Is there a relationship between Lean Leaders and healthy co-workers?

Abstract

<div><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between Lean values, Lean leadership and perceived co-worker health both from an empirical and theoretical perspective.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> A questionnaire used at a Swedish municipality that has been working with quality improvements for 20 years and with Lean for seven years was analyzed. 841 co-workers answered the questionnaire which had been designed and pre-tested to measure the presence of a number of Lean values and Lean leadership as well as self-reported perceived health. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Findings:</strong> The results show a moderately positive relationship between Lean values, Lean leadership and co-workers’ perceptions of their health. Customer focus presents the highest mean value, the lowest standard deviation and the highest correlation with co-worker health, which is interesting as the investigated organization is a municipality. </div>