title: Span of control matters.
abstract: Prompted by manager concerns about span of control, a large, integrated health system set out to determine if span of control really mattered. Was there something to it, or was it just an excuse for poor performance? A team of middle managers studied the problem and ultimately demonstrated a strong relationship between span of control and employee engagement. Consequently, it was decided to add 4 management positions to note the effect. One year later, positive changes were observed in employee engagement scores in all 4 areas. This study suggests careful review of manager spans of control to address the untoward effects of large spans of control on employee engagement.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Administration, Fairview-University Medical Center, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. dcathca@fairview.org
authors.forename: Deb
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cathcart
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jeska
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karnas
authors.forename: Sue E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pechacek
authors.forename: Lolita
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rheault
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D010559:Personnel Management