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Review
. 2021 Feb 8;34(1):52-68.
doi: 10.1108/LHS-09-2020-0071.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the role of responsible leadership in health care: thinking beyond employee well-being and organisational sustainability

Amlan Haque  1
Affiliations
Free article
Review

The COVID-19 pandemic and the role of responsible leadership in health care: thinking beyond employee well-being and organisational sustainability

Amlan Haque. Leadersh Health Serv (Bradf Engl). .
Free article

Abstract

Purpose: The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an enormous challenge ever for health-care organisations to find strategies to deal with their survival. The health-care employees are the frontline soldiers to fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there is a lack of research regarding the conceptualisation of COVID-19 and its impact on health-care employees' well-being and their organisational sustainability. Extending the role of responsible leadership (RL), the purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-level conceptual model to overcome the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic and promote employee (e.g. workers, nurses and professionals) well-being and organisational sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach: With a comprehensive literature review, this paper presents five testable propositions and highlights the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on employee well-being and organisational sustainability.

Findings: The proposed model counsels that organisations need to go beyond the simple application of strategic climate and should enable RL to protect and maintain employee well-being and organisational sustainability.

Research limitations/implications: The proposed conceptual model is a step forward to not only explore future empirical research but also it will help the health-care policymakers to take responsible initiatives to increase employee well-being and uphold organisational sustainability.

Originality/value: There is a lack of research regarding the conceptualisation of the COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on health-care employees' well-being and organisational sustainability. The proposed conceptual model opens and guides a novel research avenue for the alignment of strategic management (as a moderator) and RL on the relationships among the COVID-19 pandemic, employee well-being and organisational sustainability.

Keywords: Health services sector; Multi-level conceptual framework; Organisational sustainability; Responsible leadership; Strategic climate; The COVID-19 pandemic.

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