Changes in the leadership style and working conditions during the epidemic and their impact on the employee satisfation in the healthcare

V kriznih situacijah je potrebno k vodenju organizacije, podjetja ali celo države pristopiti drugače, kar se je pokazalo leta 2020, ko je bila v Sloveniji razglašena epidemija COVIDA-19. Vodje so se v novo nastali situaciji soočale z vzpostavitvijo varnega delovnega okolja in ustreznih pogojev dela za svoje zaposlene. Na drugi strani pa so bile primorane poskrbeti za kreativno iskanje učinkovitih rešitev za doseganje čim bolj optimalnega delovanje zdravstva v času epidemije. Namen magistrske naloge je bil predstaviti pomembnost uspešnega procesa vodenja za organizacijo glede na zadovoljstvo zaposlenih. S pomočjo raziskovalnega dela smo teorijo povezali s prakso in ugotovili zadovoljstvo zaposlenih s preoblikovanjem procesov dela, vezanega na spremembe v stilu vodenja in spremenjenih pogojev dela v času epidemije. Empirična raziskava, ki je bila izvedena med zaposlenimi v zdravstvu (n = 104), je temeljila na kvantitativni metodologiji. Raziskava je potekala od 3. julija 2021 do 13. avgusta 2021 s pomočjo anonimnega anketnega vprašalnika zaprtega tipa. Podatki so bili analizirani v programu SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Uporabili smo opisno statistiko, t-test za samostojne vzorce, Kolmogorov-Smirnov in Shapiro-Wilkov test normalnosti ter Mann-Whitneyev U test in neparametrični Shapiro-Wilkov test normalnosti za neodvisne vzorce. Za statistično pomembne podatke smo upoštevali razlike, kjer je bila stopnja statistične pomembnosti na ravni 0,005 in manj. Potrdili smo, da je eden ključnih izzivov vsake vodje ohraniti zadovoljstvo zaposlenih in povečati njihovo motivacijo, kar pa zaradi nenehno spreminjajočega se zdravstvenega sistema in zunanjih dejavnikov ni enostavno. Zadovoljstvo zaposlenih predstavlja enega najpomembnejših dejavnikov za obstanek kadra, njihovo motivacijo in v končni fazi tudi uspešnost zdravstvene organizacije, ki je hkrati odraz dobrega vodenja.In times of crisis, a different approach to leading an organization, a company or even a country is required, which became apparent in 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic was declared in Slovenia. Leaders had to endure new challenges to ensure a safe working environment and working conditions for their employees and at the same time ensure a creative search for useful solutions to achieve optimal functioning healthcare during the epidemic. The purpose of this master’s thesis was to show the importance of a successful leading process for an organization and overall contentment of employees. Through research, we connected theory with practice and found out employees were content with different working practices, based on changes in the style of leading and working conditions during the epidemic. The empirical research based on a quantitative methodology was conducted among healthcare employees (n = 104). The research lasted from 3rd July 2021 to 9th August 2021, with the help of an anonymous closed-ended survey questionnaire. The data was analized in the SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Descriptive statistics and a t-test for independent nodules were used alongside Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Shapiro-Wilk test of normality for determining the normality of the data distribution and deciding on the further statistical method. Statistically significant differences were checked with a nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. For statistically important data the differences, where the level of statistical significance was at 0.005 and less, were regarded. We confirmed that one of the key challenges every leader has is maintaining the satisfaction of their employees and increase their motivation, which is not easy because of the constantly changing healthcare system and external factors. The satisfaction of employees is important for keeping the staff, their further motivation and the quality of the medical establishment, which is a reflection of good leadership