The Double-edged Sword Effect of Inclusive Leadership on Employee Presenteeism

Abstract

Prior studies commonly believed that inclusive leadership is of considerable benefit to employees but rarely discussed its potential downsides. To address this issue, this study explores why and when inclusive leadership promotes and inhibits employee presenteeism. Based on a sample data of 373 employees from three manufacturing enterprises in China, the empirical result shows that inclusive leadership may reduce employee presenteeism by enhancing their psychological safety on the one hand and foster it by promoting their felt obligation on the other. In addition, power distance orientation negatively moderates the relationship between inclusive leadership and employee’s felt obligation. The study also finds that power distance orientation moderates the indirect effect of felt obligation in the relationship between inclusive leadership and employee presenteeism, such that the indirect effect of felt obligation is significant only when power distance orientation is low. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.