Managers’ learning process during a health-promoting leadership intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 119 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 350-365
Author(s):  
Åsa Tjulin ◽  
Bodil Landstad ◽  
Stig Vinberg ◽  
Andrea Eriksson ◽  
Emma Hagqvist
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Workplace Health Promotion ◽  
County Council ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Public Sector Managers ◽  
Leadership Intervention

Purpose The increasingly demanding psychosocial working conditions in Swedish public sector workplaces call for implementation of workplace health promotion (WHP) interventions. There is a need to increase first-line public sector managers’ capacities for health-promoting leadership. The purpose of this paper is to investigate first-line managers’ experiences of participating in an intervention aimed at strengthening health-promoting leadership. More precisely, the aim is to study what obstacles and prerequisites the intervention have for their learning processes to become health-promoting managers. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study in Northern Sweden at workplaces in the county council and municipalities was conducted. The data were gathered through individual interviews with 18 participating first-line managers. Inductive-content analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings The results identify time for reflection and collegial discussions about leadership as prerequisites for learning about health-promoting leadership. Managers experienced the intervention as a confirmation of the leadership behaviours already gained. However, the health-promoting leadership intervention was seen as a contradiction, since organisational prerequisites to implement WHP measures were perceived to be lacking. The managers were not involved in the planning of the intervention and questioned why the organisation did not involve them more when the educational activities were created. Originality/value When the organisation understands how and when its managers learn, what they need and want to learn about WHP, and what they already know, tailored participatory interventions can be facilitated that consider the unique prerequisites for the particular organisation.

Controlling overhead in public sector organizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 475-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Van Helden ◽  
Mark Huijben
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Transaction Cost Economics ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Control ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Public Sector Managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore various mechanisms for controlling overhead, as informed by a framework based on transaction-cost-economics (TCE). Design/methodology/approach – Development of framework for controlling overhead and field study about Dutch public sector organizations for exploring and enriching this framework. Findings – Central steering with a provider-user interface was often seen as the most desirable control mechanism. Although central steering without such interface was used in about half of the overhead functions, their users argued that the priorities of these functions were insufficiently in line with their needs. There was little support for internal market control, because it would increase the administrative workload of internal calculations, and it could lead to undesirable differences in overhead use among the primary services departments. Moreover, line managers are often more focused service quality than costs. Research limitations/implications – The framework based on TCE formed a suitable starting point for reflecting on the control of overhead functions, but the empirical findings pointed to revisions in the case of internal market control concerning resistance to administrative workload and avoidance of differences in the supply of internal services. Practical implications – Inspiring public sector managers to reflect on the match between overhead control mechanisms and characteristics of overhead functions. Originality/value – A theoretical underpinning and empirical exploration of a variety of overhead control mechanisms in the public sector.

Survey process quality: a question of healthcare manager approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 591-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Nilsson ◽  
Kerstin Blomqvist
Keyword(s):  
Work Group ◽  
Workplace Health Promotion ◽  
Hospital Management ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Work Task ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
South Sweden

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare first-line managers think about and act regarding workplace survey processes. Design/methodology/approach This interview study was performed at a hospital in south Sweden. First-line healthcare managers (n=24) volunteered. The analysis was inspired by phenomenography, which aims to describe the ways in which different people experience a phenomenon. The phenomenon was a workplace health promotion (WHP) survey processes. Findings Four main WHP survey process approaches were identified among the managers: as a possibility, as a competition, as a work task among others and as an imposition. For each, three common subcategories emerged; how managers: stated challenges and support from hospital management; described their own work group and collaboration with other managers; and expressed themselves and their situation in their roles as first-line managers. Practical implications Insights into how hospital management can understand their first-line managers’ motivation for survey processes and practical suggestions and how managers can work proactively at organizational, group and individual level are presented. Originality/value Usually these studies focus on those who should respond to a survey; not those who should run the survey process. Focusing on managers and not co-workers can lead to more committed and empowered managers and thereby success in survey processes.

Aligning talent management with approaches to equality and diversity

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Harrisr ◽  
Carley Foster
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Work Force ◽  
Talent Management ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fair Treatment ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Recruitment And Selection ◽  
Skills Shortages

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of talent management interventions in UK public sector organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws upon the findings of a qualitative study of talent management in two UK public sector case study organisations.FindingsImplementing talent management was found to present particular tensions for public sector managers, particularly in terms of its alignment with well‐embedded diversity and equality policies and their own perceptions of fair treatment in the workplace. Despite an acknowledgement that the sector needs to attract, develop and retain the most talented individuals to achieve its modernisation agenda, interventions which require singling out those individuals for special treatment challenges many of its established practices for recruitment and selection, employee development and career management.Practical implicationsPublic sector organisations need to invest both time and effort into developing appropriate and relevant approaches to talent management, which take proper account of line managers' perceptions of fair treatment and established organisational approaches to diversity and equality.Originality/valueTalent management is a topic of growing interest from employers concerned about their work force demographics, specific skills shortages and the retention of high potential employees but the concepts that inform talent interventions are often unclear or are an uneasy fit with the beliefs and understandings about fair treatment of those who have to implement them.

