Walden University

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by

Chearlene Glover-Johnson

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects,

and that any and all revisions required by
the review committee have been made.

Review Committee
Dr. John K. Schmidt, Committee Chairperson, Psychology Faculty
Dr. Stephen Lifrak, Committee Member, Psychology Faculty
Dr. Wayne Leaver, Committee Member, Psychology Faculty
Dr. Gary Burkholder, University Research Reviewer

Chief Academic Officer

David Clinefelter, Ph.D.

Walden University
2010
 ABSTRACT

The Impact of Employees’ Perceptions of the Leadership Characteristics of Immediate

Supervisors on Job-Related Absenteeism

by

C. Glover-Johnson

M.S., Cameron University, 2000

B.S., Cameron University, 1998

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Psychology

Walden University
May 2010
 ABSTRACT

The study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of employees to avoid engaging with

supervisors who exhibit leadership traits that the employees perceive as negative.

Although there is an abundance of literature on leadership traits, none has determined

how unexcused absenteeism and employee perception of leadership are related; such

research is important to maximize productivity of an organization. A theoretical model of

moral development was used to predict self-reported unexcused absence among

employees in a hospice setting based on self-reported leadership perceptions of the

immediate supervisor. Theoretical developments in leadership style, leader traits, and

absenteeism research were considered in mediating the effect of the employees’

perception of leadership as an unexcused absence. One hundred and thirty-seven

participant responses to the researcher-developed Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey were analyzed quantitatively. The results demonstrated that

employees’ perceptions of the leadership of the immediate supervisors was a factor in the

in the appropriate use of sick leave, a form of unexcused employee absenteeism. More

favorable perceptions of the leadership of the immediate supervisor reduced the use of

sick leave days as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor.

Improved perceptions of supervisors could lead to less workplace absenteeism.

Understanding the behavior that precedes unexcused absenteeism can help to identify

solutions to create healthy organizations where personal and group commitment to

organization goals and increased supervisor-employee exchange foster a culture that

facilitates attendance instead of absenteeism to increase workplace effectiveness and

productivity.
The Impact of Employees’ Perceptions of the Leadership Characteristics of Immediate
Supervisors on Job-Related Absenteeism

by

C. Glover-Johnson

M.S., Cameron University, 2000

B.S., Cameron University, 1998

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Psychology

Walden University
May 2010
 UMI Number: 3402696

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 DEDICATIONS

To my husband, Anthony James Johnson, for being all that you are and all I ever

need you to be.

For my father, Earl Glover Jr., for teaching me that I am worthy to be all that I

am.

For my mother, Awanda M. Glover, for always believing in me when I could not

believe in myself.

To my sons, Anthony Jerrell Johnson & Aundré James Johnson, for being the

greatest gifts I contributed to life.

For my granddaughter, Aiyana Michelle Basa-Johnson, and my grandson,

Anthony Sablan Basa-Johnson, both of whom I love dearly, for all that you are becoming

and all that you will be.

For my grandmother, Olia Pauline Dixon, a great woman who will forever paint

my world with love.

For my grandmother, Mertha Pearl Johnson, a wonderful woman because of who

she is and what she gives of herself.

For all of my family and friends, whose heart and spirit have filled my world with

laughter and tears, joy and pain, and a lot of love along the way.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. John Schmidt, for his

perseverance and firm commitment to my success, and to my committee members, Dr.

Stephen Lifrak and Dr. Wayne Leaver, for their guidance and support through my

dissertation journey. My heartfelt appreciation, love, and gratitude are extended to Barb

Elwert, my wonderful editor, who supported me throughout this entire journey. Without

the wisdom of her words, her unwavering encouragement, and her knowledge, this

scholarly work would not have been possible. I wish to thank Dawn Williams, former

Walden University staff member, who helped me make it through this process by always

being there to help me and believing in me enough to know that I needed to complete this

dissertation. I offer my special thanks to my friend and mentor, Dr. Kurtis Koll, whose

support always served as a source of faith and inspiration to me. Thanks to the Cameron

University Department of Physical Sciences for keeping me working and for their

steadfast faith and support throughout my journey. I thank Beverly Cook, who worked

tirelessly and with the utmost professionalism to get all of my surveys printed. Thanks

also to the Cameron University Print Shop for printing all my surveys and professional

development materials. I appreciate the assistance that I received from Dr. John Geiger,

who assisted me with the SPSS software and who never once complained when I

repeatedly asked questions about it. Most importantly, I thank all of the hospice

organizations that allowed their employees to participate voluntarily in this study.

Finally, my heartfelt appreciation and humble recognition are given for the permission

granted by Joseph J. Grippaldi for the use of his survey as a model in this dissertation.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY.......................................................... 1

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................... 4
Nature of the Study ............................................................................................................. 8
Research Questions and Hypotheses ................................................................................ 13
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 16
Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 17
Leadership Characteristics ................................................................................................ 22
Operational and Theoretical Constructs............................................................................ 23
Organizational Product Outcome .............................................................................. 24
Characteristics of a Positive Leader .......................................................................... 25
Absenteeism and PTO Policy ................................................................................... 25
Assumptions of the Study ................................................................................................. 29
Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 29
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 31

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................... 33

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 33
Research Strategy.............................................................................................................. 34
Definitions of Leadership ................................................................................................. 35
Review of the Literature ................................................................................................... 36
Leadership Emergence Among Children .................................................................. 36
Leadership and Success ............................................................................................ 38
Leadership and Reality of Organizational Vision ..................................................... 39
Leadership Emergence .............................................................................................. 40
Leadership Ratings.................................................................................................... 41
Leadership Categories ............................................................................................... 42
Theories of Leadership Traits ................................................................................... 43
Sustainment of Leadership ........................................................................................ 44
Characteristics of Effective Leaders ......................................................................... 45
Transactional Theory of Leadership ................................................................................. 47
Transformational Theory of Leadership ........................................................................... 48
Moral Development and Leader-Member Exchange Theory of Leadership .................... 50
Transactional Development Model ................................................................................... 52
Leader-Member Exchange Model .................................................................................... 52
Motivation to Lead Model ................................................................................................ 54
Culture and Leadership ..................................................................................................... 55
Need For More Research .................................................................................................. 56
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 57
iii
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD ............................................................................ 59
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 59
Research Design................................................................................................................ 61
Research Measures............................................................................................................ 65
Research Questions and Hypotheses ........................................................................ 65
Setting and Sample ................................................................................................... 67
Organizational Involvement...................................................................................... 68
Sample Size............................................................................................................... 69
Instrumentation and Materials .......................................................................................... 71
Pilot Study......................................................................................................................... 75
Demographic Evaluation of the Pilot Study ............................................................. 76
Pilot Study Responses to Leadership Perception and Sick Leave ............................ 78
Questionnaire Items Relevant to Pilot Study ............................................................ 79
Pilot Study Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 79
Survey Design ................................................................................................................... 81
Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey .............................................................. 82
Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 83
Data Organization ..................................................................................................... 84
Research Variables.................................................................................................... 85
Perceived Leadership Characteristics ....................................................................... 86
Perceived Organizational Communication ............................................................... 86
Perceived Conformity to Group Dynamics............................................................... 86
Perceived Workplace Attitudes................................................................................. 86
Perceived Conformity to Age, Gender, and Geographic Location ........................... 86
Variable Selection ..................................................................................................... 87
Rank Correlation Coefficient .................................................................................... 87
Potential Confounding Variables .............................................................................. 88
Nonparametric Data Analysis ................................................................................... 88
Parametric Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 89
Correlation Analysis ................................................................................................. 90
Linear Regression Model .......................................................................................... 90
Ethical Considerations and Limitations of the Study ....................................................... 91
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 92

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS .................................................................................................. 94

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 94
Research Questions and Hypotheses ................................................................................ 94
Study Sample Demographics ............................................................................................ 97
Sick Leave Use to Avoid Immediate Supervisor ...................................................... 99
Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor .................................................... 100
Sick Leave Use to Avoid Confrontation With Immediate Supervisor ................... 101
Evaluation of Study Participants’ Responses ................................................................. 102
Dissatisfaction With Immediate Supervisor and Use of Sick Leave as Unexcused
Absence ................................................................................................................... 103
iv
 Organizational Policy Regarding Sick Leave Use .................................................. 103
Perception of Leadership and Communication ............................................................... 107
Gender Perception of Leadership and Communication and Use of Sick Leave as
Unexcused Absence ................................................................................................ 107
Leadership Perception by Participant Gender......................................................... 107
Demographic Perception of Leadership and Communication and Use of Sick Leave
as Unexcused Absence ............................................................................................ 108
Demographic Perception of Leadership Among Variables and Use of Sick Leave as
Unexcused Absence ................................................................................................ 109
Demographic Perception of Leadership and Use of Sick Leave as Unexcused
Absence ................................................................................................................... 114
Predictors of Absenteeism Using Sick Leave to Avoid Contact With Immediate
Supervisor ....................................................................................................................... 117
Abuse of Absenteeism as the Result of Leadership Perception (Hypothesis 1) ..... 117
Unexcused Absenteeism and Dissatisfaction With Immediate Supervisor
(Hypothesis 2) ......................................................................................................... 118
Perception of Communication With Immediate Supervisor Affected by Gender
(Hypothesis 3) ......................................................................................................... 119
Perception of Leadership and Reported Variables (Age, Gender, Tenure, Home
Location, Staff Role, Income; Hypothesis 4).......................................................... 120
Years of Employment and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor ......... 120
Geographic Location of Participant Residence and Leadership Perception ........... 121
Summary of Other Participant Variables and Leadership Perception ............................ 121
Variables of Ethnicity, Gender, Income, Marital Status, Staff Position, and
Commuting Distance on Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor ............ 121
Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Perceived
Leadership ............................................................................................................... 122
Unexcused Absenteeism and Reported Variables (Age, Gender, Tenure, Home
Location, Staff Role, Income; Hypothesis 5).......................................................... 123
Years of Employment and Unexcused Absenteeism .............................................. 123
Geographic Location of Residence and Leadership Perception ............................. 124
Summary of Other Participant Variables and Unexcused Absenteeism ................. 124
Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Unexcused
Absence ................................................................................................................... 125
Narrative Summary ......................................................................................................... 126

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............ 128

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 128
Moral Development Model ............................................................................................. 130
Aims and Hypotheses ..................................................................................................... 135
Interpretation of the Findings.......................................................................................... 137
Implications for Social Change ....................................................................................... 141
Limitations of the Study.................................................................................................. 143
Recommendations for Action ......................................................................................... 144
v
Recommendations for Further Study .............................................................................. 145

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 148

APPENDIX A: LEADERSHIP PERCEPTION AND ABSENTEEISM SURVEY ...... 157

APPENDIX B: AGENCY PARTICIPATION REQUEST LETTER ............................ 166
APPENDIX C: RESPONSE POSTCARD ..................................................................... 168
APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM ................................................................................ 169
APPENDIX E: CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE............................................................ 171

CURRICULUM VITAE ................................................................................................. 172

vi
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Personal Demographic Information About Pilot Participants ............................ 77

Table 2. Job-Related Demographic Information About Pilot Participants ....................... 77
Table 3. Personal Demographic Information About Study Participants........................... 98
Table 4. Job-Related Demographic Information About Study Participants ..................... 99
Table 5. Degree of Absenteeism ..................................................................................... 100
Table 6. Degree of Leadership Perception ...................................................................... 101
Table 7. Degree of Confrontation Avoidance ................................................................. 101
Table 8. Means of Leadership Perception by Gender and Use of Sick Leave as
Unexcused Absence ........................................................................................................ 108
Table 9. Use of Sick Leave by Category of Leadership Perception ............................... 118
Table 10. Use of Sick Leave Days to Avoid Immediate Supervisor .............................. 118
Table 11. Pearson Chi-Square for Use of Sick Leave to Avoid Immediate Supervisor . 119
Table 12. Communication Satisfaction With Immediate Supervisor ............................. 120
Table 13. Age Group and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor .................. 120
Table 14. Years of Employment and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor . 121
Table 15. Geographic Residence and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor 121
Table 16. Participant Variables and Leadership Perception ........................................... 122
Table 17. Participant Variables and Calculated F Values for Perception of
Leadership ....................................................................................................................... 123
Table 18. Age and Level of Unexcused Absenteeism .................................................... 123
Table 19. Years of Employment and Unexcused Absenteeism ...................................... 124
Table 20. Geographic Residence and Unexcused Absenteeism ..................................... 124
Table 21. Participant Variables and Unexcused Absenteeism........................................ 125
Table 22. Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Unexcused
Absence ........................................................................................................................... 126

vii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Moral development model. .............................................................................. 132

Figure 2. Influences on employee attendance. ................................................................ 135

viii
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

Introduction

Absenteeism has an impact, economically at least, on small businesses and

possibly on larger multinational businesses (Markowich, 1993). The costs associated with

absenteeism may include temporary help, overtime pay, loss of business, and employee

morale problems. Absenteeism, regardless of the reason, has a financial and ethical

impact on the business enterprise (Markowich, 1993). The impact of absenteeism,

including unexcused or misused absences, on the hospice organization is similar to that

for business organizations.

The study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of employees to avoid

engaging with supervisors who exhibit leadership traits that their employees perceive as

negative. Benefits usually provided to employees include personal days, sick days, paid

time off (PTO), and vacation leave days. Studies of nonprofit and for-profit businesses

have reported that workplace absenteeism has reached a 5-year high and may lead to the

abuse of leave use (Ford, 2005). Salaried staff may report absenteeism as a sick day or a

personal leave day, but the real reason might be an excuse to avoid contact with office

staff or supervisors (Ford, 2005). Employees’ concept of leadership is relevant to

effective organizational structure and management policy.

Heathfield (2007) reported that employers and employees often discuss building

an effective team structure in an effort to contribute to the success of the organization and

the well-being of the employees. In all societies, leadership is essential to the

maintenance of a functioning organization (Den Hartog, House, Hanges, Ruiz-

 2
Quintanilla, & Dorfman, 1999). The success of the leadership and, ultimately, the

organization is through the “progressive realization of a predetermined goal” (Maxwell,

1993, p. 19). The ability to structure a team toward a stated goal and to spend time with

people is essential to a leader’s success (Maxwell, 1993).

The study investigated the relationship between the perceptions of employees

from hospice organizations regarding the leadership of their immediate supervisors and

the abuse of leave policy. Managers or supervisors are concerned about productivity,

staffing, client services, and general operation. When employees request time away from

work, proper notification and clearances need to be given to support the legitimacy of the

request. Abuse arises when employees request time off for reasons not considered

compensatory. This study defined employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their

immediate supervisors and the impact of this perception on the use or abuse of leave

policy. Employees’ perceptions of leadership may be linked to their definition of culture,

which may be connected to geography, values, ethics, or any other defining

characteristic. The study sought to determine whether employees’ perceptions of

leadership resulted in the misuse of sick leave and unexcused absenteeism.

A theoretical framework involving leadership and culture will strengthen the

knowledge base involving leadership characteristics in hospice organizations (Ardichvili

& Kuchinke, 2002). The concept of organizational culture (i.e., characteristics unique to

individuals and groups within an organization) is used in “international management,

organization behavior, and human resource development literature to measure the

effects” that possibly may discriminate between occupational entities (Ardichvili &
 3
Kuchinke, 2002, p. 100). Organizational sociocultural dimensions display the distinction

between leader and follower, and the integrity of the leader leads to credibility and trust

(Maxwell, 1993). Another focal point of the sociocultural aspect revolves around

employees’ attitude toward achieving the desired organizational goals. The sociocultural

characteristics can describe employees’ workplace attitude and leadership perceptions.

An organization exhibits a socioculture that may affect perceptions of leadership

by followers or employees. The traits described by Hofstede (1997) were included in this

study to characterize the culture of a hospice organization. The Hofstede culture model

connects the organizational structure to employer-employee or leader-follower

relationships. A hospice organization may represent a cultural aspect different from that

of a for-profit hospice. In addition, the hospice organization itself represents a mission

statement unique in that the hospice provides end-of-life care with compassion and

dignity for its clients, who have less than 6 months to live. Hospice organizations, which

provide services directly to clients who are dying and depend on volunteer involvement,

utilize a distinct group interaction. That interaction and the employees’ response to

leadership and authority are essential to organizational success and endurance.

The Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey was designed by the

researcher to solicit information about the participants’ perceptions of their direct

supervisors’ leadership characteristics (see Appendix A). The participants did not include

volunteers or directors of the hospice organizations that volunteered to participate. The

intent of the survey was to define the individual employees’ perceptions of leadership and

determine whether the employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate

 4
supervisors affected the use of leave policy, resulting in unexcused absenteeism from

work. Items for the survey included the independent and dependent variables relevant to

the study. A draft of the survey was reviewed by individuals with experience dealing with

small business and hospice organizations.

A pilot feasibility study was conducted to establish the reliability of the survey

and improve the larger study’s efficiency by revealing any investigation design

deficiencies prior to dispensing the survey in the larger study. The researcher

administered the survey to a random sample of participants for the pilot study. The

survey for the larger study was administered in the participants’ workplace setting and

the participants self-identified their feelings or opinions. A Likert scale assigned a

numeric value to an attribute selected by each participant. All participant responses were

confidential. Attributes on the survey measured the participants’ perception of leadership

and use or misuse of organization leave policy.

Statement of the Problem

This study analyzed leadership in a sample of employees from for-profit and

nonprofit hospice agencies and identified the causes that influence employees’ use of sick

leave as well as the factors related to increased absenteeism and leave policy abuse.

Specifically, the study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of employees to avoid

engaging with immediate supervisors who exhibit leadership traits that they perceive as

negative. By visualized leadership, the researcher means that employees may have

misperceptions about their supervisors based upon factors unknown to them (e.g., leader

has unknown personal problems, is not feeling well, may have a sick child, etc.). The
 5
problem statement results from employees using sick leave for unexcused absences to

avoid particular supervisors because of the leadership characteristics manifested by the

supervisors. The concept for the study evolved from cost analyses for organizational

productivity. Failure to identify problematic situations in the workplace can result in

economic costs, lost productivity, and disability (Garces, 2000).

The literature regarding absenteeism used variables such as age, job satisfaction,

illness, and work-leisure trade-offs to conceptualize absence. Seventy-six papers, reports,

and chapters were reviewed related to leadership and absenteeism. Of the literature

reviewed, 15 were peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters directly related to

absenteeism. Harrison and Martocchio (1998) reported that more than 500 behavioral

science papers, books, and chapters that discussed absenteeism as a variable were

published between 1977 and 1996. However, employees’ viewpoints about the perception

of leadership characteristics as a cause of absenteeism were not mentioned in the

literature reviewed. A variable leading to absenteeism that was not reported in the

literature is employees’ perceptions of leadership characteristics. Deterministic models of

cause, timing, and duration for absenteeism can be constructed from such variables as

age, job satisfaction, and illness. This study investigated the hospice employees’

perceptions of leadership characteristics of their immediate supervisors as a cause for

absence from work. A detailed discussion of the literature reviewed regarding

absenteeism, leadership theories, and the models developed from these theories is

presented in chapter 2.
 6
A common problem taking a toll on individuals, families, employers, and society

is undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. Failure to identify this problem means

increased costs resulting from absenteeism. Garces (2000) reported that more than $44

billion is spent annually to pay for employee absenteeism, lost productivity, and direct

treatment for depression. A survey of 5,000 companies conducted in the early 1990s

(Markowich, 1993) showed that unscheduled absences cost small businesses an average

of more than $62,000 annually to cover lost productivity, sick time, and replacement

costs. Costs associated with absenteeism may include temporary help, overtime pay, loss

of business, and problems related to employee morale. Indeed, absenteeism, regardless of

the reason, has a financial and ethical impact on the business enterprise (Markowich,

1993). The impact of absenteeism, including unexcused or misused absences, is similar

for hospice organizations.

Rosenberg (2005) stated, “To achieve success and to create an environment

employees want to be a part of, it is key to build a team where the role of every member

is valued” (p. 12). Rosenberg also asserted that to be valued as employees, the team must

have a cohesiveness that displays uniform sociocultural dimensions. For example, if a

supervisor displays masculine traits such as assertive behavior and concern for individual

success, but the employee displays the characteristics of quality of life, caring, personal

relationships, and service to the organization, a clear difference of perception develops

between supervisor and employee that may lead to workplace stress and lower

productivity. Ultimately, Rosenberg concluded that workplace productivity is affected by

employee absenteeism.
 7
Absenteeism may be attributed to documented illness, emergency leave,

justifiable personal leave, earned vacation time, and compensation time for overload

activity (Ford, 2005). Absenteeism also may be attributed to unexcused absences that are

the result of stress, entitlement, personal needs, and family issues (Ford, 2005). This

study investigated absenteeism resulting from perceptual differences between paid

hospice workers and their immediate supervisors. The study proposed that absenteeism is

a strategy used by employees to avoid confrontations with their immediate supervisors.

This type of absenteeism will affect overall workplace productivity within for-profit and

nonprofit hospice organizations.

Workplace productivity in a hospice agency can be greatly affected by

absenteeism resulting from perceptual differences because the budget is developed from

grants, gift-in-kind contributions, private donations, fundraisers, and business and

community offerings. Unplanned changes to employees’ work schedules resulting from

absenteeism also may affect the arrangement of the organization’s volunteer program.

For-profit and nonprofit hospice organizations expect employees and other staff members

to contribute a strong work ethic, which is accomplished as each employee accepts the

organization’s mission and goals and receives leadership from a supervisor or a director.

Leaders perceived as low achievers by their employees exhibit a distrust of the

abilities of followers. Maxwell (1993) stated, “The growth and development of people is

the highest calling of leadership” (p. 201). Leaders must first care for people, followed by

profit or organization gain, before they can develop followers or employees (Maxwell,

1993). Unrest among employees often is a consequence of the actions that most leaders
 8
can avoid (Maxwell, 1993). Leadership perception by employees is a factor to consider in

evaluating worker dissatisfaction that may lead to absenteeism as an unexcused absence.

Differences in leadership perception create variations in workplace happiness.

Warr (2007) reported that there is considerable evidence related to workplace happiness,

which affects job performance, staff turnover and absenteeism, productivity, and

citizenship parameters. “Variations in happiness have a causal impact on a range of day-

to-day activities” (Warr, 2007, p. 19). Happy employees mean a happy workplace, and

sometimes, employee satisfaction can be a reflection of their perceptions of leadership.

The study measured the correlation between leadership perception as an element of

organizational happiness and its affect on the abuse of absenteeism, which ultimately

affects the overall productivity of the hospice organization.

Nature of the Study

Workplace absenteeism reached a 5-year high in 2004, and some researchers have

attributed excessive absenteeism to organizational policy changes regarding sick leave

and compensation time (Ford, 2005). Policy changes have included not being able to roll

over accumulated sick leave days. Other factors have included the willingness of

employees to work for lower salaries so that they can have more balance in their personal

lives. Ford commented that employees are given more to do, resulting in less time to take

care of personal matters and health. In 2004, reasons given for unexcused absences

included illness (38%), family issues (23%), personal needs (18%), stress (11%), and

feelings of entitlement (10%; Ford, 2005).

 9
Hofstede’s (1997) sociocultural model includes power distance, individualism,

masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation dimensions as inherent in

any organization. Foremost among the five dimensions of Hofstede’s study are

individualism, or the degree to which people prefer to act alone rather than as members of

a group, and masculinity, which is the display of assertive behavior and competitiveness,

as opposed to quality of life and service. In addition, employees’ perceptions about long-

term orientation, or the driving force for their actions or reactions, may discriminate

between leadership perception and leadership authority in hospice organizations

(Ardichvili & Kuchinke, 2002). Employees are involved in a sociocultural dynamic

setting, and within that setting are displays of leadership, employees’ responses to that

leadership, and reactivity to organizational structure.

The nature of the hospice organizational structure may require a paradigm shift

from accepted group interaction to an ideology that may be reflected in the perception of

leadership and the uniqueness of hospice organizations’ goals and mission. The hospice

joint venture team members may encourage an idealism regarding end-of-life care for

terminally ill patients, with a bias toward their own social and cultural values. The end-

of-life patient may be from a culture or a value system that is incongruent with that of the

hospice team or individual team members. For example, a chaplain, ordained or educated

according to the dogma and tradition of his or her faith, may express values different

from those of the hospice patient. In addition, an older hospice team member may have

more regard for the dignity of life with respect to older patients than a younger, less

experienced hospice care provider may have.

 10
The hospice joint venture team must be cognizant of patient and community

cultural differences to provide the utmost end-of-life care for terminally ill patients. Joint

venture team members must agree on objectives and strive to eliminate differences. A

fundamental premise supported by Drucker (1990) is that the executive director, or chief

executive officer, must fully understand and appreciate the mission and purpose of the

organization. For the purposes of this study, the executive director or chief executive

officer was referred to as the director.

The objective of this study was to statistically evaluate the conditions under which

employees of a hospice community organization are absent from work because of

defined, unexcused absences. Through their survey responses, the employees in the

sample anonymously expressed their perceptions of the leadership of their immediate

supervisors within the organization and the role of this perception on unexcused

absenteeism.

Employees normally report absences that may be properly justified. Other

absences, even though they are reported, are defined as unexcused because the reasons to

justify the absences are not related to work compensation, family or personal illness,

emergencies, or any other plausible reasons. The reasons provided, as revealed by the

survey responses, were expected to show that they were attributed to other variables.

These variables are discussed later in the study.

In an article discussing leadership, Schmoker (2005) cited Drucker’s assertion

that “no organization can survive if super beings are needed for management.

Organizations are lead by average human beings” (p. 5). School districts, as an example
 11
of organizations providing organizational leadership, have been successful across

socioeconomic boundaries because their leaders understand the effectiveness of

teamwork (Schmoker, 2005). The overwhelming task of leaders is to equip teams to solve

problems. Leadership plays a key role in the effectiveness of the organization. Schmoker

asserted that increasing levels of absenteeism fall outside the realm of justifiable excuses.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the hospice employees’ reasons for

absenteeism and the connection between these reasons and the leadership perceptions of

their immediate supervisors.

Collins (2001) asserted that organizational leaders need to focus on what is vital

and stop doing tasks that are senseless and time-consuming. DuFour and Eaker (1998)

supported Drucker’s (1990) assertion that the greatest productivity comes from defining

tasks and eliminating tasks that do not need to be done. A specified focus on necessary

organizational tasks may lead to enhanced perceptions by employees of leadership ability

through increased employee response and productivity. The researcher’s purpose was not

to correlate unexcused absenteeism with poor leadership; rather, the study was designed

to investigate whether employees’ negative perceptions of their immediate supervisors’

leadership characteristics resulted in unexcused absenteeism.

