Abstract
The achievement of organizational objectives depends on the leadership and leaders' behavior. The study was conducted to examine the relationship between the leaders' behavior, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees in nursing in Slovenian hospitals. The differences between individual variables were analyzed with the Mann-Whitney Test, Spearman correlation analysis and the regression analysis. With the leadership style, leaders' characteristics, leaders' emotional intelligence, and teamwork in the unit we can explain 51% of the total variability of nurses' job satisfaction and 84% of organizational commitment. Leaders' behavior has an important component of work and associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees in nursing. Health care organizations can be successful if the employees are satisfied with their work and have a high level of organizational commitment.
TopIntroduction
Organizations are social systems. Human resources are the most important factor for the successful organization and work presents an important aspect and the activity that occupies most of their waking time in life. Today’s changes and developments have implications on the organization and leaders.
Emotional experiences at work, especially in the field of healthcare are part of everyday work of employees. Individual’s experience effect on a person’s attitude to his job. An employee’s expectation about the job and the communication with others can play an important role in a person’s job satisfaction. Healthcare is a profession where different individuals work in interaction (Purcell, Kutash, & Cobb, 2011; Scheick, 2011) and includes measures and activities to maintain and improve health, prevention and detection of diseases and treatment of patients. It is also exposed to constant changes and overcoming the challenges, referring to rising costs, rapid scientific and technological development, demographic changes and the increasing need of patients for high quality and competitive services. At the same time, healthcare systems must to reduce costs and maintain and improve the quality of services.
The achievement of organizational goals is largely depends of leadership and leaders’ behavior. The behavior of leaders affects both job satisfaction and the productivity of the employees (Malik, 2013). Malik (2013) noted that leaders’ behavior is defined as a pattern of behavior that leaders mostly use. While Mosadegh Rad (2003) noted that leaders’ behavior is a series of attitudes, characteristics, and skills used by a leader in different situations according to the individual’s and organizational values. Leaders in different situation behave differently, but they should be able to evaluate employees’ feelings, their motivations and know, how to influence them for achievement the organizational goals. Abualrub and Alghamdi (2011) noted that leaders should create hospital environments, which support and motivate all employees in healthcare.
Hospitals in these days are changing dynamic. The economic crisis and problems with employment of professionals, staff retention, creating healthy and safe work environment, and a growing needs of patient care represent challenges for leaders in healthcare (Vesterinen, Suhonen, Isola, & Paasivaara, 2012) therefore they should be very flexible.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Employee Satisfaction: This term used to describe whether employees are happy and satisfied and if they are fulfilling their desires and needs at work. This means how employees feel and how satisfied are with their work and working environment. Employees satisfaction mostly include workload, perceptions of management and leadership, flexibility, teamwork, resources and is coming from interaction of employee’s positive and negative feelings according to the job.
Commitment: Commitment means a promise, to do or give something, to be loyal to someone or something, the attitude of someone who works, or support something. It is also a willingness, to give your time and energy to something that you believe. Some people are committed to their jobs because they love what they do, or because their goals are in accordance with those of the organization.
Teamwork: Teamwork is the ability of a group of people to work well together. It is generally understood as the willingness of a group of people to work together to achieve a common goal. Teamwork means that people cooperate, using their individual skills and providing constructive feedback, despite potential conflicts between individuals. Teamwork is important in healthcare, because clinical care is becoming more complex and specialized.
Behavior: Behavior is the range of actions, made by individuals and in relation with others or the environment. This is the way, that person behaves in the particular situation, or under specific conditions. Leader’s behavior towards employees has an impact on the quality and productivity of their work and on their satisfaction with employment.
Healthcare: Healthcare is a service that is typically offered through a healthcare system. Healthcare maintains patient’s health. It includes the prevention and treatment of disease with trained and licensed professionals. Health professionals are highly skilled workers and usually need extensive knowledge for working in healthcare. Healthcare is the act of procedures to improve a patient’s well-being and the maintenance of patient’s health.
Leadership Style: A leadership style is a leader’s style of directing, planning, and motivating people. For employees, leadership style covers a set of explicit and implicit actions performed by their leader. There are many different leadership styles that can be used by leaders in different fields.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is applicable for every human interaction. This is a term for the ability of individuals, for identify and manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. This is also the ability for individuals’ thinking and behavior. It is also the ability to understand what motivates others and to build stronger bonds with others. Those with higher emotional intelligence are better leaders.
Hospital Environment: The term used for work environment of employees in healthcare. The sum of the elements, factors and conditions in the place of employment involves the physical geographical location as well as the immediate surroundings of the workplace. A positive hospital environment makes employees feel good about coming to work, and provides the motivation to sustain them throughout the day.