Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations

Anne Mette Kjeldsen; Mette Grønborg Stennicke; Daniel Skov Gregersen; Cecilie Lindgaard Petersen; Anders Valentin Bager; Thomas Faurholt Jønsson; Lotte Bøgh Andersen

doi:10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856

Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations

Anne Mette Kjeldsen^*, Mette Grønborg Stennicke, Daniel Skov Gregersen, Cecilie Lindgaard Petersen, Anders Valentin Bager, Thomas Faurholt Jønsson, Lotte Bøgh Andersen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Journal	International Journal of Public Administration
Volume	47
Issue	14
Pages (from-to)	951-970
Number of pages	20
ISSN	0190-0692
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856
Publication status	Published - 2024

Keywords

COVID-19 crisis
job satisfaction
public service motivation
transactional leadership
Transformational leadership

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10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856

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title = "Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations",

abstract = "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.",

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doi = "10.1080/01900692.2023.2213856",

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Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations. / Kjeldsen, Anne Mette; Grønborg Stennicke, Mette; Gregersen, Daniel Skov et al.
In: International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 47, No. 14, 2024, p. 951-970.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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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

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.

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Crisis Intensity, Leadership Behavior, and Employee Outcomes in Public Organizations

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