Health-oriented Leadership Research Articles

Corrigendum

Journal of Applied Social PsychologyVolume 53, Issue 2 p. 166-166 CORRIGENDUMFree Access Corrigendum This article corrects the following: When and how health-oriented leadership relates to employee well-being—The role of expectations, self-care, and LMX Antonia J. Kaluza, Franziska Weber, Rolf van Dick, Nina M. Junker, Volume 51Issue 4Journal of Applied Social Psychology pages: 404-424 First Published online: March 13, 2021 First published: 23 January 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12962AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat The article by Kaluza, Weber, van Dick, & Junker (2021) was published with the following error. The authors noticed an error in the Figure 1, ideal health-oriented leader behavior should also moderate the pathway between actual health-oriented leader behavior and self-care behavior. It has been explained correctly in the hypotheses and tests, however, it has been misrepresented in the figure. The revised Figure 1 is shown below: Figure 1Open in figure viewerPowerPoint The authors regret this error. REFERENCE Kaluza AJ, Weber F, van Dick R, Junker NM. When and how health-oriented leadership relates to employee well-being—The role of expectations, self-care, and LMX. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2021; 51: 404– 424. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12744 Volume53, Issue2February 2023Pages 166-166 FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation

Health-oriented leadership, gender-differences and job satisfaction: results from a representative population-based study in Germany

BackgroundIn recent years, the topic of health-oriented leadership (HoL) has often been investigated with health-related outcomes like general health, strain, depression, and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, research which considers the gender of leaders and employees in connection to HoL as well as studies on relationships between HoL and job satisfaction, are scarce. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationships between HoL and health status assessed by employees and leaders, to analyse the relationships between HoL and job satisfaction as a non-health-related outcome for employees and leaders and to examine differences in the assessment of HoL between men and women in a representative dataset of the working population in Germany.MethodsData were collected via an access panel as a cross-sectional survey. The quota sample included 643 German workers (managers and employees). We focused on staff-care as a core component of HoL. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson correlations and regression analyses as well as t-tests and Mann-Whitney-U-Tests.ResultsThe results showed no significant differences between male and female employees or leaders in assessing HoL. Regarding HoL we found relationships between self-rated health status or job satisfaction, both for the self-rated assessment of leaders and employees.ConclusionsOur findings indicate relationships between HoL and well-being as well as job satisfaction at the workplace. For interventions of any kind, the lack of gender effects leaves a wide scope for the implementation of health-promoting measures. In particular, the findings on the relationship between HoL and job satisfaction through leaders’ self-assessment could be used for salutogenic approaches to strengthen resources in leadership trainings.

Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy of Polish School Principals : A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to evaluate Polish school principals’ coronavirus-related health literacy (HL) level and explore the respondents’ feelings in the context of the pandemic media information overload . The survey was conducted in 8 out of 16 provinces in Poland between June 2021 and December 2021 using an online questionnaire. Research revealed that the most challenging for Polish school principals was judging the reliability of the media-based information about COVID-19. Moreover, respondents’ coronavirus-related HL was positively associated with feeling well-informed about the pandemic and less confused concerning media information about coronavirus. Enhancing school principals’ HL is recommended, as it can positively affect the entire school community through health-oriented leadership behaviour and prevent an infodemic, facilitating school management and making the right decisions.

"Should I Further Engage in Staff Care?": Employees' Disclosure, Leaders' Skills and Goal Conflict as Antecedents of Health-Oriented Leadership.

Leaders play a crucial role in employees' health and job satisfaction. When employees show early warning signs that their physical or mental health is at risk, leaders' responsibility gains even more importance. Recent health-specific leadership approaches (health-oriented leadership; HoL) emphasize the importance of leaders ability to perceive employees' warning signals (staff care awareness) to take appropriate action (staff care behavior). However, little is known about the factors facilitating or hindering the transfer from leaders' awareness to concrete behaviors. In an experimental study (N = 91), we examined and manipulated antecedents of staff care behavior: (a) employees' disclosure, (b) leaders' HoL skills, and (c) leaders' goal conflict in a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial design. Employees' disclosure and leaders' skills were positively related to staff care behavior. Leaders' goal conflict was not directly related to staff care behavior but had an indirect effect and diminished the positive relationship between disclosure and staff care behavior. The findings deepen the theoretical understanding of the HoL concept. By studying the influence of employees' disclosure on staff care behavior, our study complements a follower-centered perspective. We provide practical recommendations for workplace health promotion and how leaders' staff care behavior can be fostered.