Self-other agreement of leadership

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-259
Author(s):  
Rebecca Mosson ◽  
Henna Hasson ◽  
Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz ◽  
Anne Richter
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leadership Intervention ◽  
Over Time

Purpose A common component in leadership interventions is the provision of feedback on leadership behaviors. The assumption is that, when there is a discrepancy in this feedback between managers’ and others’ ratings of leadership, this will increase managers’ self-awareness and motivate them to close this gap. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how agreement between managers and their subordinates changes over time as a result of a leadership intervention. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from line managers (N=18) and their subordinates (N=640) at pre-intervention, post-intervention and at a six-month follow-up. The managers participated in a leadership intervention that aimed to increase their knowledge and skills related to the leadership behaviors described in the Full-Range Leadership Model. Inter-rater agreement and reliability were calculated to justify aggregating the subordinates’ ratings. The managers and their subordinates were grouped according to three agreement categories: in agreement, managers’ over-rating and managers’ under-rating based on the managers’ views of their leader behaviors in relation to their subordinates’. Findings Manager-subordinate agreement on the managers’ leadership increased between pre-intervention and post-intervention but then decreased at the six-month follow-up (17, 61 and 44 percent, respectively). Most managers (n=15) changed agreement categories over time, and only three managers remained in the same agreement category throughout. The subordinates’ mean leadership ratings changed more than the managers’ mean ratings. Originality/value This is the first study to explore how manager-subordinate agreement changes when managers participate in a leadership intervention in a health care context. It shows that an intervention that includes upward feedback, by which managers self-rating of their leadership is compared with their subordinates’ ratings, can be an effective way to increase agreement.

“Stuck in the middle” first-line healthcare managers’ responsibilities and needs of support when applying Lean

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-186
Author(s):  
Therese Kahm ◽  
Pernilla Ingelsson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Organization ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Care Organization ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
Organizational Issues ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the supportive conditions that the first-line health-care managers claim that they need from their own managers and what they experience as their own roles and responsibilities in relation to their coworkers when applying Lean principles and practices. Design/methodology/approach A survey with a Web-based questionnaire was designed and used in a Swedish health-care organization two years after the initiation of Lean to investigate the managers’ views on their role, conditions and ability to create change according to Lean. The result from two of the questions will be presented where one focuses on the relationship to the first-line managers’ own manager and the second on the relationship to their coworkers. Findings The results show that to initiate improvement, work based on Lean first-line managers ask for own managers who are assured about Lean, include them in discussions and ask for follow-ups and results about Lean. Concerning first-line managers’ relation to their coworkers they experience themselves as responsible for leading toward creating a culture where problems and mistakes are viewed as possibilities to improve, for encouraging that new work procedures are tested and for creating commitment and inspiration in relation to their coworkers. Originality/value The questions can be used separately or as part of an entire questionnaire before and along the Lean process to highlight organizational issues such as shared responsibility and supportive relations when developing health care.

Managers’ perceptions of mental illness in Barbadian workplaces: an exploratory study

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwayne Devonish
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mental Health And Illness ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Public Sector Managers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of private and public sector managers in Barbados regarding the concepts of mental health and illness at work. It also explored their interactions and experiences with persons with mental illness at work and various forms of support and resources needed to improve the overall management of these persons within the organisational setting. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study used an exploratory research design based on two focus groups of private and public sector managers. Findings The findings revealed that both private and public sector managers understood the distinction between the concepts of mental health and mental illness. However, managers believed that high levels of stigma and discrimination exist in both private and public sector workplaces due to a lack of understanding of mental illness, cultural norms, and socialisation in Barbados regarding mental illness and negative stereotypes. However, workplace education and promotion, associated workplace policies, and employee assistance programmes (EAPs) were identified as key strategies for effectively addressing issues of mental health stigma and the management of persons with mental illness at work. Research limitations/implications Due to the qualitative approach used and small sample selected based on non-probability sampling, generalising the findings to larger populations is heavily cautioned. Practical implications Organisations in both private and public sectors should emphasise workplace mental health interventions such as mental health education and awareness, the development and implementation of supportive and flexible policies, and EAPs. These strategies are likely to help destigmatisation efforts and enhance managers’ understanding of mental health and the management of persons with mental illness. Originality/value This study provided a rich and in-depth understanding of mental health and illness from the perspective of private and public sector managers in a small developing country in the Caribbean. The Caribbean region possesses a dearth of empirical research concerning issues of mental health and illness at work.

