Leadership can support or strain people. We are researching the factors that support managers in designing work in a way that positively challenges employees and at the same time maintains their long-term mental health. The research results are used to derive how a leadership culture that promotes learning can be created.
Research projects
Health-Promoting Leadership
The common view into the future. Leadership as a premise for a healthy workplace.
A health-promoting leadership means creating working conditions that enable the preservation or restoration of health and performance of employees. Leaders can influence seven areas of health-promoting leadership with their behaviour, which are essentially based on the concept of the "six areas of worklife" by Maslach und Leiter (2008).
Core dimensions of health-promoting leadership:
- Health-awareness. Leaders can directly influence the health of their employees by motivating them to a healthy lifestyle.
- Workload. Workload often cannot be reduced. However, by providing resources, leaders can ensure that employees can handle an increased workload.
- Scope of action. Scope of action means that employees can work largely autonomously and independently, and can influence the resources and leeway of work.
- Appreciation. Appreciation can be given in the form of appreciation for all contributions to work (effort, achievement, success).
- Community spirit. Leaders can strengthen the sense of community in their team by encouraging open communication and mutual support.
- Fairness. In this case, fairness means above all the fair distribution of resources and the mediation of fair promotion chances.
- Values. In this dimension of health-promoting leadership, the leaders ensures that the organizational values correspond with the personal values of the employees.
Questionnaire Health-Promoting Leadership Conditions (HPLC)
The questionnaire "Health-Promoting Leadership Conditions" (HPLC) with 21 items was developed to capture the seven dimensions of health-promoting leadership. The HPLC can be used as a self-assessment version (leaders assess themselves) or an external assessment version (employees assess their direct leader). The frequency of the shown leadership behaviour in the last four weeks is inquired. In scientific investigations, the HPLC showed very good test-theoretical characteristics (reliability, validity).
Publication of the leader version
Publication of the employee version
Further publications
- Develop Sustainable Workplaces with Leadership: Feedback about Organizational Working Conditions to Support Leaders in Health-Promoting Leadership Behavior
- Similarities and Differences of Health-Promoting Leadership and Transformational Leadership
Practical application
Through a health-promoting workplace design, leaders can sustainably promote the health of their employees. The dimensions captured in the HPLC can be used to develop leadership-training measures to support leaders in workplace design. The HPLC can also be used as a feedback tool for the company to assess its own leadership culture.