Organizational changes in the public sector and employee presenteeism: does (change) leadership matter?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effect of organizational changes on public employees’ choice of going to work, despite feeling ill (presenteeism). By the lens of change management theory and leadership literature, we explain how leaders mitigate presenteeism among their employees in an organizational change context. We explore this relationship by using a quantitative two-wave panel survey from 2011 to 2014, with the same 689 childcare workers in Denmark. Results suggest that individuals exhibit higher presenteeism in the context of organizational change, but that both change leadership and leadership quality help to mitigate the effect.