Sense of community and job satisfaction among social and health care managers

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai-Stiina Lampinen ◽  
Elina Annikki Viitanen ◽  
Anne Irmeli Konu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify how the factors associated with sense of community at work are connected with job satisfaction among the front-line managers and middle managers in social and health-care services in Finland. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire prepared for this study was sent to 241 social and health-care managers (front line and middle managers) in Finland. A total of 136 of managers responded to the survey (response rate was 56 per cent). Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Findings – Alongside job meaningfulness, open communication and good flow of information within the organization, sense of security provided by close relationships at work and managers’ own superiors’ appreciation of their leadership skills all are related to managers’ job satisfaction. Originality/value – The study adds to our understanding of factors which are connected to the job satisfaction among social and health-care managers’. The findings of this study can be used in the development of leadership to support managers in coping at work.

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Grill ◽  
G. Ahlborg Jr ◽  
E. Wikström

Purpose – Middle managers in health care today are expected to continuously and efficiently decide and act in administration, finance, care quality, and work environment, and strategic communication has become paramount. Since dialogical communication is considered to promote a healthy work environment, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which health care managers experienced observing subordinates’ dialogue training. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and documents from eight middle managers in a dialogue programme intervention conducted by dialogue trainers. Focus was on fostering and assisting workplace dialogue. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used. Findings – Managers’ experiences were both enriching and demanding, and consisted of becoming aware of communication, meaning perceiving interaction between subordinates as well as own silent interaction with subordinates and trainer; Discovering communicative actions for leadership, by gaining self-knowledge and recognizing relational leadership models from trainers – such as acting democratically and pedagogically – and converting theory into practice, signifying practising dialogue-promoting conversation behaviour with subordinates, peers, and superiors. Research limitations/implications – Only eight managers participated in the intervention, but data afforded a basis for further research. Practical implications – Findings stressed the importance of listening, and of support from superiors, for well-functioning leadership communication at work. Originality/value – Studies focusing on health care managers’ communication and dialogue are few. This study contributes to knowledge about these activities in managerial leadership.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai-Stiina Lampinen ◽  
Anne Irmeli Konu ◽  
Tarja Kettunen ◽  
Elina Annikki Suutala

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify factors that foster or prevent sense of belonging among frontline and middle managers in social and health-care services in Finland. Design/methodology/approach The data have been collected among social and health-care managers (n = 135; 64 per cent nursing managers) through two open-ended questions in a questionnaire concerning sense of community. The results of the open-ended questions have been analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings Among managers, six categories of factors that foster sense of belonging (open interaction, effective conversation culture, support and encouragement, common values, a shared vision of the work and its objectives and structure of leadership) and five categories of factors that prevent sense of belonging (negative work atmosphere, lack of common time, structural solutions in the organization, problems that occur in the organizational level and problems related to leadership and management) have been identified. Practical implications The resulting information can be used to develop sense of belonging among managers at all levels of organization (horizontal and vertical). Originality/value Paying attention to the quantity and quality of interaction and to structural solutions in the organization can affect the sense of belonging among frontline managers and middle managers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-388
Author(s):  
Ahmad Hajebrahimi ◽  
Khalil Alimohammadzadeh ◽  
Seyed Mojtaba Hosseini ◽  
Ali Maher ◽  
Mohammadkarim Bahadori

Purpose High quality health-care delivery is not only the governments’ responsibility but also every prisoner’s right. Health care in prison and, particularly, of Iranian prisoners is increasingly important topic because of the rising number of the prison population. This paper aims to explore health-care managers’ perspectives and experiences of prisons and the barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design was conducted in Iran from October 2018 to August 2019. The participants consisted of 51 health-care managers (50 men and one woman) from Iranian prisons. A combination of face-to-face (N = 42) and telephonic (N = 9) semi-structured interviews were used because of the geographical distribution of the respondents. The first part of the interview guide consisted of demographic characteristics, and the second part consisted of three main open ended-questions. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and thematic descriptive analysis was used to interpret the data. Findings The barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons were categorized into four main topics: human resources, financing, facilities and barriers related to the health-care delivery process. Data synthesis identified the following themes for barriers to human resources: barriers to human resources planning (with eight sub-themes); barriers to education (with three sub-themes); and motivational barriers (with seven sub-themes). Moreover, barriers to financing consisted of five sub-themes. The barriers to facilities consisted of barriers related to physical infrastructures (with two sub-themes) and barriers related to equipment (with six sub-themes). Finally, barriers to the health-care delivery process included the following themes: communication barriers (with six sub-themes); legal barriers (with five sub-themes); and environmental-demographic factors (with seven sub-themes). Originality/value Identifying the barriers to health-care delivery in Iranian prisons plays a critical role in the improvement of planning, decision-making and the health-care delivery process.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 2391-2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Chiara Demartini ◽  
Sara Trucco

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the use of subjective (objective) performance measures on relevant organisational outcomes, namely perceived managerial discretion (PMD) and manager’s satisfaction with the performance measurement system (PMS). Furthermore, the paper analyses the indirect link between subjective vs objective measures and managers’ satisfaction through PMD. Design/methodology/approach To test the research hypotheses, a paper-based questionnaire was sent to Italian health care managers in Lombardy. Thus, a PLS-SEM analysis was performed on a data set of 97 Italian health care managers. Findings Empirical findings showed that objective measures are more capable of supporting the managerial perception of discretion when compared to more subjective ones such as “fads” and “fashions”, and that managers are more satisfied with the PMS when it is grounded on objective measures rather than subjective ones. Originality/value The paper operationalizes and empirically tests the measure of PMD, linking this to antecedents and consequences. It also extends the literature on subjectivity in the PMS, since it develops new knowledge on the choice between subjective and objective measures by applying this choice to a variety of PMS, whereas prior literature on objective vs subjective measures has mainly focussed on performance evaluation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 708-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Amati ◽  
Amer A. Kaissi ◽  
Annegret F. Hannawa

