Organizational vision: experience at the unit level

Aims The main focus of this follow-up study was to describe how the vision statements were perceived to describe the work in the units and what kind of relationships there were between the vision statements and background factors during the 3-year follow-up. Background The vision statement gives a competitive advantage to the organization. It helps find the desired direction during a period of transformation in the organization. Satisfaction, empowerment and motivation are challenged in the vision-realization process. Methods The data were gathered by questionnaire from the multidisciplinary team members on three occasions. The response rate was 58% (n = 115, n = 112) for the first and second data sets, and 53% (n = 103) for the third data set. The data was analysed statistically. Results The organizational vision was perceived as quite stable during the 3 years. Factors associated with the vision statement at the end of the 3-year period were workload, experience of stress, work motivation, work satisfaction, importance of work independence and general empowerment. Implications for nursing management Leaders are able to sustain the vision statement by motivating and empowering the staff. Empowerment especially is worth reinforcing in a vision-realization process.