Transformational leadership and employees' work engagement: the simple and parallel mediation of self-efficacy and trust in the leader

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PurposeThe importance of transformational leadership (TFL) for improving followers’ work engagement (WE) has been highlighted by management researchers, but little is known about how and why TFL is related to WE. This study develops an integrated model that addresses the questions and uncovers the influence of TFL on employees’ WE through two pathways reflecting simple and parallel mediating effects of employees’ self-efficacy (SE) and trust in the leader.Design/methodology/approachIn a developing country’s organizational context, a total of 376 employees working in four different types of organizations voluntarily participated in the survey. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the study model.FindingsData supported the joint parallel mediation effect of subordinates’ SE and trust in the leader and partially confirm the role of a single mediator of each between the relationship of TFL and WE.Practical implicationsIn public sector, it is a daunting challenge to sustain a high degree of WE of employees so that they may actively involve in the provision of better services planned by policymakers. Therefore, WE has deemed a very important construct for both administrators and researchers in such organizations. The framework and relationships that are discussed and displayed in this study help administrators in understanding the driving forces that cause in to WE.Originality/valueThis research links multiple theories to develop an integrated model. The employees' perceptual data supported predictive power of the model both in-sample and out-of-sample through a rigorous statistical technique. Hence, this study is contributing to narrowing the gap between theory and practice.