Purpose The scientific literature evidences that the quality of care must be improved. However, little research has focused on investigating how health care managers – who are responsible for the implementation of quality interventions – define good and poor quality. The purpose of this paper is to develop an empirically informed taxonomy of quality care as perceived by US managers – named the Integrative Quality Care Assessment Tool (INQUAT) – that is grounded in Donabedian’s structure, process and outcome model. Design/methodology/approach A revised version of the critical incident technique was used to collect 135 written narratives of good and poor quality care from 74 health care managers in the USA. The episodes were thematically analyzed. Findings In total, 804 units were coded under the 135 written narratives of care. They were grouped under structure (9 percent, n=69), including organizational, staff and facility resources; process (52 percent, n=419), entailing communication, professional diligence, timeliness, errors, and continuity of care; outcomes (32 percent, n=257), embedding process- and short-term outcomes; and context (7 percent, n=59), involving clinical and patient factors. Process-related categories tended to be described in relation to good quality (65 percent), while structure-related categories tended to be associated with poor quality (67 percent). Furthermore, the data suggested that managers did not consider their actions as important factors influencing quality, but rather tended to attribute the responsibility for quality care to front-line practitioners. Originality/value The INQUAT provides a theoretically grounded, evidence-based framework to guide health care managers in the assessment of all the components involved with the quality of care within their institutions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai-Stiina Lampinen ◽  
ElinaAnnikki Suutala ◽  
Anne Irmeli Konu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how factors associated with a sense of community in the workplace are connected with organizational commitment and the quality of services among frontline managers and middle managers in social and health care services in Finland. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire designed specifically for this research was sent to 241 lower-level and middle-level managers in social and health care services in central Finland. A total of 136 managers completed the questionnaire (response rate 56 per cent). The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analyses. Findings The study showed that feeling a sense of belonging, mutual trust and appreciation, and open interaction among colleagues were connected to organizational commitment for frontline managers and middle managers in social and health care services in Finland. Correspondingly, an open flow of information in the organization, job meaningfulness and appreciation received from managers’ superiors were connected to the quality of services. Originality/value This study provides information on the factors that influence social and health care managers’ organizational commitment and on items connected to their experience of the quality of services.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 563-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaneh Esfahani ◽  
Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad ◽  
Ali Akbarisari

Purpose Although strategic planning promised to boost organizational performance, many health care managers found it difficult to implement it successfully. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the success of strategic planning in health care organizations of Iran. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016 using a valid and reliable questionnaire completed by 99 health care managers in Tehran province, Iran. Findings Strategic planning was positively related to organizational performance including employees’ and patients’ satisfaction and organizational productivity. However, strategic planning was moderately successful in enhancing organizational performance of Iranian health care organizations (score of 2.84 out of 5). The most and least success was observed in the planning and employee management constructs of organizational performance. Process management, organizational culture and customer management constructs had the most effect on the success of strategic plans in health care organizations. Practical implications Strategic planning is effective and provides a clear focused direction for health care organizations. Understanding the success factors of strategic planning would enable managers to develop more effective methods for developing, implementing and evaluating strategic plans in health care organizations. Originality/value This paper highlights the relationship between strategic planning and organizational performance and offers suggestions on how to develop and implement strategic plans to achieve higher organizational performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K Tripković ◽  
M Odalović ◽  
S Mladenović Janković ◽  
A Nešković ◽  
M Jakovljević

Abstract Background Growing evidence has suggested that job satisfaction in the health-care system can affect productivity, the quality of service, and patient safety. Knowledge regarding job satisfaction of health workers and its determinants is valuable to health-care managers for decision making in the field of personnel policy. This study was aimed to assess job satisfaction among health workers in public hospitals in Belgrade, Serbia and identify its associated factors. Methods This was a cross-sectional study, carried out within 24 hours, in December 2018, as a part of a national survey, which is conducted annually in all health care institutions in Serbia. Data were collected by self-administered structured questionnaire, which was distributed to all health workers who were at work at the time of the survey (11,588 health workers in 26 public hospitals in Belgrade). The completed questionnaires were returned by 9,203 health workers, which constituted the response rate of 79.4%. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to identify factors significantly and independently associated with a higher level of job satisfaction. Results Overall, 31.4% of the respondents were satisfied with their job. Age less than 35 years [AOR = 1.40; 95% CI (1.18-1.67)], no work stress [AOR = 2.66; 95% CI (1.94-3.65)], satisfaction with time for accomplishment of tasks [AOR = 1.92; 95% CI (1.64-2.26)], satisfaction with recognition and value of health workers’ engagement [AOR = 1.79; 95% CI (1.51-2.13)], and satisfaction with leadership style and work organization [AOR = 1.90; 95% CI (1.60-2.26)] were identified as determinants with highest influence at job satisfaction. Conclusions Less than third of health workers in Belgrade’s hospitals were satisfied with their job, while satisfaction with various aspects of the job, age, and work stress, were identified as predictors. The results of this study could be useful in proposing strategies to improve job satisfaction of health workers. Key messages The job satisfaction of health workers in Belgrade’s hospitals is low. Health-care managers should pay attention to create an environment that promotes job satisfaction and reduces work stress.


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