Healthy Leadership and Workplace Health Promotion as a Pre-Requisite for Organizational Health

Isabell Koinig and Sandra Diehl
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Isabell Koinig: Department of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt, 9400 Klagenfurt, Austria
Sandra Diehl: Department of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt, 9400 Klagenfurt, Austria

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: (1) Background: Increasing stress levels at the workplace constitute a concerning organizational trend, challenging not only employees but also organizations alike, as it is in most instances associated with increasing workloads. In consequence, employees have started to demand that organizations begin to accept responsibility for their health and well-being. The present contribution seeks to investigate, to which extent individuals are able to deal with stress and whether their employers and respective supervisors (leaders) accept responsibility for their health, for instance, by leading by example. In addition, the existence and support generated by the organization in form of Workplace Health Promotion (WPHP) is inquired. (2) Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 40 (full and part-time) employees from two European countries were conducted. (3) Results: The study with employees from Austria and Germany ( n = 40) confirmed that employees have started to recognize the potential of the workplace as an environment, where individual health can be enhanced. Yet, the results showed that only a few companies have already put some WPHP measures into practice. Likewise, the implementation of healthy leadership is rather limited to date. (4) Conclusions: At present, companies are still more likely to delegate responsibility for employee health and well-being to their staff, having not fully realized the potential of healthy leadership and organizational health promotion. There is great potential to increase WPHP measures on the employer side, through both healthy leadership and supporting WPHP measures.

Keywords: organizational health; healthy leadership; workplace health promotion; qualitative study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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