The hospice environment involves a multiplicity of interactions. The service

provided by hospice employees is to administer palliative care to patients while offering

grief counseling, spiritual guidance, and social services to the family members. To

provide complementary services requires the efforts of several offices. The board of

directors provides leadership to the entire organization and staff and, through the director,
 12
establishes the organization’s mission. The mission statement must be delivered clearly to

hospice staff, employees, and volunteers. Within the domain of providing client services,

administrative staff, grievance counselors, social work counselors, clergy, nursing

professionals, and the medical staff work collectively to provide families and patients

with care. It is not a typical customer service-customer situation.

The employees of hospice organizations work with others in a group setting, but

each employee may operate under a different director who has distinct leadership

characteristics. The employees must function not only as individuals but also as partners

within the dimensions of group behavior. If group activity and organization mission are

not represented clearly, and if the leader’s authority is not perceived in a positive or

supportive manner, the employees may react by being absent from the workplace (Ford,

2005). Situations do arise when employees call in an absence to be away from their

immediate supervisors or from the group interaction, thus avoiding unwanted contact

with the supervisors (Ford, 2005). Avoidance of the leader is a reason for an absence

from work, but it is not a reason that is expressed overtly. Ford stated that employee

stress accounts for 11% of absences. Stress may be an outcome stemming from leader-

employee expressed behavior. This study sought to reveal through the self-reporting of

the participants that leader avoidance is a dynamic reason for unexcused absences.

The study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of employees to avoid

engaging with supervisors who exhibit leadership traits that they perceive as negative.

Hofstede’s sociocultural model (1997) details how masculinity, which stresses

competiveness, assertive behavior, and success, influences employees’ behavior. The

 13
opposing traits are quality of life and orientation toward service and personal

relationships. There is a need for the development of strong employer-employee personal

relationships directed toward the common goal of providing a quality of life for hospice

clients and hospice employees. Competitiveness and assertive behavior are contrary to

the mission of a hospice organization.

A second dimension of Hofstede’s (1997) model is individualism. In a hospice

setting, employees and employers cannot act alone. It is obviously an individual effort to

perform one’s job function, but it is an entirely maintained group effort to provide

palliative care services to clients and families. Contrary to individualism is group

interaction, which requires that individuals must participate in positive group dynamics.

Employees of hospice organizations may feel that their supervisors do not support their

efforts or show enough appreciation for the often difficult delivery of palliative care.

Leadership must provide support to employees and develop positive relationships;

employees must understand the motives of the leaders. If contradiction and conflict

develop, employees may perceive their leaders as ineffective and choose to avoid them

through unexcused absences.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

The basis of the research questions involved the participants’ reported abuse of

leave policy, particularly as it pertained to scheduled sick days. The study sought to

identify an association between employees’ perception of leadership and increased,

unexcused absenteeism. The study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of employees

to avoid engaging with supervisors who exhibited leadership traits that they perceived as
 14
negative. The data also were useful to determine whether age, gender, staff position,

geographic culture, salary, or experience correlated to the employees’ use of leave policy

resulting in increased absenteeism. The following research questions and hypotheses

guided this study:

1. In what ways do employees abuse absenteeism as the result of their

perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors?

H01: Employees’ perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, is not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Ha1: Employees’ perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, is associated with unexcused absenteeism.

2. How do employees respond to dissatisfaction with their immediate

supervisors?

H02: Employee dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism survey, is not

associated with unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid

contact with their immediate supervisors.

Ha2: Employee dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey, is

associated with unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid

contact with their immediate supervisors.

 15
3. How does gender affect employees’ communication with their immediate

supervisors?

H03: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisor, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is not different for males and females.

Ha3: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisor, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is different for males and females.

4. Do reported variables (i.e., age, years of service, geographic culture, staff

position, or assigned salary) affect how the employees relate to direct

leadership?

H04: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with how employees perceive direct leadership.

Ha4: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with how employees’ perceive direct leadership.

5. Do reported variables (i.e., age, years of service, geographic culture, staff

position, or assigned salary) affect employees’ unexcused absenteeism?

H05: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and geographic culture,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

 16
Ha5: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and geographic culture,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Purpose of the Study

Chong and Thomas (1997) examined followers’ perceptions of the leadership

characteristics of individuals who were culturally similar or quite different to themselves.

As leadership develops within a group, the ethnicity of the followers and the leaders will

affect concepts of leadership. The team members described as followers will ascribe

different characteristics to different leaders, each representing a different group, and

culturally different leaders may not exhibit characteristics expected by the followers

(Chong & Thomas, 1997).

The essential goal of this study was to investigate what leadership means in

palliative care hospice organizations. Other goals included gaining insight into how

leadership differs from past concepts of leadership, the indirect control or influence team

members have over their colleagues, the productive value of teams, and employee

empowerment and the role of the team leader in inspiring team members to perform at

their highest potential. The study also developed links to the analysis of factors related to

leadership and the misuse of sick leave and unexcused absenteeism. There is a need to

identify characteristics that lead to the increased abuse of employee sick leave within

organizations described as small organizations that are funded privately or federally.

Absenteeism as an aspect of organizational structure is more easily quantified, but the

impact of organizational policies and leadership perceptions by employees on morale,

 17
recruitment and employee retention, and public perception is more difficult to measure.

This study concentrated on measuring the impact of the employees’ leadership

perceptions of their immediate supervisors on absenteeism.

Theoretical Framework

Models relevant to employee relationships in the organization include the

international organizational venture, the two-factor theory, and the value theory (Adler,

2002). The international organization venture is characteristic of the sociocultural model

described by Hofstede (1997). A review of the literature suggested that international

ventures between or among two or more entities bring to the group relationship unique

sets of agendas, strategies, and cultures (Li, Xin, & Pillutla, 2002). Western models of

organizational structure do not include aspects of cultural differences in their group

structure (Dickson, 2003). Cultural differences may include ethnicity, age, geographical

identification, religious views, gender bias, experience, education, family values, work

ethic values, and social values. How an individual responds to leadership may be a

reflection of one’s culture or values. These differences may lead to diverse leadership

perceptions.

Members of an organizational team utilize chaplains from different faiths; nurses

with different levels of experience and exposure to end-of-life care; and staff members

who have different social values regarding death, cultural traditions, age, gender, and

leadership skills (Hospice of Southwest Oklahoma, 2007). The collective purpose of the

hospice team, also known as a joint venture, is to provide care to patients who are

terminally ill while working with the patients’ families to provide additional hospice-
 18
related resources (Hospice of Southwest Oklahoma, 2007). A valuable leadership

character is the ability to understand the mission of the organization and communicate

expectancies to workers, including volunteers (Maxwell, 1993). A joint venture is

characterized as difficult to manage and prone to dismal failure through poor

performance and early termination, especially because joint international groups are

formed for a variety of purposes.

The two-factor theory suggests that different reasons account for job satisfaction

or dissatisfaction (Greenberg & Baron, 2000). Job dissatisfaction relates to quality of

supervision, salary, security, and relationships with others. Job satisfaction is attributed to

opportunities for personal growth, promotion, achievement, and other factors related

directly to work (Warr, 2007). Job satisfaction also is attributed to motivation, whereas

job dissatisfaction is attributed to factors creating negative attitudes or responses by

employees (Greenberg & Baron, 2000).

Locke (1984) proposed the value theory model of job satisfaction. Value theory

identifies an employee’s perception of a facet of the job as an indicator of satisfaction.

The more value a worker places on a job facet, the greater is the job satisfaction, even if

the outcome is not accomplished. Value theory suggests that leaders should find out what

employees want and then give it to them (Greenberg & Baron, 2000). The director or the

administrative supervisor who is engaged in value theory will continually track

employees’ perceptions, needs, and desires. Major companies will spend considerable

resources to identify and evaluate employees’ satisfaction (Greenberg & Baron, 2000).
 19
A great deal of importance is placed on organizational function and employee

satisfaction (Greenberg & Baron, 2000). The director of an organization needs to

understand fully its mission and purpose (Drucker, 1990). When employees are

dissatisfied with their employment, they find ways to avoid contact with their immediate

supervisors. This process allows employees to develop withdrawal strategies that allow

them to avoid organizational situations. Two examples are absenteeism and voluntary

turnover (Dalton & Todor, 1993; Ford, 2005).

In Western society, the workplace environment has become more culturally

collaborative, as in the hospice organization, which employs culturally collaborative team

members to provide palliative care within various communities or regions. Although both

for-profit and nonprofit hospice organizations employ team members from various

cultural backgrounds, according to Drucker (1990), “The nonprofit organization exists to

bring about change in individuals and in society” (p. 3). A common question often asked

by directors of nonprofit organizations focuses on the qualities describing effective

leadership (Drucker, 1990), namely, what characteristics of leaders affect positive

employee performance? A key to progress is a successful top-level management team

that effectively considers the contributions provided by employees and volunteer staff (Li

et al., 2002).

Rosenberg (2005) cited Cooper’s four challenges that face management. A

significant first challenge is absenteeism within the organization. Other relevant

problems, including turnover in the organization, provides a revolving door for

employees. A third challenge is the failure by management to foster and promote

 20
effective staff relationships. The fourth challenge is that management often hires

someone just to fill a position (Reese & Sontag, 2001). For-profit and nonprofit hospice

organizations face the same challenges. The hospice team will require the full use of

several professions, the same as those described for the interdisciplinary joint venture

group by Reese and Sontag.

The hospice staff who are representative of those professionals need to reflect on

the various challenges, including absenteeism. However, research has not effectively

focused on group processes, communication, and decision making, especially in the

nonprofit organization (Li et al., 2002). The goals of this study were to identify patterns

of employee leave use that culminate in an abuse of absenteeism and to assess the

influence of leadership style on employment absenteeism in the hospice organization.

The critical focus of the investigation related to the perception of leadership

characteristics regarding employee relations in hospice organizations by employees and

the causal reference to absenteeism. The study identified factors that influence

employees’ use and abuse of absenteeism. The director or a supervisor working in a

hospice agency may lack sensitivity, training, and managerial formality, all of which may

result in poor employee outcomes such as high rates of absenteeism.

Barriers to an effective hospice team in the hospice organization include a lack of

knowledge related to the job function of contributing team members and the crossover in

the roles of the various team members. The director must clearly define the

organization’s mission (Drucker, 1990). In addition, conflicts arise from differences in

professional values and ethics, lack of team commitment and equitable team sharing,
 21
power struggles within the team, client stereotyping, and administrative issues that

present themselves as barriers to effective team leadership and client support (Reese &

Sontag, 2001). The organizational leader must develop trust and create a team comprised

of members who know what to do in a crisis situation. The organization leader must

perform exceptionally well (Drucker, 1990).

The National Hospice Organization (1993) defined hospice as “a coordinated

program providing palliative care to terminally ill patients” (p. iii) and supportive

services to patients, their families, and significant others 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Hospice, as a coordinated program or organization, is a collection of people working

together, each with a designated responsibility to achieve a common purpose (Cascio,

1998). Hospice organizations require that 5% of delivered services be completed by

volunteers (Setla & Watson, 2006). The Code of Federal Regulations (2004) stated that

Medicare-certified hospice organizations must document that volunteer staff provide

direct patient care or administrative support to account for at least 5% of total patient care

hours. Volunteers do not receive the fringe benefits of sick leave and vacation days that

paid staff receive. All members of the hospice organization, paid or volunteer, must

understand the mission statement and performance goals of hospice. This study focused

on the perceptions of paid staff or employees on the leadership of their immediate

supervisors and the relationship of these perceptions to the misuse of absenteeism.

In this study, the immediate supervisors included persons who were in either a

managerial or a leadership role within a hospice setting. Both managers and leaders are

important in a successful workplace (Kotterman, 2006). Leaders generally provide and

 22
establish organizational and workplace direction related to the mission and goals,

whereas managers plan and budget (Kotterman, 2006). In smaller hospice settings with

fewer than 60 employees, the roles of manager and leader often blend. For very large

corporate hospice settings, the roles of leader and manager may be clearly separate,

according to the organization’s policy, procedures, and job descriptions. Even though a

managerial focus is different from that of a leader in a hospice setting, for this particular

study, the immediate supervisor had the skill set of a manager and provided leadership by

motivating and encouraging the employees to work toward fulfillment of the hospice

mission. Thus, the immediate supervisor performed the dual role of manager and leader

because of the twofold, often interchangeable, functions that they served. This study

defined the immediate supervisors of the employees in the hospice setting as individuals

serving dual role, namely, as managers who functioned as leaders as well as leaders who

functioned as managers.

Leadership Characteristics

Significant leadership qualities include integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy,

decisiveness, and selflessness (Eberhard, 2006). Leadership occurs within the context of a

group. Bryant (2003) stated that leaders must become coaches and counsellors to their

followers. For the investigative purposes of this study, the researcher used the following

20 characteristics to evaluate the employees’ perceptions of positive leaders, that is,

individuals who secure the cooperation of followers while achieving organizational goals

(Campbell, Corbally, & Nystrand, 1983). These attributes were used to determine the

employees’ perceptions of leadership in hospice organizations. The employees’

 23
perceptions of leadership ability included being ambitious and energetic, possessing the

desire to lead, being honest, valuing integrity, being self-confident and intelligent, being

knowledgeable about the organization and about duties performed by the staff, being

employee oriented, being production and services oriented, being supportive of

employees when personal issues arise, being fair in holding employees accountable for

results, taking immediate action when an unfavorable situation arises, assuming authority

when it appears none is present, being discreet when pointing out mistakes in private,

praising employees in public and counseling in private, staying late and leading by

example, ensuring that all employees have the resources to complete tasks, giving proper

credit for jobs well done, getting to know the employees, and addressing job aspects that

improve the employees’ experiences.

Operational and Theoretical Constructs

Li et al. (2002) used social identification theory to investigate group identification

within a multinational team involved in global business ventures. The first identification

category is with the parent company, the second is with the joint venture group, and the

third is with both the joint group and the parent company. Many companies assign

management teams to joint ventures with the expectation that the company’s interests

will be represented (Li et al., 2002).

The first hypothesis suggests that members who share joint identification with the

group and the parent company will lead to significant role conflict and work stress. A

new presentation of leadership quality is that the most effective persons as leaders have

no fixed set of traits (Reicher, Haslam, & Platow, 2007). The most desirable traits of an
 24
effective leader are the traits that identify the group. The group’s policies and agenda will

appear to reflect the leader’s policies and agenda (Reicher et al., 2007). The hypothesis

focus is on personality variables of the immediate supervisor without a regard to

situational ethics or behaviors (Darley & Batson, 1973).

The second hypothesis suggests that group members who identify with the group

will have increased chances of success, job satisfaction, and organization commitment.

When members identify with the parent group, there is increased factionalism of the

group, and decision making is much less successful (Li et al., 2002). Barriers to

successful collaborations include a lack of communication and cultural respect, the

competitive nature of organizations, managed care plans, physicians who challenge the

framework of collaborative arrangements, lack of trust, and various laws such as antitrust

laws (Palmquist, Coddington, & Fischer, 2000).

Organizational Product Outcome

The organizational product outcome is to provide appropriate, acceptable services

to palliative care patients and their families while matching the values and traditions of

the clients with those of the team. Providing the design for palliative care is the

responsibility of the joint venture hospice team, which is comprised of professionals with

various levels of experience and geographic traditions. Examples of independent

variables that could have confounded the results in this study included the employees’

ages, gender, education, salary, and geographic location (i.e., rural vs. urban). The

dependent variables were the employees’ perception of their immediate supervisor,

organizational communication, and group dynamics. The independent and dependent

 25
variables are discussed in more detail in chapter 3. The investigative attitude of this study

was to study the ways in which employees use absence from work as a reflection of

leadership conflict.

According to Eberhard (2006), leaders will establish organizational direction by

first developing a vision and then inspiring others to follow. Positive leadership traits

include integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy, decisiveness, and selflessness. Eberhard

quoted Lao Tsu’s assertion that “a wicked leader is he who people despise” (p. 1).

Eberhard also suggested that a good leader shapes ideas that alter the way people think

about the organization’s goals and the ways in which to achieve them.

Characteristics of a Positive Leader

The characteristics of a positive leader were described by Campbell et al. (1983);

Eberhard (2006); and Reicher et al. (2007) as the following: (a) integrity, honesty, and

fairness, that is, committed to the highest standards; (b) loyalty, faithfulness to superiors

and subordinates; (c) commitment, or devotion to duty; (d) energy and enthusiasm for the

job or task; (e) decisiveness, self-confidence, and willingness to proceed; and

(f) selflessness, or the ability to overcome obstacles and make a personal contribution.

The literature included many definitions of absenteeism that extended from missing a day

of work as an excused absence to failure to report to work when there is an expectation of

being there.

Absenteeism and PTO Policy

Martocchio and Harrison (1993) defined absenteeism as a lack of presence in the

workplace when there is a social expectation that the person as an employee will be
 26
available for work. In the current study, absenteeism was defined as an unexcused

absence from work when there was an expectation from the immediate supervisors or

directors that the employees will be available for assigned tasks. The study specifically

considered that the reason for the avoidable absence was directly related to leader

conflict.

PTO policies are a function of each hospice organization that allows eligible

employees to earn accruals for vacation, sick, and personal leave, and to take other kinds

of leave, such as holiday leave and leave without pay. Local hospices contacted by the

researcher indicated that the standard types of leave with pay include federal holidays,

vacation days, sick days, and personal days. In addition, allowances for PTO include

bereavement, jury duty, and ordered military service. Employees are eligible for leave

without pay, including child care, disability, and other personal days. Employees may use

accrued vacation, holiday, or personal leave for disability, child care, and military leave,

as described in each hospice organization’s policy. PTO is earned from the first day of

work for eligible full-time and part-time employees.

As a specific example for some hospices, for every 8 hours worked, PTO accrues

at a rate of approximately 0.86 of an hour, which equates to 50 minutes of earned leave

per each 8 hours of paid work. Annually, the accrued PTO does not exceed 28 days. The

bereavement leave policy stipulates that employees receive 24 hours of paid time off per

occurrence within the immediate family. To encourage civic responsibility, 2 hours of a

workday is paid to each eligible employee for voting privileges. The 28 annual PTO days

are used for vacation, illness, holidays, and personal leave.

 27
Time off includes recognized holidays respected by the organization, paid

vacation days, bereavement days, unpaid vacation days, maternity leave, sick days, and

personal days. Any time off is an absence from work. Time off from work is arranged

through a prior request or by calling in to notify the supervisor of the absence. Health

care and financial institutions often provide a specific number of PTO days to be used at

the employees’ discretion. A prior request, for example, may be to arrange for vacation

days off, personal leave, bereavement days, or maternity leave.

High costs are associated with sick leave, but PTO is offered to employees as a

competitive, attractive edge against competitors or as a way to attract potential employees

(Salary.com, n.d.). The amount of PTO varies among hospice organizations. Some

hospice organizations provide 28 days, whereas others provide 30 days (Salary.com). A

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, 2004) survey indicated that across

the United States, the number of total paid days off varies with years of service. With less

than 1 year of service, the average number of paid days off is 14. With more than 15

years of service, the average is 27 days with paid time off (as cited in Salary.com, n.d.).

The average number of vacation days varies from 9 per year for employees with less than

1 year of service to 21 days for employees with more than 15 years of service, according

to the SHRM survey (as cited in Salary.com). Personal days allow employees to take time

off for reasons other than illness, doctors’ appointments, jury duty, vacation, and

holidays. Personal days can be taken in conjunction with sick days (as cited in

Salary.com, n.d.).
 28
In the SHRM (2004) survey (as cited in Salary.com, n.d.), 86% of the respondents

indicated that they received paid sick leave either as sick leave or as a component of the

PTO package. The focus of the current study was to identify the reasons employees use

sick leave days for reasons other than those normally approved by the organization’s

policy. Time off implies an absence from work. Organization protocol procedures

describe how the workload is accomplished in the case of an absence (Salary.com, n.d.).

Employees may call in sick to use their sick days for purposes other than being

sick. Using sick days, for example, for an illness is one approach, but using a sick day to

go shopping is quite another reason. Proper use of PTO is appropriate and acceptable.

This study considered the use of sick leave days as an excuse to be absent. Abuse of sick

leave as an absence was defined as using specified days for reasons other than those

considered acceptable to the organization. Specifically, the study addressed absenteeism

as the result of an escape mechanism from or an avoidance of the perceived negative

leadership of the employees’ immediate supervisors.

Ample research has been conducted regarding workplace absenteeism.

Definitions of absenteeism vary depending on the researcher’s focus. Absenteeism has

been defined as (a) a single day of missed work (Martocchio & Harrison, 2003);

(b) the allocation of time to maximize personal utility (Chelius, 1981); (c) the allocation

of time to activities that take away from scheduled work in order satisfy motivational

rhythms (Fichman, 1984); (d) a lack of presence at a given time and location when there

is the expectation that the worker will be there (Martocchio & Harrison, 2003); (e) the

nonattendance for scheduled work (Gibsson, 1966); (f) the failure of an employee to
 29
report for work as scheduled (Van der Westhuizen, 2006); and (g) an unexcused absence

(Van der Westhuizen, 2006). In this study, the working definition of absenteeism was a

vague and unexcused absence from work when an expectation from the immediate

supervisor or director was that the employee would be available to complete the assigned

task. The absence was expected to occur for short periods extending to more than 1 year

(Van der Westhuizen, 2006).

Assumptions of the Study

In statewide hospices, the leadership values may not be the same in rural and

urban environments. In this study, a rural hospice was defined as one located within a

city with a population of fewer than 100,000 persons, and an urban hospice location was

defined as one within a city with a population of more than 100,000 persons. The

researcher assumed that perceptions of rural leadership practices would be different from

the more urban leadership perceptions of employees. The second assumption is that rural

and urban settings have no effect on how employees perceive supervision leadership.

Other employee factors such as age and staff position may affect absenteeism. A third

assumption is that the additional reported factors such as age, gender, staff position,

geographic culture, salary, or experience affect absenteeism.

Significance of the Study

The findings concerning employees’ perceptions of leadership may hold true for

those participants who were surveyed because they represented the hospice industry. The

premise of this study was that many of the hospice organizations would report or suggest

that an unexcused absence is problematic. People vary in their aptitudes, abilities,

 30
temperaments, and interests (Cascio, 1998). Volunteer and employee performance within

the hospice agency is for the attainment of organizational objectives, and organizations

have changed in that they are using the vision statement to assess progress over time.

Worker self-reliance is a relevant aspect of the contemporary organizational structure

(Cascio, 1998). The significance of the study was to understand employees’ perceptions

of leadership characteristics in hospice organizations. The researcher assumed that

because these organizations are service agencies, they have less concern about employer-

employee relationships. The employees might be described by those in the corporate

world as participating in a benevolent organization that almost by definition places less

emphasis on employment concerns.

A potential bias or prejudice involved in the selection of personnel within an

organizational structure relates to privileged attitude. Fouad (2001) defined the attitude of

privilege as a presumption of competence, intelligence, and work ethic that is not

attainable for some employees. Associated with privilege is that Whites, for example, are

more likely than other racial groups to expect health insurance and ready access to health

care (Fouad, 2001). Many hospice directors are White, middle-aged males. Employed

staff members are generally described as White, college-educated females. Perceptions of

leadership in the workplace may vary among hospice professionals in leadership

positions and hospice professionals working in general staff positions.

Organizational or workplace productivity has been defined as revenue per

employee (Oak Enterprises, 2007). Absenteeism can take a substantial toll on workplace

productivity. Excessive absenteeism, if not addressed by those in leadership positions,

 31
can lead to job dissatisfaction, low employee morale, poor workplace productivity, high

employee turnover, and a lack of collegial spirit (Tylczak, 1990). Significant among the

many reasons employees are absent is their dissatisfaction with the leadership

characteristics of their immediate supervisors.

Summary

This chapter developed links between the factors related to leadership and

employees’ misuse of sick leave and unexcused absenteeism. There is a need to identify

the reasons that lead to increased abuse of employee sick leave within hospice

organizations. The impact of organizational policies and leadership perceptions by

employees on morale, recruitment and employee retention, and public perception is more

difficult to measure. This study concentrated on measuring the effect of employees’

perceptions of leadership on unexcused absenteeism.

Chapter 2 summarizes a literature review describing leadership development,

leadership characteristics, and leadership displays. It is fundamental to this study to

evaluate existing, common leadership theories and understand how these same theories

can be utilized to develop models of leadership perception by employees. Leaders are

often leaders by assignment or promotion, and they may lack detailed leadership

development. Professional or organization leadership training is available to potential

leaders. Employees, from experience, do not receive leadership training. For

organizations to be successful, the leaders must be successful and perceived by

employees as successful. Chapter 3 summarizes the research method. In chapter 4, the

findings are presented as an interpretation of the data evaluating the stated research
 32
hypotheses. Conclusion about the findings, a discussion of the limitations of the study, an

explanation of the implications for social change, and recommendations for future

research are presented in chapter 5.

 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

An increasing global awareness and global competition for industry, products, and

organizations is prompting new thinking about leadership in distant arenas, be they

events or organizations (Peterson & Hunt, 1997). Many existing models of organizational

and industrial psychology have developed from Western thought, practice, and tradition

(Earley & Erez, 1997). According to Earley and Erez, most of the existing models for

organizational psychology have not considered a cultural or national context in

organizational psychology. Much emphasis has been placed on individual employees,

largely ignoring any cultural, multicultural, or national values and beliefs that might

affect leadership characteristics and perceptions. Organization practices and

organizational leadership cannot ignore increased globalization.

As an interesting example, case studies often are used as instructional strategies,

even for professional development and growth in the field of industrial and organizational

psychology. Herreid (2004), director of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in

Science, identified a case study describing an episode of academic dishonesty in which

all of the participants involved were from a non-Western culture. The reaction to the case

study that reflected an actual event was that it was racist. The director responded by

suggesting that the event was a realistic event and possibly may have reflected an aspect

of non-Western culture. The students involved, as part of an overriding culture, were

encouraged and were known to work cooperatively. Throughout their education, these
 34
students were encouraged to work cooperatively on projects. In the American classroom,

however, the event was assumed to be an act of cheating, not one of cultural difference.

Culture is a social system that represents an accumulation of beliefs, attitudes,

habits, values, and practices that serve as a filter through which an individual or a group

responds to the world (Shade, Kelly, & Oberg, 1997). Cultural theory is important in

understanding organizational behavior and leadership attributes. American usage of the

term leadership provides a description of leadership character, but leadership also should

have global relevance (Peterson & Hunt, 1997). The commonly used terms leader and

leadership, along with the many connotations associated with these terms, are distinctly

and perhaps uniquely American.

