The mediating role of demand and control in the relationship between leadership behaviour and employee distress: a cross-sectional study

Effect of Government Guidelines and Corporate Governance on Telework Adoption and Occupational Health Measures in Taiwanese-Listed Companies

Background

Telework adoption in Taiwan has surged because of government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the disclosure practices of Taiwanese-listed companies, assessing their adherence to government telework guidelines and their correlation with corporate governance, focusing on occupational health measures.

Methods

We conducted a guideline-adherent cohort analysis of the 2020 and 2021 sustainability reports of 295 Taiwanese-listed companies. We assessed their disclosure of corporate measures for teleworking in alignment with two government guidelines, specifically occupational health measures. Using the McNemar test and general estimating equation analysis, we compared the 2020 and 2021 responses and examined their associations with corporate governance rankings.

Results

Telework adoption increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, with 68% of companies reporting new work modes. The mentioning of government guidelines also increased to 67% by 2021. Companies with higher governance rankings were more likely to adopt online occupational health measures, including occupational health services (RR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.41-2.94; p < 0.001) and mental health promotion activities (RR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.06-3.82; p = 0.032), than those with low rankings. Although on-site and online occupational health services increased, home workspace assessments did not.

Conclusion

Our findings highlight significant upward trends in the disclosure of telework measures following the issuance of government guidelines. Corporate governance is significantly associated with the implementation of occupational health measures. Amid the evolution of teleworking, both government guidelines and corporate governance have become essential for shaping work arrangements and ensuring workforce well-being.

Leadership Effectiveness in Healthcare Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional and Before-After Studies

To work efficiently in healthcare organizations and optimize resources, team members should agree with their leader's decisions critically. However, nowadays, little evidence is available in the literature. This systematic review and meta-analysis has assessed the effectiveness of leadership interventions in improving healthcare outcomes such as performance and guidelines adherence. Overall, the search strategies retrieved 3,155 records, and 21 of them were included in the meta-analysis. Two databases were used for manuscript research: PubMed and Scopus. On 16th December 2019 the researchers searched for articles published in the English language from 2015 to 2019. Considering the study designs, the pooled leadership effectiveness was 14.0% (95%CI 10.0-18.0%) in before-after studies, whereas the correlation coefficient between leadership interventions and healthcare outcomes was 0.22 (95%CI 0.15-0.28) in the cross-sectional studies. The multi-regression analysis in the cross-sectional studies showed a higher leadership effectiveness in South America (β = 0.56; 95%CI 0.13, 0.99), in private hospitals (β = 0.60; 95%CI 0.14, 1.06), and in medical specialty (β = 0.28; 95%CI 0.02, 0.54). These results encourage the improvement of leadership culture to increase performance and guideline adherence in healthcare settings. To reach this purpose, it would be useful to introduce a leadership curriculum following undergraduate medical courses.

Psychological Contract, Self-Efficacy, Job Stress, and Turnover Intention: A View of Job Demand-Control-Support Model

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused enterprises to face more challenges, such as operational management, production and sales management, and human resource management, among other issues. In the context of the global knowledge economy, employees with high knowledge and skills have become an important source of corporate growth and breakthroughs. However, employees may intend to transfer to other companies due to the pressure of the external and internal environments, so the main topic explored by this paper will be the change of employees' turnover intention. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence mechanism that propels the employees' self-efficacy, job stress, and turnover intention, and the moderating effect of transformational leadership. A total of 553 valid responses from several information service companies in China are collected via purposive sampling and used in the data analysis. This study conducts partial least squares structural equation modeling partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze collected data. The results of the path analysis with structural equation modeling show that employees' psychological contracts have a positive impact on the self-efficacy and a negative impact on the job stress. Employees' self-efficacy has a negative impact on job stress and turnover intention; transformational leadership plays a significant moderator in the research framework. Based on research findings, the theoretical and managerial implications are presented.

The role of managerial leadership in sickness absence in health and social care: antecedent or moderator in the association between psychosocial working conditions and register-based sickness absence? A longitudinal study based on a swedish cohort

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of sickness absence is particularly high among employees in health and social care, where psychosocial work stressors are pertinent. Managerial leadership is known to affect sickness absence rates, but the role leadership plays in relation to sickness absence is not fully understood; that is, whether poor leadership (i) is associated with sickness absence directly, (ii) is associated with sickness absence indirectly through the establishment of poor psychosocial working conditions, or (iii) whether good leadership rather has a buffering role in the association between work stressors and sickness absence.

METHODS

Four biennial waves from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, 2010-2016, N=2333) were used. Autoregressive cross-lagged analyses within a multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) framework were conducted to test hypotheses i)-iii), targeting managerial leadership, register-based sickness absence and psychosocial work stressors (high psychological demands, poor decision authority and exposure to workplace violence).

