Leading to a Healthy Workplace

E. Kevin Kelloway, PhD.

Canada Research Chair in Occupational Health

Psychology

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General Context

• Leadership is important

- For performance (Barling, Weber & Kelloway,

1996, MacLellan & Kelloway, in preparation)

– For Safety (Barling, Loughlin, & Kelloway,

2002; Mullen & Kelloway, 2009)

– For Wellbeing (Kelloway & Barling, 2010)

• Leadership can be taught (Barling et al.,

1996; Mullen & Kelloway, 2009)

www.A6training.co.uk

Obligatory Perfect Storm

Reference Begins In….

5 4 3 2 1 End

The Perfect Storm • Legislation on workplace violence and

aggression/harassment passed in many

jurisdictions

• Some WCB decisions hold employers

responsible for stress-related disorders

• Increasingly court decisions hold employers

responsible

• Drug plan reviews highlight antidepressant use

• LTD and STD cost spiralling

– 30-40% stress related (but up to 70% of costs)

The Three Pillars

Pillar #1 Prevention

• Primary intervention – the preferred

approach of most occupational health

psychologists

• A great deal of evidence about the

detrimental effects of workplace stress

Leaders as the stressor

(Wong and Kelloway, 2016)

• Diary study of 55 nursing home employees

• Hourly readings of ambulatory blood pressure

from time of wakening until sleep

• Supplemented by pre-test measures and short

hourly measures

• One item measure of valence of interactions with

supervisor

• Resulted in 422 observations

Hypotheses

• H1 (Cardiac Reactivity):The perceived valence of

interactions with supervisors predicts cardiovascular

reactivity such that negatively perceived interactions with

supervisors are associated with higher momentary

systolic blood pressure.

• H2 (Cardiac Recovery): The average perceived valence

of interactions with supervisors at work predicts

cardiovascular recovery such that negatively perceived

interactions with supervisors are associated with higher

average systolic blood pressure in the period after work.

McKee Driscoll Kelloway & Kelley (under review)

Wait List Control Group Design

Training comprised 1.5 days of transformational

leadership in groups of 20-25 leaders.

Post training, each leader met with a coach (30-60

min) who reviewed subordinate ratings of transformational

leadership (see Barling et al., 1996).

In both the training and the coaching, emphasis was

on developing five behavioral goals tied to the tenets of

transformational leadership theory

Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1: Employees of leaders who are trained will perceive their leaders as exhibiting higher levels of transformational leadership behavior than do the employees of leaders who are not trained. (MANIPULATION CHECK)

Hypothesis 2: Controlling for transformational leadership at pre-test, transformational leadership at post test will predict employees’ [a] emotional well-being at time 2, [b] healthy behavior at time 2, [c] physiological well-being at time 2, and [d] spiritual well-being at time 2.

Hypothesis 3: Controlling for transformational leadership at pre-test, transformational leadership at post-test will have an indirect positive effect, mediated through meaning on employees’ [a] emotional well-being at time 2, [b] healthy behaviour at time 2, [c] physiological well-being at time 2, and [d] emotional well-being at time 2

Participants and Method

243 subordinates and 65 leaders provided complete and

matched data (across time periods and levels)

Predominantly female (90%) corresponding to workplace

Most had more than 5 years tenure

Most worked in home care (50%) or long term care (34%)

Pretest just before training, coaching within 5 days of training

and posttest three months after training

Results

Transformational leadership training resulted in

enhanced subordinate ratings of leadership – they

noticed a difference

Leadership ratings associated with enhance

perceptions of workplace spirituality (meaning) –

they felt a difference

Sense of workplace meaning predicts wellbeing –

it made a difference

Serendipity

• Post –hoc analysis shows a significant

increase in LEADER’s wellbeing as a

result of participating in training

• Leaders in the trained group reported

higher (M = 6.06) levels of well-being than

did leaders in the control group (M = 5.65)

The R.I.G.H.T Way to Lead

• Based on an extension of the APA Model

of Psychologically Healthy Work

• Leaders should focus on

– Recognition

– Involvement

– Growth and Development

– Health and Safety

– Teams

Results to Date

• Scale Development

• Pilot Test in a long term care facility

– Trained all leaders in facility in RIGHT

Leadership – employees complete surveys

before and 1 year after training)

– Saw increases in employee wellbeing, sense

of psychological safety and employee

engagement (love of the job – passion,

commitment and relationships)

Pillar #2 Intervention

• Recognize that not all (mental) health

issues originate in the workplace

• However, workplaces may be uniquely

positioned to recognize changes in

behavior associated with being in crisis

• Workplace leaders as intervention agents

Dimoff and Kelloway (writing)

• Qualitative interviews with 17 managers

(16 used)

• Asked about managing people with mental

health issues – grand tour questions

• Thematic coding

Recognition

• Emotional outbursts

• Withdrawal

• Absence

• Performance

Intervention

• Dependent on mgmt style

• Resources and experience

• Tools and training

The Signs of Struggle (SOS) Scale: The

Development and Validation of a Workplace

Tool for Leaders

April 2016

•

Dimoff and Kelloway

Mental Health: What is it?

