Melbourne Business School, U. of Melbourne, Australia
Contrasting theoretical perspectives of the role that challenge demands play in promoting safety-specific transformational leadership (SSTL) were tested in a daily diary study. Specifically, in line with the Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Framework, while we hypothesized that challenge demands (i.e., quantitative workload and problem-solving demands) would predict higher levels of SSTL at the between-person level, conversely, and in line with Conservation of Resources theory, we also hypothesized that at the within-person level the results would be flipped, with challenge demands predicting lower levels of SSTL. Findings emanating from data obtained amongst 161 frontline safety leaders across 5 consecutive working days (within-person n = 526), provided partial support for our hypotheses. At the between-person level, there was a positive relationship between problem solving demands and SSTL, while quantitative workload positively related to SSTL only for leaders with lower job tenure. By contrast, at the within-person level, there was a negative relationship between daily problem- solving demands and daily SSTL. In line with our theorizing, the latter relationship was only present in leaders with lower job tenure. Theoretical implications for the Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Framework and Conservation of Resources theory are discussed, and practical implications for managing frontline safety leader demands are outlined.
