I reflected and felt
pleased that it’s always good to hear
feedback from someone outside my core
team. Towards the end of the FGD, while
my co-facilitator was summarizing the
inputs, I got a bit anxious not on the results
but on their expectations after the FGD.
I concluded that the FGD achieved its goals
and objectives. despite the unfamiliarity of
the people with each other. Based on the
discussions, the FGD brought awareness on
EAP. I think what helped is that the goals
were clearly described.
On personal values, Filipinos are generally
shy which may be a factor why there was
some hesitations at first and it took longer
compared to when having meetings with my
organic team. While we have that sense of
being an introvert or shyness as a common
personal value, our company culture on
collaboration even with our new hires
helped in achieving our goals.
Before we started, I convened with the main
facilitator to prepare an ice breaker game. I
explained the context of the FGD topic,
goals and objectives to provide a clear
direction with the participants. With the shy
participant, I smiled at her to help her feel at
37
 ease and walked with her to the board to
place her inputs.

Since I have some fear and anxiety during

the start of the FGD, I kept asking questions
to verify or validate my understanding.

Unpredicted • What was the unpredicted
outcome or unexpected outcome or
result of your intervention?
• What are the cognitive traps
(biases) that you may
(possibly or actually) have
fallen into. Use the
categories of Schein
(1999). Explain each.
I was not expecting to find out the other
barriers and stop-gaps that were identified
during our FGD.
For the FGD group, I was amazed to have a
detailed list of the barriers and most of the
initial discussions with my organic team
were validated in the FGD.
I have fallen into Trap 1 (Misperception)
due to my pre-judgements prior to the start
of the FGD and even while it started. I was
expecting that the FGD group will provide
information but to my surprise, it was a very
detailed one. I thought that the discussion
will not be organized because the
participants’ mix is diverse.

What helped us during the FGD is Explicit

Questioning as explained by Schein. There
were follow-up questions to further test the
observation and reaction of the participants
and so is the facilitator’s and mine. We had
to tests our assumptions and understanding
on the inputs of the group.

Table 6. ORJI Practice

I used a table to illustrate the four parts of speech used during the FGD with different

business unit employees.

Four Parts of Speech How I have applied Four parts of Speech?

Framing Framing by clarifying purpose
Me: Thank you for taking time to participate in this focused-group
discussion. The purpose of this FGD is learn from everyone what
are the potential barriers in availing EAP.

38
 Our facilitator will guide us through the process. We need your
thoughts, do not filter them and please don’t hesitate to ask
questions/clarifications or even challenge a question or answer.
Framing by checking assumptions
Me: We’re you aware of the different ways to access EAP?
EE1: not really sure. I only know that we need to call them for an
appointment.
EE2: I know that we can call them and have the consultation
through phone.
Advocating Advocating action or strategy
Me: The EAP program is an important part of addressing the total
health of a person and yet it has low utilization. Do you think this is
something that we need to address?
EE3: Yes, totally agree. Full disclosure, I used this benefit once on a
parenting issue that has been affecting my mood. It was a good
experience overall, talking to someone I don’t personally know,
which means I was not afraid of being judged. It improved my well-
being.
Advocating feeling or perception
Me: I feel regretful that our employees do not use EAP because of
the vendor’s location. I think we need to bring it closer to our
people.

Illustrating Illustrating advocacy for action or strategy

Me: We should look at having an on-site counselling as part of
EAP. One of our employees shared that she’s having a hard time
going to the vendor’s location as she lives in Bulacan and traffic is
terrible to go through for an hour session.

Illustrating advocacy for feeling or perception

Me: I think we should hear Pam on her thoughts on on-site
counseling because she hasn’t shared her insights.
Inquiring Inquiring into other’s thinking
Me: I’d like to know your thoughts about this. Let’s go around the
table.
EE4: I agree with your suggestion. We have been doing the
counseling either through phone or face-to-face in the vendor’s
location, but we have never tried exploring on-site counseling, that
is here in the office. (Inquiring to reveal an alternative thinking).
EE5: I hope that we will offer the on-site counseling and still offer
phone counseling because apart from convenience, there are also
personalities who prefer to be anonymous – in terms of not them
being physically seen by the counselor.
OC LEAD: Great! Thank you everyone for sharing your insights.
This is indeed a diverse group. How do you think we should go
forward?

39
 Me: EE5 has a good point on retaining what is existing but upgrade
the service through providing another option. I’ll meet with the
vendor next week to discuss our strategy. Thank you everyone.
Table 7. Four Parts of Speech Practice

I used left-hand column by Ross, 1994 as cited by Senge (1990) because it helped me

understand Left-hand column better that I was able to use it in this action research. On January

28, 2020, I went back to the team and discussed the data gathered from the focused group

discussion with the employees. Some of these employees used EAP and some have not. Data

from the FGD are rich but it was not yet organized.

