An Interview with Professor Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman, Ph.D., MBA is a professor of business psychology and organizational leadership at Southern New Hampshire University and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She specializes in business psychology and organizational leadership.
Tori Steffen: Hi everybody. Thank you for joining us today for this installment of the Seattle Psychiatrist Interview series. I'm Tori Steffen, a research intern at Seattle Anxiety Specialists. We are a Seattle-based psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy practice specializing in anxiety disorders.
I'd like to welcome with us today industrial organizational psychologist Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman. Dr. Z., as some students call her, is a professor of business psychology and organizational leadership at Southern New Hampshire University and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She's an expert in the field of business psychology and organizational leadership, and has written several publications on the topic, including the dissertation thesis, "Leaders' Influence on Employees' Participation and Wellness Programs and Organizational Productivity, Correlational Quantitative Case Study," as well as the book "Overcoming Mediocrity Resilient Women," which provides life lessons to overcome obstacles in a professional setting. So before we get started, can you let us know a little bit more about yourself, Dr. Z, and what made you interested in studying leadership influence in an organizational setting?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Of course. Thank you, Tori. First of all, just want to thank you for the invitation to participate and contribute to the discussion on leadership influence and employee wellness in organizational settings. A little bit about me, I immigrated to the United States from Russia 30 years ago in 1992. I received my PhD in business administration specializing in industrial organizational psychology from North Central University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University. I'm also a writer, a public speaker, and a member of the American Association of University Women, AAUW. And as you mentioned, I'm also professor of business psychology and organizational leadership at Southern New Hampshire University and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Because of my work ethic, willingness to learn and continuous pursuit of education, I progressed very quickly in my leadership career. I worked in a corporate environment for over 20 years. In one of my last roles, I was a senior executive for a large retail organization. I managed a department with over 100 business professionals and $4 billion in expenditures for purchasing retail-related services, at my workplace, which was a huge corporate facility, I saw many stressed, anxious, and burned-out people, and the overall environment in that organization would be considered toxic by many employees. So, when I decided to switch careers and become a college professor, I selected a dissertation topic related to the improvement of wellbeing of employees at their workplaces. I was also curious to find out through research how leaders impact employees' sense of wellbeing and why some people do not participate in the wellness programs offered at their places of employment. I hope this information answers what interests me in guiding leadership influence in organizational settings.
Tori Steffen: Absolutely. Yeah, that sounds like really impressive background and experience to have in relation to those topics, so that's wonderful. Well, getting down to basics, could you explain for us how leadership influence presents itself in an organizational setting?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Sure. When researching leadership influence in organizational settings, I used a theoretical framework consisting of the employee wellbeing theory and the authentic leadership theory. The stakeholders for that research were corporate employees and their employers. After finishing the study and publishing the findings, I met with individual leadership teams and shared my discoveries illustrating that their influence in organizational settings is significant. Would you like me to share some of that information, some of the findings?
Tori Steffen: Yes, please.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: The results of my research showed that the perception by employees of their leaders' care about their wellbeing, including physical and mental health, influenced their work engagement and job satisfaction. In one company, leaders' care about workers' health will assess at 93% versus the national average of only 9.3%, which is low, so it was 10 times higher. That particular organization was voted as one of the best workplaces for 11 consecutive years. That was the main connection that I found, is that the more employees think or believe that their management cares about them, the more likely they will stay with the company and enjoy working there.
Tori Steffen: Okay. Definitely some interesting findings there. That's great to know. What are some connections that you've found between leadership influence and employee mental health?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Well, first of all, I want to talk about productivity and engagement. Because both productivity and engagement can be improved by positive leadership support. It can also reduce levels of absenteeism and presentism. As you know, absenteeism is the temporary absence of an employee from work due to personal reasons. But presentism is when an employee presents, attends the work, but performs sub optimally because of illness, emotional exhaustion, depression or burnout. And productivity-related discussions could be a sensitive topic among researchers and practitioners because productivity is affected by so many factors, and it could be hard to measure. Job-related stressors may include job role ambiguity, alienation, worklism, and workload. So, these issues influence productivity due to workers' illness and poor mental health. According to Statista, and I just pulled the statistics from today, in 2022, the following professions were found the most stressful jobs in the United States. First one is the enlisted military personnel, second: firefighter, third: airline pilot, fourth: police officer, and fifth: broadcaster. Fifth one surprised me, but it is what it is. So many organizations seek new solutions to mitigate work-related stressors, to improve productivity, and also now to survive in today's economy and remain profitable.
The situation got even more stressful for workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and same thing related to engagement. Doing my research on engagement, the results of employees self-assessed levels of wellness were directly related to organizational engagement. For example, according to Gallup's research, about 26% to 30% of employees were actively engaged at work in the United States in 2018. In the United States alone, disengaged workers cost anywhere between $450 to $550 billion per year in lost productivity. Again, according to Gallup. However, in my research, those companies that invested in their employee's wellness through wellness programs and other health initiatives, they saw up to 90% engagement scores, which were three times higher than the national ratings. So again, employees' wellness level directly related to productivity and engagement.