Research Strategy

This study was based on a report by Ford (2005) suggesting that absenteeism in

the workplace is increasing steadily. Various reasons were introduced in chapter 1

regarding the causative effect for increased absenteeism. The study investigated the

unexcused absenteeism of employees to avoid engaging with supervisors who exhibit

leadership traits that they perceive as negative. The researcher hypothesized that the

qualities demonstrated by the leaders played a definitive role in employees’ use of leave

policy resulting in unjustified absenteeism. The Grippaldi (2002) study of attitudes

toward telecommuting among government finance professionals helped to formulate the

questions on the researcher’s survey instrument. In addition, the Minnesota Employee

Benefits Survey (1998) served as a model for the development of the survey instrument

pertinent to this study. The survey considered questions associated with employee
 35
benefits. The data, using the number of participants responding to each question (n) and

the percentage of respondents, indicated a positive relationship to the intended question.

PsycINFO was used as a primary database to identify and examine peer-reviewed

journal articles. In addition, library database searches included, but were not limited to,

ERIC, EBSCOhost, and PsycINFO, using key terms related to leadership qualities,

leadership persona, workplace ethics, and employee-leader perceptions, organizational

workplace policies, absenteeism, and other related search terms. Journal articles from

hospice and health-related topics, educational leadership, and psychology perspectives

were reviewed to develop consistency to analyze a problem key to successful

organizational operation.

Definitions of Leadership

Research over the last 4 decades has demonstrated the significance of trust in

leadership (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002). Leaders are expected to possess abilities that enable

them to contribute to organizational success (Martell & DeSmet, 2001). Trust is inherent

in both transformational and leader-member exchange theories (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002).

Leaders also enjoy the status accompanying the leadership role (Martell & DeSmet,

2001). Researchers have depicted effective leadership as an amalgam of behaviors

(Martell & DeSmet, 2001).

Is the American definition of leadership applicable to all cultures? Much of the

“political and intellectual dynamics of ancient China focused on Confucian moral

leadership implemented by a powerful elite” (Peterson & Hunt, 1997, p. 205). This same

morality is opposite that of the Taoist morality of pacifism, which suggests that elite
 36
leaders who impose morality accomplish nothing but conflict. Is the term leader, as it is

applied to personnel in Chinese society, a reflection of American terminology that may

not be appropriate or understood in the Chinese culture?

Misumi’s (1985) model of leadership in Japan reflected American ideals but

displayed basic differences with American leadership conceptualization. Leaders in all

environments must display two functions: performance and maintenance. A performance

function is the task requirement that leads to the development and design of the group.

The maintenance function requires the development of satisfactory relationships among

the group members. The leaders’ functions are general functions and vary according to

context. Performance and maintenance functions vary among and within countries,

organizations, and organizational levels.

Sinha (1995) also suggested that leaders must consider task orientation and the

nurturing of subordinates in context of the culture’s expectations of leadership.

Leadership becomes more effective when the leaders attend to task performance and the

nurturing of subordinates (Sinha, 1995). Such leadership attributes are then seemingly

forced upon the leaders. The meaning and effectiveness of leaders and leadership

behaviors need to be culturally contingent.

Review of the Literature

Leadership Emergence Among Children

Abramovitch (1976) studied a sample of preschool children and ranked the

students into three classes. The preschool children who won the struggle for toys or

access to the toys were labeled as high ranking. These high-ranking children were the
 37
dominant children and were looked upon with esteem by the midranking children. The

ranking or stratification of the children as a natural occurrence provided organizational

structure to the group. The preschool children associated with those of the same ranking

as labeled by the observers (Heifetz, 1994). Those preschool children labeled as high

ranking attracted the attention of the other preschool-aged children (Heifetz, 1994).

Heifetz (1994) reviewed three other studies of children in Grade 1, preschool, and

nursery school. Organizational structure disintegrated when the dominant student left

early from a nursery school class in a Japanese study. In a study of 4-year-old children in

Munich, the dominant student initiated games, organized games, and interceded in class

struggles. Among children in Grade 1 who were playing dodge ball, the most skillful

player was the student-player to whom the others looked for organization and leadership.

By the time the children reached Grade 1 or Grade 2, two characteristics identified the

dominant students. The student or students who were deemed the smartest or the toughest

became the dominant persons (Heifetz, 1994). Was there a genetic predisposition to

person dominance, or did these students emulate their parents or other older persons to

establish their dominance? Did these same individuals emerge as leaders?

If leadership is to be defined relative to an emergence from the common

experiences, values, and norms of particular cultural organizations, it must provide

cultural continuity in the performance of leaders. Sometimes, leaders are effective

because they are different (Earley & Erez, 1997). Such leader differences are reflected

often among ethnic and religious minorities that are different from the majority culture.
 38
Even then, the success of the leaders is dependent on congruence with the homogeneous

groups with whom the leaders choose to identify (Earley & Erez, 1997).

Leadership and Success

Leadership skills determine one’s level of success (Maxwell, 1993). Just as

children in Grades 1 and 2 identify certain traits to establish dominance and class

structure, leaders are characterized by certain traits that they possess. Leader emergence

has been defined through the perspective that individuals who become leaders possess

traits different from those in people who do not become leaders (Aamodt, 2004). Some

popular leadership theories have suggested that certain individuals are born with

leadership qualities, whereas other theories have suggested that leadership skills are

acquired (Aamodt, 2004). When leadership is required within an organization, something

prized is called for (Heifetz, 1994).

More than 26,000 books are in print and claim to be about leadership (Reeves,

2002). With such materials available, the world should be filled with successful leaders.

Reeves stated, “Leadership is neither a unitary skill set, nor a solitary activity”

(pp. xxiii-xxiv). Characteristics consistently defined in leadership portrayals are that

successful leaders have seen leadership modeled throughout their lives, they have learned

leadership through training, and they are sufficiently self-disciplined to become leaders

(Maxwell, 1993). Leadership is the result of sustained improvement or professional

development of the individual and organizational performance (Reeves, 2002).

Leadership in organizational settings is likely to be a significant determinant of employee

and group motivation (Chen & Bliese, 2002).

 39
Leadership and Reality of Organizational Vision

Leaders are those individuals who are cherished when they provide a deeper

purpose for the work (Wheatley, 1999). Management involves maintaining the current

system through budgeting, staffing, planning, organizing, controlling, and problem

solving. However, leadership develops visions and strategies, and empowers people to

make the visions a reality (Bennis, 1999; Kotter, 1999). Leaders who clearly articulate

their ideas from a deep conviction find more agreement with their views from others

(Levitt, 1999). Leaders develop lofty goals and plan a course of action. Leaders use

alliances and supporting communication structures that ensure that resources are

appropriately used to achieve organizational objectives (Vicere & Fulmer, 1997).

Leadership is the ability to cope with change (Shtogren, 1999). The greatest contribution

of a leader is the company or the organization itself and what that organization stands for

(Collins & Porras, 1994). Leadership skills determine the leader’s level of success

(Maxwell, 1993).

Sociologists have suggested that even the most introverted people will influence

some 10,000 other people during their lives (Maxwell, 2001). Maxwell provided four

insights designed to expand one’s level of influence or leadership: (a) Everyone

influences someone, (b) we never know who or how much we influence, (c) the best

future investment is a proper influence today, and (d) influence is a skill that can be

developed. It is necessary for group members to dedicate time, energy, and resources that

benefit the organization (De Cremer & van Knippenberg, 2002). Sometimes,

organizational members contribute to project goals only what is considered rudimentary

 40
or fundamental. They do not go beyond their job description or time investment. The

same rewards often are earned whether one invests substantial time and energy or just

contributes the most mediocre amount required. Acting in a self-interested way may lead

to project failure (De Cremer & van Knippenberg, 2002). These dilemmas and the

importance of cooperation are important to the effectiveness of the organizational

mission. The motivation of employees to attain a high level of cooperation hinges on one

factor of relevance: leadership (De Cremer & van Knippenberg, 2002). The distinct

earmark of effective leadership is procedural fairness and perceived leadership style by

employees or group members (De Cremer & van Knippenberg).

Leadership Emergence

The key to success in any endeavor is the ability to lead successfully (Maxwell,

1993). To increase leadership potential and level of influence, one must explore five

levels of leadership (Maxwell, 2001). The first level is to understand the position, that is,

the level of influence does not extend beyond the limits of the job description. Some

individual may be in charge because they were appointed to their positions, which

dictates authority. True leaders understand the difference between being a boss and being

a leader (Maxwell, 2001). Military leadership denotes the concept of people in positions

of command (Heifetz, 1994). Military troops achieve their objectives by receiving

commands from their leaders. Business leadership develops from a managerial device to

leadership as a strategy to produce a vision and influence others to achieve the visionary

goals. In biology, leadership reflects an organism with a particular set of physical

 41
attributes equated with prominence and dominance. In horseracing, leadership means

being out in front. Leadership focuses on position or influence (Heifetz, 1994).

Leader emergence results from the concept that people who become leaders

possess characteristics different from those who do not emerge as leaders (Aamodt,

2004). Leader emergence refers to whether or not a person is perceived as a leader by

others (Judge, Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002). Within an organizational structure, an

individual or individuals will become involved in leadership activities, whereas others

would not even consider doing so. In contrast, leader performance suggests that even

though everyone is a potential leader, those who are excellent leaders possess

characteristics different from those leaders who do not perform as well (Aamodt, 2004).

Leader performance or effectiveness is the ability to influence subordinates (Judge et al.,

2002). Leadership often is conceptualized into two categories, namely, leader

effectiveness or leader emergence. Leader emergence is portrayed as a within-group

phenomenon in that a leader emerges from within a group. Leader effectiveness or

performance is characterized as a between-group phenomenon (Judge et al., 2002).

Leadership emergence and performance are distinct in concept, but the criteria used to

evaluate either concept become blurred (Judge et al., 2002).

Leadership Ratings

Ratings of leadership assessment commonly are made by supervisors based on an

individual’s perception of effective leadership. Ratings tend to reflect the work group

performance (Judge et al., 2002). Leadership is a key element in motivating individuals to

 42
cooperate in social and organizational dilemmas and achieve company or organization

productivity (De Cremer & van Knippenberg, 2002).

Social or organizational dilemmas are the tensions between personal and group

interests that inhibit cooperation and effective functioning of the organization (De

Cremer & van Knippenberg, 2002). A critical understanding is needed to evaluate the

factors that motivate individuals to cooperate and achieve increased productivity. A

leader can foster group cooperation by shifting the emphasis from the pursuit of personal

interests to the pursuit of group interests fostering group cooperation (De Cremer & van

Knippenberg, 2002).

Do excellent leaders emerge from within a group because of a circumstance or a

situation that was successful? Is an individual considered an excellent leader because that

person exhibits certain traits or because the group achieves increased productivity?

Effective leaders are needed for group success. Enhanced levels of satisfaction and

effectiveness follow high-quality leader-subordinate relationships in an organization

(Maslyn & Uhl-Bien, 2001).

Leadership Categories

Maxwell (1993) described four categories of leaders as latent, leading, learned,

and limited. The leading leader differs from the other leadership categories in that the

leading leader is born with leadership qualities. To develop as an effective leader, the

leading leader acquires three additional characteristics, that is, the leading leader has seen

leadership modeled all his or her life, has learned leadership through training, and has the

self-discipline to become a leader (Maxwell, 1993). Maxwell’s other three categories are
 43
defined with acquired characteristics. The learned leader has seen leadership modeled

through much of his or her life, has the self-discipline to become a leader, and has

received leadership training. The latent leader has seen some leadership modeled, has

received some training, and has the self-discipline to be a good leader. The limited leader

has the desire to be a leader, but has not seen leadership modeled and has not received

any training. Inspiring others to do better work is one characteristic of an effective leader.

Maxwell’s (1993) four categories of leaders imply that very few great leaders are

born; rather, they are developed through modeling, training, and desire. Leaders in each

of the categories would seemingly respond in the same way or be characterized with the

same traits. Historically, Carlyle stated in 1841 that great men rise to power or levels of

influence or are described as eventful because they exhibit a heroic set of personal traits,

skills, or physical attributes (as cited in Heifetz, 1994). The great man assumption

hypothesized that history or events shape leadership (Judge et al., 2002).

Theories of Leadership Traits

The great man hypothesis of leadership gave rise to the trait theory of leadership

(Judge et al., 2002). Terman (1904) may have been the first to study trait theory (as cited

in Judge, et al., 2002). Trait theory assumes that leadership success depends on personal

qualities of the person, not events, and resides within the domain of a few great persons

(Judge et al., 2002). The great man theory argues that historic times or events produce

only certain individuals as leaders, not the men as leaders producing the times. Some of

the great leaders in early American history emerged because of the times. However, each

leader also demonstrated particular skills, traits, and leadership characteristics. The study
 44
of leadership has emerged as a study of those traits that distinguish one successful leader

from one who is less successful (Judge et al., 2002). Some leaders function very well in

certain arenas but poorly in others (Heifetz, 1994). Hemphill (1949) was quoted by

Heifetz as stating, “What an individual does as a leader is largely a reflection of the

situation characteristics in which that person is found” (p. 29).

Research beginning in the 1950s was based on the premise that no single

collection of traits is associated with leadership (Heifetz, 1994). The contingency theory

(Heifetz, 1994) contends that the appropriate leadership characteristics depend on the

situation. Other researchers have advocated the transaction theory, which espouses that

leaders influence people. Heifetz suggested that leaders respond to the expectation of

followers while earning influence. Embedded in leadership traits and principles are

values. Leadership uses influence to create change, increase productivity, and develop

employee motivation. In the context of organizational leadership, change occurs when the

organization’s members perceive an alteration in the reward plan and pain associated

with the change (Reeves, 2002). The implication of change involves values. Leaders must

examine their level of influence from an analytical view as well as a values-driven view

(Reeves, 2002).

Sustainment of Leadership

Leaders are sustained by values (Reeves, 2002). The deep-seated belief in a vision

or the potential of the company and its employees motivates the leader. Procedures,

standards, and policies do not sustain the leader, but are sustained by deep values

(Reeves, 2002). Individuals committed to the essence and principles of leadership must
 45
believe that values are shaped, molded, and informed. The character of leadership, as

portrayed by Reeves, includes the Pyrrhus, Icarus, and Ulysses pathways. None of the

three pathways provides a perfect model of the leader, but each does provide a viewpoint

of individuals as leaders. The Pyrrhus pathway is modeled after King Pyrrhus as an

historic figure using all of his resources to be victorious in battle. King Pyrrhus remarked

that after one more victory, he would be ruined (as cited in Reeves, 2002). Icarus, as a

mythological character, soared too close to the Sun and fell toward the Earth in his

vanity. The mythological character Ulysses journeyed for 20 years and endured

treachery, disappointment, and betrayal. The analogy presented anticipates that leaders

will be more like Ulysses for his determination, never forgetting the purpose of his

journey (Reeves, 2002). Assuming difficult problems is the end of leadership, and getting

the work done is the essence of leadership (Heifetz, 1994). Recent research has indicated

that various characteristics such as integrity, honesty, and open communication contribute

to good leadership ability.

Characteristics of Effective Leaders

Personality characteristics and the self-motivation to lead are quite variable

among potential leaders. Individuals who are perceived as excellent leaders often choose

not to become involved or emerge as leaders (Aamodt, 2004). Those individuals who

emerge as leaders do so because they enjoy being in charge, seek personal gain, or

consider leadership a reflection of a sense of duty (Aamodt, 2004). Persons who exhibit

self-confidence, assertiveness, creativity, cooperativeness, and competence are perceived

by others as successful leaders (Judge et al., 2002).

 46
The framework for leadership development is to provide direction, foster

commitment, communicate vision, and support individuals (Hoadley, 2000). The ever-

changing business environment calls for a new style of business leadership (Hoadley,

2000). Leaner, flatter organizations have created the need for a framework that guides

successful management and delivers increasing performance. Making sense of dynamic

environments and organizations can be a confusing challenge, considering that traditional

models of leadership are becoming obsolete (Hoadley, 2000). Various theories exist to

model leadership development. Such theories include the transactional theory,

transformational theory, situational theory, motivation to lead theory, moral development

theory, and the leader-member exchange theory. These theories are discussed in more

detail later in the chapter.

Workplace encounters with leadership affect employee trust (Korsgaard, Brodt, &

Whitener, 2002). Trust or the lack of trust is created through specific exchanges between

leaders and followers as group members come to understand the leaders’ goals and

objectives (Korsgaard et al., 2002). Encounters provide information about the leaders’

intentions and evidence of their character for the leader-follower dyad. Leaders’ conduct

and context of the conduct provide employees with cues to the meaning of events

(Korsgaard et al., 2002).

Employees will bestow trustworthiness to the leaders by making judgments or

inferences about the leaders’ motives (Korsgaard et al., 2002). Every leader-follower

relationship involves transactions based on exchange and reciprocity. If the relationship

 47
engenders a high degree of transformational leadership, there also will be some

transactional behaviors (Turner, Barling, Epitropaki, Butcher, & Milner, 2002).

Transactional Theory of Leadership

Leaders balance the development of themselves and their employees.

Transactional theory states that leadership is viewed as a means of controlling

employees’ or followers’ behavior and eliminating problems by using corrective

measures between leaders and followers (Turner et al., 2002). Transactional leadership

emerges in a well-ordered society or organization (Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson, 2003).

The basis of transactional leadership is the influence process underlying an exchange of

rewards for compliance (Kark, Shamir, & Chen, 2002). Leaders portraying transactional

leadership behavior expect compliance, agreement, or acceptance from their followers

(Bass et al., 2003). In return for compliance, the followers expect words of praise, receipt

of rewards, or avoidance of punishment. Recognition is provided to the followers if they

fulfill their roles and assignment descriptions (Bass et al., 2003).

Transactional leadership clarifies the employees’ expectations. This type of

leadership also provides rewards to successful employees (Bass et al., 2003). A definition

of transactional leadership signifies that the leaders will maintain the standard for

acceptance, agreement, or compliance. In the event that the followers are not compliant,

or choose not to be compliant, transactional leaders provide punishment for ineffective

performance (Bass et al., 2003). This style of leadership maintains that the leaders

monitor employee performance and look closely for any variance from expectations.
 48
Passive transactional leaders will wait until problems arise before inaugurating an action

plan (Bass et al., 2003).

Passive leaders do not define expectations, clarify organizational goals, or provide

a mission statement for organizational structure (Bass et al., 2003). Passive transactional

leaders avoid clarifying expectations. The same leadership characteristic also avoids

providing goals and standards for employees (Bass et al., 2003). Employees who

demonstrate commitment to the organization, job satisfaction, or high performance view

transactional leadership positively. There is a positive relationship between transactional

leadership and employees in regard to organizational behavior (Bass et al., 2003).

Employees who have not received professional development or employee training and

who do not understand the organizational mission may not perceive transactional

leadership in a positive manner. Employees who do not have performance expectations

that are clearly defined by the transactional leadership may develop a leadership conflict

that ultimately may result in an increase in absenteeism (Warr, 2007). Transactional

leaders seek employee trust by offering fair rewards for performance (Dirks & Ferrin,

2002).

Transformational Theory of Leadership

Transformational theory suggests that leaders effectively communicate a vision

and inspire followers or employees to look beyond their own interests for the group

(Turner et al., 2002). Transformational leadership emerges during distress and conflict

while reflecting social values (Bass et al., 2003). Two mechanisms by which

transformational leaders exert their influences on followers are through personal

 49
identification with the leader and social identification with the group (Kark et al., 2002).

Transformational leadership most likely results in the growth, independence, and

empowerment of employees (Bass, 1985). Transformational or influential leadership also

may result in a weakening of the subordinates as the result of their increasing dependency

upon the leaders. Dependency on leaders by subordinates implies that the subordinates

are limited in their ability to proceed with the work and require the leaders’ guidance

while making decisions (Kark et al., 2002). Transformational leadership changes or

modifies the values and priorities of followers and encourages followers to go beyond

their expectations (Yukl, 1998).

Kark et al. (2002) proposed that transformational leadership behaviors are

exemplified as inspirational motivation, influence, individualized consideration, and

intellectual stimulation. Inspirational motivation and influence are categorized as

leadership charisma, as specified in theories of charismatic leadership. Inspirational

motivation is the development of a creative vision, the use of emotional arguments, and

the demonstration of optimism. Influence involves changing the behavior of group

members through persuasion. Such behaviors include a willingness to sacrifice for group

benefit, set personal examples, and demonstrate ethical standards (Kark et al., 2002).

Individualized consideration provides support, encouragement, and empowerment to the

followers. Intellectual stimulation utilizes behaviors that increase problem awareness and

challenges the followers to view problems from other perspectives (Kark et al., 2002).

Transformational leadership relates to leadership effectiveness and increased

employee performance (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002). Transformational leaders
 50
achieve their outcomes by partially creating a followers’ identification with leaders and

group members (Kark et al., 2002). Personal identification is evident when the followers

share similar values with the leaders and when the followers select to change their self-

concept so that their values align with those of the leaders (Kark et al., 2002).

In social identification, the followers identify with the group and accept the

successes and failures of the group as personal successes and failures (Kark et al., 2002).

Leaders connect the followers to the missions or directives of groups. Identification with

the leaders by the followers has perceptual, motivational, and behavioral consequences.

Transformational leadership is distinguished from transactional leadership in that

transformational leaders empower followers to affect increased productivity (Kark et al.,

2002). Empowerment is to delegate responsibility to the followers, enhance the

followers’ capacity to think on their own, and encourage the followers to generate their

own ideas (Dvir et al., 2002). Transformational leaders will focus on long-term goals, and

they are considered charismatic, visionary, or inspirational by their subordinates

(Aamodt, 2004). Transformational leaders operate through a social exchange with the

employees. This social exchange, which is exemplified through individual concern for

the workers, leads to an element of leadership trust (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002).

Moral Development and Leader-Member Exchange Theory of Leadership

The moral development theory describes leaders as having more complex moral

reasoning (Turner et al., 2002). The leader-member exchange theory provides a

description of leaders who develop different roles and relationships with different

followers or subordinates and thus act differently toward them (Aamodt, 2004).
 51
Individuals will observe people as leaders and make decisions or inferences about the

characters of the leaders. Trust in leaders as people or trust in the office of leadership can

be strengthened over time (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002). Trust is associated with perceived

fairness offered by leaders. Employees seek respect for their contribution to

organizational behavior and for their relational value with the leader (Dirks & Ferrin,

2002). Leadership-member exchange theory depends on interactions between leaders and

followers as partnerships are developed, thus promoting the organizational goals. This

exchange theory relates more directly toward individual rather than group empowerment

(Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, Allen, & Rosen, 2007). Chen et al. noted that individuals who

have positive relationships with their leaders are more motivated to perform effectively.

Aamodt (2004) identified four predictors of leadership performance based on

individual differences: charisma, dominance, level of energy, and self-monitoring

behavior. The concept of self-monitoring is an important revelation with regard to

effective leadership because it focuses on what leaders do rather than what leaders are

(Aamodt, 2004). Even persons with the described traits of effective leaders may not be

successful as leaders because they were not in the right place at the right time (Aamodt,

2004). If leaders promote individual empowerment, employees will exhibit higher level

performance effectiveness (Chen et al., 2007). The role of the leader in exchange theory

is to promote empowering behaviors among employees that are essential to promote

positive employee performance (Chen et al., 2007). Following is a description of each

model based on the theories already discussed.

 52
Transactional Development Model

Leadership in organizations facing rapid change must be adaptive and flexible

(Bass et al., 2003). Rapid change confronts leaders and employees. Adaptive leaders

respond appropriately to challenges by working with their followers to produce creative

solutions to problems. In transactional leadership, the followers exchange praise, rewards,

resources, or disciplinary action avoidance with the leaders for agreement, acceptance, or

compliance with the leaders (Bass et al., 2003). The leaders must clarify goals and

provide recognition to employees when the goals are achieved. With goal clarification

and recognition of subordinates by the leaders, groups and individuals within the

organizational structure should achieve the expected performance levels (Bass et al.,

2003).

Transactional leadership is more correctly identified as active management by

exception, that is, when leaders specify standards for compliance while monitoring for

ineffective performance, punishing those who deviate from the standards (Bass et al.,

2003). Transactional leaders utilize task-oriented behaviors such as goal setting,

performance monitoring, and action consequences related to success and failure (Aamodt,

2004). Transactional leadership theory places an emphasis on the leader, whereas the

leader-member exchange theory provides a balance between leaders and followers.

Leader-Member Exchange Model

Leader-member exchange theory research generally has focused on the

characteristics of leaders and followers (Maslyn & Uhl-Bien, 2001). The leader-member

exchange theory characterizes the differences in leader-member relationships and the

 53
effects on the individuals involved as well as the company organization. Maslyn and Uhl-

Bien investigated the effort made toward relationship development in a leader-follower

relationship. Reports were evaluated from the perspectives of employees and leaders. The

research reviewed by Maslyn and Uhl-Bien noted that leader-member relationships

develop as a series of steps, with an initial interaction between the leader-member dyad

followed by a series of exchanges in which both members of the dyad are challenged to

determine whether the components of a relationship, such as trust, respect, and

obligation, can be developed. During the relationship exchange, if the behavior initiated

is positive and satisfies the person initiating the exchange, the dyad members continue to

interact. The employee may initiate the exchange and, if satisfied with the results, will

continue to respond to the leader.

Leaders may be trained to develop more effective strategies of exchange with

subordinates, whereas subordinates must rely on their own perceptions (Maslyn & Uhl-

Bien, 2001). Trained leaders exert more effort in the relationship development. When

dyad members or group members observe the leader’s effort, they react positively,

resulting in improved relationships (Maslyn & Uhl-Bien, 2001). Leader-member

exchange theory states that when one member of the group or dyad makes an initial

effort, the other member must respond through a series of exchanges. However, the initial

exchange is not always valued, nor at times can the initial exchange be returned. The

leader-member exchange theory does not focus so much on the strategy used by either

member as it does on whose effort is more influential (Maslyn & Uhl-Bien, 2001).
 54
Maxwell (1993) defined leadership as influence. A personal characteristic of

successful leadership is the leaders’ need for power for the organization, achievement, or

affiliation (Aamodt, 2004). According to Aamodt, leaders would then be seen then as

exerting more effort, thus being more influential and achieving increased organizational

power, production achievement, and group affiliation.

Motivation to Lead Model

Chan and Drasgow (2001) proposed a new individual differences construct called

the motivation to lead (MTL) as a construct or a model rather than a theory. The

framework for the MTL is that the leaders’ behavior relates to personality and values that

affect the leaders’ involvement in leadership roles and activities (Chan & Drasgow,

2001). Leadership outcomes are affected by the leaders’ cognitive ability and social

abilities. Social abilities are acquired through leadership roles and activities. The MTL

model integrates the leader development process with the leader performance process

(Chan & Drasgow, 2001). Personal characteristics, including learned knowledge, skills,

and innate individual differences, are brought to a situation. The MTL model is an

individual differences construct that affects the leaders’ decisions to assume leadership

roles and accept leadership training.