RESULTS

A direct association was found between poor leadership and sickness absence two years later, but no associations were found between leadership and the psychosocial work stressors. Finally, only in cases of poor leadership was there a statistically significant association between workplace violence and sickness absence.

CONCLUSIONS

Poor managerial leadership may increase the risk of sickness absence among health and social care workers in two ways: first, directly and, second, by increasing the link between workplace violence and sickness absence.

Organizational Context and Healthcare Reforms: What Effect on the Professional Distress of Canadian Social Workers and Social Service Provision?

This study examined the lived experience of Canadian clinical social workers in light of the organizational context in which they work. The literature indicates an alarming rise of occupational psychological distress in social workers, which aligns with the rise of the neoliberal ideology within the Canadian healthcare sector. While we know that organizational constraints and structural reforms affect social worker's workplace well-being, it remains unclear how these changes are represented by front-line practitioners and how they affect the provision of social services in healthcare settings. To deepen our understanding of this issue, we conducted a thematic analysis of thirty semi-directed interviews with social workers currently practicing in three Canadian cities (Ottawa, Moncton and Winnipeg). Discussions of daily work life, responsibilities, autonomy and subjective understandings of the social worker's role revealed which organizational constraints were the most significant in everyday practice and how they relate to their professional identity and mandate. Provincial healthcare reforms were generally found to have negative effects on clinical social workers, whose struggles for recognition were impaired by the fundamentally neoliberal ideologies behind the large-scale restructuring of service provision, themselves at odds with the humanistic principles of social work. Our findings further suggest that structural changes under the New Public Management frame could be detrimental to both the quality of services provided by clinical social workers and their well-being. Overall, this investigation highlights the importance of organizational improvements in the workplace through systemic changes that would concurrently target managerial expectations, resources allocation, autonomy, work-life balance and respect for professional values.

Boards of directors' influences on occupational health and safety: a scoping review of evidence and best practices

Purpose

To review the literature and identify research gaps in the role and influence boards of directors of companies have in occupational health and safety (OHS).

Design/methodology/approach

This was done in a scoping review built on a structured search in MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, CCInfoWeb, EconLit, Web of Science, CINAHL and gray literature. Citations and reference lists were tracked. Inclusion criteria were publication in English. Exclusion criteria were studies covering companies using subcontractors to arrange OHS, or with <250 employees.

Findings

Forty-nine studies were included. The majority contained empirical data (n = 28; 57%), some were entirely normative (n = 16; 33%), and a few contained normative claims far beyond empirical data (n = 5; 10%). Empirical studies gave no insight into the scope of impact of board activities on OHS, and no studies assess the causal mechanisms by which board activities influence OHS outcomes. Most studies focused on both health and safety (n = 20; 41%) or only safety (n = 15; 31%). Context might explain the focus on safety rather than health, but is not clearly elucidated by the studies. Several studies are describing leadership behavior, although not framed as such. A narrative summary is presented to facilitate future research.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should include: (1) which board activities influence OHS, (2) how board activities influence OHS, (3) the influence of context and (4) the leadership role of boards of directors.

Originality/value

This study identifies a total lack of research on the basic mechanics of the relationship between boards and OHS.

The association between subordinate perception of task and relation oriented leadership behaviors and sense of coherence among a sample of Swedish white-collar workers

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that leadership behaviors and sense of coherence (SOC) influences subordinate health. However, this has not been investigated in any detail.

OBJECTIVES

To study the association between leadership behaviors and SOC. It was hypothesized that both task and relation oriented leadership behaviors would be positively associated with SOC, whereas a laissez-faire leadership would be negatively associated with SOC.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional quantitative study of managers and subordinates in a large governmental organization. The study used two common and empirically tested leadership styles: task oriented leadership and relation oriented leadership. In a logistic regression analysis, the association between types of leadership behavior and SOC were analyzed while controlling for age, gender, income, type of employment and organizational tenure.

RESULTS

Neither task oriented or relation oriented leadership behavior were significantly associated with SOC.

CONCLUSIONS

The result indicates that the type of leadership behavior exercised is not directly associated with subordinate's SOC. In future studies the importance of subordinate leadership preferences should be acknowledged. More research is needed to reach an understanding as to the nature of and the potential of this mechanism.

Correlation between Machiavellian leadership and emotional exhaustion of employees

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the impact of Machiavellian leadership and organisational cynicism on the emotional exhaustion of employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 463 employees of Slovenian municipalities. Surveys were used to collect Machiavellianism, organisational cynicism and emotional exhaustion data. Hypotheses were verified by means of three methods: the contingency table, χ2 test and Pearson coefficient.

