The Manager in the Digital Age Behind the Screen: How do Health System Employees Perceive the Effectiveness of Managerial Practices Conducted Behind the Screen During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

This study focuses on how employees working in the health-care sector in Israel understood the effectiveness of management practices done on a "behind the screen" or virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic context. The unprecedented use of digital leadership techniques during the pandemic prompted this study with respect to shifting to a human experience of virtual management (i.e., communication, motivation, decision making, relationships, flexibility, and productivity). The study employed qualitative, interpretive phenomenological approaches using 30 isolated interviews and 4 focus groups with disparate roles in the health-care system. Findings indicate that while digital managerialism allowed for operational continuity and flexibility in operations, it also meant dissociation or weakening of trust, disrupted communication, and fractured cohesion in teams. The study argues that effective remote leadership requires more than using technology but rather relies on the social process of mutual and emotional aspects of empathy, inclusion, and trust. The study also advocates for health-care organizations to implement intentional resources in staff digital literacy, relational leadership processes and practices, and inclusive communication systems. Theoretically, this study adds to the discussion of e-leadership in health-care organizations, and practically, provide a blueprint for creating sustainable human-focused management models and actions in hybrid and digital first health systems.