Individual differences also affect leaders’ leadership intensity and persistence.

The MTL is not inherent from birth; rather, it is learned, and leadership characteristics

can be changed (Chan & Drasgow, 2001). For more than 45 years, researchers have

postulated that differences in leader performance are attributed to the extent to which the

leaders are people oriented or task oriented (Aamodt, 2004). Person-oriented leaders are
 55
warm and supportive, believing that subordinates are intrinsically motivated, seek self-

control, and do not dislike work (Aamodt, 2004). The exchange theory may support the

concept of person-oriented leadership, wherein there is an ongoing exchange of

relationship behavior between leaders and subordinates. Person-oriented leaders have

more satisfied subordinates (Aamodt, 2004).

Culture and Leadership

Group disputes based on cultural interpretations may be significant in culturally

diverse organizations (Earley & Erez, 1997). Decision making and problem solving are

integral aspects of leadership. A general model of conflict processing involving

culturalism is needed because cross-cultural groups and leaders abound. Conflict

behavior is having more impact on organizations (Earley & Erez, 1997). Conflict

behavior requires a common body of knowledge regarding conceptions of time,

persuasion styles, and attribution.

Persons and cultures, such as those in the United States, are monochromic, that is,

they believe that tasks should be completed sequentially and that only one focus of

attention at a time can be managed. Advanced planning and the sequential completion of

assign tasks are highly characteristic of monochromic groups. A polychromic person or

society perceives time as nonlinear and believes that many tasks can be accomplished at

once. Polychromic leaders improvise more commonly so that they can multitask. Within

a polychromic environment, many activities can happen at once, albeit with frequent

interruptions and unexpected events.

 56
Societies like the United States that are valued as individualistic cultures lend

themselves more toward internal attribution (Earley & Erez, 1997). Leadership and

culture are important aspects within decision-making and job performance expectations.

Dispositional attribution is more common in individualistic societies. Individualistic

societies, more so than collectivist societies, view leadership as more of a task than a

social process. Persons in leadership positions within individualistic societies tend to

keep their distance because proximity denotes a personal relationship and may hinder

negotiations regarding the desired outcomes. A collectivist society demonstrates more

harmony and personal relationships. Societies vary in their definition of power and

personal relationships in consideration to leadership. High-power societies expect more

power and privilege to be given leaders. In low-power societies, leaders and followers

expect more personal and interactive relationships, wherein the subordinates are given the

opportunity to just do their work (Earley & Erez, 1997).

Need For More Research

There is a need for research to identify the mediating variables that link the

broader national or cultural constructs of leadership and group association to microlevel

psychological models and variables. There also is a need to use individualistic variables

to describe the collective phenomenon of leadership across boundaries (Earley & Erez,

1997). Boundaries may exist between organizations or levels of seniority within an

organizational structure. Those same boundaries may exist between nations or the same

organization located in different countries, each of which has of its own values, customs,

traditions, and norms.

 57
The literature revealed numerous scenarios, designs, and definitions of what

effective leaders are or do. Many leaders assume leadership roles because of appointment

to the position, and they may not be prepared as leaders through professional

development. Leaders’ personality, initiative, and understanding of the organizational

mission are important to the employees. Employees develop perceptions of leadership

that may have negative or positive attributes regarding the effectiveness of the leaders.

These perceptions may affect organizational structure in that the employees may abuse

leave policies to be absent in an effort to avoid supervisors who also are their leaders.

Summary

The chapter provided a synopsis of absenteeism from the workplace because of

the employees’ perceptions of the leadership characteristics of their immediate

supervisors in hospice organizations. Employees’ responses to leadership directives or

styles are to request time off for reasons other than those expected by the organization.

The employees request time off using defined organizational policy, but they also may

request time off as physical and emotional escapes connected to a negative reaction to

leadership presentation, which may be considered a combination of personality traits that

influence leadership behavior, such as judgment, decisiveness, initiative, dependability,

tact, integrity, and knowledge (Zaccaro, 2007).

As already discussed, individuals have different expectations regarding leadership

characteristics and leadership presentations. It is not the person as leader, but rather the

presentation of the leadership attributes of that person that are perceived differently by

individuals. Expectancy theories suggest that individuals are driven by the rewards that
 58
their acts and behaviors produce (Adler, 2002). Adler stated that the chance that certain

behaviors will lead to particular outcomes with the added value of outcome attractiveness

leads to motivation. The two-factor motivation theory (Adler, 2002) suggests that only

certain extrinsic and intrinsic factors exist. Extrinsic factors are associated with the

surroundings and the environment, and they potentially function to demoralize the

person. Intrinsic factors potentially function to energize and motivation people (Adler,

2002). Demotivating factors are associated with poor working conditions, supervision,

coworker relations, policy, salary, and administration (Adler, 2002).

According to Adler (2002), recent research has suggested that there are more than

the extrinsic and intrinsic factor systems suggested by the two-factor motivation theory.

For example, individuals may continue a course of action because of a prior commitment

(Adler, 2002). Considering that extrinsic motivation includes supervision and

administration factors, this study assumed that employees as individuals respond to

administration, organizational policy, and supervision with certain expectancies,

including affirmation, achievement, recognition, and advancement (Adler, 2002). If the

leaders do not provide or are perceived as not providing intrinsic factors, the employees

may use that lack of perception as an excuse to be absent without cause.

Chapter 3 discusses the research strategy to evaluate various descriptors defining

whether the employees who participated in this study used leadership characteristics

perception as a justification to miss work. A quantitative methodology was used to study

workplace experiences and their effect on employee absenteeism.

 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD

Introduction

The previous chapters provided a synopsis of absenteeism from the workplace

resulting from employees’ perceptions of the leadership traits of their direct supervisors

of hospice organizations that can be connected to unexcused absenteeism. One dimension

of satisfaction on the job is supportive supervision, and according to Warr (2007),

stability in the job performance arena is linked to positive leadership characteristics as

perceived by the employees.

The researcher conducted an analysis of issues related to workplace absenteeism.

Data were collected from a survey that reliably assessed the relationship between the

employees’ perceptions of the leadership characteristics of their immediate supervisors

and the employees’ unexcused absenteeism. The study involved four phases:

1. Conduct a literature review of workplace leadership and its effect on

absenteeism.

2. Develop a survey from a preliminary structured feedback process.

3. Clarify language and employee characteristics in order to describe the

absenteeism issue using a final survey.

4. Analyze the collected data to verify the relationships among the variables

that may contribute to workplace absenteeism.

The survey that was developed identified the employees’ self-reported

perceptions about the leadership characteristics of their immediate supervisors and the

effect on absenteeism rates in hospice organizations. The implication of this study is that
 60
it may increase awareness of the reasons for unexcused absenteeism among these

employees. A diagnostic tool was used to collect the data, which were then analyzed by

the researcher. The survey facilitated the different perspectives presented by the

employees and the impact of the perspectives in relation to leave use and organizational

productivity.

The researcher used a quantitative methodology to conduct this study, which

investigated the unexcused absenteeism of the employees to avoid supervisors who

exhibited leadership traits that they perceived as negative. A survey was used to collect

information about the employees’ perceptions of their supervisors’ leadership

characteristics. The survey was developed from Grippaldi’s (2002) empirical study of

attitudes toward telecommuting among government finance professionals and the

Minnesota Employee Benefits Survey (1998). The survey included general demographic

questions about organization size and number of paid staff.

The researcher gathered self-reported responses from the employees via the

survey to determine how similarities between demographics and leadership perceptions

affected the relationship between the supervisors and the employees. Absenteeism abuse

in this study was considered an escape from or an avoidance of the immediate supervisors

using seemingly valid identifiers for requesting or reporting a day or days of missed

work. The employees’ perceptions of leadership and the ways in which the supervisors

presented leadership performance were correlated to an increase in unexcused

absenteeism. The supervisor was any person within the organization who had an

immediate supervisory role with the employee.

 61
All hospice organizations within the state of Oklahoma were identified. Hospice

organizations were selected because of the researcher’s personal experience in dealing

with absence avoidance in the hospice setting and also because of the reliance of hospices

on volunteerism and community support, including donation and fund-raising activities.

The director for each hospice selected was notified about the research initiative and the

significance of the study.

Following approval from Walden University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB

approval # 10-17-08-0092862), the hospice organizations that volunteered to participate

in the study received confidentiality documents, release forms, and the survey. All

participant identities remained confidential. The survey identified the variables attributed

to absenteeism and statistically evaluated those results to identify a correlation between

the employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors and the

employees’ unexcused absenteeism.

Research Design

While designing an experimental approach, the researcher must select a

measurement scale to quantify the participants’ responses. In addition to the measurement

scale, the methods to analyze and express the collected data must be determined (Shah &

Madden, 2004). A quantitative survey was developed for this study to examine the

experiences of employees in hospice organizations as a response to supervisor

relationships. Specifically, the survey was designed to measure whether the participants’

perceptions of and interactions with their immediate supervisors led to an unexcused

absence from work to avoid contact with them. The participants’ responses were recorded
 62
on the survey by selecting a numerical score value ranging from 1 to 5. The fundamental

question asked whether the misuse of a reported sick day correlated with negative

leadership perceptions.

To solve a problem, a problem must first exist, and then one must understand the

cause of the problem. If the real cause of a problem is not identified, only the symptoms

can be addressed (Doggett, 2004). The root problem in this study was unexcused days off

(Ford, 2005). Sproull (2001) stated that identifying and removing the root causes of

problems in any organization is of the utmost importance. An important aspect of this

research was to determine whether the employees’ perceptions of the leadership provided

by their direct supervisors affected their unexcused absenteeism from work.

The participants may have been absent from work for reasons unrelated to their

perceptions of leadership. Family circumstances and other biographical and

psychological indicators may have been possible factors related to absence and time off

leave usage among employees. There has been considerable research on workplace

absenteeism. Although illness often is the reason given for absence, a number of other

underlying reasons can impact the levels of frequent, short-term absence in an

organization (Taimela et al., 2007). Different conditions create various situations, and a

combination of factors may cause individuals to take time off. Research of employee

absence has implied that absence may be caused by the employees’ own actions (Conway

& Briner, 2002). The main reasons usually relate to the circumstances at work,

circumstances specific to an individual employee, or circumstances related to the culture

of the organization (Taimela et al., 2007). In the literature, the reasons were categorized
 63
as workplace, social, and personal (Australasian Faculty of Occupational Medicine,

1999).

In the many reasons for absenteeism, employees’ perceptions of leadership and

avoidance of that leadership personality exhibited through absence were not clearly

discussed in the reviewed literature. Thus, the survey included demographic information

on gender, age, salary, staff position, and hospice location as either rural or urban. This

information was useful to interpret a relationship between age of the employee and

increased absenteeism. A supposition was made by the researcher that the older

participants may have used additional sick leave days for medical appointments, health

effects associated with age, or recovery time from illness. A reverse supposition was that

the younger employees may have had children with illnesses who required parental care,

subsequently increasing the number of days absent from work.

The root cause of absenteeism is a relevant dilemma for any organization. The

survey was designed to produce outputs that were logical and productive. The

postulations of the study were that (a) the survey technique would be useful in unfolding

root causes to the absenteeism problem, and (b) the identification of a root cause would

lead to a better solution to the problem. The survey also sought to elicit responses

including participant expertise, survey aptitude, and any potential prior knowledge. The

researcher attempted to control extraneous variables; however, variables such as cultural

characteristics, political disposition, and social climate remained outside the scope of this

study.
 64
Quantitative research is a statistical approach that reported the viewpoints of the

participants to provide insight necessary to understand the relationship between

absenteeism and the employees’ perspectives of the leadership of their immediate

supervisors. The participants were self-selected for this study. No limitation was placed

on the more obvious factors of gender, age, salary, staff position, and hospice location

(rural or urban). No attempt was made to identify cultural characteristics, political

disposition, and social climate as factors affecting the outcomes of the study. The survey

was used to collect data related to the participants’ personal experiences and their

perceptions of leadership within those experiences.

If the survey response sample size is small, a nonparametric test such as the

Spearman rank correlation works well. The Spearman correlation assumes no probability

distribution between the dependent and the independent variables being investigated.

Although the Spearman rank correlation often is used to measure the strength between

two variables in the field of psychology, in this study, because the number of responses

form the participants exceeded 100, the researcher selected an ANOVA to measure the

strength between the two variables of leadership perception and misuse of sick leave

days. The researcher had no prior knowledge or control of the participants’ self-reported

variables (e.g., age, gender, marital status) in this study. The dependent and the

independent variables selected for this study were ranked using a Likert scale ranging

from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A score of 3 indicated a neutral

response.
 65
Research Measures

Research Questions and Hypotheses

The study investigated the unexcused absenteeism of the employees as a way for

them to avoid their immediate supervisors who exhibited leadership traits that they

perceived as negative. Following are the research questions and hypotheses that guided

the study:

1. In what ways do employees abuse absenteeism as the result of their

perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors?

H01: Employees’ perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, is not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Ha1: Employees’ perception of leadership of their immediate supervisors, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, is associated with unexcused absenteeism.

2. How do employees respond to dissatisfaction with their immediate

supervisors?

H02: Employee dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism survey, is not

associated with unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid

contact with their immediate supervisors.

Ha2: Employee dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey, is

 66
associated with increased, unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism

to avoid contact with their immediate supervisors.

3. How does gender affect employees’ communication with their immediate

supervisors?

H03: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisor, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is not different for males and females.

Ha3: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisor, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is different for males and females.

4. Do reported variables (i.e., age, years of service, geographic culture, staff

position, or assigned salary) affect how the employees relate to direct

leadership?

H04: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with how employees perceive direct leadership.

Ha4: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with how employees’ perceive direct leadership.

5. Do reported variables (i.e., age, years of service, geographic culture, staff

position, or assigned salary) affect employees’ unexcused absenteeism?

 67
H05: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and geographic culture,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Ha5: Reported variables such as age, years of service, and geographic culture,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Setting and Sample

One hundred and fifty-six hospice organizations operate within Oklahoma. Of

those hospices, only 24, or about 15%, are nonprofit. A letter of interest (see Appendix

B) and a response postcard (see Appendix C) were mailed to the directors of all of the

hospices in Oklahoma. When the hospice directors responded, they self-identified as a

nonprofit or a for-profit hospice organization. The purpose of the letter was to obtain

permission from each director to mail the survey to a designated contact person within

the organization who would then administer the survey to employees interested in

participating in the study. The participants were required to have full- or part-time status

within the organization and be paid an hourly or salary wage as staff members of the

hospice.

For this study, hospice volunteers, that is, the individuals who provide a

significant contribution to the overall success of hospice organizations, were excluded

from participation because they do not receive leave policy benefits for daily work hours.

A record of volunteer absence may be maintained for monitoring donated hours by the

hospice organization, but the volunteer does not receive compensation or benefits for
 68
time off or away from work. The directors of the hospice organizations were not asked to

participate in the study because, typically, the director of a hospice organization receives

leadership from and reports directly to a board of directors, a group of individuals who

vote on matters related to overseeing the leadership of the director.

The hospice organization employees who chose to participate voluntarily in the

study completed the survey. There was no requirement for any employees from any of

the hospice organizations to participate. The participants self-reported demographic

information as well as information related to their absenteeism and perceptions of the

leadership of their direct supervisors.

The reader should note that the generalization of the findings from the study may

be applicable to all organizations, yet the particular emphasis in this study was on paid

staff members employed by hospice organizations. The expectation was that all paid

employees of all hospices in Oklahoma would complete the surveys, which would have

resulted in several hundred participants. The researcher used a random selection process

so that no employee was disqualified from the selection procedure. The survey was

administered to participants using the protocol provided by the researcher.

Organizational Involvement

Among the total number of hospices across the United States, 69% are nonprofit

(Hospice Association of Oklahoma, 2005). Hospice organizations serve clientele for

profit or nonprofit reasons by state qualification. The clientele represent individuals of

different ages, ethnicities, economic status, faiths, illnesses, geographic residences, and

social values. At the time of the study, the employees who volunteered to participate were
 69
working on a full- or part-time basis and were receiving monetary compensation and

benefits in return for their services to the hospice unit (i.e., administrative; general

management; and grief, medical, or social services). Employees included all paid staff

members, excluding volunteers, who had supervisors. Paid employees were the staff

personnel in such areas as accounting, billing, bereavement, fund raising, marketing,

patient care, professional development, record keeping, social services, spiritual services,

and coordination of volunteer services.

All of the paid employees of the hospice organizations are accountable to

supervisors or directors, or executive officers. As members of a hospice unit, the

participants who completed the survey provided information that was useful in evaluating

their geographic and experiential biases related to their perceptions of the leadership of

their immediate supervisors. All hospice organizations within Oklahoma that agreed to

participate received the survey. All employees had the opportunity to volunteer. The

participants covered organizational levels below that of the director of the hospice

organization (i.e., managers, supervisors). Thus, any employee working below the

category of director was eligible to participate in the study.

Sample Size

A large sample size provides a greater likelihood of having sufficient statistical

power. The margin of error is the research error acceptable to the investigator. Oklahoma

has 156 operational hospice organizations, each with a different number of paid staff. For

example, one hospice routinely has more than 60 paid staff, whereas another has fewer

than 10 employees. To find the average number of paid staff in the hospices within the
 70
state, the researcher contacted the Hospice Association of Oklahoma for the number of

employees on record per hospice. The average number of employees per hospice was 20,

meaning that 3,120 paid employees were eligible to participate in the study. Typically,

5% of the personnel at hospice organizations are volunteers.

To determine the sample needed in this study, the researcher used a statistical

power analysis, as described by Murphy and Myors (2004), to provide a sample size

sufficient to detect possible differences between the independent and dependent

variables. Thus, based on an average of 20 employees per hospice, the potential sample

size was 3,120. The researcher selected a level of confidence α = .05 as the value needed

to establish a statistical significance for testing each null hypothesis. The researcher

estimated that the independent variables in this study had to have a large effect (.95) on

the dependent variables. Therefore, if the effect size were large, the null hypothesis was

rejected. To reject the null hypothesis, the relationship between the variables had to have

a large effect 95% of the time. Thus, the statistical power used for this analysis was .95,

which was then entered into the Power and Sample Size computer software program

(Lenth, 2006) to calculate the projected number of participants as 185. A second

statistical power analysis using a 50% response distribution and a 95% confidence

interval indicated that a sample of 377 participants would be necessary.

For this study, the researcher used a 95% confidence interval and anticipated that

15% of the participants would return the survey. By means of the confidence interval and

the anticipated return rate, a power analysis conducted by the researcher projected that

the sample size needed in the study would be 185 participants. At a 95% confidence
 71
interval, the expected distribution of responses was that there would be no effect between

the employees’ perceptions of the leadership of immediate supervisors and unexcused

absenteeism.

Instrumentation and Materials

To develop a survey that would determine the relationship between absenteeism

and employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors, specialists

in hospice care met with the researcher for several brainstorming sessions to develop the

survey items. Models considered for the survey included Grippaldi’s (2002) empirical

study of attitudes toward telecommuting among government finance professionals and

the Minnesota Employee Benefits Survey (1998). The brainstorming discussions allowed

the group members to propose as many survey items as possible. The survey that was

developed addressed specific issues related to the perceptions of the hospice employees

about the leadership characteristics of their immediate supervisors.

The researcher did not control or limit participant activity based on identifying

with any particular demographic category. The participants self-reported employee

information such as classification as a new employee or an employee who commutes

from a residence away from the community in which he or she works. The participants

also self-reported information regarding employee benefits available to them from the

hospice organizations where they worked. Employee benefits in the survey focused on

sick leave days available, vacation days allowed, bereavement policy, sick leave policy,

and general PTO procedures. The participants identified the number of days used for sick

leave.
 72
The participants self-evaluated their individual perceptions of their immediate

supervisors’ ability to effectively communicate job responsibility, goals, and objectives,

and define deadlines and expectations. The participants ranked the frequency of

communication with their supervisors and how often the supervisors reviewed assigned

tasks. The participants were asked to rate overall communication effectiveness and the

importance of effective communication.

In addition to ranking organization communication dynamics, the participants

self-evaluated their perceptions of their immediate supervisors by selecting from 20

characteristics of effective leaders. Examples of the characteristics included the desire to

lead, honesty and integrity, intelligence, employee orientation, fairness, provision for

needed resources, and professional development. The participants ranked their overall

perceptions of the leadership abilities and characteristics of their immediate supervisors.

In addition, the participants compared the overall communication effectiveness to their

supervisors’ perceived leadership ability. From the 20 characteristics of effective

leadership, the participants ranked the 5 characteristics that were the most important to

them. The participants provided an overall score ranking the supervisors’ leadership

ability from 1 (less favorable or meaningful) to 5 (highly favorable or regarded). In

addition to characterizing the supervisors’ leadership qualities, 18 characteristics

identified the participants’ group interactions while describing the dynamics of the entire

employee group.

Within the hospice organization, many employees work in group settings with

care providers, grief counselors, faith-based provision, medical staff, and others. Each
 73
participant, for example, considered personal group involvement and the group itself as

ambitious; confident; knowledge about the organization; mission oriented; supportive of

group members and activities; and action taken, even in favorable and unfavorable

situations. The participants ranked their overall perceptions of the group dynamics in

which they might find themselves by using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (less favorable

or meaningful) to 5 (highly favorable or regarded). The participants compared the overall

success of group interaction and effectiveness to their perceptions of their supervisors’

leadership abilities.

As mentioned previously, from the 18 provided characteristics of group dynamics,

the participants ranked the 5 most important characteristics related to effective leadership.

To establish a baseline for data interpretation, the participants evaluated their workplace

attitudes and self-evaluated their perceptions of their immediate supervisors’ leadership

characteristics. Workplace attitudes reflected priorities related to family and job, service

to the organization, interest in the work activities, priorities over personal or group

achievement, and leadership perception.

The participants ranked their overall workplace attitudes using a Likert scale

ranging from 1 (less favorable or meaningful) to 5 (highly favorable or regarded). The

participants compared their overall workplace attitudes to the success of the organization

and the effectiveness of their perceptions of their immediate supervisors’ leadership

characteristics. From the 18 provided characteristics of workplace attitude, the

participants ranked the 5 most important workplace attitudes related to effective

leadership.
 74
After the data were collected, a Spearman’s rank correlation analysis determined

whether there was a relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

Survey items whose correlation coefficients were significant (> .05) were used to

determine the results.

In their literature review, Petrić and Czári (2003) identified three methods to

determine the reliability of surveys: parallel form, internal consistency, and test-retest.

The parallel form requires two surveys of the same test items to prove that each form

presents the same underlying meaning. This approach is time-consuming and requires

additional survey length. The internal consistency approach is appropriate when the

survey is intended to measure one underlying construct. The survey measured the

relationship between absenteeism and leadership perception, but several variables may

have been factors related to a reported unexcused absence from the workplace. In this

study, the internal consistency of the survey was verified using Cronbach’s alpha

coefficient. With regard to establishing reliability, Alderson and Banerjee (1996)

suggested that internal consistency may not be an efficient way to determine the

reliability of a survey.

A pilot feasibility study was conducted to establish the reliability of the survey

and improve the larger study’s efficiency by identifying any investigation design

deficiencies. This procedure was a feasible method to apply in a hospice organization.

Petrić and Czári (2003) identified two limitations of this approach: (a) The measured

variables might be subject to a significant change over an extended time, and (b) a second

administration of the survey may result in participation desensitization. The initial plan
 75
was to administer the survey to a random sample of participants. One hospice

organization and its employees voluntarily agreed to participate in the pilot study. The

survey was administered in the participants’ workplace setting.

Pilot Study

A pilot study was conducted with a small local hospice located in an urban

environment (population of 100,000 or more). The hospice organization’s director gave

permission for staff members to be involved in the pilot study, and staff members

volunteered to participate in the pilot study. The hospice in the pilot study has a paid staff

of 2 part-time and 9 full-time employees. Ten paid employees voluntarily agreed to

participate in the pilot study. The researcher administered and collected the completed

survey forms. All participants were given written information about the purpose of the

study, instructions for completing the survey, and confidentiality information. Upon

completion of the pilot study, wording, conceptual problems, and any additional ideas

were discussed to ensure that all approaches relevant to the sample were examined. As a

result of the content validity check, some changes became apparent, so the necessary

changes were implemented.

The pilot feasibility study was conducted to test data collection logistics and

gather information related to instrument validity prior to the larger study. It functioned to

improve the larger study’s efficiency by revealing any investigation design deficiencies

that subsequently addressed resources that were expended on the larger study. The pilot

consisted of 9 volunteer participants from a hospice agency, providing reliability data for

the questionnaire items.

 76
Demographic Evaluation of the Pilot Study

Nine hospice employees volunteered to participate in a pilot study investigating

the relationship(s) between use of sick leave as an unexcused absence and employees’

perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors. Eight (89%) participants in

the pilot study were female, with 4 participants (44%) being in the age range of 18 to 24.

Four of the participants (44%) earned less than $15,000 annually. Four (44%) reported

their marital status as single, and 1 participant (11%) reported being married. More than 7

of the 9 participants (78%) reported commuting less than 10 miles to work and self-

identified their work environment as a rural area, defined as a community with a

population of fewer than 100,000 residents). Five participants (56%) in the pilot study

had worked for a hospice organization for less than 1 year, and 4 participants (44%)

identified their ethnicity as Caucasian. All of the pilot study participants reported

employment in administrative positions such as finance, marketing, or other

administrative roles. The data in Table 1 and Table 2 show the descriptive results for the

participants’ demographic and job-related variables. The data in both tables clearly show

that the pilot study participants were mainly single White females working in an

administrative position who had worked less than 1 year for a hospice organization in a

rural environment and were earning a minimal salary.

 77
Table 1

Personal Demographic Information About Pilot Participants

Demographic item Frequency Percent*

(N = 9)
Gender
Male 1 11
Female 8 89
Age range
18-24 4 44
25-30 1 11
31-40 3 33
41-55 1 11
Marital status
Single 4 44
Married 1 11
Divorced 2 22
Living together 2 22
Ethnicity
African American 2 22
Asian 1 11
White 4 44
Native American 1 11
Hispanic 1 11
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number

Table 2

Job-Related Demographic Information About Pilot Participants

Demographic item Frequency Percent*

(N = 9)
Salary range
$15,000 or less 4 44
$15,000-20,000 1 11
$20,000-$25,000 1 11
$25,000-$30,000 1 11
$30,000-$35,000 1 11
> $45,000 1 11
Work environment
Rural (< 100,000) 7 78
Urban (> 100,000) 2 22
Years working
< 1 yr 5 56
2-5 yr 4 44
Commuting distance 7 78
< 10 miles 1 11
11-20 miles 1 11
> 30 miles
Table 2 Cont’d
 78
Demographic item Frequency Percent*
(N = 9)

Position 2 22
Finance 1 11
Marketing 6 67
Other administrative
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number

Pilot Study Responses to Leadership Perception and Sick Leave

Regarding their use of annual sick leave days to avoid contact with their

immediate supervisors, 6 of the participants (67%) in the pilot study accumulated less

than 5 days of annual sick leave. A total of 5 participants (56%) reported using fewer

than 5 days of annual sick leave earned, with 4 (44%) using 6 or more days of earned

annual sick leave. At least 1 participant used more annual sick leave days than were

earned. Six respondents (67%) used at least 1 day and no more than 4 days of sick leave

to avoid contact with their supervisor; 2 (22%) reported using an excess of 7 days

annually to avoid contact, and only 1 (11%) reported using no days of annual sick leave

to avoid contact.

