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To investigate the relationship between trust in leaders and work satisfaction on work engagement in public hospitals.

Survey data were collected from 137 employees working in two medium-sized public hospitals. A model based on a review of the literature was developed and tested using variance-based structural equation technique.

Work engagement is significantly influenced by trust in leaders and work satisfaction. Work satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between trust in leaders and work engagement. Furthermore, personal development, affiliation and belonging and basic needs for job fulfilment significantly influence work satisfaction. Likewise, basic needs for job fulfilment and co-workers' empathy significantly influence trust in leaders.

This study indicates that in public hospitals satisfaction and trust in a leader have a substantial influence on work engagement, highlighting the importance of a good trust relationship in the workplace. It is also important for leaders to understand that increased work engagement leads to a well-motivated workforce, improved work performance, low absence from work due to sick leave and a good patient experience.

Not much research has been done on the direct effects of trust and satisfaction on engagement. Moreover, the study contributes to the existing literature through the development and testing of the “work engagement model”.

The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of how different kinds of power influence trust and motivation in hospitals.

To analyze the links between power, trust and motivation, a framework of social power is tested on measures of trust in managers and motivation. Quantitative data from 137 respondents were collected. Partial least square is used to evaluate the theoretical model.

Legitimate, referent and reward power has a positive influence on trust, while coercive power has a negative influence on trust. In total, 41.8 per cent of the variation in trust in managers was explained by power. Trust, reward power and expert power explained 30.9 per cent of the variation in motivation.

The research indicates that in knowledge organizations such as hospitals, leaders should be careful in using coercive power. Expert power seems to influence motivation but not trust, while legitimate power seems to influence trust directly and motivation only through trust. Referent power seems to have a weak influence on trust and no direct influence on motivation. Reward power has a very strong influence both on trust and motivation.

It is important for leaders to consider how power can influence trust, motivation and the performance of a health organization. Although this study was conducted in Norway and Finland, the findings may have relevance on a broader scale.

Since its introduction in 1992, the balanced scorecard (BSC) has rapidly gained in importance throughout the world. Harvard Business Review even selected it as one of the most important management tools of the past 75 years. This paper takes the performance indicators used in an offshore health‐and‐safety benchmarking study carried out by Aberdeen University on 13 offshore installations operating on the UK Continental Shelf and relates them to the BSC framework. The results from the benchmarking study are discussed from the perspective of suggesting which indicators should populate each perspective of the BSC: financial, customer, internal business and learning and growth. In addition the paper includes the results of interviews conducted with senior managers in the UK and Norwegian oil and gas sector, about use of the BSC in general and with regard to health and safety performance indicators in particular. Reasons for including occupational health and safety in the BSC and reports/papers covering occupational health and safety indicators and the BSC are discussed.