Leadership Training and Leadership Tools in Public Organizations

TY - BOOK

T1 - Leadership Training and Leadership Tools in Public Organizations

AU - Haunstrup, Jørgen K. Skovhus

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - SummaryThis dissertation investigates how leadership training combined with leadership tools can influence manager and employee outcomes in public organizations. Ensuring transfer from leadership training with classroom and coachingsessions outside of leaders' day-to-day work to actual leadership activities canbe challenging. The dissertation proposes that leadership training integratedwith leadership tools that aim at prompting target behavior in public managers' immediate work context can have strong effects on leadership behaviorand employee outcomes.Leadership tools are various types of tools used to support leadership behavior such as templates for performance interviewing and employee development. Despite their widespread use, little is known about how such toolsimpact manager behavior and employee outcomes, particularly in the contextof leadership training. The dissertation argues that insights from the field ofpersuasive technology, which explores how interactive computerized systemscan shape attitudes and behaviors, can be integrated into the leadership training literature to gain a better understanding of the potential of leadershiptools.The dissertation proposes that leadership tools can be categorized as dynamic or static based on the level of interactivity inherent in the support theyintent to provide. Dynamic leadership tools, which utilize advanced information technologies, are expected to provide stronger support for attitudinaland behavioral change in combination with leadership training compared to asimilar combination with static tools.The research question is therefore as follows: How does leadership training with static and dynamic leadership tools impact manager and employeeoutcomes in public organizations? The dissertation theorizes the use of leadership tools in transformational leadership training, specifically focusing ongoal-oriented development dialogues as a core element. These dialogues aimto facilitate vision communication and foster employee psychological needssatisfaction, ultimately leading to improved organizational performance.To investigate the effects of leadership training with leadership tool, a fieldexperiment was conducted in collaboration with 34 Danish municipalities.The experiment involved 226 public managers and approximately 4,500 employees from job centers within the employment service area. The managerswere randomly assigned to three groups. One group received leadership training with a static tool. Another received similar leadership training, but with a dynamic tool. Finally, the control group received neither training nor tool.Pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted among managers and employees in all three groups to collect data on leadership behavior and employee outcomes, and organizational performance data was obtained from national registers.The dissertation consists of this dissertation report and three papers thatcover different research elements and contribute to the overall understandingof the topic. The findings support that leadership training with leadershiptools can increase employee perceived transformational leadership behaviorand satisfaction of some employee psychological needs. The findings also givesome support the notion that dynamic leadership tools have stronger effectson satisfaction of employee needs for meaning and perceived prosocial impact. The effects of the leadership training intervention are not detectable on the citizen outcomes in terms of increased self-sufficiency among the job center units’ target groups.Finally, this report discusses implications for practice and how the dissertation contributes to the leadership literature and addresses the research question. The dissertation adds an important theoretical layer to the literature on leadership training by highlighting the importance of supporting public managers in conducting target behaviors in their day-to-day work followingleadership training. The dissertation contributes to transformational leadership literature by developing a specific model for vision communicationthrough goal-oriented developmental dialogues. Lastly, the dissertation contributes to our understanding of how the increasing use of dynamic IT tools in the public sector can impact manager and employee outcomes.

AB - SummaryThis dissertation investigates how leadership training combined with leadership tools can influence manager and employee outcomes in public organizations. Ensuring transfer from leadership training with classroom and coachingsessions outside of leaders' day-to-day work to actual leadership activities canbe challenging. The dissertation proposes that leadership training integratedwith leadership tools that aim at prompting target behavior in public managers' immediate work context can have strong effects on leadership behaviorand employee outcomes.Leadership tools are various types of tools used to support leadership behavior such as templates for performance interviewing and employee development. Despite their widespread use, little is known about how such toolsimpact manager behavior and employee outcomes, particularly in the contextof leadership training. The dissertation argues that insights from the field ofpersuasive technology, which explores how interactive computerized systemscan shape attitudes and behaviors, can be integrated into the leadership training literature to gain a better understanding of the potential of leadershiptools.The dissertation proposes that leadership tools can be categorized as dynamic or static based on the level of interactivity inherent in the support theyintent to provide. Dynamic leadership tools, which utilize advanced information technologies, are expected to provide stronger support for attitudinaland behavioral change in combination with leadership training compared to asimilar combination with static tools.The research question is therefore as follows: How does leadership training with static and dynamic leadership tools impact manager and employeeoutcomes in public organizations? The dissertation theorizes the use of leadership tools in transformational leadership training, specifically focusing ongoal-oriented development dialogues as a core element. These dialogues aimto facilitate vision communication and foster employee psychological needssatisfaction, ultimately leading to improved organizational performance.To investigate the effects of leadership training with leadership tool, a fieldexperiment was conducted in collaboration with 34 Danish municipalities.The experiment involved 226 public managers and approximately 4,500 employees from job centers within the employment service area. The managerswere randomly assigned to three groups. One group received leadership training with a static tool. Another received similar leadership training, but with a dynamic tool. Finally, the control group received neither training nor tool.Pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted among managers and employees in all three groups to collect data on leadership behavior and employee outcomes, and organizational performance data was obtained from national registers.The dissertation consists of this dissertation report and three papers thatcover different research elements and contribute to the overall understandingof the topic. The findings support that leadership training with leadershiptools can increase employee perceived transformational leadership behaviorand satisfaction of some employee psychological needs. The findings also givesome support the notion that dynamic leadership tools have stronger effectson satisfaction of employee needs for meaning and perceived prosocial impact. The effects of the leadership training intervention are not detectable on the citizen outcomes in terms of increased self-sufficiency among the job center units’ target groups.Finally, this report discusses implications for practice and how the dissertation contributes to the leadership literature and addresses the research question. The dissertation adds an important theoretical layer to the literature on leadership training by highlighting the importance of supporting public managers in conducting target behaviors in their day-to-day work followingleadership training. The dissertation contributes to transformational leadership literature by developing a specific model for vision communicationthrough goal-oriented developmental dialogues. Lastly, the dissertation contributes to our understanding of how the increasing use of dynamic IT tools in the public sector can impact manager and employee outcomes.

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

SN - 978-87-7335-320-2

T3 - Politicas ph.d.-serie

BT - Leadership Training and Leadership Tools in Public Organizations

PB - Forlaget Politica

CY - Aarhus

ER -