Digital Leadership and employee well-being in times of COVID-19 – An analysis and empirical mixed methods study in German public administrations with recommendations

Digitalization is advancing rapidly around the globe. However, in German public administrations it has often been neglected to maintaining old habits for convenience or for financial antecedences. The corona pandemic, which proved to be a great challenge for everyone, turned everything upside down. Suddenly, even public administrations were forced to digitize. Overnight, working from home turned into a necessity. Executives had to lead remotely and day-to-day operations in the administration still had to be guaranteed at all times. The Russo-Ukrainian war and most recently, the hyperinflation as well as the gas crisis, certainly did not make it any easier for digital leaders. Understandably, these exogenous crises have created a field of tension for the already sensitive area of employee well-being in terms of leadership behaviour. The goal of this mixed-methods-study was to find out how digital leadership in public administrations in Germany affects the well-being of employees. To achieve this objective, an extensive literature search was conducted to obtain initial indications and to determine the current state of research on this topic. This was followed by a large-scale quantitative study in the form of a questionnaire. For this purpose, administrative staff from various large voluntary welfare associations, church institutions, public administrations and the non-profit sector were interviewed. With the help of this survey, the aim was to determine how the employees perceive the situation with regard to digitalisation, the economy, COVID-19 and fears for their jobs. In addition, qualitative research was also implemented. Problem-centred interviews were used in this area. Independent experts in the field were interviewed. Both, the quantitative and qualitative research results strongly suggest that digital leadership and employee satisfaction correlate significantly. Moreover, it became apparent that the employees are generally quite dissatisfied with their leaders and their behaviour. Based on the study findings, this research generated miscellaneous specific theoretical contributions. In reference to the results, practical recommendations for improving the status quo are presented and a business model was designed which can be used as a guideline for leaders for future digitization projects.