What was I thinking What we said

I didn’t expect this much information for a
question on EAP.
I agree the information is a lot but if we’re not Rina: That’s a lot of information to handle.
going to do it, nobody would.
What are you so worried about?
Precisely why we shouldn’t waste time!
Yey! We can start now.
Table 8. Left Hand Column practice
Me: Thanks for coming on time team. Our
goal in this meeting is to organize the data
that has been collected from the FGD. I have
here several answers here but will need
clustering.
I’m not sure if we can organize it within an
hour.
Me: I understand that you might feel
overwhelmed with the information but let’s
do what we can in an hour.
Rina: I still think that we won’t complete this
in the plotted dates that we earlier agreed.
Achie: It’s a possibility but it’s also a
possibility that we’ll be able to complete
everything but let me ask what your
inhibitions are?
Rina: Well, I think identifying the barriers
was hard enough and now we’ll need to put
them into categories! Andiyan pa si COVID.
Achie: I agree on your points, would you like
to batch it so we can take small bites? Si
COVID, let’s discuss it in another meeting.
Rina: Yes, I think that would help me at
digesting it. Thanks.
Achie: No problem

After the meeting, we completed the task without the conflict. I recall that it was

frustrating for me during that moment because I was focused on completing each milestone in
40
our plan and I have a team member who’s sharing her concerns. I wanted to complete the task

but in order for me to that, I need everyone in the team to be on-hand. If not, the task will be

more taxing for everyone. My assumptions that time was that Rina was trying to skip her part

but was proven wrong. A lot were going on her mind then. What prevented me from speaking

my left-hand column were the body signals that I noticed – from her and the other team

members. I sensed tension in the air, so I tried to refocus myself. I noticed that she was fidgeting

which she normally doesn’t do.

Looking back at the situation, had I said what was on my mind that time, it could have

gone south. My working relationship with Rina could have been damaged, she could have had a

meltdown because for all I know she might be undergoing non-work stress or tension.

The team came up with our force field analysis focusing on the low utilization of EAP

services, identifying the driving forces and restraining forces.

Figure 9. Force field Analysis applied

41
 The team identified as many factors that will influence change. We agreed that the

following under driving forces – company culture on health and safety on proactively addressing

risks and its value on protecting its people, we have available resources (manpower to support

the change), management support (HR is engaged), good relationship with the external provider

at no additional cost with the existing contract. The team’s professional commitment was strong

as the team understood the implications of addressing mental health and physical health together.

Additionally, there is an economic benefit identified in pursuing the onsite consultation

because this will help prevent recordable injuries which is part of the key performance indicators

of the organization. It determines the monetary incentive that will be received by the entire

population. These driving forces will help us move towards our goal which is the desired state.

On the other side, the restraining forces, we have identified – fear (new process, fear or

uncertainty of the change, it will take a lot of effort for the implementation, misconceptions on

availing EAP and possible time constraint). To further aid the team with identifying the cause of

the problem, we used the fishbone diagram to help us process the information that we gathered.

42
 Figure 10. Fishbone diagram on why people are not using EAP

Based on the several meetings, case analyses, and focused-group discussions conducted,

and using the fish bone diagram, we have identified that while EAP is offered through phone

counseling, most employees prefer a face-to-face counseling but is hindered by access and effort.

Employee’s fear on confidentiality was presented and the fear that the recommendation from the

EAP is to take a leave from work. EAP is not a requirement so it’s natural for them as they said

not to use it proactively. The local culture in the diagram is the Filipino culture on trusting

someone outside the family, personality and stigma. Local culture is not is scope of this action

research and not within my sphere of influence.

Employees who have concerns or issues, struggling or would like to be proactive can be

discouraged easily when attempting to seek consultation because of physical location of the

counselor, lengthy waiting time, scheduling, and traffic going to the area. This in turn affects the

utilization rate of the program.

43
 The figure below shows the more detailed discussions and meetings that started in late

November 2019 up to end of my first cycle in March 2020.

Constructing Phase started in November 27, 2019 and ended in January 28, 2020. There

were several touch point meetings with various stakeholders to help me correctly identify the

problem.

Figure 11. Timeline (constructing)

January 28, I went back to the team with the information that I gathered from different

stakeholders. We ran through each barrier that were identified and matched it with ours.

What was glaring then was that the access to EAP was the main barrier for not availing it,

which was followed by stigma.

44
Planning

After identifying the cause of the problem, we proceeded with identifying the activities to

address it.

At the start of our meeting during the planning stage, the team agreed to lay out the

activities leading to the event, the detailed action items, who will be accountable for the

deliverable and date of completion.

We reached our target dates but there were hiccups along the way such as the logistics

support. Meeting rooms in the office are usually fully booked, we had to trade-off some of the

rooms so that the counselor will be occupying one room only for the entire counseling day. This

will limit the counselor movement and will also limit confidentiality risks.

The team recognized that we need to speed-up the rest of the process because in January

30, there’s news that Philippines has its first COVID-19 case. It’s only time that it will reach

community transmission and we are on alert status as well.

Date Activity

10 February 2020 Together with the team, we outlined the action items and agreed to update

each other weekly on the status of each item. We also agreed on who will

take the specific action item.

