Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Business Administration

Advisor

Edgar Jordan

Abstract

Organizational leaders' inability to effectively manage complexity and implement leadership development strategies during intense situations creates work-related stress among employees. Stress contributes to emotional disorders, decreased job performance, high staff turnover that place the organization's health in jeopardy. Grounded in the expectancy theory of motivation, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore key leadership strategies to reduce stress in the workplace. The face-to-face, semistructured interviews were conducted with 3 senior leaders from a financial institution in the southern United States who had successfully implemented strategies that reduced stress on employees and improved their job performance. Their organizational documents were collected, organized, and analyzed to gain insights and thus be able to answer the research question. Three main themes emerged: a lack of trust in leadership, strategy development processes, and the implementation of leadership strategies. The key recommendations for leaders are to foster trust by treating employees with respect and constructing a strategy development process. Leaders should implement improved strategies in onboarding new employees, team-building activities, feedback focused on the individual, and public recognition. The implications for positive social change include the potential to reduce job-related stress, lower staff turnover rates, encourage motivation through promotion, create a healthy organizational culture, and improve social conditions outside the workplace.

Included in

Business Commons

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