Tori Steffen: That's amazing. Thank you for sharing those statistics. It definitely helps paint a picture around how important the wellness programs can be for employee mental health, productivity, engagement. So thank you. Could you describe for us how employee wellness levels relate to organizational productivity and engagement from a research perspective?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Yes. I just kind of covered those two topics related to productivity and engagement. I can also expand a little bit more on how wellness programs themselves also impact their mental health, engagement, and productivity. Is that okay?
Tori Steffen: Absolutely.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Okay. So, if implemented correctly, wellness programs can have a positive impact on employees' overall mental health and reduction of stress. It can also reduce their anxiety, depression, and mental burnout. However, the research unfortunately also shows that wellbeing initiatives will fail if they lack top level support, for instance. In some cases, employees may not be aware of workplace wellness program, or their leaders do not communicate available health benefits or promote awareness. Also, leaders' inability to handle their own stress at work can negatively affect the effectiveness of wellness programs implementation. I have seen that wellness programs adoption increases when employees see their leadership support of those initiatives. For example, when managers enroll and participate in company-sponsored programs, they lead by example and the employees follow. Therefore, wellness programs can produce a positive impact not only on employees' overall mental health, but also on the mental health of their leaders.
Tori Steffen: Okay, perfect. Thank you so much for giving us that background.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Sure.
Tori Steffen: Okay. And how effective would you say are those wellness programs in producing a positive impact on an employee's overall mental health?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Again, I kind of covered that information in my previous response. And I would also say that people in leadership positions can do above a lot more than just wellness programs. They can create a positive atmosphere and welcoming environment for their employees. So, as they participate in wellness programs, they also notice how their leaders behave and follow those examples. For instance, if they see that their managers participate in wellness programs, they can also more likely to enroll and participate in those initiatives, versus if they observe that their managers are reluctant to participate in programs and see it as a waste of time, they may also choose not to participate in those programs.
Tori Steffen: Okay. Sounds great. Have you seen anything in the literature in regards to maybe anxiety or depression in relation to wellness programs?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: I have seen a lot of information related to authentic leadership styles that followers and mental health. Would you like me to cover the leadership style that is authentic leadership style for your listeners?
Tori Steffen: Yes, please. If you could explain authentic leadership as a style for our listeners, that would be great.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Okay. Well, authentic leadership is a specific style that leaders display based on their moral values, their beliefs, and their behaviors. Those leaders, authentic leaders, play a critical role in creating positive organizational cultures and ethical work environments. Authentic leaders are generally in tune with their emotions. They're passionate about their mission and adaptive to changes. Authentic leaders also convey self-confidence, self-discipline, self-knowledge. They clearly express their thoughts and they're able to choose and listen. So two years ago, I was invited to present information on authentic leadership style to the Society of Human Resources Management, SHRM, and many HR managers admitted that although this style sounds wonderful and is attractive, it is challenging to be authentic at some places of work due to their organizational culture.
Tori Steffen: Okay. Yeah, that's interesting, bringing in the aspect of the company culture as far as leadership influence. Great. One thing that your research discusses is the ways that authentic leadership can impact individual sense of wellness and productivity. Could you describe for us how this might work in an organizational setting?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Of course. So, leaders with authentic qualities can definitely promote positive relations and effective commitment. They can empower their employees. And in an organization that attempts to create a climate that promotes employees' involvement and engagement, authentic leaders serve as role models. They convey appropriate behavior based on their moral values, and overall individuals in leadership role greatly influence how they can demonstrate and share similar goals with their followers through leading by example. And in multiple studies, even outside of my research, the authenticity of a leader was found to be effective in preventing employees' burnout. Plus, since the authentic person can listen patiently with understanding and without judgment, employees feel much more compelled to approach them without feeling being judged or feeling retaliation. When followers identify themselves with authentic leaders, they are also more likely to develop self-advocacy, self-esteem, confidence, optimism, passion, hope, and resilience to job-related stressors. They can also become more engaged.
Tori Steffen: Great. It sounds like authentic leaders would have a lot of great qualities and be able to lead by example in an organization. What are some of the different types of leadership styles and how might they impact employee wellbeing and productivity? Have you seen any negative ones out there that you might be able to speak about?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Oh, thank you for asking this question, Tori. So, scientists and theorists are still arguing and trying to identify the best leadership style and practices that would eliminate the negative trends related to employees' health at work. Overall, since the beginning of research on leadership, the paradigm shifted and reflected significant changes in leadership progression from total dominance by leaders to group decisions, and from the power of leaders to values of groups, and from leaders' goals to group visions. So, if you look at leadership as a continuum, you would see autocratic style in one side and authentic servant leadership style on the other side. The leader's roles change from active to passive. And out of all leadership styles. I would say that the autocratic leadership styles could potentially negatively affect employees' morale, productivity, and wellbeing depending on the work environment. Autocratic leaders tend to make decisions quickly without input from others, and usually when they're pressed for time. This can lead to subordinates experiencing work stress, anxiety, lower wellbeing, and most of the research on autocratic leadership has shown that subordinates dislike managers use this leadership style they call the micromanagers. And they experience more job stress when being managed by such individuals. They also have lower levels of job satisfaction.
