Does the talk match the walk for Australian local government employees: The link between leadership and employee well‐being

Abstract

There is a need to understand how leadership affects the well-being of local government employees working under conditions of prolonged austerity-driven reforms. A total of 118 Australian local government employees were surveyed. The analysis involved hierarchical regression using the PROCESS macro in SPSS, which identified the total, direct, and bootstrapped biascorrected indirect effects. The findings suggest that managers demonstrated some leadership behaviours required to lead staff positively; however, authentic leadership behaviours need to be strengthened to ensure they can lead an under-resourced, under-staffed sector of government. These findings are consistent with recent findings from the Australian Local Government Association analysis of gaps in the skill profile of local government. Authentic leadership and PsyCap capabilities are known to increase sector capability, especially to achieve higher outcomes in a time when austerity is still driving policy. Local government is not sustainable without effective leadership that can navigate austerity-led policies with agility based on constructive feedback to ensure a productive workplace that enhances employee well-being.

Positive Organizational Practices, Life Satisfaction, and Psychological Capital in the Public and Private Sectors

“…However, no significant differences between the groups were observed in hope, resilience, or overall psychological capital scores. These studies align with prior research on psychological capital in public [57,[106][107][108][109] and private [110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119] sectors. However, it is unclear why the employees in public and private sectors differed in self-efficacy and optimism, but they did not differ in hope, resilience, or overall psychological capital.…”

“…Numerous studies have confirmed that psychological capital and its interventions are related to reduced work-related problems, not to mention positive wellbeing and workrelated outcomes [96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105]. Research of the psychological capital in the public sector has evidenced its' numerous benefits [57,[106][107][108][109]. Similarly, the studies on psychological capital in the business, entrepreneurial, or marketing contexts demonstrated the added value of psychological capital and its interventions for the private sector organizations [110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119].…”

“…Second, literature analysis revealed that studies that were conducted in different sectors reported higher psychological capital scores in the private sector (e.g., Mean = 5.35, SD = 1.25, [113]) to compare with the scores pf psychological capital in the public sector (e.g., Mean = 4.6, SD = 0.55, [107]). Based on previous findings indirectly indicating psychological capital differences in different sectors, we hypothesized that comparative analysis would consequently reveal differences in psychological capital in the public and private sectors.…”

The role of authentic leadership on healthcare Street‐Level Bureaucrats’ well‐being during the pandemic

“…This means that it is the responsibility of those leading hospitals to ensure that their SLBs have adequate organisational resources to cope. Past research shows that leaders' behaviour (in terms of resourcing decisions and organisational support processes) can either erode or increase employee's perception of personal support (Adendorff et al, 2021). Walumbwa et al (2008, p. 84) defines authentic leadership as 'a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalised moral perspective, balanced processing of information and relational transparency between leaders and followers'.…”

“…This means that it is the responsibility of those leading hospitals to ensure that their SLBs have adequate organisational resources to cope. Past research shows that leaders’ behaviour (in terms of resourcing decisions and organisational support processes) can either erode or increase employee's perception of personal support (Adendorff et al., 2021). Walumbwa et al.…”