Creating a development force in Swedish healthcare

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1132-1144
Author(s):  
Therese Kahm ◽  
Pernilla Ingelsson
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Healthcare Organization ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Ability To Drive

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a study that investigates first-line healthcare managers’ views on their role and the conditions that influence their ability to drive improvement work based on Lean. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was sent to all first-line managers in a healthcare organization to investigate their views on their role, conditions and ability to create change according to Lean. The results from four of the questions are presented, which focus on how crucial they consider their role to be for managing improvement work based on Lean, what work tasks their time is spent on, what factors they consider to be important to their ability to drive change and what factors best describe what Lean provides. Findings The results show that first-line managers claim that their role is crucial in improvement work, but when they defined their work tasks, the time spent on improvements was not frequently described. Time, support from coworkers, and a clear vision and clear goals were the three factors that they considered to be most important to their ability to drive improvement work. Considering their leadership, Lean contributed to the structure with tools and supportive methods. Originality/value The questions can be used separately or as part of the entire questionnaire before and along a Lean process to obtain a better understanding of how to create a sustainable Lean approach in healthcare. Understanding the factors that first-line managers consider supporting their ability in improvement work and what they consider Lean provides is important in creating a development force in Swedish healthcare.

scholarly journals The implementation process of the Confident Birth method in Swedish antenatal education: opportunities, obstacles and recommendations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Jansson ◽  
Sepideh Farahshoor ◽  
Karolina Linden ◽  
Malin Bogren
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Process ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Antenatal Education ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Antenatal Clinics ◽  
Inner Setting

Summary Antenatal clinics in western Sweden have recently invested in a birth method called Confident Birth. In this study, we investigate midwives’ and first line managers’ perceptions regarding the method, and identify opportunities and obstacles in its implementation. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with ten midwives and five first line managers working in 19 antenatal clinics in western Sweden. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used in a directed content analysis approach. Intervention Characteristics—such as perceptions about the Confident Birth method—were found to have equipped the midwives with coping strategies that were useful for expecting parents during birth. Outer Setting—the method was implemented to harmonize the antenatal education, and provided a mean for a birth companionship of choice. Inner setting—included time-consuming preparations and insufficient information at all levels, which affected the implementation. Characteristics of individuals—, such as knowledge and believes in the method, where trust in the method was seen as an opportunity, while long experience of teaching other birth preparatory methods, affected how the Confident Birth method was perceived. Process—such as no strategy for ensuring that the core of the method remained intact or plans for guiding its implementation were major obstacles to successful implementation. The findings speak to the importance of adequate planning, time, information and communication throughout the process to have a successful implementation. Based on lessons learned from this study, we have developed recommendations for successful implementation of interventions, such as the Confident Birth, in antenatal care settings.

scholarly journals Fostering knowledge sharing behaviour among public sector managers: a proposed model for the Malaysian public service

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gangeswari Tangaraja ◽  
Roziah Mohd Rasdi ◽  
Maimunah Ismail ◽  
Bahaman Abu Samah
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Model Validation ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Organisational Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Public Sector Managers

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a conceptual model of knowledge sharing behaviour among Malaysian public sector managers. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review method was used to identify and analyse relevant literature in order to propose a knowledge sharing model. Findings – The authors identified three potential predictor groups of knowledge sharing behaviour among Malaysian public sector managers. The groups are intrinsic motivational factors, extrinsic motivational factors and organisational socialisation factors. The paper proposes organisational commitment as the mediating variable between the identified predictors and knowledge sharing behaviour (knowledge donating and knowledge collecting). Research limitations/implications – The paper offers a number of propositions, which leads to a knowledge sharing model. Future research should validate and examine the predictive power of the proposed model. Practical implications – Upon model validation, the paper could offer practical interventions for human resource development (HRD) practitioners to assist organisations towards fostering knowledge sharing behaviour. The paper highlights the importance of employee’s organisational commitment in order to engage in organizational-related behaviours such as knowledge sharing. Originality/value – The paper used a new approach in theorising knowledge sharing behaviour by integrating the General Workplace Commitment Model, Self-Determination Theory and Social Capital Theory. The suggestion of public service motivation as one of the intrinsic motivational factors could provide new insights to the HRD practitioners on fostering knowledge sharing behaviour in the public service subject to model validation.

Effective training for first-line managers

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 27-29
Keyword(s):  
Soft Skills ◽  
First Line ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communication Interaction ◽  
Effective Training ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Current training programs offered by external providers in the UK are not equipping new managers with the non-technical skills needed to effectively work with and manage people. The focus instead tends toward capabilities appropriate to more experienced managers. It is therefore critical to identify core soft skills and ensure that training courses place significant emphasis on communication, interaction, and teamwork. Providers must also factor in the growing significance of technology for younger management recruits. Regular monitoring of programs is essential to make sure that content remains appropriate as culture evolves. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

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