Factors Influencing Worker Morale: Evaluating Provider Demographics, Workplace Environment and Using ESTs

Objectives: Mental health organizations are strongly encouraged to implement empirically supported treatments (ESTs); however, little is known about their working environments. The present study investigated how provider demographics, workplace environment, and whether ESTs were used affected the worker morale. Method: Frontline workers (N = 1,273) from 55 different programs in a single, large organization completed a measure of organizational culture and climate (OCC) and worker morale. A multilevel regression analysis used worker demographics to predict worker morale at Level 1 and EST use and OCC scales to predict program-level worker morale. Results: Worker morale was significantly negatively correlated with EST use and significantly correlated with OCC dimensions. Regression results showed that culture and climate but not EST use predicted morale. Conclusions: Although EST use by programs in this agency had negative effects on both morale and OCC, separately, the effect on morale was subsumed by the effect on OCC.