Conditions for distributed leadership practices among managers in elder- and disability care organizations: A structural equation modeling approach.

BACKGROUND

Against the backdrop of worldwide increases in life expectancy, there is a growing concern about the future of health and social care services in many countries, including Sweden. This is not least due to expected cutbacks in tax revenues and increasing staff shortages in the welfare sector. Challenges such as these have spurred leadership reforms aimed at mobilizing employee engagement and promoting job attractiveness. For instance, distributed leadership, whereby leader responsibilities are distributed and shared among team members, has gained momentum in recent decades. Nevertheless, there is still limited knowledge as to whether and how organizational conditions impact first-line managers' inclination to distribute influence and control.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine the organizational precursors of two interrelated aspects of distributed leadership among first-line managers in municipal elder- and disability care: collaborative decision-making and the presence (or lack of) a participatory leadership approach.

METHODS

Utilizing survey data from managers working in the elder- and disability care sectors in the municipality of Gothenburg, Sweden (N = 250), associations between conditions and aspects of distributed leadership were analyzed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

RESULTS

Both aspects of distributed leadership were positively and significantly associated with managers' perceptions of having well-functioning collaborations with their employees (β = 0.277 [0.122-0.432]; β = 0.492 [0.346-0.637]) as well as with the managers' active participation in development work aimed at, e.g., promoting organizational trust (β = 0.242 [0.039-0.446]; β = 0.251 [0.103-0.398]). No significant associations between distributed leadership and support from senior management or positive collaborations with support functions were observed in the controlled analyses. However, managers' perceptions of organizational governance deficits were shown to be significantly and positively associated with having a more participatory leadership approach (β = 0.261 [0.032-0.491]).

CONCLUSIONS

In line with the notion of distributed leadership as a "collective activity", which is realized in the interaction between managers and their employees, the findings demonstrate that trusting collaborations with responsible and knowledgeable employees play a key role in its practical implementation. Also, distributed leadership, and the work team relations through which it is enabled, are likely to mutually and positively reinforce each other. Additionally, the analyses revealed that managers' experiences of poor organizational governance appear to promote certain distributed leadership practices. Potentially, this could be because such deficits encourage them to seek support and guidance from their employees, but more research exploring these mechanisms is needed.