Action items:

• HR manager engagement

• EAP provider meeting

• Finalize schedule of the first on-site counseling

• Create on-line feedback form for the participants

• Gather feedback results

45
 • Share the results with the senior management

• Review the process with the team (Improvements, what went well,

what not)

Logistics

Table 9. Timeline (planning)

Sharing here the table that team used to track down the activities under Planning:
On-time Delayed

Who What Details Target date of Completed on

completion time
Medical Admin Logistics
Support
Meeting invites March 12, 2020

Room March 10, 2020

Entrance and Exit protocol March 10, 2020

Metrics and Reports

Reporting
Specialist Survey reports March 17, 2020

Action Engagements

Researcher Meeting with EAP vendor March 10, 2020

- To ask for their

support
- Finalize the date
- Finalize the
counselor
Meeting with HR BP February 26,

Manager 2020

Create the online registration March 11, 2020

and feedback form
Review of the process March 18, 2020

Table 10. Planning

46
Taking Action

Continuing with the timeline on taking action:

26 February 2020 Met with the HR business partner manager and she was inquiring about my project on when will the on-site

EAP session for our employees will start. I informed that it will be implemented in March. I asked for her

support to cascade the information the soonest once we have the details, which she agreed.

10 March 2020 Had a meeting with our external EAP provider together with our Medical Coordinator for the feasibility of

having onsite counseling sessions.

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 The meeting went well – the EAP provider’s regional manager agreed with our request and expressed that

they are happy to explore this option as well as our commitment in helping the mental wellness of our

employees. We agreed with the date of the implementation and they’ll give me the details of the counselor

who’ll be assigned for this project within the day. I received the details that they promised during the meeting.

11 March 2020 Used our online platform in creating the registration for the onsite EAP counseling and the survey that will be

shared to the employees. I shared the two links (registration and event survey) to the team and requested for

their feedback if they would encounter technical and typographical errors. They all sent their feedback within

the day. Email communication was sent to the HR Business Partners for their cascade to the team leaders.

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 The goal of the communications is to inform the employees through their leaders that they can request for

onsite counseling scheduled on March 13 from 8AM-6PM in our office.

12 March 2020 The system triggered email responses sent to the assigned mailbox for employee-request on Onsite EAP

counseling.

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 Our Medical Admin Support sent the meeting invites with details of the meeting, including the duration,

room and note on confidentiality, for the employees who requested and the counselor. There were total of

twelve requests, but we were only able to accommodate eight employees in schedule.

13 March 2020 The counselor’s room was booked for the whole day, and the employees will proceed to the room assignment

with 10 minutes in between each session to maintain confidentiality. The entrance is different from the exit

area. Feedback was sent to the participants, and we are hoping to receive their responses by March 17.

Table 11. Taking action

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 The Kotter’s change model framework helped the team built the change. The figure below

shows how the team applied Kotter Change model during the action research.

Figure 12. Kotter's Change Model on onsite counseling

Create urgency – there’s an increasing number of ergonomic discomfort reports that are

showing psychosomatic symptoms. In the study conducted by (Oakman et al., 2018) they

identified important gaps in current musculoskeletal and mental health disease risk management

practices are fist, risk from work-related psychosocial hazards are not identified, and strong

focus on training programs rather than addressing risk from work-related hazards. Westgaard et.

Al. (2011) in their study on Occupational musculoskeletal and mental health in creating a

sustainable production system said that “medical conditions diagnosed as musculoskeletal or

psychological/mental disorders are a major cause of sick leaves, threatening welfare of

individuals and the economics of companies and the society. 60% of certified work-related

health conditions are with sick leaves longer than 90 days.”

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 Form a Powerful coalition – The collaboration within the team has been long tested by

working for more than 5 years together with several health, wellness, and productivity projects.

We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The partnership built with our external

provider for EAP was excellent. They embraced the idea of conducting an on-site counseling

despite not offering this in the past. The additional coalition with the HRBP manager was key in

cascading the information almost immediately to the organization.

Create a Vision for Change – the end goal was created not only by one person, but by the

whole team. We hoped to deliver an innovation to our service to improve access to health

resources for our employees.

Communicate the Vision – For this action research, communicating the vision or the goal

was not difficult because the team members were engaged and included at Day 1.

Empower Action – Enabled the employees to access EAP better by removing the main

barrier identified during the meetings with different stakeholders.

Create quick wins – Our quick wins during the entire process of this action research is

whenever an employee inquires about EAP. For us that means that they may be contemplating on

availing the program or it sparks their interest. A simple inquiry is a quick win for us as it

suggests that people may be starting to talk about their mental health.

Build on the change – Review of the process during our look back session. We identified

what went well, what not, and what can be improved.

Make it stick – Implementing and sustaining the change. The onsite counseling will be part

of the options that our employees can use apart from phone, face-to-face in the vendor’s office or

email counseling.