Seven participants (78%) in the pilot study strongly disagreed with the statement

that their leadership perception was low, indicating a favorable perception of their

immediate supervisors’ leadership. To supplement this interpretation, 7 (78%) also

reported they did not use sick leave days to avoid contact with their immediate

supervisor. Two (22%) participants agreed that their perception was low, indicting an

unfavorable perception of their immediate supervisors. Of the 9 participants, none

reported a neutral response, indicating they had either a high or a low opinion of their

immediate supervisors’ leadership.

 79
Questionnaire Items Relevant to Pilot Study

Two questions in the questionnaire focused on the primary research focus: (a) Do

employees use sick leave as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with the immediate

supervisor? and (b) Do employees use sick leave as an unexcused absence based upon the

perception of leadership portrayed by the immediate supervisor? The first question

required a response indicating the number of sick leave days used to avoid contact with

the immediate supervisors. The data showed that 8 (89%) of the pilot participants used

sick leave to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor. One participant used 0 days of

sick leave, 3 used less than 2 days, 3 used less than 5 days, and 2 used more than 10 days

of sick leave to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor.

The second question asked for a response to the statement, “My perception of my

immediate supervisor’s leadership is low.” Five participants (56%) reported that they

strongly disagreed with the statement that perception of the immediate supervisor’s

leadership is low. One participant (11%) strongly agreed with the statement, and 1 (11%)

agreed with the statement that leadership perception is low. Two participants (22%)

disagreed with the same statement. Two (22%) of the surveyed participants indicated a

less-than-favorable perception of the immediate supervisor’s leadership. Seven (79%)

participants reported not using sick leave to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor.

Pilot Study Data Analysis

The pilot study provided vital information on logistical issues, including whether

the instructions given to the participants were clear and understandable. The pilot study

also ensured that the participants and the questionnaire administrators fully understood
 80
the procedures. The data collected from the pilot study were used to assess the feasibility

and reliability of the study, as well as the reliability and validity of the instruments

developed for the study.

The statistical chi-square analysis indicated χ2(3) = 1.22, p < .05 for the question

of days of sick leave used. In addition, a chi-square analysis of χ2(3) = 4.78, p < .05 was

recorded for the question on employee perception of leadership of the immediate

supervisor, and a chi-square analysis of χ2(3) = 1.22, p < .05 was recorded for the

question asking for a response to the number of sick days used to avoid confrontation

with the immediate supervisor. In the statistical analysis, a series of questionnaire items is

combined into a single numerical value. Cronbach’s alpha (α) is used as a measure of

interitem correlation. The values for Cronbach’s alpha range between 0 and 1. If the

items are completely correlated, then α = 1; if the items are completely unrelated, then α

= 0. If α is high, close to 1, then this indicates a high level of internal consistency. High

values (i.e., α > .70) provide evidence that the items are measuring the same construct

(Bland & Altman, 1997).

A Cronbach’s alpha was conducted on the pilot study, which was planned to be

administered to 11 volunteer participants; however, 1 individual declined to participate,

and another did not complete the questionnaire. The calculated Cronbach’s alpha of the

66 items in the questionnaire administered to the pilot participants was α = .94, indicating

a high interitem correlation among the questionnaire items. Demonstrating a high

interitem correlation, the Cronbach’s alpha for the relationship between the question of

the participants’ perception of leadership of the immediate supervisor and the question of
 81
the participants use of sick days as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with the

immediate supervisor was α = .95. A one-tailed ANOVA analysis of the same questions

showed an F(3, 5) = .89, p < .05. When the pilot data were calculated using SPSS, the

results indicated that the questionnaire items were reliable and valid.

Survey Design

The intent of the survey was to define the individual employees’ perceptions of

leadership and determine whether the employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their

immediate supervisors affected the use of leave policy, resulting in unexcused

absenteeism from work. The participants did not include volunteers or directors of the

hospice organizations that volunteered to participate. Items for the survey included the

independent and dependent variables relevant to the study. A draft of the survey was

reviewed by individuals with experience dealing with small business and hospice

organizations.

The participants self-identified their feelings or opinions. As mentioned

previously, a Likert scale assigned a numeric value to an attribute selected by each

participant. All participant responses were confidential. Attributes on the survey, which

was developed by the researcher, measured the participants’ perception of leadership and

use or misuse of organization leave policy.

The researcher received permission to survey for-profit and nonprofit hospice

employees across the state in rural and urban settings. The researcher anticipated a large

sample size and many participant responses. Calculations indicated a correlation between

the Likert scores and the participants’ responses regarding leadership perception and
 82
absenteeism. If the correlation for the Likert scores related to perception and absenteeism

was high, the instrument would demonstrate high convergent validity.

Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey

A self-report survey that required approximately 30 minutes to complete was

mailed to 156 hospice organizations within the state. Each of the 47 hospice agencies that

agreed to participate in the study was asked to identify a contact person who would

administer, collect, and return the completed surveys. The researcher briefed the contact

person on the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of the participants. The briefing

included a discussion about the ethical considerations of the study and the responsibilities

for administering and collecting the surveys. The researcher mailed the survey forms with

written directions to the designated contact person, who then administered and collected

the completed surveys.

The participants were asked to attend a short session, during which time they were

given to complete the survey. A self-addressed envelope with postage was included for

the completed surveys to be returned to the researcher. To maintain the anonymity of the

participants, each survey was identified by a randomly selected 5-digit number. The

survey provided no opportunity for participant or organization identification. To avoid

any breaches of confidentiality, all necessary precautions were in place. The paid staff

employees volunteering to participate in the study received a consent form and a

confidentiality notice, which included a brief statement about the importance of the study

(see Appendixes D & E).

 83
The survey included biographic and demographic questions, questions about the

participants’ reasons for absenteeism using sick leave days, and the participants’

perceptions of their immediate supervisor’s leadership characteristics. The participants

disclosed their reasons for requesting time off, even if the reasons were to avoid contact

with their immediate supervisors. The general research results will be available to the

Oklahoma Hospice and Palliative Care Association’s governing board. The researcher

anticipates that the results will be relevant to for-profit and nonprofit hospice

organizations within the state. Individual hospice organizations, employees, volunteers,

and directors will not receive any results pertinent to their particular organizations. The

researcher assured each participant that all responses would remain confidential.

Data Collection

The survey addressed the participants’ perceptions of personal communications

and group dynamics. The survey also measured a similarity of hospice team management

and employee relations using questions that related to the organizational communication

between the participants and their immediate supervisors. The respondents rated their

choices on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

A score of 3 indicated a neutral response. Self-reported absenteeism in comparison to

self-reported perception of leadership was measured. The participants’ self-reported

responses indicated their level of hospice and professional experience. The respondents

also reported the geographic location (i.e., rural or urban) of the hospice organizations

where they were employed.

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To obtain the necessary information, the researcher developed the Leadership

Perception and Absenteeism Survey based on definitions of leadership characteristics

(assessed by the Leadership Perception Scale) and stated reasons suggested by Ford

(2005) for absenteeism abuse. The survey, which was self-administered, comprised 80

questions that inquired about the employees’ perceptions of leadership and self-revealed

reasons for absenteeism. The participants were recruited from 156 hospices in Oklahoma.

Data Analysis

Appropriate data files from the survey information were set up. The researcher

formatted the information provided. The initial step was to organize and understand the

type of information conveyed by the data

The participants self-evaluated their workplace attitudes, group involvement,

perception of favorable leadership, and organization commitment to effective employee-

employer relationships. Their perceptions related to gender, age, experience, current

income, geographical location, or possibly, ethnicity (independent variables). The

researcher, using a random sampling approach for participant involvement, could not

control the independent variables. The most relevant dependent variable was the

employees’ leadership perception. The study’s most important question was whether

unexcused absenteeism reflected the employees’ dissatisfaction with their supervisors’

leadership style.

The sample comprised 137 voluntary participants from the target population. The

results were a sampling of mainly rural hospices in Oklahoma. The participant

characteristics included gender differences, a span of age, salary differences, levels of

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experience, ethnicity declarations, geographical locations (rural vs. urban), and

professional skill levels. The data comprised the participants’ self-reported responses to

all questionnaire items using Likert scales ranging from 1 to 5. The researcher followed

Walden University’s ethical procedures and guidelines to protect the identity of the

participants and to insure the security of the collected data and questionnaires. The survey

responses were anonymous; consequently, neither the hospice organizations nor the

participants could be identified based on any responses to the survey items. The collected

data were used to test the participants’ perceptions of their immediate supervisors’

leadership characteristics and the relationship of those perceptions to the use of sick leave

days as an unexcused absence to avoid the immediate supervisors. When the normality

assumptions are not satisfied, nonparametric procedures are often more powerful in

detecting population differences. When ranked data do not appear to follow normality

assumptions, nonparametric statistical methods are used (Mendenhall, Beaver, & Beaver,

2006).

Research Variables

The variables chosen for the study were examined using a quantitative approach

to investigate the relationship between the self-reported use of absenteeism to avoid

confrontation with the immediate supervisor and the perceptions of the leadership traits

of the immediate supervisors. The intent of the survey was to determine whether the

selected biographic and demographic variables of age, gender, and geographic location

influenced leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors; communication with the

immediate supervisors, and unexcused absenteeism.

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Perceived Leadership Characteristics

This part of the survey consisted of 20 items designed to measure the participants’

self-reported perception of leadership characteristics (e.g., one item was, “Is the leader

employee oriented?”). The reliability level of the self-reported perception of leadership

characteristics was α = .98.

Perceived Organizational Communication

Six items assessed the participants’ self-reported perceptions of how clearly the

immediate supervisors communicated with the employees (e.g., “The immediate

supervisor clearly defines goals and objectives”). The reliability level of the questionnaire

items identifying perceived organizational communication was α = .60.

Perceived Conformity to Group Dynamics

Eighteen items assessed how well the employees conformed to group dynamics

(e.g., “I am fair in holding the group accountable for results”). The reliability of the

questionnaire items of how well employees conformed to group dynamics was α = .96.

Perceived Workplace Attitudes

Seventeen items assessed how well the employees evaluated workplace attitudes

(e.g., “I enjoy working for my immediate supervisor”). The reliability the questionnaire

items evaluating perceived workplace attitudes was α = .31.

Perceived Leadership to Age, Gender, and Geographic Location

Survey items developed in this area assessed the relationship between the

participants’ self-reported age, gender, and geographic location and the perceptions of

immediate supervisors’ leadership characteristics.

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Variable Selection

Data for each independent and dependent variable were collected. Summary

statistics or parameters of each independent variable and dependent variable include the

minimum and maximum variable, the mean and median, and standard deviation. The

coding of the data as nominal or ordinal was completed to represent each response as a

numeric value, 1 through 5, for each observation. Coding is a consistent course of action

for representing each observation. The coding of data is important in qualitative and

quantitative research. Coding data can transfer any qualitative data into quantitative data

(Bernard, 1996).

Rank Correlation Coefficient

The dependent variable is the variable that the researcher is trying to predict. Any

variable used to make these predictions is an independent variable. The Spearman rank

correlation suggests agreement between two variables. Specifically, the question in this

study sought to determine whether there was a correlation between the employees’

perception leaderships of the leadership of their immediate supervisors and unexcused

absenteeism. Other paired sets of variables included age and absenteeism or group

assignment and leadership perception.

Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient measures the strengths of association

between two variables. A Spearman rank correlation coefficient, as a nonparametric

measure of correlation, provides a description of the relationship between variables. The

calculation of the Spearman rank correlation is accomplished by calculating the

association between two identified variables in the formula for rs (Spearman rank
 88
coefficient). In this study, the Spearman rank coefficient was a test statistic to evaluate

the hypothesis that there was no association between two populations. The null

hypotheses state that there is no association between the rank pairs. The alternative

hypotheses state that an association exists between the rank pairs. Rejection of the null

hypotheses will mean some agreement between the two selected variables.

Potential Confounding Variables

The purpose of the study was to establish a cause and effect between leadership

and unexcused absenteeism. The individuals in the study used their leave policy, which

defined justified absences to validate unexcused absenteeism. To provide essence to an

absence, a common expression is to declare the absence an entitlement of employment or

a mental health day to validate a potential unjustified absence as a justified absence.

Absenteeism also may relate to effective organizational productivity. This descriptive,

quantitative study had a narrow focus, which was to determine the relationship between

leadership perception and unexcused absenteeism.

Nonparametric Data Analysis

In a closed survey, where there is a forced choice in the responses, quantitative

analyses can be performed (Leung, 2001). Collected data responses relating to one

subject against the responses related to each variable are organized. Rank order

observations are in categories using a Likert scale, which translates opinions or feelings

ranging from strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, to strongly disagree using a

scale of 1 to 5 (Leung, 2001). In this study, a rank score of 5 indicated that the perceived
 89
characteristic was highly favorable or regarded, and a rank score of 1 identified the

characteristic as less favorable or meaningful.

Nonparametric methods of analysis do not generally use statistical parameters as

means and standard deviations. The nonparametric method specifies hypotheses in terms

of population distribution (Mendenhall et al., 2006). An assumption about population

distribution and rank of observation is in the nonparametric method rather than actual

measurements. Nonparametric methods often are more powerful than parametric methods

in revealing population differences, especially when basic assumptions are not satisfied

with parametric methods (Mendenhall et al., 2006). A rank correlation coefficient

indicates the relative magnitude of correlation between two ranked variables.

Parametric Data Analysis

For a deterministic relationship between a variable of interest, or a dependent

variable, and the predictor variable, or the independent variable, a linear relationship

provides an exact prediction of the dependent variable for a given x value for the

independent variable (Mendenhall et al., 2006). The rank scores for leadership

characteristics and reported days of defined unexcused absences are displayed as a

bivariate plot. The scatter-type plot shows data points that are not on a linear relationship.

A presumed line drawn through the plotted points indicates deviations of points lying

along the presumed line. A linear relationship between variables provides a line of means

or average display of data. An error component explains the deviations from the linear

relationship (Mendenhall et al., 2006). The error component had a normal distribution

with a mean of zero. A method of least squares allowed for a best fit straight line and
 90
minimized the sum of the squares of the standard deviations. The method of least squares

found the values of a y-intercept slope of the line, which determined the best fit for a

straight line. An ANOVA was used to further evaluate the data.

Correlation Analysis

The correlation coefficient for parametric interpretation of the linear relationship

between two variables is the Pearson product moment sample coefficient of correlation, r

(Mendenhall et al., 2006). For data measured using an ordinal scale, the categories are

replaced by ranking, and a Pearson’s correlation coefficient is calculated on these ranks.

The Pearson coefficient, r, is calculated. When r has a positive value, a positive linear

relationship exists between variables. When r equals 0, there is no linear relationship.

When r has a negative value, a negative linear relationship exists between variables.

A systematic method of data analysis is essential (Leung, 2001). The data need to

be consistently coded and organized for each variable. Additional statistical tests can be

conducted while comparing two or more groups.

Linear Regression Model

In considering the usefulness of linear regression, the independent variable, or y

value, must be useful in determining the dependent variable, or x value. The linear

regression model also must be determined to work well (Mendenhall et al., 2006). The

slope of the line is defined as a ß value, and the y-intercept is the alpha value.

In the null hypotheses, the slope ß is equal to ßo. In the alternative hypotheses,

either slope ß is not equal to ßo or one or the other is larger. At a .05 level of significance,

if the null hypotheses are rejected, there is a significant linear relationship between the
 91
two variables. When the model has more than one variable, a more general statistical F

test can be performed. The calculated coefficient of determination, r2, measures the

strength of the relationship between two variables. When there is a significant regression

between variables, it is often assumed that one variable causes the other. Multiple linear

regressions express interest in more than one independent variable. With multiple linear

regressions, the same question is asked in selecting an appropriate statistical model. The

first question considers how well the model fits the collected data (Mendenhall et al.,

2006). The second question involves the strength in the relationship between the

independent and dependent variables. An important third question engages the

investigator to determine if any important assumptions regarding the model have been

violated. The last question involves the worthiness of estimates and predictions.

Ethical Considerations and Limitations of the Study

Ethical considerations for the hospice professional may involve bureaucratic

demands placed on community agencies. These demands may be representative of a

dominant culture typically defined as White, middle-class, male, and heterosexual that

exhibits traditional Euro-American values and traditions (Fouad, 2001). The hospice

agency needs are more important or held in higher regard than the clients’ needs

(Billingsley, 1984). The hospice team values the needs of the palliative care patient,

family, and local community (Hofstede, 1997).

As a specific example, a local hospice organization consists of a staff of 60 paid

employees, a director, and 51 rotating volunteers. The paid staff members receive an

annual salary or an hourly wage for services, and the volunteers donate more than 4,300
 92
hours of services annually. Hospice care is provided in assisted living centers, hospice

facilities, nursing homes, prisons, private residences, retirement homes, and veterans’

centers. The clients represent a myriad of group identification beyond the traditional

construct of racial or ethnic differences. The clients also represent differences in age,

socioeconomic groups, and religious preference. The hospice interdisciplinary team, or

joint venture team, needs to consider differences when interacting with clients and within

the group as care plans are developed (Hofstede, 1997). Clients receiving services from

hospices within the state can represent different faiths, from Hindu and Muslim, to the

numerous Protestant religions. Environmental locations of clients include rural as well as

urban settings within the state.

There were four potential limitations of this study: (a) accessibility of personal

records to verify actual number of days absent (i.e., a reason for absence is not likely to

be reported as avoidance); (b) participant memory regarding the number of days away

from work and the reason(s) given; (c) reliance of the survey responses on honesty in

disclosure; and (d) administration of the survey.

Summary

Chapter 3 described the research method and analysis of collected data as an

analysis of issues related to workplace absenteeism. Employees in a hospice setting used

a survey to self-report demographic and biographic information and responses to

questionnaire items that required a self-determination of their leadership perceptions of

their immediate supervisors, communication efforts between the employee and

supervisor, and use of sick leave days to avoid contact with the immediate supervisors as
 93
an unexcused absence from the workplace. In the many reasons provided for absence

from work, employees’ perceptions of leadership qualities of their immediate supervisors

and the avoidance of the leaders or supervisors were not discussed clearly in any

reviewed literature. Identifying the root cause or causes of absence from work is a

relevant dilemma for any organization. The study postulated that identification of a root

cause for unexcused absences will lead to better relationships between immediate

supervisors and employees. A pilot study provided results that questionnaire items are

reliable and valid. Cronbach’s alpha, α = .94, showed a correlation among the 68

questionnaire items. Cronbach’s alpha, α = .95 demonstrated a high correlation among

the participants’ responses. The survey analysis considered demographic and biographic

variables (e.g., age and gender), and the possible effect on leadership perceptions.

The survey was administered to 137 volunteer participants, and the data that were

collected were used to determine whether any demographic or biographic variables

affected leadership perceptions and use of sick leave days to avoid contact with the

immediate supervisors. The variables included gender, age, years of service, salary, staff

position, and ethnicity. The basic research question was to determine, regardless of

demographic and biographic distinctions, whether employees’ perceptions of the

leadership of their immediate supervisors affected the use of sick leave days as an

unexcused absence from the workplace. A thorough discussion of the results is presented

in chapter 4. Absenteeism is an important issue for employers and employees. Chapter 5

includes a discussion of leadership perception as a reason for absence using sick leave

against organizational policy as well as the implications for social change.

 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS

Introduction

The study used a moral development model based upon the work of Aamodt

(2004), Chen et al. (2007), and Turner et al. (2002) and synthesized by the researcher.

The model was used to establish a relationship between employees’ absenteeism and their

perceptions of supervisors’ leadership characteristics. For the purpose of this study,

immediate supervisors were identified as the individuals who provide direct supervision

of employees and represent organizational policy and procedure while ensuring employee

productivity. This study explored the predictability of the abuse of absenteeism as the

result of employees’ perceptions of the leadership of the immediate supervisors. In this

chapter, the results of the pilot study and the experimental study are reported and

interpreted first, followed by the interitem reliability analysis for abuse of absenteeism

and employees’ perceptions of the leadership of the immediate supervisors. The chapter

concludes with an analysis of the experimental study involving 137 participants.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

The five research questions that guided this investigation sought answers to the

employees’ perceptions of leadership as well as way(s) in which the employees

responded to dissatisfaction with organizational procedures. The investigation considered

demographic values such as gender, age, years of service, staff position, assigned salary,

and geographic culture as variables affecting employees’ communication with leadership

as well as perceptions of their immediate supervisors. The study also considered these

same demographic values as variables affecting the employees’ unexcused absenteeism.

 95

The following research questions and hypotheses guided this study:

1. In what ways did the employees abuse absenteeism as the result of their

perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors?

H01: Employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Ha1: Employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors,

as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with unexcused absenteeism.

2. How did the employees respond to dissatisfaction with their immediate

supervisors?

H02: Employees’ dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey, is not

associated with unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid

contact with their immediate supervisors.

Ha2: Employees’ dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors, as measured

by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism Survey, is

associated with unexcused absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid

contact with their immediate supervisors.

3. How did gender affect the employees’ communication with their

immediate supervisors?
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H03: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisors, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is not different for males and females.

Ha3: Self-reported organizational communication related to the immediate

supervisors, as measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and

Absenteeism Survey, is different for males and females.

4. Did the reported variables of age, years of service, geographic culture,

staff position, or assigned salary affect how the employees related to direct

leadership?

H04: The reported variables of age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with how the employees perceive direct

leadership.

Ha4: The reported variables of age, years of service, and hospice location, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with how the employees’ perceive direct

leadership.

5. Do the reported variables of age, years of service, geographic culture, staff

position, or assigned salary affect employees’ unexcused absenteeism?

H05: The reported variables of age, years of service, and geographic culture, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are not associated with unexcused absenteeism.

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Ha5: The reported variables of age, years of service, and geographic culture, as

measured by analysis of the Leadership Perception and Absenteeism

Survey, are associated with unexcused absenteeism.

Study Sample Demographics

The sample comprised 137 participants, 120 (88%) of whom self-identified as

female. The sample comprised participants mainly between the ages of 18 and 65; 9

participants were over the age of 65. The income distribution with the largest salary was

35 participants (25%) listing an income greater than $45,000. Slightly more than one

third (47, 34%) of the participants earned less than $25,000. The mean salary range was

between $25,000 and $30,000. Most of the participants (74, 54%) selected married as

their marital status. However, even though they were divorced, 52 participants (38%)

self-reported their marital status as single or divorced. Sixty-three participants (46%)

indicated that they were not married. Most of the participants (55%) commuted less than

10 miles to work. Nine (6%) participants commuted more than 30 miles to work. Most of

the participants (85, 62%) reported their home location as rural (< 100,000). Fifty-two

participants (38%) reported it as urban. A majority of participants (117, 86%) had been

employed by a hospice organization for 5 years or less. Only 6 participants (4%) had

worked in a hospice for more than 10 years. One hundred participants (73%) self-

reported their ethnicity as White. Eighteen participants reported it as African American

(13%), 1 as Asian (0.7%), 2 as Pacific Islander (2%), 9 as Native American (7%), 2 as

Hispanic (2%), and 5 as Other (4%). Table 3 and Table 4 illustrate a statistical analysis

profile of the 137 volunteer participants. Table 3 provides a personal demographic

 98
summary, and Table 4 provides a job-related demographic summary of the study

participants.

Table 3

Personal Demographic Information About Study Participants

Demographic variable Frequency Percent*

(N = 137)
Gender
Female 120 88
Male 17 12
Age range
18-24 7 5
25-30 13 10
31-40 31 23
41-55 58 42
56-65 19 14
>65 9 7
Marital status
Single 74 54
Married 25 18
Divorced 27 20
Widowed 8 6
Living together 3 2
Ethnicity
African American 18 13
Asian 1 1
White 100 73
Pacific Islander 2 2
Native American 9 7
Hispanic 2 2
Other 5 4
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number
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Table 4

Job-Related Demographic Information About Study Participants

Demographic variable Frequency Percent*

(N = 137)
Salary range
$15,000 or less 9 7
$15,000-20,000 18 13
$20,000-$25,000 20 15
$25,000-$30,000 29 22
$30,000-$35,000 26 19
> $45,000 35 26
Commuting distance
< 10 miles 75 55
11-20 miles 41 30
21-30 miles 12 9
> 30 miles 9 7
Work environment
Rural (< 100,000) 85 62
Urban (> 100,000) 52 38
Years working
< 1 yr 42 31
2-5 yr 75 55
6-10 yr 13 10
> 10 yr 6 4
Missing 1 1
Position
Administrative asst. 1 1
Bereavement counselor 14 10
Billing 8 6
CNA 4 3
Chaplain 10 7
Compliance 6 4
Development 2 2
Finance 5 4
Home health aide 12 9
Marketing 7 5
LPN 10 7
RN 28 20
Other administrative 11 8
Social worker 13 10
Volunteer program staff 4 3

Sick Leave Use to Avoid Immediate Supervisor

Ninety-nine (72%) participants did not miss work using sick leave to avoid the

immediate supervisor. Slightly fewer than 1 (1%) reported using more than 10 days of
 100
sick leave to avoid their immediate supervisors. Slightly fewer than 27 (20%) used less

than 3 days, and 5% used less than 5 days. Slightly fewer than 34 (28%) participants used

between 1 and 5 days of sick leave as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with their

immediate supervisors (see Table 5).

Table 5

Degree of Absenteeism

Sick leave days used to avoid immediate supervisor Frequency Percent*

0 days used 99 72
< 2 days 27 20
< 5 days 7 5
< 7 days
> 10 days 1 1
Missing 3 2
Total 137 100.0
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number

Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

Sixty-two (46%) of the participants strongly disagreed with the statement that

leadership perception of the immediate supervisor was low. Twenty-six (19%)

participants reported no opinion regarding leadership perception. Thirty-five (26%) of the

sample indicated that their perception of leadership of the immediate supervisor was low.

