Examining the relationships between span of control and manager job and unit performance outcomes

Abstract

Aim: Our aim was to examine the combination of frontline manager (FLM) personal characteristics and span of control (SOC) on their job and unit performance outcomes.

Background: Healthcare downsizing and reform have contributed to larger spans for FLMs in Canadian hospitals and increased concerns about manager workload. Despite a heightened awareness of SOC issues among decision makers, there is limited empirical evidence related to the effects of SOC on outcomes.

Methods: A non-experimental predictive survey design was used to examine FLM SOC in 14 Canadian academic hospitals. Managers (n = 121) completed an online survey of work characteristics and The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) SOC tool. Unit turnover data were collected from organisational databases.

Results: The combination of SOC and core self-evaluation significantly predicted role overload, work control and job satisfaction, but only SOC predicted unit adverse outcomes and neither significantly predicted unit turnover.

Conclusions: The findings contribute to an understanding of connections between the combination of SOC and core self-evaluation and manager job and unit performance outcomes.

Implications for nursing management: Organisational strategies to create manageable FLM SOC are essential to ensure exemplary job and unit outcomes. Core self-evaluation is a personality characteristic that may enhance manager performance in the face of high spans of control.

Keywords: frontline clinical manager; span of control; work outcomes and unit outcomes.