Date of Conferral
2020
Degree
Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)
School
Psychology
Advisor
Donna DiMatteo-Gibson
Abstract
The increased need for patient care at the target behavioral health organization (BHO) required greater employee engagement to provide better services. Identifying strategies that are helpful for health care leaders to engage employees is beneficial to ensuring better patient care. A case study was conducted to determine whether changes in leadership in the social work department (SWD) of the BHO had an influence on employee engagement. The Baldrige excellence framework and its criteria for performance excellence were used to examine the behaviors of leaders and the ways their performance and work processes sustained the BHO during organizational changes. Data were collected through interviews with 2 senior leaders of the BHO who worked directly with members of the SWD. In addition, archival data were obtained from organizational documents and internal sources such as the patient discharge survey. Data analysis consisted of looking for meanings in the data, categorizing the data, identifying themes, and interpreting the data. Data were coded and analyzed to identify themes. Results showed that strategies for employee engagement were affected by lack of support from leadership, communication barriers, and services offered for effective patient care due to changes in leadership. Effective communication enhanced employee engagement and aided in the effective management of operations. The results may help BHOs to improve their hiring processes for senior leadership and to develop strategies to ensure that employee engagement and quality health care are maintained during organizational change.
Recommended Citation
Burnett, Martina, "Impact of Leadership Changes on Employee Engagement in a Behavioral Health Organization" (2020). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 8864.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/8864
