Allied health front-line manager perceptions of factors impacting workplace morale and burnout risk

This exploratory case study investigated the factors impacting employee morale and burnout risk among allied health professionals operating within a large Australian public hospital. The study aimed to understand what factors may positively influence group morale and reduce burnout risk.

Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 30 Allied Health Managers. A manual thematic analysis and confirmatory content analysis (viz., Leximancer) identified several prominent themes impacting morale and potential burnout risk.

Key factors impacting allied health morale and contributing to burnout risk were captured in three main themes. The first included processes and relationships between people that were contributing to the culture negatively. The second identified the general lack of management training and limited capability of supervisors and leaders in human resource skills. The third theme identified change, high workloads and ineffective systems that were not supporting managers to be effective in their roles. This was also considered to be stifling internal innovation.

This case study took a top-down approach which may have provided a biased viewpoint from the managers perspective, rather than the perspective of all levels. The findings are within one context, hence there is a potential lack of generalisability. A final limitation is that this project collected and interpreted data through processes of social interaction and relied on the individual perception, skill and knowledge of the researchers, which may cause some uncertainty in the findings.

These findings support prioritising the evidence-based development of leadership and management competencies that have a focus on human resource management in hospitals. The study findings support the adoption of the theoretical framework of a systems approach to leadership that encourages the concept of being a learning organisation that creates pod-synergy within teams to enhance healthy personal, organisational and clinical outcomes. Adopting an empathetic leadership style that seeks to understand and support staff could improve staff morale within public health organisations and prevent burnout risk. Training managers with the skills and abilities to support autonomy amongst employees will support employee motivation and satisfaction in the workplace.

The findings were discussed using a socio technical system thinking perspective. This involves understanding the people (both leaders and front-line workers) and the systems and how they interact to support positive workplace morale.

Limited research has empirically explored from a socio-technical systems perspective how the systems and structures in healthcare organisations support allied health managers and employees in their role. Furthermore, the results provide new insights that encourage a more empathetic systems approach to leadership, one that supports social relationships and encourages pod-synergy amongst employees. Together these findings delivered strategies that can buffer against low morale and burnout risk among allied health care workers. This is an area that arguably has not yet been adequately addressed in allied health.