Tori Steffen: Okay. Yeah, that's definitely important to know how the different styles might have an influence on those factors, so thank you.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: You're welcome.
Tori Steffen: Your research was also investigating a correlation between leader involvement and employee enrollment in wellness programs. Could you explain for us your findings about that relationship?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Sure. During my research, I collected data about employees' participation in the wellness program and compared it to their management enrollment statistics, and I found significant positive correlation between leaders and employees' enrollment in wellness programs. I think there are three factors that could explain that correlation. First one was transparency of a self-tracking and reporting system that companies use to monitor everyone's participation. In some cases, employees could see if their managers enrolled in the program or not, including their CEOs. The second one was positive correlations could also indicate that individuals had higher personal commitment toward their health and wellbeing if they saw that their leaders are also committed to their health. And finally, surprising finding was that employees and their managers were motivated by financial incentives to participate in wellness programs. For example, when one company introduced financial incentive of up to $560 per year for all employees, including top leaders, the wellness program's enrollment and participation rates went up from 17% to 57%.
Tori Steffen: Wow.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: I hope these information examples answer your question, Tori.
Tori Steffen: Okay. That's great to know. Definitely a big jump there in the enrollment, so that's great. What else might leaders be able to do to promote employee wellness and productivity levels, maybe besides the high involvement in those wellness program enrollment?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Yeah, I touched a little bit on this before, but to promote employees' wellness and productivity leaders can also create a welcoming, inclusive, safe, and pleasant work environment. Several research studies that I reviewed during my dissertation confirmed that authentic leadership style influences the positive emotions of their followers and directly impacts employees' engagement and turnover rates. In those work settings where employees can voice their concerns without fearing retribution, they feel more secure and less likely to leave. Also, in my research on wellbeing, I found that flexible work arrangements can improve employees' morale, increase their engagement and lower turnover. For instance, more and more organizations are now considering creating flexible working arrangements for their employees, such as hybrid work, telecommuting, remote work, condensed work week, flex time, part-time, shift work, or even job sharing. So here are some additional ideas.
Tori Steffen: Awesome. Those are great to know. We personally do remote work and flex time, and I definitely find that that helps with work-life balance, so that's great. Do you work on any other research projects or maybe activities that relate to the topics of our discussion today?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Yes. I am currently researching data and findings related to mindfulness practice. Mindfulness refers to a mental state or focus on the present moment while noticing and accepting all feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. So, in the past two years, I've been participating in educational seminars and workshops on mindfulness. This topic is getting more and more interest because it can be applied to any field, any area, from businesses to schools, and from arts to sports. I was very grateful to lead one training session at Southern New Hampshire University and deliver a presentation to our faculty about how mindfulness can be integrated into the online learning environment for our students. I also did an educational zoom session on mindfulness related to financial health for one of the investment firms and their clients. And now, I'm working on an article for Silent Sports Magazine on how athletes could integrate mindfulness techniques into their training and improve endurance and performance. Finally, I'm teaching yoga and meditation classes. I'm a certified yoga instructor at the local park district, and I see more and more people becoming interested in these activities, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and relaxation techniques because they find those helpful in enhancing their emotional wellbeing and building individual resilience to stress.
Tori Steffen: Great. Those are all really nice topics to touch on as far as mindfulness, and I can see how it would be very helpful for students, athletes and teachers too.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Yes.
Tori Steffen: Well, great. So Dr. Z., do you have any final words of advice, anything else that you'd like to share with our listeners today?
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Yes, I would like to share some final thoughts. When employees are unhappy with their jobs or workplaces, they start searching for different opportunities. And with the COVID-19 pandemic, many people began reevaluating their life commitments and where and how they spend their time and talent. Now, many organizations struggle to attract and retain their most productive workers. However, they can stop employees from leaving by creating and promoting a healthy culture. It all starts at the top, at the senior management levels. And I know I'm repeating myself by saying this, but the leadership influence on employees mental and physical health is significant.
Tori Steffen: Absolutely. Well, great. That is amazing, helpful information. So thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Z., and contributing to our interview series. It was really great speaking-
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Thank you very much for participating, for inviting me to participate in the session. I appreciate.
Tori Steffen: Absolutely. It was really great speaking with you today, Dr. Z.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Thank you, Tori.
Tori Steffen: And I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Thank you, you too.
Tori Steffen: Thank you.
Irina Zlatogorova-Shulman: Bye-bye.
Please note: The views expressed by the interviewee are for educational and informational purposes only, are not meant to diagnose or treat any condition, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Seattle Anxiety Specialists, PLLC.
Editor: Jennifer (Ghahari) Smith, Ph.D.