Approach for measuring health‐related quality management

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to measuring health‐related quality management based on earlier research on the connection between quality management and employee health.

A questionnaire was developed and a research study was carried out at a manufacturing company. The constructs were tested for internal reliability using Cronbach's alpha tests. The dimensions’ correlations with employee health were checked using Pearson correlation.

Three of the dimensions were correlated with the perception of employee health: “presence/communication” and “integrity” derived from leadership commitment, and “influence” derived from everybody's participation. These findings substantiate earlier studies indicating a relationship between visible, clear leadership and employee health. They are also in line with earlier findings of how the possibilities to influence their own work promote employee health and work ability. The paper provides a proposal as to how managers can proceed in the measurement and evaluation of quality management efforts related to employee health.

The research is conducted as a single research study in one industrial manufacturing company. Further research should be conducted in other organizations from different lines of business with the same conditions and in organizations with different conditions.

This approach can be used by managers for gaining insight into underlying mechanisms in the organizational culture related to employee health from a quality management perspective. This could lead to improved employee well‐being, satisfaction and motivation. It could be used as a first step for improvements when implementing health‐related quality management “to break the ice” and it could be followed up by qualitative methods.

Traditional ways of measuring health are rarely connected to quality management. Only requiring small resources, this approach to measuring health‐related quality management can add to an understanding of underlying mechanisms.