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 After establishing the plan, we executed it immediately. The engagement with the HRBP

manager came easy because this was also in her agenda. She asked if it can be implemented

sooner but I respectfully declined because the preparation was not enough. We are in race against

the pandemic but if the implementation is not ironed out, we will have to repeat the entire

process from the start which will mean more time will be needed. As we say in the organization,

there’s always time to do it right.

Sharing here the QR codes created and reviewed by our team. Our employees can register to

the site and it can even be accessed externally. This ensures that even outside the office, the

employee can register to the session anytime, anywhere.

Figure 13. registration for onsite counseling

To gather feedback for the onsite counseling session, our employees may use this QR

code below:

Figure 14. Feedback for onsite counseling

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Evaluating Action

We recognize the importance of auditing our work. We have a scheduled look-back

session. The goal of these type of sessions is to celebrate our successes and identify items or

details that can be improved. The lookback session happened in March 18, 2020 through Teams

because Metro Manila and provinces are in Enhanced Community Quarantine in March 16. Our

organization immediately shifted employees to shelter-in-place mode or work from home

environment. The team identified what went well, what did not and what can be improved.

Everyone agreed that the four employees who were not accommodated during the onsite

EAP counseling was a delta (negative). We considered a plus (positive) that we were able to

launch the first onsite EAP counseling session. 0.53% utilization rate for March which we can

use as our baseline data. The overall feedback from the six employees who answered the survey

was at 67% while 83% of them noted that there’s an improvement in their mental health. Work

performance improvement perceived by 67% of the participants.

March (%)

Overall 67

Mental Health Improvement 83

Work performance improvement 67

Table 12. Survey result for the first EAP onsite counseling

Chapter 5 – Meta Learning after First Cycle

Overall, the first cycle was pulled off with 67% rating from the participants. We were not

expecting that the 8-hour on-site EAP counseling session will be fully booked. For me it was a

good sign because it may mean that people find that EAP is easy to access, good timing or the

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communication from the HR Business partners to the supervisors was effective. I felt bad

because we were not able to accommodate the four excess requests because we were not

expecting it, hence did not plan anything for that scenario. This taught us that we need to create a

back-up plan not only for under requests but also for requests over our resources. We agreed to

send an email to the four employees, but now, thinking back, I think we could have done more,

such as further endorse the employees to EAP through phone call. We failed to ask for their

preference, thus denying them the chance to contact EAP.

Hypothesis testing was used to reflect on what happened in the first cycle. Coghlan,

2019, said that a learning outcome from action science methods is that what we believed to be

true is an inference. (Argyris et.al,1985) counsel treating fact as hypotheses and provided seven

rules for hypothesis testing:

Seven Rules for Hypothesis How I have applied
Testing hypothesis testing?
1. Combine advocacy with Cha: We’re able to complete
inquiry the schedule of the counselor
for our initial on-site
counseling.
Me: It’s good that we’re able
to complete the schedule. For
me this might mean that
people are responsive with
this innovation. Do you see
doing this onsite counseling
on a monthly basis?
Junrey: I think it’s possible.
Analysis of the effects on me
and my collaborators as we
apply the rules
The team felt in unison that
there is an issue that needs to
be addressed. My
collaborators were eager to
take on the issue because we
all felt that addressing mental
health is a pressing issue and
is within our sphere of
influence.

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 Rina: Yes, but that would
mean additional logistics and
budget needs to sustain it
monthly.
Pao: This will be another
challenge for the team.
Me: I think so, but the
logistics and budget are good
problems compared to not
realizing it right?
Team: laughs
2. Illustrate your inferences Pao: Based on the feedback From this scenario, we had
with direct observable from the first onsite EAP quantitative data from the
data consultation, we received survey and we also had one
67%. unintentional qualitative
Junrey: 100 is the highest feedback from one of the
right? participants which helped us
Pao: Yes, that is correct gauge the response of the
Rina: I think that’s a good participants.
number considering that this
was our first onsite counseling
Me: I agree. One employee
came to me and she was
thankful and relieved we
offered it onsite.
3. Make your reasoning Me: Our survey showed that The team has been working
explicit we did good with the first together for 5 years and we
onsite EAP counseling, but are at risk of “group
four employees were not thinking”. (Schmidt, 2016).
accommodated. We are aware of this risk and

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 Cha: That is right, I can’t a disagreement within the
actually consider it as good team is always appreciated.
since we were not able to
accommodate the other four.
Junrey: I think we did good
for the eight people not on the
other four.
Me: How would you like to
address this type of concerns
in our succeeding on-site
sessions?
4. Actively seek Junrey: Do we have text This was a great exercise for
disconfirming data and feedback from the survey that the team because we were
alternative explanations shares their suggestions or any able to scrutinize items that
comments that are we normally have
constructive/negative? automatically agreed in with.
Pao: Our average is 67%, for 4 When we each shared our
out of 6 respondents. Most data, it confirmed the data
narratives are positive because that I had and was supported
they felt that the session by another set of data. The
helped them. The only team understood better that
narrative I saw that is in questioning is not because
conflict with the rating is people have doubts on you
about difficulty accessing the but more of ensuring that
registration. nothing was skimmed over or
Me: That’s interesting, I overlooked.
remembered we tested the qr
code for access issues and it
can even be accessed
externally.

