London - Bosses who motivate their staff to go the extra mile may be making them ill in the long run, scientists warn.
This is because those working for “transformational leaders” – defined as managers achieving the highest levels of performance – often show up for work when they are sick and such “presenteeism” can hit their health later.
Working for top-flight managers has previously been linked with improving employees’ wellbeing while reducing absenteeism and the symptoms of depression.
But researchers at the University of East Anglia say high levels of presenteeism make it hard to recover from illness and spread conditions such as colds.
“Transformational leaders may promote self-sacrifice of vulnerable employees for the greater good of the group by encouraging them to ignore their illnesses and exert themselves,” said Karina Nielsen, professor of work and organisational psychology at UEA. ‘This can lead to increased risks of sickness absence in the long term.’
Writing in the journal Work & Stress, she added bosses who get staff to work “above and beyond the call of duty” could have a self-interest in low absenteeism in their teams as a result of being rated for this.
The conclusions were drawn from a three-year study of 155 Danish postal workers.
Daily Mail