• Compromised health and wellbeing

• Distressing and cognitively taxing

• If recognized, can be alleviated

through support and professional

help

• Diagnosable illness

• Requires professional intervention or

treatment

• Disrupts one’s life, work, and/or relationships

• Not just the absence of

illness

• State of positive wellbeing

• Ability to perform, cope and

adapt normally

World Health Organization, 2012

Use4%

No Use96%

Use No Use

Problem with the Solution?

Ipsos Reid, 2012; MHCC, 2012; National Behavior Consortium, 2013; Randstad,

2014

Poorly prepared leaders = Gross underutilization of resources

80% of managers believe it is part of

their job to intervene if an employee is

struggling

Only 30% of managers know how

to intervene

The Development & Validation of the “SOS”

• Purpose: Develop and validate a tool that can be used by people in a workplace context to recognize warning signs of stress or “struggle”.

“Signs of Struggle” Checklist ─ Other-rated

─ Not diagnostic

─ Behavioral items—recognizable, visible warning signs of struggle

─ Captures the construct of “work impairment” ─ A state in which someone is functioning at a limited capacity, who is

struggling to accomplish work-related tasks, and who is otherwise

compromised—mentally, emotionally, or physically. (Al-hamdani et al., 2012)

Results of the SOS Development

EFA ─453 Participants

─5 Items deleted

─Accounts for 62% of variance

─5 factors

Reliability Coefficients ─Emotional (Passive) (6 items) α = .87

─Withdrawal (3 items) α = .91

─Extreme Behavior (5 items) α = .78

─Attendance (3 items) α = .80

─Performance (3 items) α = .84

─ 55% female; 45% male

─ Average age = 38

─ 85% had post-secondary

education

─ Full range of occupations

Implications for the SOS

Implications

People at work = show behavioral warning signs of “struggle”

Others at work = can “see” these behavioral warning signs

First other-rated tool designed specifically for managers in a workplace setting

Future Directions

Validation r = .70!!!!!

Need to determine if the utility of the SOS is the same for leaders and coworkers/peers

A short-form of the SOS may be valuable for practical considerations

May be a valuable component of training and interventions

Dimoff Kelloway and

Burnstein (IJSM, 2014)

Mental Health Awareness Training

Resource Utilization

(Dimoff & Kelloway,2016)

• People in crisis often do not seek help

because

– They don’t recognize that they are in crisis

– They don’t know that help is available

– They are afraid (stigma)

Mental Health First Aid: The 3

Steps

6

• Three hour training for leaders

• Designed to increase mental health

literacy “what do we know and where do

you go”

• Focus is on DETECTION not treatment or

counselling

• Detect and refer/resource

Studies 1 & 2: Design & Follow-Up

Study #1: N=43 (n=21 Intervention; n=22 Control; 40% Male &

60% Female)*

Study #2: N=142 (n=88 Intervention; n=54 Control); 47% Male &

53% Female)*

1 Week 24

Hours

8

Weeks Baseline Survey Survey #2 Survey #3

Baseline Survey Survey #2 Survey #3 Training

Intervention Group

Control Group

30

31

Training Evaluation: Cost-Effectiveness

Mental Health Claims: Pre & Post Training

Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved

Dimoff and Kelloway (in press,

JOHP) • Replicated the MHAT study just described

• Collected data from both managers and

their subordinates

• Subordinates of trained managers report

– More willingness to talk to manager about

mental health

– More likely to seek and use organizational

resources

– More support from manager

Pillar #3 Accomodation

• What do individuals need to stay at work?

– Alternate duties

– Expanded timelines

– Restructured work

– Control

• What do individuals need when they take

STD or LTD?

– Continued contact

– A plan to return

– A “story”

Everything you need to know

about return to work • “Good will and trust are overarching

conditions that are central to successful

return-to-work arrangements”

• MacEachern, Clarke, Franche & Irvin

(2003).

• Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006 Aug;32(4):257-69.

• Systematic review of the qualitative literature on return to work after

injury.

Leaders

Kevin.Kelloway@smu.ca

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Kevinkelloway.com

Evidencebasedsolutions.ca