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

Sarah Pischel (), Jörg Felfe and Laura Klebe
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Sarah Pischel: Department of Work, Organizational and Business Psychology, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, 22043 Hamburg, Germany
Jörg Felfe: Department of Work, Organizational and Business Psychology, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, 22043 Hamburg, Germany
Laura Klebe: Department of Work, Organizational and Business Psychology, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, 22043 Hamburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: health-oriented leadership; antecedents; disclosure; skills; goal conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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