Slightly more than half of the sample (75, 55%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the

leadership statement (see Table 6).

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Table 6

Degree of Leadership Perception

Leadership perception of immediate supervisor is low Frequency Percent*

Strongly disagreed 62 46
Disagreed 13 10
No opinion 26 19
Agreed 23 17
Strongly agreed 12 9
Missing 1 1
Total 137 100
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number

Sick Leave Use to Avoid Confrontation With Immediate Supervisor

Eighty-seven (64%) of the participants strongly disagreed with the statement that

sick leave was used to avoid confrontations with the immediate supervisors. Twelve

participants (9%) reported no opinion regarding the use of sick leave to avoid

confrontations. Twenty-six (19%) of the participants agreed with the statement that sick

leave was used to avoid confrontations with the immediate supervisors. Slightly less than

one third of the sample (38, 28%) indicated that the use of sick leave to avoid

confrontations with the immediate supervisors was low. Almost three quarters of the

sample (96, 71%) disagreed with the avoidance statement (see Table 7).

Table 7

Degree of Confrontation Avoidance

Sick days used to avoid confrontation with immediate supervisor Frequency Percent*
Strongly disagreed 87 64
Disagreed 9 7
No opinion 12 9
Agreed 16 12
Strongly agreed 10 7
Missing 3 2
Total 137 100.0
*
Percentages were rounded to nearest whole number
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Evaluation of Study Participants’ Responses

An item correlation analysis identified three relevant questions regarding the

primary research focus. The questions included the use of sick leave as an unexcused

absence to avoid contact with immediate supervisors and the employees’ perceptions of

the leadership of their immediate supervisors. Using the questionnaires from all

participants, the Cronbach’s alpha for 68 questionnaire items was α = .62, with an alpha

of α = .97 for the standardized items. An ANOVA analysis between the 68 items

provided an F(126,65) = 4.62, p < .05. Even though Cronbach’s alpha of an interitem

correlation between the participants’ perception of leadership and abuse of sick leave use

to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor of α = .70 was desirable, the actual

Cronbach’s alpha of α = .62 was acceptable.

A Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the interitem reliability or internal

consistency among the questionnaire construct responses (Santos, 1999). In a

multidimensional data analysis, Cronbach’s alpha often is low, especially if the interitem

correlation is low. Not all items necessarily addressed the same construct. In this analysis,

all questionnaire items were correlated with one another, suggesting a low Cronbach’s

alpha (Santos, 1999). In this study, Cronbach’s alpha for five multidimensional

questionnaire items pertinent to this research focused on leadership perception and the

use of sick leave to avoid the immediate supervisor. Cronbach’s alpha for these five items

was α = .67. A factor analysis showed that perception of immediate supervisor α = .79

and use of sick leave to avoid the immediate supervisor α = .75 supported the use of the

questionnaire constructs to support the hypotheses.

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Dissatisfaction With Immediate Supervisor and Use of Sick Leave as Unexcused Absence

One hundred and thirty-seven participants responded to the survey, with an

average of 2.2% of the cases excluded, meaning that at least 2 participants may not have

answered any particular question. One hundred and thirty-five participants responded to

the survey question, “Were sick leave days used other than allowed by organizational

policy because you were upset with the immediate supervisor?” Twenty-eight (19%)

responded as being upset with their immediate supervisors, and 107 (79%) indicated that

they were not upset with their immediate supervisors. The mean response (М = 1.79,

SD = 0.41) suggested that the employees used sick leave days because they were upset

with the immediate supervisor.

Organizational Policy Regarding Sick Leave Use

A second statistic identified 132 participants who responded using a Likert scale

of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) that they used sick leave for reasons other

than those allowed by organizational policy. Seventy-five (57%) reported using zero days

for nonillness reasons. Thirty-three (25%) used less than 2 days, 19 (14%) used less than

5 days, 2 (2%) used less than 7 days, and 3 (2%) used less than 10 days. The mean

response (М = 1.67, SD = 0.94) suggested that the participants collectively use less than 2

sick leave days annually for reasons other than those allowed by organizational policy.

A third statistic reported the number of sick leave days used to avoid contact with

the immediate supervisors. Ninety-nine (74%) of the 134 respondents reported that they

did not use any sick leave days to avoid immediate supervisor contact. Twenty-seven

(20%) reported having used less than 2 days, 7 (5%) less than 5 days, and 1 (> 1%) less
 104
than 10 days to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor. Of the 134 participants who

responded, the mean (М = 1.34, SD = 0.65) suggested that the participants collectively

use less than 2 sick leave days annually for reasons other than those allowed by

organizational policy.

The fourth statistic characterized sick leave usage that occurs when participants

disagreed with the immediate supervisors. One hundred and thirty-four participants

reported using less than 2 sick leave days because the participants were upset with the

immediate supervisors. One hundred and six (80%) of 134 participants reported not using

sick leave to avoid contact with their immediate supervisors because of disagreements.

One percent (13) reported using more than 10 days of sick leave to avoid contact because

of disagreements with their immediate supervisors. Twenty-seven (20%) reported using

sick leave days to avoid immediate supervisor contact because of disagreements. The

mean response (М = 1.28, SD = 0.62) suggests that the participants used some sick leave

days as an unexcused absence because they were upset with the immediate supervisors.

The fifth statistic characterized sick leave usage as “just because.” One hundred

and thirty-three participants reported using less than 2 sick leave days “just because.”

Seventy-three participants (55%) reported not using any sick leave to avoid contact with

the immediate supervisors just because. Forty-six (35%) reported using less than 2 days,

1 (< 1%) reported using less than 7 days, and 1 (< 1%) reported using less than 10 days

of sick leave to avoid their immediate supervisors just because. The mean response
 105
(М = 1.58, SD = 0.75) suggested that the participants used less than 2 sick leave days as

an unexcused absence because they wanted a day off and applied that day off to sick

leave, even though it was against organizational policy.

One hundred and thirty-six participants self-identified their perceptions of their

immediate supervisors as, “My perception of my immediate supervisor is low.” Thirty-

five participants (25%) reported agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement that

leadership perception was low. Twenty-six participants (19%) were neutral. Seventy-five

(55%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, indicating that they had

favourable perceptions of their immediate supervisors. Eighty-seven participants (65%)

reported not using sick leave to avoid the immediate supervisors, whereas 26 (19%)

agreed or strongly agreed that they used sick leave to avoid immediate supervisor contact.

The mean response (М = 2.24. SD = 1.42) suggested that the participants often disagreed

with the statement and had a favourable impression of their immediate supervisors.

The sixth self-reported statistic was in response to the statement, “I use sick days

to avoid confrontation with my immediate supervisor.” The mean response (М = 1.90, SD

= 1.36) suggested that the participants did not generally use sick leave to avoid

confrontations with their immediate supervisors.

The dependent variables of nonillness sick leave use, use of sick leave to avoid

immediate supervisor contact, disagreement with immediate supervisor, avoidance of

immediate supervisor, use of sick leave just because, when compared to the independent

variables of gender and gender perception of immediate supervisor, are discussed next as

descriptive statistics. A Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation,

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r (133) =.41, p < .01 between perceptions of the immediate supervisors and the use of

sick leave for reasons other than those established by organizational policy. The

statistical analysis indicated that the Pearson correlation, r (132) = .60, p < .01 was

significant for participant use of sick leave to avoid immediate supervisors, as compared

to the participants’ leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors. The Pearson

correlation, r (132) = .89, p < .01 was significant for participant avoidance of their

immediate supervisors because of disagreements with them. Statistically, there was

evidence of a positive correlation between participants’ avoidance of the immediate

supervisors and the use of sick leave for reasons other than those established by

organizational policy because of disagreement or low leadership perceptions of the

immediate supervisors.

Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient, rs = (133) = .41, p < .01, indicated a

significant correlation between the participants’ leadership perceptions of the immediate

supervisors and sick leave use other than for those reasons established by organizational

policy. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient, rs = (132) = .60, p < .01, indicated a

significant correlation between the participants’ leadership perceptions of the immediate

supervisors and sick leave use other than for those reasons established by organizational

policy to avoid the immediate supervisors.

The results led the researcher to reject Null Hypothesis 1 because the results

indicated a correlation between employee perceptions of leadership of their immediate

supervisors an unexcused absenteeism. If the employees’ perceptions of their immediate

supervisors were low (disagree or strongly disagree with acceptable characteristics of a

 107
positive leadership style), they used sick leave for reasons other than allowed by

organizational policy to avoid contact with the immediate supervisors.

Perception of Leadership and Communication

Gender Perception of Leadership and Communication and Use of Sick Leave as

Unexcused Absence

One hundred and thirty-four participants responded to the survey question, “Were

sick leave days used other than allowed by organizational policy to avoid contact with the

immediate supervisor?” The mean score (М = 1.90, SD = 1.38) correlated with the

statement that the participants, as employees, disagreed with the statement that sick leave

days are used to avoid confrontations with the immediate supervisors. The Pearson

correlation, r (132) = .02, p < .01, for the relationship between gender and immediate

supervisor avoidance using sick leave for the unexcused absenteeism indicated no

correlation between the two variables. There was no significant correlation,

F(133, 1) = .06, p < .05, between gender and the use of sick leave as an unexcused

absence to avoid confrontations with the immediate supervisors.

Leadership Perception by Participant Gender

One hundred and thirty-six participants (n = 17 males, n = 119 females)

responded to the statement, “My perception of my immediate supervisor’s leadership is

low.” The male participants responses showed a mean response (M = 2.65, SD = 1.69),,

indicating a negative leadership perception of their immediate supervisors. The female

employees showed a mean response (M = 2.29, SD = 1.38), indicating a positive

leadership perception of the immediate supervisors. The mean range for the reported

responses is within the stated boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The analysis
 108
showed that gender played a role in leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors:

The female participants had lower leadership perceptions of their immediate supervisors

than the male participants did.

The females reported a higher use than males for sick leave other than for reasons

allowed by organizational policy, but in either case, they used less than 2 days annually

for nonillness leave usage. Sick leave was used for the reasons of just because,

disagreement with the immediate supervisor, or upset with the immediate supervisor.

Descriptive statistics regarding the participants’ responses to the questionnaire item that

sick days are used to avoid confrontation with the immediate supervisor is given in Table

8.

Table 8

Means of Leadership Perception by Gender and Use of Sick Leave as Unexcused

Absence

Perception of
Gender Use of sick leave to Nonillness reasons Disagree with Upset with
supervisor
avoid supervisor for sick leave supervisor supervisor
(n)
Male 2.65 1.82 1.50 1.47 1.76
(17) (17) (16) (17) (17)

Female 2.29 1.91 1.70 1.25 1.80

(119) (117) (116) (117) (118)

Demographic Perception of Leadership and Communication and Use of Sick Leave as

Unexcused Absence

One hundred and thirty-six participants (17 males, 119 females) responded to the

statement, “I regularly communicate with my immediate supervisor.” The male

participants’ responses (М = 4.24, SD = 1.30), indicated that they more regularly

communicated with their immediate supervisors. The female employees’ responses

 109
(М = 3.97, SD = 1.24) indicated disagreement with the statement.

A chi-square frequency analysis indicated that 10 participants (7%) responded

that they strongly disagreed with the statement and 30 participants (22%) neither agreed

nor disagreed with the statement. Ninety-four (70%) of the participants responded that

they strongly agreed with the questionnaire item. A statistical analysis showed a Pearson

correlation between gender and supervisor communication of r (135) = -.07, p < .05, a

regression ANOVA F test statistical value of F(135, 1) = .69, p < .01), and a Spearman’s

rho of rs (135) = -.10, p < .05) for gender and communication with immediate

supervisors. The analysis showed that gender played a role in organizational

communication related to the immediate supervisors.

Demographic Perception of Leadership Among Variables and Use of Sick Leave as

Unexcused Absence

The responses from 136 participants (5% [n = 7] between 18 and 24 (М = 3.00,

SD = 1.29); 10% [n = 13] between 25 and 30 (М = 2.25, SD = 1.36); 23% [n = 31]

between 31 and 40 (М = 2.39, SD = 1.56); 42% [n = 58] between 41 and 55 (М = 2.31,

SD = 1.39); and 21% [n = 28] over age 55 (М = 3.00, SD = 1.48) were calculated for the

statistical mean of the age groups in the study. The mean range for the reported responses

was within the stated boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The reported mean,

F(5, 130) = .36, p < .05, showed that the participants’ perceptions of the immediate

supervisor varied among the age groups.

For the statement, “My perception of my immediate supervisor’s leadership is

low,” the 18-to-24 age group mean of the responses indicated that the younger employees

had negative leadership perceptions of their immediate supervisors. The 25-to-30 age
 110
group mean of the responses indicated agreement that they were more likely to display

positive leadership perceptions of their immediate supervisors. The medium range age

groups of 31 to 40 and 41 to 55 seemed favourable regarding leadership perceptions, but

the mean was moving toward a less factorable perception, even though the change was

subtle. The over-55 age group revealed the most favourable leadership perceptions of

their immediate supervisors, perhaps attributable to a level of maturity or possible

expression of work ethic. The analysis indicated that age distribution played a role in the

leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors.

The mean of 135 participants (31% [n = 42] employed < 1 year (М = 2.19,

SD = 1.46); 55% [n = 75] employed 2-5 years (М = 2.49, SD = 1.39); 10% [n = 13]

employed 6-10 years (М = 2.08, SD = 1.50); and 4% [n = 6] (М = 2.00, SD = 1.55)

employed > 10 years) reported responses for defined years of service or employment

group in the study. The mean range for the reported responses was within the stated

boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The reported mean, F(3, 131) = .67,

p < .05, showed that the participants’ perceptions of the immediate supervisors varied

among the years of service groups.

The participants with fewer years of service generally disagreed with the

statement that leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors were low. The

participants who had been employed 2 to 5 years more favourably agreed with the

statement. With increasing years of service, the participants had more favourable

leadership perceptions of their immediate supervisors.

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One hundred and thirty-six participants (55% [n = 75] commuted < 10 miles

(М = 2.32, SD = 1.48); 30% [n = 41] commuted 11 to 20 miles (М = 2.43, SD = 1.28);

9% [n = 12] commuted 21 to 30 miles (М = 2.67, SD = 1.72); and 7% [n = 9] (М = 1.67,

SD = 1.00) commuted > 30 miles) reported responses for defined commuting distances in

the study. The reported mean, F(3, 132) = .94, p < .05, for the reported responses was

within the stated boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The reported mean

showed that the participants’ perceptions of the immediate supervisors varied between

with commuting distances to work.

The participants with fewer miles of commuting distances more likely disagreed

with the statement that their leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors were

low. The participants who travelled more than 20 miles but less than 30 miles more likely

agreed with the statement. With increasing commuting distances to work, the participants

had more favourable views of the leadership of their immediate supervisors. As

commuting distances decreased, the leadership perceptions became less favourable,

which may have been attributed to the cost and distance of the daily commute. However,

as commuting distance exceeded 30 miles, the leadership perception was more

favourable, which may have been attributed to level of maturity, possible expression of

work ethic, or greater commitment to the organization.

One hundred and thirty-six participants (7% [n = 9] earned < $15,000 annually

(М = 2.89, SD = 1.62); 13% [n = 18] earned < $20,000 (М = 2.17, SD = 1.42); 15%

[n = 20] earned < $25,000 (М = 2.50, SD = 1.54); 22% [n = 29] earned $25,000-$30,000

(М = 2.34, SD = 1.23); 19% [n = 26] earned $30,000-$35,000 (М = 2.12, SD = 1.36); and

 112
26% [n = 35] (М = 2.34, SD = 1.53) earned > $45,000) reported responses for defined

salary ranges used in the study. The mean range for the reported responses was within the

stated boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The reported mean, F(5, 130) = .484,

p < .05, showed that the participants’ perceptions of the immediate supervisors varied.

The participants earning less than $15,000 annually more likely agreed with the

statement that leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors were low. A variable

related to dissatisfaction with salary also may have impacted leadership perceptions. As

salaries increased, satisfaction with the immediate supervisors also increased. The annual

salary of $35,000 to $45,000 correlated with questionnaire responses indicating

favourable perceptions of the immediate supervisors. The higher salary range also may

have reflected a greater sense of professionalism and a higher sense of ethics related to

the workplace and the organizational structure. The salaries indicated a reflection in

leadership perception as more favourable, which could have been attributed to level of

maturity (years of work experience), possible expression of work ethic, or more

commitment to the organization.

One hundred and thirty-five participants (10% [n = 14] self-identified as a

nonprofit organizational supervisors (М = 2.23, SD = 1.64); 4% [n = 3] as for-profit

supervisors (М = 1.83, SD = 0.98); 7% [n = 10] as department administrators (М = 2.33,

SD = 1.50); 44% [n = 60] as clinical service employee (М = 2.68, SD = 1.18); 16%

[n = 21] as social service employees (М = 1.76, SD = 1.18); and 20% [n = 27] (М = 2.18,

SD = 1.42) as administrative employees) reported responses for defined employee role

 113
used in the study. The mean range for the reported responses was within the stated

boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05). The reported mean, F (5, 129) = 1.62,

p < .05, showed that the participants’ perceptions of the immediate supervisors varied

among the salaried groups.

The clinical service participants recorded mean revealed the highest mean of any

employee role, possibly indicating lower leadership perceptions than other employee

roles. The supervisor role in hospice organizations more likely disagreed with the

statement that leadership perception was low. The administrative or administrative

support roles, more than the service employees, with the exception of the social service

employees, more likely reported favourable leadership perceptions of the immediate

supervisors.

As employee roles changed, satisfaction with the immediate supervisors also

changed. The clinical service employees, because of the work demands and stress related

to the day-to-day responsibilities of dealing with emotionally laden family, death, and

grief issues, may have demonstrated potential job frustration through their lower

leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors. The employees’ roles may have

reflected job demands and lower leadership perceptions. Self-reported scores related to

leadership perception were more favourable related to the for-profit administrators and

social service employees.

A variable that demonstrated a greater variance in mean reported values was

ethnicity. One hundred and thirty-seven participants reported self-identified responses for
 114
the defined ethnic identities in the study of African American, 13% [n = 18] (М = 3.35,

SD = 1.17); Asian, 1% [n = 1] (М = 1.00, SD = 0.0); Caucasian, 73% [n = 100]

(М = 2.14, SD = 1.35); Pacific Islander, 2% [n = 2] (М = 4.00, SD = 1.41); Native

American, 7% [n = 9] (М = 2.00, SD = 1.41); Hispanic, 2% [n = 2] (М = 3.00, SD =

2.83); and Other, 4% [n = 5] (М = 2.80, SD = 1.79). The mean range for the reported

responses was within the stated boundaries of the confidence interval p < .05. The

perceptions of the immediate supervisors varied based upon the participants’ ethnic

identities. The Asian and Native American groups more favourably disagreed with the

statement that their leadership perceptions were low. The Pacific Islander, Africa

American, and Hispanic groups more likely agreed with the statement.

Demographic Perception of Leadership and Use of Sick Leave as Unexcused Absence

The study sought to determine whether the participants’ perceptions of their

immediate supervisors’ leadership were reflected in sick leave use other than that

designated by organizational policy. In addition, variables as ethnicity, age, income

levels, commuting distance, and employee role were studied to identify a possible

correlation among the listed variables, leadership perception, and use of sick leave to

avoid contact with the immediate supervisors. The average mean responses for age

(М = 1.90, SD = 1.38), F(5, 128) = .946, p < .05; income levels (М = 1.90, SD = 1.38),

F(5, 128) = .770, p < .05; commuting distance (М = 1.90, SD = 1.38), F(3, 130) = 1.91,

p < .05; geographic location as rural or urban (М = 1.90, SD = 1.38), F (1, 132) = 2.02,

p < .05; years of service or years employed (М = 1.91, SD = 1.38), F (3, 129) = .901,
 115
p < .05; and employee role (М = 1.89, SD = 1.38), F (5, 127) = 2.26, p < .05 were

recorded for the reported variables. The mean range for the reported responses was within

the stated boundaries of the confidence interval (p < .05).

The youngest self-identified age group displayed the highest Likert score agreeing

with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid supervisor contact. The 25-to-30 age

group more likely disagreed with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid contact

with the immediate supervisors. The 31-to-40 age group migrated toward agreeing with

the statement that sick leave was used to avoid contact with the immediate supervisors,

but less so than that the 25-to-30 age group. With increasing age, sick leave was less

likely used to avoid the immediate supervisors until the participants reached age 65. The

participants’ age 65 or older more often used sick leave to avoid the immediate

supervisors.

The self-identified income group that displayed the highest Likert score agreeing

with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid the immediate supervisors earned

less than $15,000 annually. The higher income group of $35,000 to $45,000 more likely

disagreed with the statement that leadership perceptions were low. The median income

groups more likely agreed that sick leave was used in a way other than that authorized by

organization policy, that is, to avoid contact with the immediate supervisors. With an

increase in salary, the participants achieved a level of financial security and were more

likely to abuse the sick leave policy.

The self-identified group that had a commuting distance between 11 and 20 miles

displayed the highest Likert score agreeing with the statement that sick leave was used to
 116
avoid the immediate supervisors. The participants who commuted the greatest distance

more likely disagreed with the statement that sick days were used to avoid supervisor

contact. The participants who commuted more than 30 miles agreed that sick leave was

not used to avoid contact with the immediate supervisors. As commuting distance

increased, there was more likelihood of the participants using sick leave to avoid the

immediate supervisors.

The self-identified geographic location (urban or rural place of employment)

group that displayed the highest Likert score agreeing with the statement that sick leave

was used to avoid the immediate supervisor was the urban group. Participants from a

more rural community reported a mean of (М = 1.78, SD = 1.24). The reported mean,

F(1, 132) = 2.02, p < .05 indicated they more likely disagreed with the statement that

sick leave was used to avoid the immediate supervisor. The urban group more likely

expressed use of sick leave to avoid immediate supervisor contact.

The group that self-identified years of service as less than 1 year had the highest

Likert score agreeing with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid the immediate

supervisors. With increased longevity or seniority, the participants more likely disagreed

with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid the immediate supervisors. Those

employed less than 1 year more likely expressed that they used sick leave to avoid

immediate supervisor contact.

The group that self-identified employee role as clinical services displayed the

highest Likert score agreeing with the statement that sick leave was used to avoid the

immediate supervisors. The nonprofit supervisor, the administrative employees, and the
 117
clinical service groups more likely agreed with the statement that sick leave was used to

avoid the immediate supervisors. The social service employees and the supervisors in a

for-profit hospice more likely disagreed with the statement that sick leave was used to

avoid immediate supervisor contact.

Predictors of Absenteeism Using Sick Leave to Avoid Contact With Immediate

Supervisor

Abuse of Absenteeism as the Result of Leadership Perception (Hypothesis 1)

One hundred and thirty-four participants responded; 3 participants did not. Sixty-

two participants responded to the questionnaire item (М = 1.08, SD =0.38). Of the 134

participants who responded, 75 (56%) disagreed with the statement that sick leave was

used to avoid a confrontation with the immediate supervisor because of a low leadership

perception.

Null Hypothesis 1 stated that the employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their

immediate supervisors were not associated with an unexcused absence. A one-way

ANOVA was performed on the means (see Table 9) regarding the participants’ responses

related to the use of unexcused absences and leadership perceptions of the immediate

supervisors. The F value was F(4, 129) = 18.71, p < .05. The critical value for F at

p = .05 was 2.46 (df = 100). The determined F value was greater than the critical value,

indicating that the means were significantly different so Null Hypothesis 1 is rejected,

and Alternative Hypothesis 1 is accepted. The employees’ perceptions of the immediate

supervisors’ leadership were associated with use of sick leave as an unexcused absence.
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Table 9

Use of Sick Leave by Category of Leadership Perception

Perception of supervisor M N SD Minimum Maximum

1 1.08 62 0.38 1 3
2 1.92 13 1.26 1 5
3 2.42 24 1.28 1 5
4 2.83 23 1.61 1 5
5 3.33 12 1.83 1 5
Total 1.90 136 1 5 5

Unexcused Absenteeism and Dissatisfaction With Immediate Supervisor (Hypothesis 2)

Null Hypothesis 2 stated that employee dissatisfaction is not associated with an

unexcused absence used as an avoidance contact with the immediate supervisor. A one-

way ANOVA was performed on the means regarding the participants’ responses related

to dissatisfaction and the use of an unexcused absence to avoid the immediate supervisor.

The F value was F(4, 129) = 3.02, p < .05. The critical value for F at p = .05 was 2.46

(df =100) was slightly greater than the critical value, indicating that the means were

significantly different, so Null Hypothesis 2 is rejected, and Alternative Hypothesis 2 is

accepted. Employee dissatisfaction of the immediate supervisors’ leadership was

associated with use of sick leave as a reason to avoid contact with the immediate

supervisor (see Table 10).

Table 10

Use of Sick Leave Days to Avoid Immediate Supervisor

Upset with supervisor compared with use of sick days to avoid supervisor
0 days < 2 days < 5 days < 7 days > 10 days Total
Upset with supervisor yes 12 2 3 8 3 28
no 75 7 9 8 7 106
Total 87 9 12 16 10 134
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The Pearson chi-square for the variables for participant use of sick leave to avoid

contact with the immediate supervisor and whether the participant was dissatisfied or

upset with the immediate supervisor was r (132) = 11.49, p < .05 (see Table 11).

Table 11

Pearson Chi-Square for Use of Sick Leave to Avoid Immediate Supervisor

Value df Asymptote sig. (2-sided)

a
Pearson chi-square 11.488 4 .022
Likelihood ratio 10.133 4 .038
Linear-by-linear association 8.356 1 .004
No. of valid cases 134

a. 4 cells (40.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.88

Perception of Communication With Immediate Supervisor Affected by Gender

(Hypothesis 3)

The Pearson chi-square for the variable gender of the participant and its reflection

on attitude regarding effective communication with the immediate supervisor was

r (4) = 5.34, p < .05. Null Hypothesis 3 stated that self-reported organizational

communication as revealed in the statement that the participant regularly communicates

with the immediate supervisor was not significantly different for males and females. The

F value was F(4, 132) = 1.34, p < .05. The critical value for F at p = .05 was 2.46

(df = 100). The determined F value was less than the critical value, indicating that the

means were not significantly different, so Null Hypothesis 3 is accepted. Self-reported

organizational communication determined by the responses that that the employees

regularly communicated with the immediate supervisors was the same for males and

females (see Table 12).