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 Rina: I think this is just one
off of the seven and she was
still able to register, so I’m
guessing it might be because
of internet speed.
Cha: It’s a possibility because
I also experienced the same
during testing and my internet
was fluctuating then based on
speed test result of less than
2Mbps.
5. Affirm the making of Cha: I should have reported Hypothesis testing helped the
mistakes in the service of the error that I got during team be more conscious of
learning testing and did not assume that our mistakes – acknowledge
it won’t happen to others. it and learn from it. The team
Me: Thanks, Cha for realized that it’s okay to
considering it as a slip-up. It commit mistakes and what’s
will help us become more important is to identify it
conscious with the result of early so that interventions
our testing in the future. can also be made early.
6. Actively inquire into your Me: Would like to confirm if Consciously using active
own impact the action items listed below is inquiry enabled the team to
logical and that we are all in have a deeper understanding
the same page? of the issue at hand. That it’s
Pao: Yes, for me the action beyond numbers. Numbers
items listed on the board are can only be a symptom of an
sequenced accordingly. underlying disease that we
Rina: I’m glad that the need to identify for the
activities are mapped out. It symptom to improve. Active
gives me the big picture and inquiry also created
ownership especially when

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 helps me understand the the list of action items were
dependencies as well. identified.

7. Design ongoing Me: Thank you for providing The team agreed to continue
experiments to test your inputs without practicing this exercise
competing views hesitations. Would you like to because it promotes
continue this approach when understanding, contrary to
we do case analysis or what I thought that
meetings? arguments might divide us if
we have opposing views but
Pao: This is a good practice. to my surprise, the team
I’d like that. became more engaged in
solving the issue/concern.
Rina: same here Always testing the
Cha: okay with me hypothesis is a good practice
Junrey: okay with me too. because it promotes critical
thinking.

Table 13. Hypothesis Testing practice

Content Reflection

The identified problem/issue was aligned to our company’s values on protecting its

people. It also promoted the health and safety culture of the company where our team are

considered as stewards. The collaborative activities during the construction also strengthened the

working relationship between me and my team and me with external EAP provider. I felt good

that we were able to identify a problem that resonated the RVR COB Code of Ethics on leading

and managing people to promote human development and common good.

As a health care professional, I have always believed that the mind goes together with the

body. There is an association on the effect of each one to the other. For the ergonomic

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discomfort cases (musculoskeletal cases), what is usually checked is the physical well-being of

the person, but the mental health is often being neglected. The company provides resources and

support for employees’ physical and mental well-being, but employees need to learn how to

intentionally use these. There was a discrepancy if I may say between the utilization of

ergonomic discomfort program and EAP. There are a lot of employees having bodily discomforts

and shows psychosomatic symptoms and yet, they do not engage EAP. I initially thought it was

because of the awareness but I was proven wrong because based on the outcomes, it proved that

the access and effort was the biggest hindrance.

Process Reflection

The implementation was done as swiftly and efficiently as possible. It was the fastest

implementation I had with my projects. The team identified the action items, who was

accountable to it and deadline. This helped us worked synergistically and identify where the

potential risks are. We had hiccups along the way during the implementation phase because of

logistics. I thought we won’t complete the activities leading to the event but our admin assistant

was ingenious in finding a way to resolve this concern. Truly, I can say that the people are the

greatest asset of an organization.

I had to overcome my inhibitions of acquainting myself with the external EAP providers

when the specialist assigned in the program had to move to another role in February 2020. I

learned that I could push myself to collaborate outside my comfort zone regardless if there’s an

existing relationship or not and try to engage and influence people outside my circle. If not for

undergoing through the process of action research, the team could have recommended other

suggestions, and will take us a longer time to identify the problem.

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Premise reflection

I have my biases in the beginning and it was very tempting to jump right into what I see

as the solution to the problem. Now as I reflect, it’s not all about finding the solution – it’s about

finding the right problem. Like in the medical field, we don’t give recommendations or

prescriptions readily because the best practice is that we identify first what’s causing the issue

and not use a shotgun approach. All these are mere manifestations and it may only be a symptom

of a bigger underlying disease.

The team is composed of specialists in ergonomic or musculoskeletal diseases and has

been handling the program ranging from 5-8 years. The level of expertise is there but the

information was not. Now that the platform is evolving, even with health care, it’s a numbers

game. We need to see, understand and appreciate data and information. Not only the numbers but

more so, the story behind the numbers. It’s so easy to be distracted and jump into conclusions. I

had that urge several times especially during consultations that at times I inadvertently block the

information from my clients. This could have provided me with vital information which I

discouraged that time. Undergoing through the rigor of action research, practicing active

listening and that in Silence, I am already providing my support.

