Paper Title
MODELING THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL EMPOWERMENT ON HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS’ INTENTION TO LEAVE AND SERVICE QUALITY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE GREEK CASE

Abstract
Abstract - Purpose: The present study investigates the effects of structural empowerment on healthcare professionals’ quality of service and intention to leave during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greek healthcare system. In our empirical model we hypothesize that concerted Human Resource Management (HRM) practices enhance structural empowerment at work, which in turn, improves collaboration, communication, and work-life balance. These effects, in turn, tend to raise professionals’ tendency to remain at work and improve their service quality. Design/methodology/approach: The data reported in this study are drawn from a survey conducted in the third wave of pandemic (March – July 2021). For the needs of the research, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the model hypotheses and the statistical analysis was based on a sample of 500 healthcare professionals, working in a general hospital in Northern Greece.. Results and Conclusions: In summary, the study reveals the valuable contribution of authentic leadership and human resource management practices in motivating healthcare professionals and thus raising their performance under extremely demanding working conditions. Indeed, it was found that raising the quality of team leading will enhance employee communication and motivation through their empowerment and alleviate work-life interference. In turn, these positive effects will increase healthcare professionals’ job satisfaction and service quality to patients, even under pressing working conditions. Policy implications: Using human resource management for raising team collaboration and communication among healthcare professionals tends to have a measurable and considerable impact on professionals’ performance even under pandemic conditions. Keywords - Healthcare Professionals, Collaboration, Service Quality, COVID-19, Greece