The Perceived Relationship Between Leadership Practices and Job Attitudes In Human Service organizations

Abstract

This paper contributes to leadership knowledge in the field of child welfare by studying the relationship between agency leadership and caseworker job attitudes. This qualitative study included three focus groups with administrators and caseworkers to explore perceived leadership practices and caseworker job attitudes. Qualitative findings revealed a divergent perception of leadership practices between caseworkers and administrators, while providing specific content representative of both strengths and limitations of agency leadership. Lastly, frontline workers exclusively also perceived a relationship between certain leadership practices and job satisfaction. Findings lead to a number of organizational implications.