Followership and job satisfaction in the public sector

Abstract

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explicate the role of followership behavior on employee job satisfaction as well as the conditions that may moderate its impact.Design/methodology/approach– This study uses a largensurvey data from federal agencies and investigates an additive moderation model in which two situational factors, perceived supervisor support (PSS) and performance-oriented culture (POC), interact with followership behavior.Findings– Employees high on active followership perceived greater job satisfaction when PSS was high, rather than low. On the other hand, employees high on active followership perceived greater job satisfaction when POC was low, rather than high.Research limitations/implications– This is, to the knowledge, the first empirical study based on a cross-sectional survey that tests how the effects of active followership on employee job satisfaction may vary depending on the different types of situational factors. As such, more studies are needed to validate the causal directions of the findings.Practical implications– The present findings show that active engagement had greater association with job satisfaction when leader involvement was high and performance orientation was low. For highly engaged employees, leaders are encouraged to show higher degree of involvement in their work but with less emphasis on the performance orientation of the organization.Originality/value– This study contributes to the broader literature in public sector leadership in two ways. First, research on the relationship between followership and job satisfaction has been sparse. Second, and most importantly, this study is the first empirical study that tests the moderating roles of situational (organizational) factors on the relationship between followership and employee attitude (job satisfaction).