POLÍTICA DE GESTÃO DE PESSOAS, CLIMA ORGANIZACIONAL E ABSENTEÍSMO POR DEPRESSÃO, TRANSTORNOS DE ANSIEDADE E ESTRESSE NUM BANCO PÚBLICO: UMA PESQUISA EXPLORATÓRIA

Abstract

The present study done in a public bank that operates throughout Brazil, was explorative in character, descriptive, according to a contextualistic view and had the intention to investigate the following question: is there a relation between the politics of the company and employee s sick-leave because of depression, anxiety disorders and stress from the researched bank? The theoretical foundations of the study refer to psychological suffering of bank employees, organizational changes, organizational climate and culture. For this research, data concerning sick-leave were gathered for the years of 2000 to 2005, using the International Code for Diseases (CID-10). The historical context of the organization is described, as well as results of organizational climate research during that period. Seven in- depth interviews were realized with workers from the bank, to verify their perception of how the leadership-style changes during these years. Two periods were distinguished: A: from the year 2000 to 2002, in which there occurred an authoritarian administration, using repressive measures and valuing the labor process, and B: from the year 2003 to 2005 in which a participative, democratic administration prevailed that valued the persons. The results show no significant difference in the selected categories of sick-leave, or in organizational climate, between periods A and B. Furthermore, according to the studies of organizational climate, the work-overload was a critical constant factor in both periods. There were significant differences between geographical regions (North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South Brazil), and the North stands out for its lowest percentage of sick-leave. Contrary to what could be expected, based on the theoretical models in the literature, the present study concludes that the change that occurs in the general politics of the organization, did not influence sick-leave due to anxiety disorders, depression or stress, nor did it influence the organizational climate. Different explanations are suggested, amongst which, interactions with other variables, like work-load, and the possibility that robust aspects of organizational culture, on a regional level, or variables of resilience, overrule the effects of changes in general politics.