Supervisor leadership in relation to resident job satisfaction.

Martha A Van Der Wal,Fedde Scheele,Janke Cohen-Schotanus,Nienke R Schripsema,A Debbie C Jaarsma,Johanna Schönrock-Adema

doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0688-z

Abstract

BackgroundResearch from outside the medical field shows that leadership behaviours influence job satisfaction. Whether the same is true for the medical training setting needs to be explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of residents’ overall appreciation of their supervisor’s leadership and observation of specific supervisor leadership behaviours on job satisfaction.MethodsWe invited residents (N = 117) to rate how often they observed certain task and relation-oriented leadership behaviours in their supervisor and overall appreciation of their supervisor’s leadership. Furthermore, they rated their satisfaction with 13 different aspects of their jobs on a 10-point scale. Using exploratory factor analysis we identified four factors covering different types of job satisfaction aspects: personal growth, autonomy, affective, and instrumental job satisfaction aspects. Influence of overall appreciation for supervisor leadership and observation of certain leadership behaviours on these job satisfaction factors were analysed using multiple regression analyses.ResultsThe affective aspects of job satisfaction were positively influenced by overall appreciation of leadership (B = 0.792, p = 0.017), observation of specific instructions (B = 0.972, p = 0.008) and two-way communication (B = 1.376, p = 0.008) and negatively by mutual decision-making (B = −1.285, p = 0.007). No effects were found for the other three factors of job satisfaction.ConclusionsWe recommend that supervisors become more aware of whether and how their behaviours influence residents’ job satisfaction. Especially providing specific instructions and using two-way communication seem important to help residents deal with their insecurities and to offer them support.

Highlights

Research from outside the medical field shows that leadership behaviours influence job satisfaction
This pleasurable emotional state can be related to several aspects of a job, which means that job satisfaction can be considered a multifaceted concept [4, 5]
We wondered whether the findings reported in organizational literature apply to a residency training setting and analyzed the relation between supervisor leadership behaviour and resident job satisfaction

Summary

Introduction

Research from outside the medical field shows that leadership behaviours influence job satisfaction. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of residents’ overall appreciation of their supervisor’s leadership and observation of specific supervisor leadership behaviours on job satisfaction. Research from outside the medical field shows that leadership behaviours of managers influence employees’ job satisfaction [1]. Whether this finding applies to the medical training setting remains unclear. We investigated how residents’ job satisfaction is influenced by their appreciation of their supervisors’ leadership in general and specific leadership behaviours. Job satisfaction has been defined as “a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job...” [3]. Examples are opportunities for personal development, professional accomplishments, control over work planning and content, their relationship with colleagues, management and other medical staff, income, work-life balance and appreciation from patients [5,6,7,8]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion