Personal Support Networks as Moderators in Dyadic Employee-Supervisor Relationships

Health-promoting management behaviour and the associated social support require professional and social competences of supervisors. The behaviour of leaders has an impact on motivation, commitment, as well as on the mental and physical health of their employees – and consequently on their ability to work and employability. Thus, from an entrepreneurial point of view, the skill of managers to provide adequate social support is an indispensable prerequisite for the economic success of the organisation. The two-way relationship (dyad) between the leader and the led, as a reciprocal, dynamic negotiation process, is in the focus of this investigation. For this research in the field of social support, the functions and effects of personal, social support networks have been considered. The question arises, as to whether they can compensate or moderate inadequate social support from supervisors and its effects on the employee’s state of health. From a differential view, social support networks can be understood as a matrix, providing the infrastructure for the production and distribution of a broad spectrum of social support benefits, which in turn represent the social resources of an employee – an important factor for her/his physical and mental health. Social resources in the form of social relationships and social interactions can help to cope with workloads and to better master challenges. In stressful situations, it is helpful to receive emotional or practical support from the support networks of the primary environment. The sample comprises of managers in middle management (N = 132) from different German automotive suppliers. In the examination, the Survey of Perceived Supervisor Support (SPSS), the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Evaluation of Social Systems Scale (EVOS) has been used. It was postulated that the quality of social support networks (mirrored by the EVOS-dimensions “quality of relationships” and “self-efficacy”) moderate the relationship between perceived supervisor support and employees self-rated health. Partly, significant correlations between perceived supervisory support and the self-rated health dimensions “emotional well-being”, “energy/fatigue” and “role limitations due to personal or emotional problems” could be determined. It was also possible to gain the important insight that the networking of employees outside the official hierarchical structures plays an essential role in coping with stress.