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Table 12

Communication Satisfaction With Immediate Supervisor

Gender Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
Male 1 2 0 3 11 17
Female 9 6 22 26 57 120
10 8 22 29 68 137

Perception of Leadership and Reported Variables (Age, Gender, Tenure, Home Location,
Staff Role, Income; Hypothesis 4)

The Pearson chi-square for the variable of age and its reflection of the leadership

perceptions of the immediate supervisors was χ2(20, N = 136) = 13.05, p < .05. Using

regression analysis, the Spearman correlation was r2 (134) - -0.07, p < .01 (see Table 13).

Table 13

Age Group and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

Age group Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
18-24 1 1 3 1 1 7
25-30 5 2 3 1 1 12
31-40 15 3 3 6 4 31
41-55 26 6 13 8 5 58
56-65 10 1 3 4 1 19
> 65 5 0 1 3 0 9
62 13 26 23 12 136

Years of Employment and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

The Pearson chi-square for the variable of tenure and its reflection of the

leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors was χ2(12, N = 135) = 10.49,

p < .05. Using regression analysis, the Spearman correlation was r2 (133) = 0.02, p < .05

(see Table 14). The data show a correlation between years of experience and leadership

perception.
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Table 14

Years of Employment and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

Years Employed Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
1 year 22 4 7 4 5 42
2 -5 28 9 16 15 6 74
6-10 8 0 2 2 1 13
> 10 4 0 0 2 0 6
Total 62 13 25 23 12 135

Geographic Location of Participant Residence and Leadership Perception

The Pearson chi-square for the variable of geographic location and its reflection

on leadership perception of the immediate supervisor was χ2(4, N = 136) = 1.89, p < .05.

Using regression analysis, the Spearman correlation was r2 (134) = -.04, p < .05 (see

Table 15).

Table 15

Geographic Residence and Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

Home Location Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
Rural 37 8 19 13 8 85
Urban 25 5 7 10 4 51
Total 62 13 26 23 12 136
Note. Rural < 100,000 city population; urban > 100,000 city population.

Summary of Other Participant Variables and Leadership Perception

Variables of Ethnicity, Gender, Income, Marital Status, Staff Position, and Commuting
Distance on Leadership Perception of Immediate Supervisor

Do various reported demographic variables such as age, years of service or tenure,

geographic culture or home location, staff position, and income affect how employees
 122
relate to direct leadership? Null Hypothesis 4 stated that employee demographic variables

as age and gender were not associated with how employees perceive direct leadership

provided by the immediate supervisor. A one-way ANOVA was performed on the means

regarding participant demographic responses and the related responses to the

questionnaire item stating that the leadership perception of the immediate supervisor was

low (see Table 16).

Table 16

Participant Variables and Leadership Perception

Asymp. sig.
Variable N Pearson chi-square Spearman correlation
(2-sided)
Ethnicity 136 29.211 -0.142 0.212
Gender 136 4.633 -0.065 0.327
Income 136 16.498 -0.054 0.685
Marital status 136 21.445 0.181 0.162
Staff position 136 59.327 0.500
Commute 136 19.366 0.001 0.08
Note. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Perceived Leadership

The degrees of freedom were consistent except for the demographic variables

tenure or years of service and staff position (see Table 17). The critical F value was F(4,

131) = 2.46, p < .05. In all analyzed cases, the calculated F value was less than the

critical F value, indicating that the means for the reported demographic variables were

not significantly different. Null Hypothesis 4 was accepted, indicating that all self-

reported demographic variables were not associated with how employees perceived the

leadership of their immediate supervisors.

Table 17
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Participant Variables and Calculated F Values for Perception of Leadership

Home Staff Marital Commute

Variables Age Tenure Income Ethnicity Gender
location position status distance
F values 1.465 0.948 0.463 0.587 0.820 1.424 0.880 1.155 0.363
df1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
df2 131 130 131 130 131 131 131 131 131

Unexcused Absenteeism and Reported Variables (Age, Gender, Tenure, Home Location,
Staff Role, Income; Hypothesis 5)

The Pearson chi-square for the variable age and its reflection on reported

unexcused absence was χ2(20, N = 134) = 20.03, p < .05. Using regression analysis, the

Spearman correlation was r2 (132) = -.03, p < .05 (see Table 18).

Table 18

Age and Level of Unexcused Absenteeism

Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
Age 18-24 2 1 2 2 0 7
25-30 9 1 2 0 0 12
31-40 19 2 1 6 2 30
41-55 40 3 3 6 6 58
56-65 13 2 2 1 1 19
Over 65 4 0 2 1 1 8
Total 87 9 12 16 10 134

Years of Employment and Unexcused Absenteeism

The Pearson chi-square for the variable of tenure and its reflection on unexcused

absenteeism was χ2(12, N = 133) = 13.23, p < .05. Using regression analysis, the

Spearman correlation was r2 (133) = -.10, p < .05 -0.104 (see Table 19).
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Table 19

Years of Employment and Unexcused Absenteeism

Level of unexcused absenteeism

Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed
Total
Years employed 1 year 24 1 7 5 5 42
2 -5 50 6 4 10 3 73
6-10 8 2 0 1 1 12
> 10 4 0 1 0 1 6
Total 86 9 12 16 10 133

Geographic Location of Residence and Leadership Perception

The Pearson chi-square for the variable of geographic location for the participant

and its reflection on unexcused absenteeism was χ2(4, N = 134) = 4.75, p < .05 (see Table

20). Using regression analysis, the Spearman correlation was r2 (134) =.10, p < .05

0.100.

Table 20

Geographic Residence and Unexcused Absenteeism

Strongly disagreed Disagreed No opinion Agreed Strongly agreed

Total
Home location Rural 56 6 8 10 3 83
Urban 31 3 4 6 7 51
Total 87 9 12 16 10 134
Note. Rural defined as < 100,000 city population; urban > 100,000 city population

Summary of Other Participant Variables and Unexcused Absenteeism

Do various reported demographic variables such as age, years of service or tenure,

geographic culture or home location, staff position, and income affect how employees

report or use sick leave as an unexcused absence? Null Hypothesis 5 stated that the
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demographic variables of age and gender were not associated with how the employees

used an unexcused absence to avoid contact with their immediate supervisors. A one-way

ANOVA was performed on the means regarding the participants’ demographic responses

and the related responses to the questionnaire item stating that sick leave is used to avoid

confrontations with the immediate supervisors (see Table 21).

Table 21

Participant Variables and Unexcused Absenteeism

Asymp. Sig.
Variable N Pearson chi-square Spearman correlation
(2-sided)
Ethnicity 134 24.735 -0.133 0.420
Gender 134 1.641 0.035 0.801
Income 134 14.508 -0.089 0.804
Marital status 134 8.830 0.136 0.920
Staff position 134 57.248 0.577
Commute 134 14.622 0.002 0.263
Note. Not assuming the null hypothesis.

Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Unexcused Absence

The degrees of freedom were consistent, except for the demographic variables of

years of service, and staff position. The critical F value was F(4, 129) = 2.46, p < .05. In

all analyzed cases, the calculated F value was less than the critical F value showing that

the means for the reported demographic variables were not significantly different. Null

Hypothesis 5 is accepted, indicating that all self-reported demographic variables were not

associated with how the employees’ used unexcused absences to avoid confrontations

with their immediate supervisors (see Table 22).

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Table 22

Participant Demographic Variables and Calculated F Values for Unexcused Absence

Home Staff Marital Commute

Variables Age Tenure Income Ethnicity Gender
location position status distance

F values 0.667 0.827 1.184 1.054 1.619 1.009 0.628 0.400 0.956

df1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

df2 129 128 129 128 129 129 129 129 129

Narrative Summary

One hundred and thirty-seven hospice employees volunteered to participate in a

study investigating the relationships between use of sick leave as an unexcused absence

and employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors. The results

indicated that a correlation existed between employees’ perceptions of the leadership of

their immediate supervisors and unexcused absenteeism. The employees did indicate that

if their perceptions of their immediate supervisors were low (disagree or strongly

disagree with acceptable characteristics of a positive leadership style), they used sick

leave for reasons other than that allowed by organizational policy to avoid contact with

their immediate supervisors.

The demographic variables were not associated with the way in which the

employees perceived the leadership of their immediate supervisors or that the employees

used the variables to avoid confrontations with their immediate supervisors. Gender, age,

ethnicity, and other variables did affect the employees’ perceptions of leadership or use

of sick leave against organizational policy. Males and females did not communicate with

their immediate supervisors significantly differently. Employees’ dissatisfaction with

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their immediate supervisors and the employees’ perceptions of leadership were factors in

the employees’ use of sick leave as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with their

immediate supervisors. Overall, the employees’ perceptions of leadership and the ways in

which the supervisors presented leadership performance were correlated to an increase in

unexcused absenteeism.

In chapter 4, absenteeism and the perception of leadership of the immediate

supervisor were discussed in terms of personal and job-related demographic variables.

Conclusions were presented related to the findings. The moral development model was

discussed in relationship to the research hypotheses, and the findings were presented as

an interpretation of the data evaluating the stated research hypotheses. Chapter 5 includes

a conclusion about the research, a discussion of the limitations of the study, an

explanation of the implications for social change, and recommendations for future

research.
 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

Eisenberger and Shank (1985) asked, “What determines a person’s choice of

pursuing a goal either through sustained performance of a socially sanctioned behavior or

by a less effortful shortcut that violates conventional morality?” (p. 520). This research

considered absenteeism outside the definition of organizational policy as a moral

alternative to immediate supervisor avoidance using unexcused absenteeism. A moral

alternative may be a negative or a positive response. A moral alternative to a successful

job performance is to use an unexcused absence to avoid a supervisor, thus decreasing

work productivity in the organization structure.

In Eisenberger and Shank’s (1985) study, the students defined as exhibiting a high

work ethic worked about twice as hard as the students with a low work ethic on their

assigned tasks before selecting a moral alternative of cheating. One could continue

solving problems or completing tasks without selecting cheating as an alternative for job

completion. Cheating was a moral alternative, that is, a negative response (Eisenberger &

Shank, 1985). McFarlin and Fals-Stewart (2002) identified absenteeism as a negative

workplace behavior.

This study investigated the variation in personal behavior related to the perception

of leadership of the immediate supervisor and abuse of sick leave days to explain

personal absenteeism. The absenteeism data collected from 137 participants were

measured by self-reported responses to questionnaire items on the Leadership Perception

and Absenteeism Survey. Absenteeism represents a significant direct monetary loss and
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an indirect organizational operation loss to organizations (Guadine & Saks, 2001; Mason

& Griffin, 2003). Literature reviews as recent as 1999 indicated that organizations can

have direct costs in the billions of dollars (Lu, 1999). The indirect costs to an

organization include hiring temporary replacement staff, delays to schedules, low

productivity, performance and safety issues, and delay in services provided to clients

(Dansereau, Alutto, & Markham, 1978; Guadine & Saks, 2001).

Supervisors and managers tend to be concerned about the rates of absenteeism

within their groups or organizations (Mason & Griffin, 2003). Absenteeism is undesirable

for employees or organizations (De Boer, Bakker, Syroit, & Schaufeli, 2002). In support

of research regarding absenteeism, Johns (1997) cited several empirical studies on

individual work-related causes of absenteeism and summarized the cause into two

explanations: (a) withdrawal from or avoidance of adverse work conditions, and

(b) workplace stress. Researchers also have noted that absenteeism may be the result of

work dissatisfaction, low labor commitment, perceived social support, health complaints,

and aversive work conditions (Cooper & Robertson, 1999; Farrell & Stamm, 1988;

Unden, 1996).

The moral development model was useful in this study to explain absenteeism in

the hospice organization workplace. Eisenberger, Fasalo, and Davis-Lamastro (1990) and

Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa (1986) reported on the importance of

employees’ perceptions of the ways in which the organization behaves relative to the

employees. Eisenberger et al. (1986, 1990) used the social exchange model to develop a

design that absenteeism increases if employees have a low perception of how the
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organization treats the employees. Employees may be inclined to increased absenteeism

because of a history of absenteeism events (Martocchio & Harrison, 1993). De Boer et al.

(2002) contended that unfairness at work may be a valid reason for employee

absenteeism.

The researcher of the current study focused on the relative value of perceived

leadership of an immediate supervisor as a predictor of absenteeism. As mentioned

previously, absenteeism data and the employees’ perceived perceptions of the leadership

of their immediate supervisors were retrieved from self-reported questionnaire items.

Dirks and Ferrin (2001) stated that an increase in trust leads to better group and personal

performances, that is, as the level of trust develops between the employees and their

immediate supervisors, positive outcomes are predicted, including cooperative efforts

that lead to greater performance levels.

The primary aim of this study was to explore a moral development model to

obtain a greater understanding and appreciation of the ways in which perceived

leadership produces an avoidance attitude in the workplace against the employees’

immediate supervisors. Absenteeism as a consequence of leadership perception may be

interpreted as weakening the organization (Dirks & Ferrin, 2001). The leadership

perception attitude may suggest that high leadership perception increases the employees’

commitment to the organization.

Moral Development Model

The moral development leader-member exchange theory used in this study

described leaders as having a complex moral reasoning (Turner et al., 2002). The leader-
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member exchange theory describes the different roles and relationships that leaders

develop with followers or subordinates, and which consequently affect the employees’

perceptions of the leadership abilities of the leaders (Aamodt, 2004). Dirks and Ferrin

(2002) remarked that individuals who observe other people as leaders will make

decisions or inferences about the characters of those leaders. However, trust in leaders as

people or trust in the office of leadership can be strengthened over time because trust is

associated with the perceived fairness of the leaders. Dirks and Ferrin stated that

employees will seek respect for their contribution to organizational behavior and for their

relational value with the leader.

The leadership-member exchange theory depends on interactions between leaders

and employees as partnerships are developed, thus promoting the goals of the

organization. This description of the exchange theory relates more directly toward

individual rather than group empowerment (Chen et al., 2007). Chen et al. argued that

individuals who have positive relationships with their leaders are more motivated to

perform effectively. The aim of this study was to show that positive perceptions based on

the leadership characteristics and projected values of the immediate supervisors will

reduce employees’ unexcused use of absenteeism to avoid contact with these individuals.

Aamodt (2004) identified four predictors of leadership performance based on

individual differences: charisma, dominance, level of energy, and self-monitoring

behavior. The concept of self-monitoring is an important revelation with regard to

effective leadership. Self-monitoring focuses on what leaders do rather than what leaders

are (Aamodt, 2004). Even persons with the described traits of effective leaders may not
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be successful as leaders because they are not in the right place at the right time (Aamodt,

2004). If leaders promote individual empowerment, employees will exhibit higher levels

of performance effectiveness (Chen et al., 2007).

According to the exchange theory, the role of the leader is to promote

empowering behaviors among the employees. These behaviors are essential in exchange

theory to promote positive employee performance (Chen et al., 2007). The moral

development model used in this study proposed that employees recognize effective

leadership and can identify positive, effective leadership characteristics. When employees

perceive ineffective leadership in their immediate supervisors, they may respond to this

low perception of leadership with an avoidance mechanism. The avoidance mechanism

that was the focus of this study was the employees’ use of sick leave as an unexcused

absence from the workplace. Figure 1 displays a schematic conceptualization of the

moral development model.

Performance
Exchange

Worker ←→ Leader
Information exchange

Employee/Leadership
Perception

Perceived leadership characteristics

Perceived organizational communication
Perceived conformity to group dynamics
Perceived workplace attitudes

Figure 1. Moral development model.

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The moral development model uses the employees’ perceptions of their

immediate supervisors’ leadership as a criterion to avoid contact with the supervisors by

using sick leave as an unexcused absence. Leadership perceptions by the employees may

vary according to the education, age, gender, job seniority, job position, commuting

distance, and community environment described as rural or urban of the employees.

The impact of workplace wellness and employee performance on the success of the

hospice organization depends on a positive performance exchange between the

employees and their immediate supervisors.

The model clearly shows the need for an information exchange between both of

these parties; however, performance exchange and information exchange depend on the

perceptions of the leaders by the employees and the perceptions of the employees by the

leaders. Such perceptions are inherent in defined leadership characteristics, perceived

organizational communication, perceived conformity to group dynamics, and perceived

workplace attitudes. Welk stated that “organizations have to be financially literate and

savvy as well – and workplace wellness is one of the soundest financial investments a

company can make” (as cited in Adams, 2009). Satisfied or healthy employees are better

employees and provide increased productivity (Adams, 2009). The interactions between

immediate supervisors and the employees hinge on the employees’ perceptions of the

leadership presented by the immediate supervisors. These interactions can make the

hospice organization a satisfied workplace, and they can increase the employees’

productivity and clientele awareness.

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Employees’ perceptions are characterized by demographic and socioeconomic

variables (see Figure 2). The study required self-reported information regarding the each

participant’s age, gender, marital status, number of years at the organization,

supplementary financial compensation, ethnicity, commuting status, home location as

being urban or rural, and organizational involvement. The participants responded to 20

statements that were used to describe the characteristics of a good leader. These

leadership perception variables included the employees’ perceptions of the immediate

supervisors related to leader integrity, self-confident, intelligence, organizational

knowledge, employee respect, and leads by example. Absenteeism variables were

measured using the participants’ responses to the use of accumulated sick day leave as an

absence to avoid contact with their immediate supervisors.

The relationship between employees’ attitudes and perceptions of their immediate

supervisors and an absenteeism factor is considered relevant in the organizational

workplace. Several factors influence an employee’s willingness not to be absent from the

workplace. Employee absenteeism from the workplace is one of the most common

problems facing employers. Legitimate illnesses still account for the majority of

employee absences, but some studies have shown that less than one third of absences

from the workplace are related to poor health (HR Executive Special Report, 2009).
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Leadership perception of immediate supervisor

(education, tenure, age, gender, urban/rural location)

Ability to attend work

Employee perceptions
(illness, family situations, family responsibilities,
(values & expectations) valued personal leave)

Workplace situation
• Work expectations
• Work responsibilities
Satisfaction with leadership perception of
• Work stress
immediate supervisor (job situations)
• Leadership style/perception
• Group dynamics/interactions

Attendance motivation (immediate supervisor Employee attendance (avoidance

support) of immediate supervisor)

Encouragement to attend (no reported absence

or use of sick leave to avoid immediate
supervisor)
• Reward systems
• Peer pressure
• Self-motivation (work ethic)
• Group commitment
• Organization commitment

Figure 2. Influences on employee attendance.

Aims and Hypotheses

Unexcused absenteeism, that is, the actual physical withdrawal of the employees

from the organization, weakens the organizational structure and its performance

outcomes. This researcher predicted that the employees’ perceptions of the leadership
 136
ability of their immediate supervisors would not be associated with unexcused

absenteeism from the workplace. However, this prediction was untrue: The researcher

found that the employees’ perceptions of the leadership abilities of their immediate

supervisors did have a direct effect on unexcused absenteeism.

The study also considered how employees respond to dissatisfaction with their

immediate supervisors. The researcher predicted that the employees’ self-reported

dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors would not be associated with unexcused

absenteeism as a defence mechanism to avoid contact with the supervisors. Other

variables such as gender were used to predict whether gender affects the employees’

communication with their immediate supervisors. The findings showed that the self-

reported organizational communication related to the immediate supervisors was no

different for the male and female participants.

Other biographical and demographic variables, namely, age, years of service,

geographic culture, staff position, or assigned salary were considered as an effect on the

ways in which the employees related to direct leadership. The researcher predicted that

the self-reported variables of age, years of service, and hospice location would not be

associated with how the employees perceived the direct leadership of their immediate

supervisors. Furthermore, it also was predicted that the same variables would have an

effect on employees’ unexcused absenteeism. The self-reported variables of age, years of

service, and geographic culture were not associated with unexcused absenteeism.
 137
Interpretation of the Findings

One hundred and thirty-seven hospice employees volunteered to participate in a

study investigating the relationship between use of sick leave as an unexcused absence

and employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors in a hospice

setting. The data showed that 72% of the sample did not miss work by using sick leave to

avoid their immediate supervisors. However, slightly less than 20% used less than 3 days,

5% used less than 5 days, and slightly less than 1% of the study group reported using

more than 10 days of sick leave to avoid their immediate supervisor. The findings

indicated that employee absenteeism is increasing on a global level and should be

investigated further. Cultural theory is an important context in understanding the value of

organizational behavior and leadership attributes (Shade et al., 1997). Peterson and Hunt

(1997) stated that leadership has a global relevance. Absenteeism is increasing (Ford,

2005), and this study considered self-reported biographical and demographic variables in

the employees’ use of sick leave as an unexcused absence in relation to leadership

perception.

The data also indicated that 46% of the sample showed that their perception of

leadership provided by the immediate supervisor was high. Some participants did not

respond to the questionnaire item, and even though slightly less than 50% of the

participants reported a favorable leadership perception, 26% of them agreed that their

leadership perceptions of the immediate supervisors were low. Although the data showed

that 65% of the participants strongly disagreed with the statement that sick leave was

used to avoid a confrontation with the immediate supervisor and that some participants
 138
reported no opinion regarding use of sick leave to avoid a confrontation, the data also

indicated that 29% of the participants agreed with the sick leave statement.

The researcher found a correlation between employees’ perceptions of the

leadership of their immediate supervisors and the employees’ unexcused absenteeism.

Misumi (1985) described a Japanese model that reflected American ideals but which also

displayed two functions inherent in a global leadership concept: performance and

maintenance. The employees did indicate that if their perceptions of their immediate

supervisors were low (disagree or strongly disagree with acceptable characteristics of a

positive leadership style), they used sick leave for reasons other than what were allowed

by organizational policy to avoid contact with their immediate supervisors. Null

Hypothesis 1 states that employee dissatisfaction is not associated with an unexcused

absence used as an avoidance contact with the immediate supervisor. The immediate

supervisor is the employees’ leader and is responsible for the development of satisfactory

relationships and must attend to task orientation (Sinha, 1995). Alternative Hypothesis 1

is accepted, showing that employee dissatisfaction of the immediate supervisors’

leadership was associated with use of sick leave as a reason to avoid contact with the

immediate supervisor. Leadership attributes, even if forced on the individual, must

convey effectiveness (Sinha, 1995). Effective leaders are culturally cognizant, that is,

they are aware of employee relations and satisfaction.

Null Hypothesis 2 stated that employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their

immediate supervisors, according to their responses, was not associated with an

unexcused absence. An unexcused absence was defined as using sick leave to avoid
 139
contact with their immediate supervisor. Alternative Hypothesis 2 is accepted. Employee

perception of the immediate supervisor’s leadership was associated with use of sick leave

as an unexcused absence. Leadership is not a unitary skill set, and leadership is likely a

significant determinant of employee and group motivation (Chen & Bliese, 2002; Reeves,

2002).

The participants’ communication responses were evaluated using the statement, “I

regularly communicate with my immediate supervisor,” to determine whether

communication with the immediate supervisors varied with gender. Null Hypothesis 3 is

accepted. Self-reported organizational communication determined by participant

responses showed that employees’ regular communication with their immediate

supervisor was not significantly different for the male and female participants.

The participants represented various reported demographic variables, including

age, tenure, home location, staff position, ethnicity, and income. The demographic

variables were used to determine a possible relationship between the participants’

responses and their perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors and use

of unexcused absence to avoid leadership contact. In this study, Null Hypothesis 4 stated

that employee demographic variables were not associated with how employees perceive

direct leadership provided by the immediate supervisor. Null Hypothesis 4 is accepted,

indicating that all self-reported demographic variables in this study were not associated

with how the employees perceived the leadership of their immediate supervisors.

The means for the reported demographic variables were not significantly different

for the participants’ responses to the questionnaire item showing that various variables
 140
were not associated with the ways in which the employees used an unexcused absence to

avoid contact with their immediate supervisors. Null Hypothesis 5 is accepted, indicating

that all self-reported demographic variables were not associated with how the employees’

used unexcused absence to avoid confrontations with their immediate supervisors. The

moral development model suggests that intrinsic leadership factors function to energize

and motivate people (Adler, 2002). The findings showed that the employees’ perceptions

of leadership appeared standard across biographical and demographic variables. Leaders

need to present those intrinsic factors providing affirmation, achievement, recognition

and employee advancement (Adler, 2002).

The demographic variables were not associated with the employees’ perceptions

of the leadership abilities of their immediate supervisors or tactics that the employees

used to avoid confrontations with their immediate supervisors. To be more specific,

gender, age, ethnicity, and other variables did not affect the employees’ perceptions of

the leadership abilities of their immediate supervisors or their use of sick leave against

organizational policy. The researcher found that the male and female participants did not

indicate in their responses that they significantly communicate with their immediate

supervisors differently. Employee dissatisfaction with their immediate supervisors and

employees’ perceptions of the leadership of their immediate supervisors were factors in

the employees’ use of sick leave as an unexcused absence to avoid their immediate

supervisors.
 141
Implications for Social Change

Absenteeism is an important issue for employers and employees (De Boer et al.,

2002). For the hospice organizations in this study, it is important that they develop

greater insight into the probable causes of their employees’ unexcused absenteeism. The

ability of an organization policy or program to reduce absenteeism may mean large

financial savings and important quality implications (Guadine & Saks, 2001).

This study of hospice employees examined the role of the employees’ perceptions

of the leadership of their immediate supervisors in an effort to deal with future issues

regarding absenteeism. The absenteeism examined in this study was the use of sick leave

as an unexcused absence from the workplace. To determine whether the employees’

absence was attributed to their low perceptions of the leadership of their immediate

supervisors, the researcher tested four mediating processes described in the moral

development model: leadership perception of the immediate supervisor, personal

interactive organization communication with the immediate supervisor, workplace

attitudes, and perception of workplace group dynamics and interactions. The model

addresses supervisor communication with the hospice employees; the hospice employees’

perceptions of the leadership of the immediate supervisors, according to generally

accepted leadership characteristics of a good leader; group dynamics and whether the

group praises the leaders; and how the employees relate to job satisfaction.

Many reasons contribute to employee absence (De Boer et al., 2002). Different

components of perception are important when trying to predict an absence behavior. The

researcher generally found that the employees’ perceptions, particularly of the leadership
 142
of their immediate supervisors, affected their use of unexcused absenteeism. If the

hospice employees perceived the leadership of the immediate supervisors as low to the

point where the employees wanted to avoid contact with them, the hospice employees

abused the sick leave policy and used sick leave as an unexcused absence. The hospice

employees indicated that they became physically or emotionally tense if they perceives

that their immediate supervisors were not providing proper leadership as defined by

leader characteristics (Hendrix & Spencer, 1989).

Unfair treatment by an organization may be one reason employees report sick (De

Boer et al., 2002). The hospice employees in this study perceived the leadership of their

immediate supervisor as low, resulting in difficult leader-worker relationships and the

decision by some employees to use sick leave as an absence to avoid the supervisors. It

would be relevant to hospice organizations to develop procedures to address positive

leader-worker relationships. In hospice organizations in particular, there may be a need

for conflict resolution professional development to help individuals increase and expand

their own human potential in serving the mission of providing palliative care to

individuals who are terminally ill.

