Thriving at Work Among Healthcare Administrators: Does Organizational Politics Matter?

The American College of Healthcare Executives acknowledges that the healthcare industry needs to sustain a highly qualified and skilled workforce to meet the complex demands for healthcare services. Healthcare administrators play a pivotal role in driving operational results and organizational performance, yet they have not been the subject of research studies, with most of the research in healthcare being directed at nurses and physicians. Focusing on how healthcare administrators can thrive at work can be important for the healthcare industry. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent the constructs of organizational support, supervisory support, organizational politics, and political skill impact an employee’s self-report of their thriving at work among healthcare administrators in the United States. The study’s theoretical framework included the Socially Embedded Model of Thriving at Work (Nix et al., 1999; Spreitzer et al., 2005) and Power in Organizations (Pfeffer, 1992, 2013). Data was collected via survey research methods using scales with high psychometric validity. Data from 126 healthcare administrators was analyzed using multiple regression. Results show that Organizational Support independently has a strong influence on Thriving at Work (β = 0.60, t = 8.16, p < .001). The multiple regression model that calculated the impact of Supervisor Support, Organizational Politics, and Political Skill on Thriving at Work showed that Political Skill had the strongest impact (β = 0.30, t = 3.90, p < .001), followed by Organizational Politics (β = - 0.24, t = - 2.61, p = 0.01), and then Supervisor Support (β = 0.23, t = 2.56, p = .012). This has implications for organizations to invest in the development of political skills for employees. When healthcare administrators thrive at work and are able to navigate complex political situations, the healthcare organization will be more successful. This study also highlights the primacy of organizational support for thriving at work. Supervisor support has long been considered the key factor in employee turnover. Findings from this study suggest that for employees to thrive, organizational support is more critical. This study adds to the current body of knowledge on thriving at work. This study will help healthcare organizations understand how organizational and individual factors impact thriving at work for healthcare administrators.