Findings

Machiavellian leadership has an impact both on the presence of emotional exhaustion and organisational cynicism. According to the results, both Machiavellianism and organisational cynicism have a direct linear impact on the increase of emotional exhaustion.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of the research were formulated on the basis of a survey conducted according to a self-assessment online survey.

Originality/value

Even though the concept of Machiavellianism was developed 500 years ago, the existing literature suggests that it continues to be relevant in modern times, most frequently in terms of examining the way leaders establish their power and adopt (un)ethical leadership practices and the implications their behaviour has on their direct working environment. Only select authors have examined Machiavellianism in correlation with organisational cynicism and emotional exhaustion, with an emphasis on the public sector. Due to a lack of research conducted on the subject, the main research challenge was to establish actual correlations between the three factors above.

Stress-Preventive Management Competencies, Psychosocial Work Environments, and Affective Well-Being: A Multilevel, Multisource Investigation

The Management Competencies for Preventing and Reducing Stress at Work framework represents one of the few tailored models of leadership for work stress prevention purposes, but it has never been empirically evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether supervisors’ stress-preventive management competencies, as measured by the Stress Management Competencies Indicator Tool (SMCIT), are related to employees’ affective well-being through psychosocial work environmental factors. To this end, multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) was developed and tested, including data provided by both supervisors and employees. Supervisors (n = 84) self-assessed their stress-preventive management competencies (i.e., being respectful and responsible, managing and communicating existing and future work, reasoning and managing difficult situations, and managing the individual within the team) with a previously validated reduced version of the SMCIT. The supervised employees (n = 584) rated job content (e.g., job demands) and work context (e.g., role clarity) psychosocial factors and their job-related affective well-being. Supervisors’ job-related affective well-being was also included in the tested model. The results revealed that the stress-preventive competencies factor was related to employees’ affective well-being through the psychosocial work environment only when the latter was operationalized by means of contextual work factors. Supervisors’ affective well-being was related to their stress-preventive competencies, but it was not related to employees’ affective well-being. We discuss the implications of the results obtained.

A randomised study of leadership interventions for healthcare managers

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to assess two different leader development interventions by comparing their effects on leadership behaviour and evaluating their combined impact after two years, from the viewpoints of both the participating managers and external raters.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was a longitudinal randomised controlled trial with a cross-over design. Health care managers (n = 177) were first randomised to either of two 10-month interventions and a year later were switched to the other intervention. Leadership behaviour was rated at pre-test and 12 and 24 months by participating managers and their superiors, colleagues and subordinates using a 360-degree instrument. Analysis of variance and multilevel regression analysis was performed.

Findings

No difference in effect on leadership behaviour was found between the two interventions. The evaluation of the combined effect of the interventions on leadership behaviour showed inconsistent (i.e. both increased and decreased) ratings by the various rater sources.

Practical implications

This study provides some evidence that participation in leadership development programmes can improve managers’ leadership behaviours, but the results also highlight the interpretive challenges connected with using a 360-degree instrument to evaluate such development.

Originality/value

The longitudinal randomised controlled design and the large sample comprising both managers and external raters make this study unusually rigorous in the field of leadership development evaluations.

Healthcare managers' leadership profiles in relation to perceptions of work stressors and stress

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between leadership profiles and differences in managers' own levels of work stress symptoms and perceptions of work stressors causing stress. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional data were used. Healthcare managers ( n = 188) rated three dimensions of their leadership behavior and levels of work stressors and stress. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to identify leadership profiles based on leadership behaviors. Differences in stress-related outcomes between profiles were assessed using one-way analysis of variance. Findings Four distinct clusters of leadership profiles were found. They discriminated in perception of work stressors and stress: the profile distinguished by the lowest mean in all behavior dimensions, exhibited a pattern with significantly more negative ratings compared to the other profiles. Practical implications This paper proposes that leadership profile is an individual factor involved in the stress process, including work stressors and stress, which may inform targeted health promoting interventions for healthcare managers. Originality/value This is the first study to investigate the relationship between leadership profiles and work stressors and stress in healthcare managers.

Employee perceptions of managers’ leadership over time

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore if and how employees in a healthcare organisation perceive changes in their managers’ leadership behaviour over time.

Design/methodology/approach

– An interview study was conducted with employees whose managers had participated in a two-year leadership development programme offered by their employer, Healthcare Provision Stockholm County. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and the interview discussions focused on areas in which the majority of the informants perceived that a change had occurred over time and their answers were relatively consistent.

Findings

– The majority of employees did discern changes in their managers’ leadership over time, and, with very few exceptions, these changes were described as improvements.

Practical implications

– The knowledge that employees perceived changes in their managers’ leadership supports investments in leadership development through courses, programmes or other initiatives.

Originality/value

– The present findings contribute to a deeper empirical understanding of leadership as it is practised over time in everyday contexts among employees in healthcare organisations.