Worklife Improvement and Leadership Development study: a learning experience in leadership development and "planned" organizational change.
BACKGROUND
In response to increasing recognition of the importance of quality health care work environments, the Alberta Cancer Board initiated a province-wide leadership development program to plan for organizational change through a series of stages. In 2004, the Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) was implemented to facilitate organizational learning using a cohort-based leadership intervention based on a communities of practice framework.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the Worklife Improvement and Leadership Development study was to examine both the outcomes and experiences of participants of the LDI program to better understand leadership development, implementation, and its impact on worklife quality among 5 cohorts of health care managers and staff at the Alberta Cancer Board.


METHODS
This study used both structured survey and interview methods, using a pretest-intervention-posttest quasi-experiment without a control group design, to assess the effects of LDI on worklife of leaders and staff. Surveys included the Leadership Practices Inventory and Areas of Worklife Scale, which looked at meaningfulness of work and organizational engagement. Interviews and focus group data provided a more detailed description of the experience of leadership development and perceptions of organizational worklife.


RESULTS
The study revealed layers of information about the complexity of individual and collective leadership in a cohort-based design, perceptions of leadership initiatives, organizational worklife, and planned organizational change. Our findings suggest that early changes in how leaders reflected on their own skills and practices (Leading Self) were positive; however, growing disengagement as the LDI continued was evident in the focus group data, particularly when change in behavior of others was not perceived to be evident.


CONCLUSIONS
To support the effectiveness and success of a leadership initiative, managers and administrators need to implement strategies designed to help leaders grow and cope with ongoing flux of organizational change and stagnation.
CLEAR Outcomes Research Program (Connecting Leadership Education and Research), Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Canada. gretac@ualberta.ca
Greta G
GG
Cummings
Judith A
JA
Spiers
Janice
J
Sharlow
Paula
P
Germann
Ozden
O
Yurtseven
Aslam
A
Bhatti
D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007587:Job Description; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D018794:Problem-Based Learning; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards