Understanding Successful Organisational Health Interventions

This ebook brings together some of the latest studies in organizational health intervention research to develop a better understanding of the role of leadership for successful interventions. There is consensus that one of the most important ingredients for successful organizational health interventions is strong leadership. Leader influence can be direct, indirect or diffused. However, empirical studies on the role of leadership in interventions are scarce. Beyond an agreement among intervention researchers and practitioners on the central role of the leader in interventions, there is a general lack of insights into the conditions and mechanisms by which leaders can support organizational health interventions. The five papers in this ebook seek to redress this balance and provide some needed answers. In practice, organizations should only embark on an intervention when the necessary leadership resources are in place. Organizations should also be aware that intervention leadership is not just about managing external change, such as exerting control to re-design the way that work is organized, change target outcomes, or shift the intervention through the implementation process. Intervention leadership is also concerned with change in leadership itself through learning, discoveries and adapting with the intervention. Whereas previous research has focused on describing the impact of leadership on employee outcomes, the insights offered by the studies in this ebook will be able to inform resources that are necessary for building effective intervention leadership. In addition to energizing discussion on the role of leadership for delivering successful organizational health interventions, this ebook also highlights new research directions regarding how leaders can be supported in this role and the importance to understand the conditions for strong intervention leadership. We hope it will open new avenues for research and improved intervention practice.