Abstract
AbstractShould leaders pay more attention to values? The present study aims to examine and explain the associations of engaging leadership (EL) with employees' perceptions of the organization's values, need fulfillment, and employee engagement. EL is a recent leadership concept drawing on self‐determination theory, specifically on the fulfillment of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We expected EL to associate with employees perceiving the values of their organization as more intrinsic (e.g., care for others, contributing to making the world a better place, stimulating personal growth), which would satisfy employees' basic psychological needs and fuel work engagement, rather than as extrinsic (financial success, power, status). Study 1 detailed the model using a cross‐sectional study design (N = 436), and, as expected, structural equation modeling identified a positive path from leadership to work engagement via perceived intrinsic organizational values and subsequent satisfaction of the need for autonomy. EL associated negatively with extrinsic organizational values. Study 2 corroborated outcomes of study 1 through a longitudinal study across three time‐points (N = 69) in a cross‐lagged panel model and found specific directionality from leadership to perceived intrinsic values. Implications for leadership and motivation are discussed.
Highlights
Employee well-being and work engagement are essential for employees and employers alike and go hand in hand (Osam et al, 2020; Sutton, 2020)
In line with the propositions of self-determination theory (SDT) and the empirical literature reviewed above, we propose the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 1. (a) Perceived intrinsic value orientations are positively associated with needs satisfaction and work engagement, whereas (b) perceived extrinsic value orientations are negatively related with needs satisfaction and work engagement
Across two studies using a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design, our results show that engaging leadership (EL) associates with work engagement via perceived intrinsic organizational values and satisfaction of the need for autonomy (Hypotheses 2a, 3), while EL associated negatively with extrinsic value perceptions (Hypothesis 2b)
Summary
Employee well-being and work engagement are essential for employees and employers alike and go hand in hand (Osam et al, 2020; Sutton, 2020). Employees displaying high levels of work engagement show high levels of energy, feel enthusiasm, and efficacy (Bakker & Demerouti, 2008). Employees feel well (Schaufeli, 2012), and display high levels of learning (Bakker et al, 2012), extra-role behavior (Schaufeli & Salanova, 2010), and enhanced performance (Mueller, 2019), which in turn contributes to financial performance (Schneider et al, 2018) and growth (Sorensen, 2013) at the organizational level. Research examining the impact of leaders, mostly focuses on employee- and economic performance leaving the leaders' role in fostering employee well-being underexplored (e.g., Inceoglu et al, 2018). In Human Resource Development (HRD) studies, performance improvement is approached through training, learning, and (leadership) development (Shirmohammadi et al, 2020; Werner, 2014; Yoo et al, 2018)
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