Styrers arbeidsmetoder med sykefravær - En kvalitativ forskningsstudie med fokus på styrerrollen i barnehager

Abstract

The goal of this Master thesis is to investigate how managers in public kindergartens in Norway work with absenteeism due to sickness. The problem statement is: How does kindergarten managers work with sickness absence? The thesis seeks to increase the level of understanding and insight in leadership and sickness absence in the public sector which is experiencing high sickness absenteeism with an average of 12 percentage (KS, 2017). Our research was completed using a qualitative method with a sample of six public kindergarten managers from Oslo municipality. Data-gathering was completed by a qualitative research interview. The interview was framed around four main questions to discover how the managers work with sickness absence. Each interview was transcribed, coded, analyzed and systemized. Our main finding is that managers work with sickness absence in two ways; preventive and facilitating. We found that how managers work with preventive measures is through four categories: systematic presenteeism, standardized procedures, relational work and organizing. Equally, we found two categories that describe how managers work with facilitation: individual supervision and external support. In each category, we find multiple examples of work methods that the managers highlighted. We see the work methods as interesting as they show a clear and practical translation to other managers and leaders who work with sickness absence. The findings are discussed in light of the full range of leadership model (FRLM) developed by Bass & Avolio (1994). The model includes transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles. The laissez-faire leadership style is absent from our findings and receives, therefore, less attention in this thesis. Our research shows that multiple work methods in relation to sickness absence include elements of transformational and transactional leadership styles. Our findings suggest that elements of transformational leadership style dominate the managers' work methods which are in line with it being highlighted as the most useful leadership style based both earlier findings and on the FRLM (Bass & Avolios, 1994).