Chapter 6 – Stories and Outcomes – Second Cycle

Constructing

The online look back session last March 18, 2020 showed what we can improve in the

succeeding sessions and what are the things that we will continue. Plans had to be revisited again

because in March 16, 2020, Metro Manila and nearby provinces was put in Enhanced

Community Quarantine because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. We had to recalibrate our

problem and implementation strategy because the office was closed and 100% of our employees

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were put on shelter-in-place or work from home environment. Suspension of the program was

not an option as the team realized that more than ever, our employees needed this support.

Figure 15. Force Field Analysis - Cycle 2

In the second cycle, lockdown was already in implementation and this was agreed as a

restraining force in offering the onsite EAP counseling because the employees will not have any

access to the office and the counselors as well. While we have addressed the initial concern on

physical access to EAP through onsite counseling, the issue in second cycle is difficulty

accessing onsite counseling because of lockdown. This means that the company’s office is no

longer available for physical counseling and the EAP provider’s office is also not accessible.

During the meeting, the team agreed that the IT infrastructure is ready because prior to the

lockdown, most of the employees were already working from home 1-2X a week.

During our March 23 meeting, we used the Reframing matrix to find a solution to the

complexity of the situation as discussed in the book of Morgan, 1993.

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 Figure 16. Reframing Matrix

From the different perspectives set, we were able to validate and confirm that the solution

is through web conferences.

Figure 17. Onsite counseling initial session

The company has the tools and capability to host and enable on-site (virtual) counseling

sessions. I met with our EAP provider that we will continue with the on-site counseling but since

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the main limitation is the physical set-up and for mutual safety from the virus, we will have it

done virtually for the succeeding months.

Planning

I immediately set a meeting with the regional EAP manager to inform of the identified

alternative for the onsite counseling.

Figure 18. Email request to External EAP provider for a meeting request

Taking Action

I had the meeting morning of April 2, 2020 with our EAP provider. We discussed the

workflow on how the new set-up will be and agreed on the platforms that are available for our

use. Nothing will change except that the counselor and employee will not be able to shake their

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hands – the video will be there, voice and confidentiality.

Figure 19. onsite (virtual) schedules

From the previous set-up, the entrance and exit were removed as this is irrelevant now

with web conference. For the team, we will continue to use the QR codes for registration and

feedback. From the list that the medical admin support will generate, she sent the invitations to

the employee and counselor. We used two platforms for our on-site (virtual) counseling sessions.

These platforms are secure and is capable of the level of confidentiality we need according to our

IT administrators.

Evaluating Action

The first on-site (virtual) counseling session was completed last April 14, with the

counselor fully booked. From the first cycle, we have an excess of four requests, and based on

the look back session we had, our learning there is we can increase the number of onsite

counseling sessions in a month. This is what we did for the on-site (virtual) counseling in April.

We had additional two dates (April 21 and 28) which were also fully booked.

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 Figure 20. Schedule onsite (virtual) counseling session

We received 26 requests for April, and we have two employees who were not included in the

three onsite virtual sessions, but we were able to endorse them to the counselor for scheduling.

Overall rating for onsite counseling went higher from 67% to 85%. The team was delighted to

see the survey results, given that this is also a novel case for us.

April (%)

Overall 85

Mental Health Improvement 100

Work performance improvement 71

Table 14. Survey result for April onsite counseling

Data for March and April where this action research took place showed increasing

utilization (against the total population of Company A2). There were only 12 requests in March

and 26 in April. Based from these numbers where April doubled the number of March, we are

expecting a steady increase in the number of requests. Data showed that we are averaging at 19

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requests a month (March-April2020). Two whole day sessions each month were plotted for the

rest of the year. By mid-August, the team will have another meeting to revisit the data that we

will have from our EAP provider and information from our employees through the survey

results. The on-site counseling both for the physical and virtual sessions did not incur additional

expense. As the EAP utilization was low, the EAP provider agreed to pursue with the project at

no additional cost. Survey results from March to April showed improvement.

Total number of participants in the survey is 13; 6 for March and 7 for April. Overall

rating for March is at 67% and April showed 85%. On mental health improvement, March has

83% while 100% for April. Work Performance has improved for 67% in March and 71% in

April.

This action research proved that since it is an iterative process, even with sudden changes

and unintentional results, the tools used and learnings enhanced collaboration, helped us adapt to

the change and improve rapidly together with the change. To help us achieve our goal and enable

us to reach the right side of the force, we had to match the restraining forces with solutions that

are adaptable and accessible. No doubt that technology was on our side during the entire two

cycles, but it became more evident and a powerful tool that enabled us to complete our goal. The

pandemic, we initially feared in the second cycle and thought of it as a challenge, but it showed

us that we are capable of doing more, faster and more efficiently. Had the pandemic did not

happen, we will still be continuing with the physical onsite EAP counseling. It’s not bad because

that’s what we were initially thinking to improve EAP utilization but because of the pandemic

we had to think fast and act fast to support the health of our workforce.

