Abstract
Orientation: Beneficiary contact moderates the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the moderating effect of the breadth, depth and frequency of employee interaction with the beneficiaries of their work on the positive impact of authentic leadership on work engagement.Motivation for the study: Investigating the boundary conditions of the relationship between leaders and followers is vital to enhance the positive effect of leadership. Authentic leadership has not previously been examined with respect to beneficiary contact as a specific situational factor. The researchers therefore set out to ascertain whether beneficiary contact has a strengthening or weakening effect on the impact of authentic leadership on work engagement.Research design, approach and method: The researchers administered the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) and Grant’s scale on Beneficiary Contact.Main findings: The findings showed that beneficiary contact had a weakening effect on the positive relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement.Practical/managerial implications: Ideally, organisations create environments conducive to work engagement in which leadership plays an important role. This study found that one factor in the work environment, namely beneficiary contact, might have an adverse effect on the positive relationship that authentic leadership has on work engagement. Leaders should therefore take organisational contextual realities into account, such as regular, intense interaction of employees with the beneficiaries of their work. This situation could create strain for individual employees, requiring additional organisational support.Contribution/value-add: Organisations need to recognise the impact of beneficiary contact on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement. The researchers propose further studies on the influence of contextual variables on the relationship between leaders and followers.
Highlights
Authentic leadership has a positive impact on followers, when it comes to work engagement (Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Ilies, Morgeson & Nahrgang, 2005)
The levels of authentic leadership, work engagement and beneficiary contact were all higher for males than females of the 81 responses and the higher level of work engagement for males is in line with previous findings where males have been found to have a higher work engagement than females on the UWES-9 (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004)
There were varying levels of beneficiary contact across the tenure categories and there was no discernible pattern of relationships between tenure and authentic leadership, or with work engagement
Summary
Authentic leadership has a positive impact on followers, when it comes to work engagement (Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Ilies, Morgeson & Nahrgang, 2005). Investigating the conditions of the relationship is vital to understanding how to enhance the effect of authentic leadership in the work environment In this regard, Cooper, Scandura and Schriesheim (2005) as well as Gardner, Cogliser, Davis and Dickens (2011) encourage research into the role of moderators in the relationship between authentic leadership and followers’ attitudes and performance. This is in line with contingency theories (House, 1971) which suggest that leaders need to adjust to situational factors. Other studies on interaction with beneficiaries reveal that emotionally intense exchanges could lead to negative consequences, like strain and http://www.sajhrm.co.za
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