Working from home and its challenges for transformational and health-oriented leadership.

The Covid-19 crisis forced many employees to abruptly relocate their workplace from the office to their homes. As working from home is expected to remain part of our working world, consequences for leadership need to be examined. Our study aims to investigate the concrete challenges regarding the feasibility of transformational leadership and health-oriented leadership in this remote setting. Therefore, we collected quantitative and qualitative data of 23 leaders and 18 employees from various organizations in Germany. Both groups were asked to report their experiences during working from home in comparison to the traditional office setting. Findings of our study provide a comprehensive understanding regarding the underlying mechanism that impede transformational and health-oriented leadership in the remote setting. Among them participants reported a lack of social presence, limited informal chats, communication difficulties and lack of mutual trust. Based on our findings we derive practical implications for leaders and HR practitioners.

Health-oriented leadership’s impact on the well-being of healthcare workers: Assessment with a mediated model

. In the face of growing stress in the workplace, employers are particularly interested in management practices focused on maintaining the psychological health of employees. This study examines the effect of the perception of health-oriented leadership (HoL) on the well-being of healthcare workers who have severe psychosocial working conditions in order to increase interest in employee well-being and provide leadership with a central role in this regard. The paper examined psychological wellbeing (PWB), job satisfaction, and life satisfaction together while attempting to determine whether HoL directly and indirectly (via PWB) affected work and life satisfaction based on the JD-R model. The methodological basis of the study was the provisions of the human resource theory management and the theory of leadership. Data was collected from 187 employees (convenience sampling) of a healthcare organization operating in a province in Turkey with the survey technique and analyzed using the SPSS and Smart PLS software. The findings revealed that HoL affects job satisfaction and life satisfaction both directly and through PWB. Therefore, the perception of HoL increased PWB, which in turn increased job satisfaction and life satisfaction. The study ultimately deducted that it was important to exhibit HoL behaviors for employee well-being. Among possible directions for further research could be a longitudinal design of analysis, as well as expanding the sample by including private healthcare organizations and additional locations.

Health-oriented leadership: Antecedents of leaders’ awareness regarding warning signals of emerging depression and burnout

Due to growing demands, there is an increase in depression and burnout causing sickness absence and early retirement. Detecting depression and burnout at an early stage is a crucial task for leaders to allow for early support and prevent more severe illnesses. Within the health-oriented leadership concept, awareness is the ability to recognize followers’ warning signals as a potential health risk. Although it is widely accepted that awareness is a precondition to taking appropriate action, it is yet unclear to what extent leaders recognize the warning signals of followers and which factors facilitate or impede awareness. In an experimental study ( N = 54) and a survey study ( N = 215) we examined antecedents of awareness in followers and leaders: (a) clarity of displayed warning signals in followers, (b) leaders’ stressors, (c) leaders’ autonomy. Even under favorable conditions, only about half of the leaders recognized warning signals as a health risk. Leaders showed lower awareness during times of high stress and low autonomy and when followers displayed less clear warning signals. Autonomy moderated the effect of stress (workload) on awareness, but there was no buffering effect as expected. The findings deepen the theoretical understanding of awareness and suggest that leaders need to know how their awareness may be impeded. We provide practical recommendations for human resource management on how leaders’ awareness can be fostered.

Facilitating Health-Oriented Leadership from a Leader’s Perspective

Abstract. Health-oriented leadership (HoL) is vital for the improvement of health and an essential part of psychological risk management. However, the relevance of different antecedent factors is unknown. We used data from a Germany-wide online survey with N = 738 leaders. Referring to the JD-R model, we analyzed leaders’ demands and resources that facilitate or impede health-oriented leadership from a leader’s perspective. Moreover, we examined the relevance of contextual factors like branch, company size, and management span. Whereas results show only small differences for contextual factors, we found positive relationships between leaders’ resources, like autonomy and social support, and negative relationships with workplace demands (availability, multitasking) and HoL from a leader’s perspective. At the organizational level, HoL is positively linked to high-performance work practices and health-oriented HRM strategies. From a leader’s perspective, the findings provide evidence for the relevance of favorable working conditions and human resources practices for improving HoL as part of psychological risk management.

