Spiritual leadership and work alienation: analysis of mechanisms and constraints

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present study, we propose a negative association between spiritual leadership and work alienation. We also propose service employee social capital as a mediator of the spiritual leadership-work alienation link and political skill as a boundary condition of the direct association between spiritual leadership and social capital and the indirect association between spiritual leadership and work alienation. Time-lagged (three rounds, three weeks apart) survey data collected from 283 service sector employees supported our proposed hypotheses. Despite the prevalence of work alienation in service organizations and the recognition that it can lead to several negative outcomes, little is known about how managers can address service employees’ feelings of work alienation. We address this crucial theoretical gap and offer several practical implications that can help managers in service organizations enhance employees’ social capital and undermine their feelings of alienation at work.