Developing positive leadership in health and human services

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Developing positive leadership in health and human services
 
Creator Shannon, Elizabeth A. Van Dam, Pieter
 
Subject positive organisational behavour Leadership; Management; Development
Description Orientation: Measuring the target outcomes of leadership development programmes provides evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions and the validity of their theoretical underpinnings.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether staff from the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services (Australia) experienced increased levels of self-efficacy, social support within the workplace and positive affect, following participation in a leadership development programme.Research design, approach and method: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, allowing for triangulation of results. The General Self-Efficacy Scale and the Berlin Social-Support Scale (perceived available support, instrumental) were applied in an online survey administered before and nine months following the programme. Participant satisfaction surveys captured immediate responses and semi-structured interviews captured longer-term reflections.Main findings: Descriptive statistics indicated a moderate overall increase in self-efficacy, with strong increases in resilience, dealing with opposition, resourcefulness and problem solving. There was some evidence of greater overall social support and a strong increase in the development of social support networks. There was no support for an increase in participants’ positive orientation towards their jobs in the quantitative data. The impact of adverse environmental factors on participants’ perceptions also became evident through the interviews.Practical implications: Leadership development programmes that strengthen positive psychological resources provide participants with confidence and resilience in times of change. Organisations benefit from increased levels of employee self-efficacy as engagement and problem-solving abilities are enhanced.Contribution/value-add: These results contribute to the body of knowledge associated with effective leadership development.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Tasmania Department of Health and Human Services University of Tasmania
Date 2013-10-29
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — mixed-method
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajip.v39i2.1134
 
Source SA Journal of Industrial Psychology; Vol 39, No 2 (2013); 11 pages 2071-0763 0258-5200
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1134/1441 https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1134/1442 https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1134/1443 https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1134/1440
 
Coverage Tasmania, Australia Contemporary health and human services professionals
Rights Copyright (c) 2013 Elizabeth A. Shannon, Pieter Van Dam https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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