Transformational Leadership and Sick Leave: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Although prior research has established an association between transformational leadership and sick leave, there is still no clear evidence for a causal relationship between the two constructs. The present study contributes to this quest by developing and evaluating the effectiveness of a transformational leadership intervention in reducing employee sick leave. One hundred and seventeen leaders from two Spanish organizations were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 54) or control condition (n = 63). An ANCOVA analysis of 6 months of pre and post-test sick leave data was used to examine the impact of the intervention. Results confirmed the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing total subordinate sick days, sick days due to long-term spells and sick days of younger employees. No significant effect was found for follower sick days due to short-term spells and sick days in older employees. As levels of sick leave rise, an evidence-based and actionable tool is provided for organizations seeking to improve employee health.