Developing a work well-being questionnaire for social- and health-care managers

Abstract

Objectives: There is a need for up-to-date research on health-care and social managers' work well-being. The purpose was to develop a questionnaire for measuring health-care and social managers' subjective work well-being and to determine whether their background factors are connected to their work well-being. Material and Methods: The authors developed a questionnaire based on their previous health-care and social managers' work well-being framework. It covers 5 separate categories: 1) individual factors, 2) social factors, 3) professional support from one's own manager, 4) organizational factors, and 5) work-related factors. Using statistical methods, the authors examined the questionnaire's internal validity, its fit with the framework, and the connections between several background factors and work well-being. The survey data (N = 281) were collected from South Osthrobothnia and Central Osthrobothnia in Finland. Results: The questionnaire's internal validity was good, and it fit rather well with the authors' previous framework. Managers' work well-being was highest for the category of “professional support from one's own manager” and lowest for “organizational factors.” The authors found connections between different categories of work well-being and a) years of managerial experience, b) level of management, and c) occupational group. Conclusions: The questionnaire gives a holistic view of managers' work well-being and is suitable for measuring work well-being in the social- and health-care context. An examination showed that there is a need to improve the individual situations of the social- and health-care managers. The questionnaire can be used to assess managers' work well-being and to build a knowledge base for developing organizational policies.