In Sweden, there is a collective goal of providing high-quality and equitable care on equal terms for all. The health and social care sector faces significant future challenges in the area of competence maintenance in order to be able to provide high-quality care. To attract and retain a workforce, it is of great importance to prioritize work environment management and strengthen leadership. An organization’s perspective on leadership impacts which managers are recruited and the conditions for how leadership is created and developed. Taking into consideration the size of work groups, mission statement, economic challenges and comparatively weak organizational support, first line managers within health and social care have complex assignments in comparison with managers in other sectors. Organizations within the health and social care sector have finalized values as a part of their marketing philosophy and the organizational culture desired by leadership, while workplaces have developed their own cultures and norms, which leads to first line managers being placed in the difficult position of balancing between these cultures. Previous research has demonstrated that sustainable leadership is of great importance for organizations, workplaces, and first line managers.
The purpose of this study was to, with a focus on health and social care, investigate to what extent the reciprocal relationship between leadership, psychological security, diverse organizational cultures and work cultures promotes sustainable leadership.
The method of this study is a qualitative one, based on interviews conducted with six first line managers from different areas within the health and social care sector, with the goal of investigating their experiences in order to gain an increased understanding of how organizational culture and workplace culture affect and are affected by leadership. We have analyzed and summarized these interviews in relation to the following categories: organizational culture, workplace culture, psychological security, leadership and sustainable leadership.
The results demonstrate a significant distinction between organizational culture and workplace culture, as well as their impact on first line managers and their leadership. Furthermore, they demonstrate that first line managers feel that leadership becomes less sustainable in relation to organizational culture, but more sustainable in relation to workplace culture. First line managers work extensively with the implementation of sustainable workplace cultures, where they stress the importance of a present and trustbased leadership.