Line managers' middle-levelness and driving proactive behaviors in organizational interventions

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores line managers' proactive work behaviors in organizational interventions and ascertains how their management of their middle-levelness by aligning with the intervention, or not, influences their proactive work behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ findings are based on thematic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews of university heads of departments responsible for managing organizational interventions.

Findings

The authors found that line managers engaged in a range of proactive work behaviors to implement the organizational intervention (i.e. “driving proactive behaviors”). Furthermore, line managers tended to engage in driving proactive behaviors when they aligned with the organizational intervention, but not to when unconvinced of the intervention's validity.

Practical implications

These findings highlight the importance of senior management and HR investing sufficient time and quality in the preparation phase to ensure all actors have a shared understanding of the organizational interventions' validity.

Originality/value

This is the first study to explore line managers' proactive work behaviors to implement an organizational intervention, and how the line managers' management of their middle-levelness influence these proactive work behaviors.

Citation

Helland, E., Christensen, M., Innstrand, S.T. and Nielsen, K. (2021), "Line managers' middle-levelness and driving proactive behaviors in organizational interventions", International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 577-592. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-08-2020-0136