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 Chapter 7 – Meta Learning after Second Cycle

Content reflection

I learned that even if you have planned everything, not only for the second cycle but for

the entire action research, plans can crumble and can still be changed drastically by a single

event. The pandemic has changed a lot of our programs and not only the onsite EAP counseling.

It affected this program the most since it’s the newest program that underwent transformation.

The team was initially reluctant with the change and we felt that everything was in “chaos”

because of the pandemic. Apart from identifying the issue on onsite counseling, another issue

that we had to deal with momentarily were team concerns. We felt that we are being pulled from

all directions especially during the start of enhanced community quarantine and we were

firefighting. While we are expecting COVID to reach our shores, we did not expect the rapid

spread of the disease. We may not be as at risk as our colleagues in the hospitals and our

employees as well, but our company values health and safety of our workforce and it is during

these times that they look up to us as their subject matter experts. We have a pandemic plan as

part of our business continuity process (BCP), and it helped the team get a jump start but after

the confusion, when the dust settled after a few days, we were left with nothing but to adapt fast.

The team had to focus on multiple aspects of health as compared to emphasizing on the on-site

counseling session in cycle 1. I felt that I had to pull the team back and refocus our energies even

for a quick 45-minute meeting for a breather.

I think from all that happened, what went well for me and my collaborators is that we are

constantly communicating – good news or not, talking or not we are still actively listening.

We used the Eisenhower Matrix (AKA Urgent-Important matrix) for decision making is a

framework to set priorities and use time wisely. According to Mindtools, Eisenhower's

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Urgent/Important Principle helps you quickly identify the activities that you should focus on, as

well as the ones you should ignore. We were able to prioritize our time and focus our efforts on

the most pressing issues while working our way to our long-term goals.

Figure 21. Eisenhower Matrix used for task prioritization

We were able to manage the risks and held each other up to the completion of the two cycles of

action research, because we understand that our goal is to provide our employees with quality

and responsive health care to help them focus on their work tasks and help improve their

performance. The onsite (virtual) counseling has continued monthly, as long as there are requests

that comes in, we’ll be able to provide EAP services to them. For the month of April, EAP

utilization is at 1.73%. The team is positive that given the time and adaptability of the population

to onsite EAP counseling, we might increase the utilization by end of 2020. We will be revisiting

the utilization in August for the utilization in the months of May – July 2020.

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Process Reflection

What I think went well for this action research is the amount of collaboration that it

underwent – it was shaped and molded not by one mind alone but from the employees affected to

the core team, the management and external partners. Looking back, the implementation was not

a struggle although stressful because our EAP partner’s IT infrastructure was also ready. Apart

from that, our EAP provider’s regional manager listens to our concerns and was open to our

suggestions on how to continuously provide support during the uncertain times. What also

helped us in the implementation is the infrastructure readiness of the organization and maturity

of work from home setup since this has been in practice for 2 years. The company’s CEO has

been very articulate that part of the strategies is investing in people and in technology in the past

years. The decision making for the local leaders was easy because we have the infrastructure to

support the business and the employees.

Premise Reflection

Going back to the RVR-COB code of ethics, as a future business leader, my purpose is to

lead people and manage resources to promote human development and the common good and to

create value that no single individual can create alone. I take this context under two hats – first,

as an Occupational Health Specialist and the other as the leader of my team. As an Occupational

Health Specialist, I have that responsibility to encourage, create value and influence the

workforce and management to seek positive health behaviors to promote human development in

terms of enabling human performance by eliminating barriers in health care access. I will

continue to look for improvements in our processes to support the workforce and the business.

Wearing my lead hat, I take it as a mandate to lead my team and manage not only monetary

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resources but also my human resource – to increase their capabilities as individual contributors,

hone their strengths, support them to become leaders and agents of change.

What Changed in Me?

Reflecting overall on the two cycles, this action research has taught me to be more

patient. I did not realize that I have the habit of jumping into conclusions most of the time.

Through the action research especially on journaling, I discovered the power of putting down my

thoughts, it helped me understand myself and was amazed at how journaling helped me become

organized. It also helped in my anxieties both with work and non-work activities. Before, I

would sleep on my concern and battle it as it comes – it became a firefighting response for me.

But now, with the practice of action research I’m able to plan my actions, foresee potential risks

and mitigate them ahead. From reactive mode to having a more proactive stance on dealing with

situations. I learned that plans are plans and we need to remain agile and responsive to the

changes. We initially planned all our activities for the year because that was the prudent thing to

do but things happen such as the pandemic. Priorities constantly change and because safety and

health are not a priority for our company, but a culture, we were able to weather the unexpected.

Overall, I am grateful – grateful for my job, what I can do to influence people to be healthy and

safe, grateful for my company whose values are aligned with mine and allows me to innovate

and implement programs for our workforce and lastly, grateful to my team, who during the “dark

hours” walked beside me as we navigate through the pandemic while delivering the action

research.

What Changed in the Others?

The team learned that we are more capable than we think and while we have the tendency

to groupthink, we managed to evaluate our thoughts through practice during this action research.

