Leading Employees Through the Crises: Key Competences of Crises Management in Healthcare Facilities in Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose The fast and shocking onset of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus created the need for a complete crisis management of healthcare facilities to manage the current stage of the crisis. The purpose of our research is to examine the relations between the competences of crisis management in healthcare facilities and the performance of employees, measured during the acute stage of the crisis by their feeling of satisfaction, safety and creation of conditions for work, whereby we assume that these variables are mutually interlinked by the sharing of information, teamwork and cognitive diversity of the work teams. Materials and Methods A questionnaire survey was created and used based on a sample of 216 mid-level managers of health care facilities in Slovakia, which took place during the first month after the outbreak of the crisis (during the month of March/April 2020). The Baron and Kenny mediator model has been used for research purposes and the Freedman–Schatzkin test has been used to test the mediator effect. Regression analysis has been used to verify the hypotheses. The control variables were the size of the healthcare facility based on the number of employees, gender and age of the manager, his position in the management hierarchy and the duration of practice in a management position. The ANOVA analysis of variance was used to analyze multiple dependencies. The level of significance was 5%. The research sample consisted of 216 managers at different types of healthcare facilities. Results The hypothesis for the dependency between the crisis competences of management and performance of teams during the acute stage of the crisis, facilitated by sharing information, teamwork and cognitive diversity of crisis management was confirmed. It is a multilateral incomplete mediation, where almost two thirds of the total effect are facilitated by mediators, of which the sharing of information has the greatest effect (35%). Conclusion Based on our mediation model, healthcare facilities, which strive to implement crisis management during the acute stage of the crisis, should place emphasis especially on reliable background information and the fast sharing of information, supporting the performance of healthcare teams. The strategies for achieving these goals should also include education focused on the development of managerial competences.

Work‐based concerns of Australian frontline healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Other research conducted in June–September 2020 (two to five months following data collection for the present study) similarly suggested many emergency frontline healthcare workers felt workplace/organisation communication lacked clarity and oftentimes was not timely 36 . Interestingly, reliable and fast sharing of information have been outlined as two crucial components of crisis management for healthcare teams during the COVID‐19 pandemic 59 . While reliability of information may be more difficult to address, given that (particularly during the early stages of a pandemic) information is likely to rapidly evolve as public health authorities learn more about the virus (certainly the case of the early months of COVID‐19), pathways through which information is shared could potentially be streamlined.…”

Crisis, ethical leadership and moral courage: Ethical climate during COVID-19

“…Also, Shih et al 38 and Hadley et al 39 found that leaders who lead a crisis effectively have effective communication skills, self-confidence in their capability and enthusiasm to lead in crisis. In addition, Jankelová et al 40 revealed that adequate reaction, effective communication and decision making, self-efficacy and adaptive performance of crisis leaders are key elements of successful crisis leadership. On the contrary, Samuel et al 8 reported a high level of crisis leadership.…”

Current Discussions on Employees and Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The extension of baby boomer nurses’ work (i.e., past retirement age) was also advantageous for both younger bedtime nurses with less experience and hospitals to compensate for the shortage of nurses during the pandemic ( Gan, 2020 ). In terms of adopting appropriate strategies, Jankelová et al (2021) recommended that managers need proper crisis management abilities, including effective decision-making and cooperative communication skills that encourage teamwork. In particular, they confirmed the mediating effect of sharing information, teamwork, and cognitive diversity, and asserted that abundant information and directions helped employees feel safer and raised their productivity during the pandemic.…”