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Full house at seminar in Almedalen

29 June 2014

A report written by Jannis Angelis and Henrik Jordahl, IFN was presented by SNS at a well-attended seminar during the first day of a week of policymaking and debate in Almedalen. The report – Att styra och leda äldreomsorg (Leadership and management in geriatric care) is part of the joint IFN and SNS research project called From welfare state to a welfare society. "Larger [private] firms stand out," explained Henrik Jordahl in Almedalen. These companies are paramount in regards to controlling and managing the production. But, he said, the range is large between and also within all modes of operation: local government, non-profit and for-profit businesses.

In the picture from left Madeleine Klingryd, Attendo, Helena Piensoho, Bräcke Diakoni, Henrik Jordahl and Jannis Angelis.

For the study, operations managers at about 500 of the country's total of 2,300 nursing homes were interviewed. The findings suggest that leadership and management in general works well in the nursing homes included in the study. The authors write: "On a five-point scale, the average is 3.5. This is higher than the average for Swedish companies in similar studies and is roughly in line with the average for of the group of companies that have top management quality in previous measurements of this type (foreign multinationals in the U.S.)." They point out, however, that "the differences between individual institutions are sizeable. This suggests that there are significant opportunities to improve governance and management at nursing homes."

Management by objectives is the area where there are the greatest disparities. Though, it seems to be the biggest potential for improvement in the field of incentive and employee development, which received the lowest average score. The overall lowest rates were accorded methods to retain talent. Some interviewed managers even stated, said Henrik Jordahl at the seminar, which they encourage high-performing employees to apply for jobs outside the elder care sector. Other managers explained that when an employee is looking to change careers "you have to let go."

Read the report (in Swedish)