A SSIM-Based Approach to Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Interventions

Abstract. Companies often hesitate to assess psychosocial risks, despite being obliged to assess them along with other health risks. One reason might be that companies are afraid of being unable to meet the expectations raised by employee surveys addressing social stressors. Health-oriented leadership approaches focus on supervisors’ role as potential social resources or stressors but neglect the influence of other situational conditions. In this case study, we use a systemic-salutogenic interaction model (SSIM)-based approach to psychosocial risk assessment in a medium-sized production company to focus on these dynamics. Using a pre-post multimethod design, we evaluate the effectiveness of this SSIM approach using two time-shifted standardized psychosocial risk surveys ( Nt1 =72; Nt2 = 224) and qualitative interviews to describe the challenges and problems the company faced. Based on these results, we discuss the perspectives of a SSIM-based approach to psychosocial risk assessment for research and practice.

"Should I Tell My Leader or Not?"-Health-Oriented Leadership and Stigma as Antecedents of Employees' Mental Health Information Disclosure Intentions at Work.

To investigate how health-oriented leadership and stigma facilitate or impede employees' disclosure intentions to leaders. In two studies-an experimental vignette (n = 73) and a cross-sectional study (n = 220)-we manipulated or measured health-oriented leadership, transformational leadership, and organizational stigma and compared different reasons for disclosure (mental health problems and severe error) to separate general and specific disclosure decisions. Health-oriented leadership fostered disclosure above and beyond transformational leadership. High organizational stigma was associated with lower disclosure. Health-oriented leadership had a stronger effect on disclosing mental problems than on disclosing a severe error and slightly mitigated the negative relationship between stigma and disclosure in study 1. Findings were not influenced by employees' current mental health status. Our findings highlight the importance of health-oriented leadership as a facilitator and organizational stigma as a barrier to disclosure intentions.

Does Self-Care Make You a Better Leader? A Multisource Study Linking Leader Self-Care to Health-Oriented Leadership, Employee Self-Care, and Health.

Leadership plays an important role in employee well-being. In light of a growing research interest in leaders’ resources as determinants of healthy leadership, it is not yet clear how leaders’ behavior regarding their own health (self-care) may trickle down to employees. Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and the model of Health-Oriented Leadership, this study tests two mechanisms through which employees may benefit from self-caring leaders: (a) through staff care, that is, concern for their employees’ health (improved leadership hypothesis); and (b) through a direct relationship between leaders’ and employees’ self-care (role-modeling hypothesis). In turn, both staff care and employee self-care would relate positively to employee health. Multilevel path models based on a sample of N = 46 supervisors and 437 employees revealed that leader self-care was positively related to leader-rated staff care at Level 2, which was positively related to employee-rated staff care at Level 1. In turn, employee-rated staff care was positively related to employee health. The findings support the improved leadership hypothesis and underline the importance of leader self-care as a determinant of healthy leadership.

Caring for yourself and for others: team health climate and self-care explain the relationship between health-oriented leadership and exhaustion

PurposeHealth-oriented leadership is an emerging concept that is promising for better understanding how leaders can support employee well-being. However, there is uncertainty about the process through which health-oriented leadership relates to employee well-being. Advancing health-oriented leadership research, this study aims to examine employee self-care and the perceived team health climate as mediating mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a time-lagged study with three measurement points (NT1 = 335, NT2 = 134, NT2 = 113) to test these mechanisms.FindingsThe results show that health-oriented leadership at Time 1 positively relates to employee self-care and perceived team health climate at Time 2, which, in turn, are negatively associated with employee exhaustion at Time 3.Originality/valueThe indirect associations suggest that health-oriented leadership relates to employee well-being via the perceived team health climate and the individuals' self-care. By revealing an important mediating mechanism, this study contributes to the health-oriented leadership literature and can help organizations and leaders improve health promotion in organizations.

High-Performance Work Practices and Employee Wellbeing-Does Health-Oriented Leadership Make a Difference?

This paper sheds further light on the contextual boundaries in the relationship between high-performance work practices (HPWPs) and employee wellbeing. In particular, we analyze whether this relationship is moderated by health-oriented leadership behavior (i.e., staff care) which describes the extent to which leaders value, are aware of, and protect their followers’ health at work. Our analyses are based on employee data (N = 1,345) from Germany, covering two points in time. Findings show positive associations between HPWPs and happiness-related (i.e., engagement, commitment) and health-related (i.e., general health, physical health complaints, mental health complaints, strain) wellbeing outcomes. The positive relationship between HPWPs and employee wellbeing is weaker the more employees experience leadership behavior in terms of staff care. Thus, our results provide further evidence for a substitutive or compensatory effect between HRM and leadership.

