Health and social care leaders’ and employees’ perceptions of remote leadership and the associated factors

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe health and social care leaders’ and employees’ perceptions of remote leadership and the associated factors. Design/methodology/approach A total of 45 leaders and 177 employees from one Finnish health and social care organization completed an electronic questionnaire between October and November 2020. The questionnaire included questions related to background information, along with structured and open-ended questions addressing remote leadership and the associated factors. The collected quantitative data was analyzed with statistical methods, while inductive content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Findings Remote leadership emerged as a developing form of leadership that was part of everyday life at a regional health and social care organization. However, it was also considered by some as a distanced and authoritarian form of leadership that reduced communication to a one-way flow of information. Remote leadership and digitalization in health and social care were generally perceived positively, especially among higher educated participants and those working mainly in a remote context. However, digitalization was also perceived as a burden and remote leadership as a source of uncertainty at work, especially among lower educated participants and those who worked mainly in traditional contexts. Originality/value This study expands the little-researched area and provides insights that can be used to further develop remote leadership and the related education.