Employee perceptions of managers’ leadership over time
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore if and how employees in a healthcare organisation perceive changes in their managers’ leadership behaviour over time.
Design/methodology/approach
An interview study was conducted with employees whose managers had participated in a two-year leadership development programme offered by their employer, Healthcare Provision Stockholm County. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and the interview discussions focused on areas in which the majority of the informants perceived that a change had occurred over time and their answers were relatively consistent.
Findings
The majority of employees did discern changes in their managers’ leadership over time, and, with very few exceptions, these changes were described as improvements.
Practical implications
The knowledge that employees perceived changes in their managers’ leadership supports investments in leadership development through courses, programmes or other initiatives.
Originality/value
The present findings contribute to a deeper empirical understanding of leadership as it is practised over time in everyday contexts among employees in healthcare organisations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We wish to express deepest gratitude for the financial support from AFA Försäkring, grant No. 100073, which made this study and analyses possible. We are grateful for support from Mikael Ohrling, CEO, and Annika Blomgren, HRM, at Stockholm County Healthcare Provision (SLSO). We would like to thank the respondents at SLSO for taking their time to participate in the interviews.
Citation
Palm, K., Ullström, S., Sandahl, C. and Bergman, D. (2015), "Employee perceptions of managers’ leadership over time", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 266-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-11-2014-0076
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited