The impact of leadership on employee presenteeism: A comparison between police and non-police samples
| Author | Eliane Hinse,Cynthia Mathieu |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221122294 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
The impact of leadership on employee
presenteeism: A comparison between
police and non-police samples
Eliane Hinse
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
Cynthia Mathieu
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
Abstract
Leader support is an essential factor influencing worker health and stress. Police officers are part of a class of workers
who must deal with a high level of stress. Significant stress can lead to the onset of symptoms of psychological distress,
which can lead to presenteeism (employees are present but suffer from mental health symptoms). However, we note that
few studies focus on police leadership and job-related-stress presenteeism. Therefore, the current research is relevant
and aims to demonstrate the link between the leadership style (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire) on presenteeism
(Job-Stress-Related Presenteeism measure) for police and non-police samples. A total of 252 employees, police officers
(municipal organization) and blue-collar workers (public organization) completed the questionnaires. The results indi-
cated that, for both samples, transformational leadership did not significantly influence job-stress presenteeism.
Laissez-faire leadership had a strong negative effect on police and non-police employees’job-related stress presenteeism
scores. Finally, a transactional leadership style predicted higher levels of job-related-stress presenteeism for our non-
police (blue-collar) sample; it did not significantly influence job-stress-related presenteeism for our police sample.
These results highlight the importance of leadership style on employee well-being, and the implications of these results
are discussed.
Keywords
Leadership style, stress, presenteeism, well-being, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)
Submitted 11 Apr 2022, accepted 13 Jun 2022
Introduction
Studies on presenteeism emerged in the 1990s (Cancelliere
et al., 2011; Hemp, 2004; Vänni et al., 2017) and literature
on the subject is relatively young and heterogeneous
(Cancelliere et al., 2011). Presenteeism is explained by
the physical presence of employees who do not have the
cognitive energy to perform their work (Gilbreath and
Karimi, 2012). Organizations are interested in this issue
because the hidden costs (Cooper, 1994) associated with
presenteeism are considerable (Chapman, 2012), and
several researchers emphasize the need for further research
on this phenomenon (Brouwer et al., 2002).
Because organizational performance is at the heart of
managers’concerns, they have no choice other than to
adapt quickly to face competitiveness in an environment
that is constantly changing (Metzger, 2012; Sanchez,
2004; Whitmore, 2004). The development of management
skills is essential to promote the well-being and perform-
ance of workers and the organization (Whitmore, 2004).
Corresponding author:
Eliane Hinse, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières,3033, Ringuet, Trois-
Rivières, Québec, G8Z 4M3, Canada.
Email: eliane.hinse@uqtr.ca
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(1) 3–16
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557221122294
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