The impact of leadership style in team-based primary care - staff satisfaction and motivation

Background: Leadership styles, beliefs, and behaviours are an important and critical component to the delivery of quality care in any primary care organisation. The health human resource crisis has resulted in greater investments in team-based care however some leaders may not have experience working in team-based settings.

Aim: This study aimed to explore what leadership characteristics, styles and behaviours were most conducive to employee satisfaction, motivation, and delivery of care in a team-based primary care setting.

Design & setting: 21 Community Health Centre staff from six Community Health Centres across Ontario, Canada.

Method: Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with using a framework based on transformational leadership theory.

Results: Three themes emerged from our findings as having a significant impact on staff motivation, morale, delivery of care and client outcomes: transparent and open communication, opportunities to collaborate in decision-making, and staff recognition and appreciation. The results of our study indicate it is critical that leaders adopt leadership styles and approaches in which every team member is informed, heard, and appreciated.

Conclusion: This study described the leadership styles and characteristics that lead to improved employee satisfaction, motivation and morale in a team-based primary care setting, and the impact this could and does have on quality and delivery of care. Future research is needed to better understand the impact of leadership in a variety of roles within a team-based environment, specifically in a multi-disciplinary setting.