Successful Management Methodologies for Achieving Co-Worker Health in a Large Organization

Today, many organizations experience problems with high levels of sick leave. This has negative implications on the organizations' ability to compete on the market, but also means suffering for the individual employees. The leadership of the organization is considered by several researchers to impact on employee health and competitive advantage. However, it is argued that the larger an organization gets, the harder it is to apply good leadership. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe how management in a large Swedish bank, awarded as ‘Sweden's best workplace’, has successfully worked to transform increasing levels of sick leave into co-worker health and profitability. The paper also includes suggestions that managers in other organizations might consider adopting. Through interviews, with managers at different organizational levels of the bank, management methodologies and success factors have been identified. The commitment of the bank's managers seems to have been central to achieve a healthy and efficient organization. Executive managers have had a conspicuous strategic focus on health issues and set objectives thereafter. These objectives have been deliberately supported by the managers' methodologies and successfully passed on throughout the organizational hierarchy to the bank offices. Dialogues, delegation and clear goal setting seem to have been important methodologies. Middle managers in addition have been lucid coaches to office managers, who in turn have put focus on building relationships and encouraging employees.