The social implications of this study can be the foundation of future investigations

into ways to expand human potential to better serve individuals in all stages of living.

The growth of human potential can include qualities that encompass health and well-

being, education and human development, science and technology in the human

environment, and community. These quality implications can reflect across a broad

spectrum of disciplines and converging values of many organizations. Reducing

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absenteeism based upon employees’ low perception of the leadership of their immediate

supervisors can expand the potential for developing a world of healthy citizens and

increase the effectiveness of educating management for better employee relations, thus

increasing productivity and organization fulfillment of the mission and developing a

highly responsive and uniquely collaborative workforce.

Limitations of the Study

This study had several limitations. First, the analyses were more correlational than

causal. Second, the study investigated whether the employees’ perceptions of the

leadership abilities of their immediate supervisors was or was not the cause of an

unexcused absence from the workplace. Third, perceptions of leadership and absenteeism

were measured simultaneously, so the results of this study remain tentative until a more

longitudinal investigation can be performed. For example, the same hospice organizations

could be studied a year from now to determine any significant changes in the results,

assuming that many of the same employees who participated in this study are still

employed with the hospices.

A limitation of this study was that a cross-sectional method is a one-time

approach. In a longitudinal study, the participants are surveyed periodically or at least

over different times of the seasonal year. A well-designed cross-sectional approach can

provide evidence of a strong correlation between or among the variables. The results of a

descriptive, cross-sectional study often provide plausible evidence of cause and effect

among the defined variables.

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In addition, because the absence data were self-reported rather than extracted

from the employer’s data system, there was the potential for variations, intentional or

otherwise, in their responses. Another notable limitation to the study was the researcher’s

lack of accessibility to the hospice employees’ personnel records to obtain actual number

of days absent because of federal and state privacy restrictions. A further limitation was

that the participants may not have accurately remembered the reported number of days

absent from work or were able to recall the reason for the absence. A final limitation was

that the study relied on honest, self-reported responses to the questionnaire items.

Recommendations for Action

Employees’ unexcused absenteeism will certainly remain a costly situation for

organizations and will continue to be a challenge for the managers, the immediate

supervisors, as they endeavor to understand the reasons for it (van der Westhuizen, 2006).

Management and human resources personnel need to understand what motivates the

employees to use unexcused absenteeism as an avoidance tactic. Future research into

employees’ perceptions of the leadership abilities of their immediate supervisors, as well

as other work-related attitudes, could provide insight into the dynamics of employee use

of absenteeism. Research into attendance motivation will contribute to determining

employees’ absence behavior. In this study, the employees’ absence behavior was

manifested in their use of sick leave to avoid the immediate supervisors.

Organizations are encouraged to keep accurate records of absences and the

reasons for such absences. Immediate supervisors need to understand how demographic

and biological factors affect employees’ attitudes. The immediate supervisors must
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assume the responsibility to understand their employees and the factors that affect

employees’ responses.

The findings of this study can be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals, state

and local hospice conferences, and other professional conferences that focus on

organizational psychology. There are statewide opportunities for professional discussion

of the findings in a wide variety of forums, including policy and procedure practices;

employee performance; leadership development; successful organization transformation;

performance management; improvements in the processes in hiring, maintaining, and

effectively managing employees within the organizations; and other areas that can

influence management and leadership practices.

Recommendations for Further Study

Most employees seek jobs that are complicated and challenging. They want

positions that they deem meaningful and can make a valuable contribution to their

profession. When employees feel they are earning appropriate rewards (i.e., positive

affirmation) for the jobs that they perform, they most likely will be motivated to do

better. The effects of other people’s views and actions on self-concept may indicate that

self-moral development is determined by personal choices and the result of the influences

that affect those choices. Every aspect of moral decision has the capacity to impair,

damage, sustain, or alter behavior. Because the effects of moral decisions on the

individual occur internally, it is difficult to assess the effect of the decision interactions

causing absenteeism as the result of the low perceptions of the leadership of immediate

supervisors. Thus, the process of the interaction is invisible yet vital to the health and
 146
well-being of the hospice workplace environment, where individuals must attend work to

make important and critical decisions that ultimately affect the existing and remaining

quality of life of patients who are terminally ill.

The present study may have future research implications and organizational

practice. Interventions may be designed to improve relationships between immediate

supervisors and hospice employees. An organizational practice that might develop into a

policy is to have professional development for supervisors that describe employee

characteristics. The researcher also noted that different policies regarding paid time off

may affect absenteeism, so future researchers might consider testing the moral

development model by comparing the absence policies of different hospice organizations.

The use of sick leave as an unexcused absence to avoid contact with the immediate

supervisors may be less prevalent in hospices with less tolerant policies regarding paid

time off.

Further study involving leadership perception and its effect on absenteeism within

hospice organizations could create a host of collective improvement possibilities for a

more dynamic service and learning environment. Understanding the interaction between

negative perception and absence as an avoidance mechanism may facilitate a higher

quality of services delivered by collaboratively enhanced work teams. This is vital in

hospice organizations, whose mission is to provide care beyond a cure to individuals

whose quality of life depends largely on the hospice personnel being present to provide

such care, even when they may have a negative perception of their immediate

supervisors, which may lead them to avoid coming to work.

 147
Knowledge about the ways in which the reasons for unexcused absenteeism can

be addressed and reduced is important for individuals, communities, and organizations.

Advanced research could facilitate programs that focus on the expansion of human

potential and improvements in people’s lives, especially those of people who are

terminally ill. Scientific research regarding the perception of leadership and its effect on

absenteeism as an avoidance mechanism could link the needs of hospice organizations

with the solutions of comprehensive conflict resolution procedures to ensure more

positive employee-supervisor relationships.

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 APPENDIX A: LEADERSHIP PERCEPTION AND ABSENTEEISM SURVEY

Directions: The purpose of this survey is to understand employee perceptions relating to absenteeism and
other issues the study is addressing.

The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Please read each question carefully. Most
questions can be answered by selecting the number that best represents your opinion. Please answer all
questions openly and honestly. If a survey item does not apply to you, please select option 3.

All individual responses to this survey will be strictly confidential. Care will be taken to ensure the
identities of individual survey respondents cannot be inferred from the survey results.

Thank you for completing the survey.

Section I - Demographic Information

1) Gender M F

2) Age group 18 – 24  25 – 30  31 – 40  41 – 55  56 – 65

 Over 65

3) Gross income range  < 15,000  15,000 – 20,000  20,000 – 25,000  25,000 – 35,000
 35,000 – 45,000  > 45000

4) Marital Status  Married  Single  Divorced  Widow  Living Together

5) Commuting distance:  < 10 miles  11 – 20 miles 21 – 30 miles  > 30 miles

6) Residence location: Rural  < 100,000 city population Urban  > 100,000 city population

7) Number of years at current organization:  1 year  2 – 5 years  6 – 10 years  > 10 years

8) Ethnicity. Please indicate which of the following best describes your ethnic background or racial identity:

 African-American  Asian  Caucasian  Pacific Islander

 Native American  Hispanic  Other

9) Position which best describes your organizational involvement:

Patient Care (If patient care is selected, choose one of the following.)

 Bereavement Counselor

 Certified Nursing Assistant

 Chaplain/Clergy

 Home Health Aide

 Nurse (RN)
 Nurse (LPN)
 158
 Social Worker

Administration

 Administrative Assistance

 Billing

 Development

 Finance

 Marketing

 Volunteer Program

 Other Administrative

10) Identify the description which most closely matches your employee role

Nonprofit Organization Supervisor 

For-Profit Organization Supervisor 
Departmental Administrator 
Clinical Services Employee/Staff 
Social Services Employee/Staff 
Administrative Employee/Staff 

Section II - Employee Benefits (Paid Time Off)

This group of questions relates to the use of paid time off.

11) How many sick leave days do you accumulate per year of employment

 1 – 4 days
 5 – 8 days
 9 – 10 days
 more than 10 days

12) How many sick leave days do you use per year?

 less than 3
 less than 5
 less than 7
 less than 10
 more than 10

13) How many vacation days do you accumulate per year of employment?
 1 – 4 days
 5 – 8 days
 9 – 10 days
 more than 10 days
 159
14) How many vacation days do you use per year?

 less than 3
 less than 5
 less than 7
 less than 10
 more than 10

15) How many personal leave days do you accumulate per year of employment?

 1 – 4 days
 5 – 8 days
 9 – 10 days
 more than 10 days

16) How many personal leave days do you use per year?

 less than 3
 less than 5
 less than 7
 less than 10
 more than 10

17) How many bereavement days off do you accumulate per year of employment?

 1 – 4 days
 5 – 8 days
 9 – 10 days
 more than 10 days

18) How many bereavement days off do you use per year of employment?

 1 – 4 days
 5 – 8 days
 9 – 10 days
 more than 10 days

19) How long is the waiting period before employees become eligible for sick leave?

 within 1 month (0 – 30 days) of employment

 within 3 months (31 – 90) days of employment
 within 6 months (91 – 180 days) of employment
 within one year of employment
 after completing one year of employment

20) How many sick leave days used is not related to an illness or actual sickness?

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days
 160
21) Identify reasons why sick days were used for reason other than allowed by policy. Check all that
apply.

 felt a day off was needed

 upset with immediate supervisor
 needed a day but did not want to use vacation days
 disgusted with policy of organization
 disagreed with managerial procedures

22) Identify the number of sick leave days used annually.

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days

23) Identify the number of days off overall that are used annually.

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days

24) How many sick leave days are used to avoid contact with the immediate supervisor?

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days

25) How many sick leave days are used when you disagree with the immediate supervisor?

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days

26) How many sick leave days are used “just because”.

 0 days
 less than 2 days
 less than 5 days
 less than 7 days
 more than 10 days

Are you currently seeking another position outside the hospice organization Y  N
 161
Section III - Organizational Communication Related to the Immediate Supervisor

This group of questions relates to the communication between you and the immediate supervisor. Using a
5-point scale, where 1 means Strongly Disagree and 5 means Strongly Agree, please check the number that
best represents your opinion. If you have no opinion, please check option 3.

1 2 3 4 5

1) The immediate supervisor clearly

communicates job responsibility.     

2) The immediate supervisor clearly

defines goals and objectives.     

3) The immediate supervisor clearly

defines deadlines.     

4) The immediate supervisor clearly

defines expectations.     

5) I regularly communicate with my

immediate supervisor.     

6) My immediate supervisor reviews my work

regularly.     

7) Rank the modes of communication most often used to communicate with the immediate supervisor: [1
through 5, with 1 defined as Most Often]

1 2 3 4 5

in person     
telephone     
fax     
email     
videoconference     

Section IV - Immediate Supervisor: Evaluate Perception of the Immediate Supervisor

This group of questions relates to the immediate supervisor’s leadership. Using a 5-point scale, where 1
means Strongly Disagree and 5 means Strongly Agree, please check the number that best represents your
opinion. If you have no opinion, please check option 3.

1 2 3 4 5

1) is ambitious and energetic.     

2) possesses the desire to lead.     

3) is honest valuing integrity.     

 162
4) is self-confident.     

5) is intelligent.     

6) is knowledgeable about the organization.     

7) is knowledgeable about duties performed

by the staff.     

8) employee oriented.     

9) production and services oriented.     

10) supports employees when personal issues

arise.     

11) fair in holding employees accountable for

results.     

12) takes immediate action when an unfavorable situation

arises.     

13) assumes authority when it appears none is

present.     

14) discreetly points out mistakes in private.     

15) praises employees in public, counsels in

private.     

16) stays late and leads by example.     

17) ensures all employees have resources to complete a

task.     

18) gives proper credit for jobs well done.     

19) gets to know the employees.     

20) addresses job aspects that improve employee

experiences.     

Section V - Evaluate Perception of Group/Personal Dynamics

This group of questions relates to group dynamics. Using a 5-point scale, where 1 means Strongly Disagree
and 5 means Strongly Agree, please check the number that best represents your opinion. If you have no
opinion, please check option 3.

1 2 3 4 5

1) ambitious and energetic.     

 163
2) honest valuing integrity.     

3) self-confident.     

4) intelligent.     

5) knowledgeable about the organization.     

6) knowledgeable about duties performed.     

7) mission oriented.     

8) production and services oriented.     

9) supports the group when personal issues arise.     

10) fair in holding the group accountable for results.     

11) takes immediate action when an unfavorable situation

arises.     

12) assumes authority when it appears none is

present.     

13) discreetly points out mistakes in private.     

14) praises the leaders in public, counsels in private.     

15) ensures all group members have resources to complete a

task.     

16) gives proper credit for jobs well done.     

17) gets to know the group members     

18) addresses job aspects that improve group

experiences.     

Section VI - Organization Workplace Attitudes

This group of questions relates to individual workplace attitude. Using a 5-point scale, where 1 means
Strongly Disagree and 5 means Strongly Agree, please check the number that best represents your opinion.
If you have no opinion, please check option 3.

1 2 3 4 5

1) I feel my work is exciting.     

2) I feel my work is interesting.     

 164
3) My job stress is higher than average.     

4) My immediate supervisor attitudes prevents/may

prevent me from performing with
excellence.     

5) At this point, I stay on my job more

because I have to rather than because
I want to.     

6) I feel I strongly belong to the group.     

7) I feel I make a valuable contribution to the

organization.     

8) My primary obligation is to my job.     

9) My primary obligation is to my family.     

10) I strive for personal achievement.     

11) I strive for group achievement.     

12) My immediate supervisor would be disappointed

if I left.     

13) I enjoy working for my immediate supervisor.     

14) I plan to leave this organization within a year? YN

15) My immediate supervisor explains and follows

the mission statement well.     

16) My perception of my immediate supervisors leadership is

low.     

17) I use sick days to avoid confrontation

with my immediate supervisor.     

Section VII - Organizational Information

1) I am a full time employees _______________

2) I am a part time employees _______________

3) Hospice Location (Based upon the location of the hospice organization)

__________ Rural  < 100,000 city population

___________ Urban  > 100,000 city population

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Section VIII - Survey Variables

1) If offered a position in a similar organization, would you leave this organization?

YN

2) If this organization replaces the executive director [CEO, President], would you still leave this
organization?

Y  N

3) If your immediate supervisor were replaced, would you still leave this organization?
Y  N
 APPENDIX B: AGENCY PARTICIPATION REQUEST LETTER

Date

<<First Name>> <<Last Name>>

<<Job Title>>
<<Company>>
<<Address1>>
<<City>>, <<State>> <<Postal Code>>

Dear <<First Name>>:

My name is Chearlene Glover-Johnson. I work as a program consultant and curriculum

developer for Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. In addition to working as a
part-time program consultant, I am very close to completing my doctoral degree in
industrial and organizational psychology at Walden University. I would like your
assistance to complete my degree program.

I have been researching employee perception and job-related behaviors in hospices for
the past couple of years, and I find that the research may provide valuable insight to
hospice professionals throughout the state of Oklahoma. The concept of leadership is
relevant to effective organizational structure and management policy within
organizations.

As a person who has had personal experience with hospice, I am very curious to hear
from hospice employees working in nonprofit and for-profit hospice organizations within
our state. The enclosed reply card seeks your agency permission to complete a survey for
my research. Survey questions will focus on perception of leadership, organization
communication and employees, and group dynamics. It should take about 20 minutes to
answer all the questions. Please be advised that there are no known risks associated with
this study.

I would sincerely appreciate your response on the enclosed reply card. I think others in
the hospice profession and community may be interested in the findings. The study
allows all hospice employees within the state of Oklahoma a chance to participate.

Enclosed is a postal reply card and stamped, self-addressed envelope. Should you agree
to participate, upon receiving the postal card indicating permission, individually sealed
survey packets will be mailed to the attention of the designated contact person for
distribution to participating employees. Each survey packet will include an individual
self-addressed return postal envelope for return of the completed surveys. You can be
assured of complete confidentiality as the survey responses are anonymous. There is no
 167
way to match responses by name or agency. All results will be provided such that no
individual can be identified. If you have any questions or require additional information,
please call (580) 492-5674, or send an e-mail to cgloverj@waldenu.edu. Thank you for
your assistance.

Sincerely,

Chearlene Glover-Johnson
 APPENDIX C: RESPONSE POSTCARD

YES, my hospice employees will participate in this
study.
______ Number of paid employees (please do not
include CEO, ED, or volunteers).

NO, my hospice employees will not participate in
this study.
Does this organization have a 501(c)(3) status?

YES
NO
Name of Contact
Person______________________________________
________
Contact Telephone
Number______________________ To confirm receipt
of survey packets.
Your hospice involvement in the study is voluntary, and
you may choose to withdraw from the study at any time!
Note: Your preliminary agreement to participate means
you understand that the sole purpose of this study is for

YES, my hospice employees will participate in this
research study.
______ Number of paid employees (please do not
include CEO, ED, or volunteers).

NO, my hospice employees will not participate in this
study.
Does this organization have a 501(c)(3) status?
YES

NO
Name of Contact
Person________________________________________
________
Contact Telephone Number______________________
To confirm receipt of survey packets.
Your hospice involvement in the study is voluntary, and you
may choose to withdraw from the study at any time!
Note: Your preliminary agreement to participate means you
understand that the sole purpose of this study is for research
only. It is further understood that your hospice name and
 APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM

You are invited to take part in a study of how individual perception may affect job-
related absenteeism from work. You were chosen for the study because you are a hospice
organization in the state of Oklahoma. Please read this form and ask any questions you
have before agreeing to be part of the study.

This study is being conducted by a researcher named Chearlene Glover-Johnson, a

doctoral student at Walden University.

Background Information:
The purpose of this study is to understand employee perception relating to absenteeism
and other issues the study is addressing. The study will also seek to analyze perception of
leadership in hospice agencies and to identify causes related to and factors that influence
employee absenteeism.

Procedures:
If you agree to be in this study, you will be asked to:
• Voluntarily agree to participate in the study.
• Allow approximately 30 minutes to participate in the study.
• Complete an anonymous survey.
• Return the survey in the self-addressed stamped envelope provided.

Voluntary Nature of the Study:

Your participation in this study is voluntary. This means that everyone will respect your
decision whether or not you want to be in the study. No one will treat you differently if
you decide not to be in the study. If you decide to join the study now, you can still change
your mind later. If you feel stressed during the study, you may stop at any time.

Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study:

There is no risk associated with participation in the study. This study will help to address
issues concerning how employees’ concept of leadership is relevant to effective
organizational structure and management policy.

Compensation:
Participants will receive no compensation, and there is no cost to take the survey.

Confidentiality:
You can be assured of complete confidentiality as the survey responses are anonymous.
There is no way to match responses by name or agency. All results will be provided such
that no individual or organization can be identified. Any information you provide will be
kept anonymous. The researcher will not use your information for any purposes outside
 170
of this research project. Also, the researcher will not include your name or anything else
that could identify you in any reports of the study.

Contacts and Questions:

The researcher’s name is Chearlene Glover-Johnson. The researcher’s faculty advisor is
Dr. John Schmidt. If you have questions, you may contact me at (580) 492-5674 or send
an e-mail to cgloverj@waldenu.edu or my advisor at jschmidt@waldenu.edu
If you want to talk privately about your rights as a participant, you can call Dr. Leilani
Endicott. She is the director of the research center at Walden University. Her phone
number is 1-800-925-3368, extension 1210.

This copy of the consent form is yours to keep.

Statement of Consent:

I have read the above information. I have received answers to any questions I have at
this time. I am 18 years of age or older, and I consent to participate in the study.

Participant’s Written or Electronic* Signature:

Date:

Researcher’s Written or Electronic* Signature:

Date:

Electronic signatures are regulated by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Legally,
an “electronic signature” can be the person’s typed name, their e-mail address, or any
other identifying marker. An electronic signature is just as valid as a written signature as
long as both parties have agreed to conduct the transaction electronically.
 APPENDIX E: CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE

This research will investigate employee perception and absenteeism.

Participants in this study must be 18 years of age or older. Participants will receive a
survey that asks only for their candid responses. All survey forms are designed so that no
individual or agency can be identified. Participants will receive no compensation, and all
data collected will remain strictly confidential, as stipulated within the approved Internal
Review Board from Walden University.

If you wish to participate, the survey should take less than 30 minutes to complete. An
individual, self-addressed envelope for return of the completed survey to the researcher is
included. Your involvement in the study is voluntary, and you may choose to withdraw
from the study at any time. The results of the study may be published, but as stated
previously, all survey results are managed for confidentiality. In fact, the published
results will be presented in summary form only. There are no known risks associated with
your participation in this study, and there is no cost to take the survey.

The findings from this study will provide information regarding employee concept of
leadership relevant to effective organizational structure and management policy within
organizations and identify causes that influence employee use of sick leave and factors
related to increased absenteeism.

If you have any questions about this research project, please feel free to call me at (580)
492-5674, or send an e-mail to cgloverj@waldenu.edu
Questions about your rights as a research participant or concerns about the project should
be directed to the Institutional Review Board of Walden University at irb@waldenu.edu
 CURRICULUM VITAE

Chearlene Glover-Johnson

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

High-energy organization and personnel program development and management

professional with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills and an extensive

background in the following competencies:

• Leadership
• Curriculum Development
• Operations Management
• Project Management
• Human Resource Management
• Proposal Preparation
• Program Development
• Strategic Planning
• Training and Instruction

• Demonstrated ability to promote services and secure and develop successful

• business and community expansion.
• Excellent qualifications in strategic planning with comprehensive knowledge of
management, organizational development, team building, and project execution.
• Established success in improving organization processes, collaborative
management interaction and communication, task and process effectiveness, and
education to maximize organization outreach.

EDUCATION

• 2009 Ph.D., Walden University, Minneapolis, MN

• 2000 M.S., Science Cameron University, Lawton, OK
• 1998 B.S., Cameron University, Lawton, OK
 173
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2007-Present Operations Manager, Johnson & Johnson Locksmith-Lawton, OK

• 2007-Present Copy/Editorial Assistant, Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy
of Science, Tulsa, OK
• 2003-2007 Director of Development, Hospice of Southwest Oklahoma,
Lawton, OK
• 2005-Present Program Consultant/Curriculum Development Coordinator,
ACCESS Center, Lawton, OK
• 2003-2004 Instructor, University Life, Interdisciplinary Studies, Cameron
University, Lawton, OK
• 2002-2003 Program Development Specialist, University of Texas at Tyler
• 2001-2005 Program Manager, Education Resource Center, Cameron
University, Lawton, OK
• 2000-2002 Adjunct Instructor, Department of Psychology, Cameron
University, Lawton, OK
• 2000-2002 Program Associate, Oklahoma Teachers Education Collaborative,
Cameron University, Lawton, OK
• 1998-2002 Assistant Director, McNair Achievement Program, Cameron
University, Lawton, OK
• 1998-2000 Supervisor, Family Preservation Collaboration Programs, Marie
Detty Youth and Family Services, Lawton, OK

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Master’s degree with equivalent experience.

• Demonstrated proficiency supervising staff and managing projects.
• Strong background knowledge working in various operations and organization
administrations.
• Excellent technical skills including word processing, spreadsheet, database and
data entry with comprehensive knowledge of Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, and
various database software).
• High standards regarding accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to use experience and good judgment to make appropriate decisions.
• Excellent troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to communicate well, act effectively as liaison between
management/program staff and support staff, and adjust to changing priorities.
• Aptitude for organizing tasks, managing time and prioritizing projects.
• Outstanding judgment, initiative, and drive.
 174
PRESENTATIONS

Glover-Johnson, C., & Koll, K. J. (2009, November 6). A summer science program:
Early childhood through elementary school. Oklahoma Academy of Science Fall
Technical Meeting, East Central University, Ada, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. & Koll, K. J. (2009, October 19). I know who I am. Student Success
Series, Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2009, February 20). It’s all about you: What you do matters! Student
Teamwork Initiative, Hirschi PB Magnet High School, Wichita Falls, TX.

Koll, K. J., & Glover-Johnson, C. (2007, November 3). Teaching teachers to teach safety.
Oklahoma Academy of Science Fall Technical Conference, University of Tulsa
SE Campus, Tulsa, OK.

Koll, K. J., & Glover-Johnson, C. (2006, November 3). Should high school and university
laboratories be OSHA compliant? Oklahoma Academy of Science 95th Annual
Technical Meeting, Rogers State University, Claremore, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2004, September 30). Academic advising and retention: A key

element of success. Professional Development Workshop, University of Texas at
Tyler, Tyler, TX.

Glover-Johnson, C., & Koll, K. J. (2004, February). Access center materials useful within
science fair in-service workshops for classroom teachers. Southwest Education
Development Laboratory Spring Access Center Conference and Meeting, Austin,
TX.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2004, January). KIDS Camp: A summer academic opportunity for

elementary age students. St. John’s Baptist Church, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2002). New student orientation: Academically speaking, barriers to

student success, student success strategies. University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler,
TX.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2001, August). Breaking barriers, providing opportunities:

Preparation for graduate school. American Chemical Society National
Conference Chicago, IL.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2001, February 22). McNair scholars research symposium: A

celebration of research. Cameron University, Lawton, OK.
 175
Glover-Johnson, C. (2001, January 30). Human rights in the new millennium: Diversity
and multiculturalism in higher learning. Cameron University P.R.I.D.E.,
Cameron University, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, November 29). Diversity and multicultural issues in the

classroom. Cameron University, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, November 18). Oklahoma Association for the Improvement of

Developmental Education: Diversity awareness training in multicultural
education. Cameron University, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, October). Science teaching methods: Chemistry 4492:

Diversity awareness for secondary science teachers. Cameron University,
Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, October 27). UCO Research Day: Organizational theory and
design: Unlocking the keys to a family operated locksmith service organization.
University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, July). The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate

Achievement Program. Cameron University, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (2000, May). Diversity and sensitivity issues. Cameron University,

Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (1999, May 25). Upward Bound summer residential staff training:
Communication tips and sensitivity issues. Cameron University, Lawton, OK.

Glover-Johnson, C. (1999, April). Marie Detty Youth and Family Service Family
Preservation Collaboration: Families in trouble: Prevention and intervention.
Lawton, OK.

AWARDS, HONORS, AND PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Northside Chamber of Commerce Business Development Award, 2008

• Comanche County Woman of the Year, Nominee, 2004
• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Distinguished Alumnus, 2002
• Phi Delta Kappa Membership Honors, 2002
• The National Black Graduate Student Association
• American Psychological Association
• American Psychological Society
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Oklahoma Division of Student Assistant Programs 1999-2002
 176
• Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology
• Southwest Association of Student Assistance Programs 1999-2002
• Oklahoma Association for the Improvement of Developmental Education
• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
• Phi Delta Kappa
• PSI CHI National Honor Society in Psychology
• Comanche County Court Clerk Outstanding Service Award, 1996