TY - JOUR
T1 - Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations
AU - Kjeldsen, Anne Mette
AU - Grønborg Stennicke, Mette
AU - Gregersen, Daniel Skov
AU - Lindgaard Petersen, Cecilie
AU - Bager, Anders Valentin
AU - Jønsson, Thomas Faurholt
AU - Andersen, Lotte Bøgh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Societal crises such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic challenge public organizations in many ways. Yet, there is little knowledge of how varying crisis intensity can spark different reactions among public leaders and employees. This study examines the dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis in relation to leadership behaviors and employee outcomes for 920 individuals in 45 organizational units within the police, hospitals, and assisted living facilities. By conducting a panel study that combines nationwide data on crisis intensity with survey data from 2019 to 2021, the study shows that employee outcomes such as public service motivation and job satisfaction are higher in severe stages of the crisis. Likewise, crisis intensity is positively associated with employee perceived use of visionary transformational leadership, but negatively associated with employee perceived use of verbal transactional leadership. Hence, public leaders should be prepared to handle complex employee reactions when the next crisis occurs.
AB - Societal crises such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic challenge public organizations in many ways. Yet, there is little knowledge of how varying crisis intensity can spark different reactions among public leaders and employees. This study examines the dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis in relation to leadership behaviors and employee outcomes for 920 individuals in 45 organizational units within the police, hospitals, and assisted living facilities. By conducting a panel study that combines nationwide data on crisis intensity with survey data from 2019 to 2021, the study shows that employee outcomes such as public service motivation and job satisfaction are higher in severe stages of the crisis. Likewise, crisis intensity is positively associated with employee perceived use of visionary transformational leadership, but negatively associated with employee perceived use of verbal transactional leadership. Hence, public leaders should be prepared to handle complex employee reactions when the next crisis occurs.
KW - COVID-19 crisis
KW - job satisfaction
KW - public service motivation
KW - transactional leadership
KW - Transformational leadership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160772292&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856
DO - 10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85160772292
SN - 0190-0692
VL - 47
SP - 951
EP - 970
JO - International Journal of Public Administration
JF - International Journal of Public Administration
IS - 14
ER -