Turkish Adaptation of the Health-Oriented Leadership Scale and Effect of Health-Oriented Leadership on Emotional Exhaustion: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience

Bu araştırma “Sağlık Odaklı Liderlik (SOL)” kavramını ele almayı ve bu liderlik algısı ile ilgili bir ölçeğin uyarlamasını yapmayı amaçlamıştır. Bununla birlikte araştırma sağlık odaklı liderlik algısının doğrudan ve dolaylı olarak (psikolojik dayanıklılık üzerinden) duygusal tükenmeye etkisinin olup olmadığını tespit etmeyi de amaçlamıştır. Bu doğrultuda iki farklı örneklemden veriler toplanmış ve istatistiksel analizler yapılarak amaçlara ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Araştırma için Aksaray Üniversitesi İnsan Araştırmaları Etik Kurulu’ndan (2021/05-53 tarih ve sayılı) gerekli izin alınmıştır. Araştırmada birinci çalışmaya ait örneklemden (üniversite idari personelleri) elde edilen verilerle sağlık odaklı liderlik ölçeğinin güvenilirliği ve yapı geçerliliği için analizler yapılmış ve gerekli kriterler sağlanmıştır. İkinci çalışmaya ait örneklemden elde edilen veriler (öğretmenler) ise ölçek güvenilirliğini ve geçerliliğini doğrulamak ve araştırma hipotezlerini test etmek için kullanılmıştır. Analiz bulguları birinci çalışmadaki faktör yapısını doğrulamış ve güvenilirliğin sağlandığını göstermiştir. Dolayısıyla Sağlık Odaklı Liderlik Ölçeği’nin Türkiye’deki çalışmalarda kullanılabileceği belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca yapılan analizlerde sağlık odaklı liderliğin hem doğrudan hem de psikolojik dayanıklılık aracılığıyla (yani dolaylı olarak) duygusal tükenmeyi etkilediği görülmüştür. Bir diğer ifadeyle, sağlık odaklı liderlik algısı hem doğrudan hem de dolaylı olarak (psikolojik dayanıklılığı artırarak) duygusal tükenmeyi azaltmıştır.

Effectiveness of a mindfulness- and skill-based health-promoting leadership intervention on supervisor and employee levels: A quasi-experimental multisite field study.

Acknowledging increasing demands for workforce health, new theoretical concepts of health-oriented leadership (HoL) have been introduced, emphasizing the supervisor's direct and explicit engagement in workplace health by focusing on their self- and staff-care. However, empirical evidence of the effectiveness of HoL interventions for supervisors and their staff is still scarce. We developed a mindfulness- and skill-based HoL intervention and investigated its effectiveness in a quasi-experimental multisite field study including supervisor and employee ratings from 12 German companies. A total of n = 117 supervisors and their employees (n = 744) completed assessments on mental distress and perceived HoL before and after the intervention as well as during the 3-month follow-up period. The intervention group was compared to a passive control cohort based on propensity score matching. Hierarchical linear models showed that the supervisors who had participated in the HoL intervention experienced a significantly larger decrease in mental distress and an increase in health-oriented self-care as well as staff-care than did their matched controls (g = 0.18-0.59). These results were confirmed by intent-to-treat analyses. The effect on supervisors' mental distress was mediated by an increase of their health-oriented self-care and moderated by the frequency of their mindfulness practice. No significant effects appeared between groups regarding outcomes at the employee level. Overall, these findings indicate how HoL can be effectively trained to increase supervisors' self- and staff-care and reduce their mental distress. Future research should explore additional moderator variables, linkages to established work stress models, and improvements of these interventions to increase their effectiveness for employees. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Effectiveness of health-oriented leadership interventions for improving health and wellbeing of employees: a systematic review

AimTo identify and summarize the evidence for the effect of health-oriented leadership interventions on health and well-being outcomes at the employee level following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement (Moher et al. 2009).Subject and MethodsA systematic search of relevant studies was conducted in multiple databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-randomized controlled trials (cRCTs) and controlled before–after studies (CBAs) were included based on the following criteria: interventions that addressed supervisors, to raise awareness for the importance of health issues, teach mindfulness practices for conscious awareness, reduce stress and promote resources at the level of individual behavior, and evaluated the effect on at least one outcome of psychomental stress, absenteeism and well-being on the employee level.ResultsOf 6126 publications retrieved, ten studies were identified for analysis. Significant effects of leadership training were reported on exhaustion tendency, self-reported sickness absence, work-related sickness absence and job satisfaction in studies comparing health-oriented training programs to no intervention. Studies comparing health-oriented leadership training to other training did not report significant effects. Risk of bias was judged to be high in seven studies and unclear in three studies.ConclusionEvidence for the effectiveness of health-oriented leadership interventions on employees’ stress, absenteeism or well-being is judged to be low, clearly indicating the need for more and higher-quality research.