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We learned that as individuals, we have weaknesses but together, we helped each other shine

based on our individual strengths. The team became more mature in hearing and dealing with

feedback especially those that are for improvements. The team learned how to challenge each

other’s views without being offensive. When one member was faltering, we understood how

each other would have felt and helped the team became more emphatic. This prevented crucial

conversations (Patterson et. al, 2017) by being able to spot when stakes are high or when people

will “blow” up, focusing on the goal, feel safe even we don’t like the person, and being

persistently patient asking and answering questions.

What Changed in the Organization?

Based on my observation through the requests that we are handling, it can be interpreted

that more people are utilizing EAP not only for work causes but more so when dealing with their

personal concerns. People would not only reach out to me or to the team using the QR codes, but

they would now send email requests, personal messages in Microsoft teams, and even in

messenger during weekends. Most recent inquiry is from one of the business unit heads

requesting for a session for her group on stress management.

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 Figure 22. Recent email from HR Manager

In July 29, 2020, the team’s efforts and work was recognized when I presented the

project results to the senior management. They were very pleased and satisfied with the results

and even asked what additional support we need. They were positive that the utilization will pick

up in the succeeding months.

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 Figure 23. Meeting invite to present to senior management on EAP utilization and Ergonomic Discomfort

For me, these developments speak that we are catalyzing the change needed to enhance

the program and the well-being of our workforce.

Chapter 8 – Extrapolation to a Broader Context and Articulation of Usable Knowledge

This action research showed how I and my collaborators worked together to identify,

innovate and act on an issue that will help the wellbeing of our employees. The catalyst for this

research was the observed data from our employees who have ergonomic discomforts and with

psychosomatic symptoms. This trigger was correlated to low utilization of Employee Assistance

Program. There were several driving forces identified and in introspect, I feel that what pushed

in achieving our desired outcome is the company culture on health and safety which includes its

value on protecting its people. The company measures how safe we are which includes the

number of injuries that we had. This will impact not only the person’s life but has a ripple effect

to their family members and our organization. Hence, the management invests on prevention and

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reason why we have several preventative programs to proactively address emerging health and

safety issues or threats that may impact our workforce. When we were faced with several

roadblocks during the two cycles, we always go back to what is the value of the team to the work

force and leverage on the existing work relationship with the team. We took “breathers” through

informal coffee sessions to rest our tired bodies and minds. We needed to take care of ourselves

because we can’t pour from an empty pot. Additionally, another great driving force was the good

relationship with our external EAP provider – they listened intently to our concerns, provided

suggestions and delivered.

For me, this action research taught me on how to better lead and manage my team to

promote human development that create value where no single person can complete, which is

also part of the RVR COB code of ethics that I believe in. The performance of the team can

reflect my performance as a leader. I recognize that this action research would not have been

completed without my collaborators.

For the team, prior to this action research, I can say that we have a good working

relationship and the employees even the senior management acknowledges this cohesiveness

based on their feedback to the team. I can say that after the 2 cycles of this action research, the

team has become more fluid and collaborative. The team understood better the value and impact

of our roles and responsibilities during the periods where tasks can be mundane, during a

pandemic or when duties pile up from one another.

For our workforce, this action research hoped to help them address their health and safety

during these uncertain times. It is with confidence that by removing one barrier in accessing

health care, it will spark other innovations in the future.

75
 This action research discussed in detail how the MBA and Action Research tools were

used to identify the correct issue and enabled us to provide appropriate solutions whatever the

situation may be. The action research tools helped us become more collaborative, get out of our

comfort zones and learn about ourselves more as an individual contributor and as a team player.

Figure 24. Driving forces

The hardest restraining force during the change was fear. There was fear on making

things worse, fear on failure, fear that it will not be accepted, fear that we may become weary

during the process that we might lose our focus. The fear was paralyzing. The IT infrastructure

was there, and people have been working from home even in the past. As mentioned in my

stories and cycles especially during the second cycle, the team was under a lot of pressure in

ensuring the health and safety of the workforce during the lockdown while still offering other

health and wellness programs. What we learned during that time was to be more emphatic and

practicing the left-hand column taught me how to pause and think frequently – to filter my

thoughts and rephrase my words so that it will foster collaboration.

76
 When this action research was conceptualized, the collaborators including the action

researcher shared a clear and common goal in mind – to positively affect the lives of our

employees in helping them through our health, wellness and productivity programs. The

Ergonomic discomfort case program overlapped with the EAP and as health care professionals,

we recognize the inter-relationship of the physical and mental health of a person, thus, improving

the EAP program indirectly improves the Ergonomic discomfort program. “A large body of

evidence demonstrates substantial effects of work-related psychosocial hazards on risks of both

musculoskeletal and mental health disorders (MSDs and MHDs), which are two of the costliest

occupational health problems in many countries, Oakman et al. (2018). It is the hope of this

action research that it can be of help to other action researchers through seeing more

opportunities from the ups and downs, conflicts and the reflections, and lastly to influence the

health and wellbeing of other people.

77
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