Transfer of a leadership training intervention prior to COVID-19 on leadership support during the pandemic
Journal of Managerial Psychology
ISSN: 0268-3946
Article publication date: 19 June 2024
Issue publication date: 29 August 2024
Abstract
Purpose
We examined the impact of a leadership support training intervention implemented prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on support behaviors specific to COVID-19 during the pandemic. Primary intervention targets (i.e. family-supportive supervisor behaviors and sleep leadership behaviors) were explored as mediators between the intervention and supportive COVID-19 leadership behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
A cluster randomized controlled trial intervention was implemented with service members and their supervisors in the Army and Air National Guard throughout 2017–2019. Follow-up survey data were collected after the intervention, including during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Direct and indirect intervention effects were tested.
Findings
A pre-COVID intervention targeting leader support for family and sleep health had a direct effect on leader support specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, sleep leadership, but not family-supportive supervisor behaviors, mediated the intervention effects on supportive COVID-19 leadership. These findings suggest that certain leadership training interventions can transfer across knowledge domains and time.
Practical implications
Findings from this study demonstrate that training leaders on support behaviors improves their ability to support employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and may translate to crisis leadership in other contexts.
Originality/value
We examined the long-term effects of an intervention that was implemented approximately 1–2 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic on leadership support behaviors specific to the pandemic. Our findings contribute to the leadership, training, and organizational intervention literatures, and have implications for how leaders can support employees during crises.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Author Note: The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program – Comprehensive Universal Prevention/Health Promotion Interventions Award, under Award No. W81XWH-16-1-0720. Material has been reviewed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. There is no objection to its presentation and/or publication. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. This work was also partly supported by the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at Oregon Health and Science University via funds from the Division of Consumer and Business Services of the State of Oregon (ORS 656.630). Portions of this research were supported by the Grant #T03OH008435 awarded to Portland State University, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Total Worker Health® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Leslie Hammer has a financial interest in Work Life Help, LLC., a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research and technology. This potential conflict of interest has been reviewed and managed by OHSU. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to disclose. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rebecca M. Brossoit, Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University. Contact: rbrossoit@rice.edu.
Citation
Brossoit, R.M., Hammer, L.B., Bodner, T.E., Mohr, C.D., Allen, S.J., Crain, T.L., Brockwood, K.J. and Adler, A.B. (2024), "Transfer of a leadership training intervention prior to COVID-19 on leadership support during the pandemic", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 39 No. 7, pp. 930-946. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-10-2023-0582
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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