The Show Must Go On

Abstract. By disrupting routines at work, the Covid-19 pandemic may have undermined the extent and effectiveness of health-oriented leadership (HoL) in terms of staff-care and self-care. In a survey with two measurement points in the spring of 2020 ( Nt1=264; Nt2=123), we examined whether the stronger the crisis the lower HoL is, while becoming more effective in terms of follower health. Crisis severity turned out to be indirectly related to exhaustion via staff-care and self-care. Staff-care was more effective for follower health the stronger the crisis was. The results were largely supported in a subsample when exhaustion was measured 1 week later. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic was indirectly related to crisis severity via hindrance stressors. Findings underline that staff-care was jeopardized but gained in importance during the pandemic. By displaying staff-care, leaders can buffer negative crisis effects on followers. Organizations should strengthen HoL to protect the health of both leaders and followers during crises.

How to evaluate digital leadership: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWith the increasing digitalization of the working environment, the demands on managers are changing fundamentally to the point of an emerging field of research in digital leadership. Municipal administrations are particularly affected by the digital transformation processes. Therefore, a score to measure the construct of digital leadership competence in the context of virtual-based workstation was developed and tested.MethodsBased on an online survey with n = 546 employees at virtual-based workstations in municipal administrations in 2020, the instrument is tested regarding selectivity (coefficients), dimensionality (principal component analysis), homogeneity (inter-product-moment correlations), reliability (Cronbach’s α) and construct validity (correlation with general leadership skills).ResultsThe instrument can be considered selective, one-dimensional, homogeneous, reliable and constructively valid in the sense of the formulated hypotheses. By integrating the employees’ perspective, the instrument aims to be one of the first of its kind to initiate a scientific further discourse. Among other things, the categorization of the co-determination component as either traditional or digital leadership can be discussed.ConclusionsThe developed instrument for measuring digital leadership performs well concerning the aspects of discriminatory power, one-dimensionality, homogeneity, reliability as well as construct validity. It aims to induce further research and a scientific discourse on the topic of health-oriented leadership within the world of work 4.0.

Health-oriented leadership as a job resource: can staff care buffer the effects of job demands on employee health and job satisfaction?

PurposeDrawing upon the job-demands resources and the job demands-control-support model, the authors examined the buffering effect of health-oriented leadership (HoL) in terms of staff care on the relationship between job demands and employee health and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data from two studies (N1 = 314 and N2 = 260) were analyzed using moderation analyses.FindingsStudy 1 showed that staff care mitigates the effect of job demands on strain and health complaints. Study 2 found that staff care also buffered the effect of job demands on general health and job satisfaction.Practical implicationsParticularly under high job demands, staff care is an important resource for employees' health and satisfaction. Organizations should promote leaders' staff care.Originality/valueFindings provide further evidence for the beneficial role of leaders in terms of HoL.

Mission impossible? Effects of crisis, leader and follower strain on health-oriented leadership

Previous studies underline positive effects of health-oriented leadership for follower well-being. However, it is not clear whether and to what extent situational and personal factors influence health-oriented leadership behavior towards employees (i.e., staff care). We examine the effect of crises and the moderating role of strain for the relationship between strain and staff care in two studies. The first study investigated main and interactive effects of crisis and leader strain on staff care in a cross-sectional survey (N = 201). To test for causality, we complemented our findings with an experimental vignette study (N = 169) and extended our findings with regard to the influence of follower strain. As expected, results of both studies showed negative effects of crisis and leader strain on staff care. Furthermore, crisis effects on staff care were contingent on both leader strain (Study 1 and 2) and follower strain (Study 2): While leader strain strengthened the negative relationships between crisis and staff care, follower strain served as a buffer. These findings support the assumption that staff care is at risk in crises particularly when leaders are strained. However, it is a positive finding that staff care is still feasible on a moderate and relevant level and that leaders respond to follower strain with additional efforts regarding staff care even in crises. The study contributes to the clarification and better understanding of situational contingencies of leadership behavior.