Quality Leader-member Exchange Relationships Research Articles

Applying Organisational Support Lenses for Employee Retention: The Role of Supervisor Support and Compensation Fairness

Employee retention is critical, yet organisations face challenging talent markets and increasing turnover costs from departing staff. This study examines drivers of retention for professional workers to isolate actionable focus areas for organisations. Drawing on organisational support theory, perceived organisational support, compensation fairness, and quality leader-member exchange relationships are hypothesized to reduce turnover intentions. Survey data from a sample of 120 employees analysed using PLS-SEM, confirmed perceived organisational support as the strongest predictor, followed by compensation equity and supervisor support. All three fulfil socioemotional needs that build affective commitment and loyalty when present. Practical recommendations center on monitoring support perceptions through pulse surveys, purposeful communications conveying care for employees, and leader training on nurturing developmental relationships. Investing in perceived support elements represents a high-yield, affordable retention strategy. These findings refine broader retention drivers, spotlighting the centrality of care and inclusion assurances for anchoring talent. Limitations around generalizability and cross-sectional data point to useful future research directions.

The Impact of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory on Employee Turnover Intention: An empirical study of employees at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the impact of LMX on the turnover intention of employees. Research from both Western and Arabic contexts has shown that the quality of LMX relationships has a positive impact on turnover intentions i.e., the quality of LMX in an organization may encourage employees to stay longer with the current organization and reduce turnover intention. This research study used a quantitative methodology, distributing questionnaire surveys as the research tool to a sample of 297 participants. The participants were all employees at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia, or who worked for associated companies at the Hajj and Umrah information center. The quantitative survey data was then analyzed to find the relationship between levels of LMX and employee turnover intention in this context. The findings show that high quality LMX relationships were positively correlated with employee decisions to stay with the organization, and indicate that well-functioning LMX may play a part in reducing employee turnover intention at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and its connected organizations.

Disability Severity, Professional Isolation Perceptions, and Career Outcomes: When Does Leader–Member Exchange Quality Matter?

Employees with disability-related communication impairment often experience isolation from professional connections that can negatively affect their careers. Management research suggests that having lower quality leader relationships can be an obstacle to the development of professional connections for employees with disabilities. However, in this paper we suggest that lower quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships may not be a uniform hurdle for the professional isolation of employees with disability-related communication impairment. Drawing on psychological disengagement theory, we predict that employees with more severe, rather than less severe, communication impairment develop resilience to challenges in lower quality LMX relationships by psychologically disengaging from professional connections and, in turn, bear fewer negative consequences of professional isolation on career outcomes. In two studies of deaf and hard of hearing employees, we find that in lower quality LMX relationships employees with more severe communication impairment perceive being less isolated than employees with less severe communication impairment, and, in turn, report better career outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that employees with more severe communication impairment may develop effective coping strategies to manage challenges of perceived professional isolation for career outcomes when in lower quality LMX relationships.

The Relationship between Leader-Member Exchange andInnovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Role of the Voice Behavior

Purpose - This research aims to examine the mediation mechanism between leader-member exchange (LMX) and innovative work behavior (IWB) through employee voice behavior. Specifically, this research exploited the social exchange theory (SET) to examine the influence of LMX on IWB through employee voice behavior. Within this context, employees performing in higher quality LMX relationships with IWB are likely to exhibit more voice behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Self-reported questionnaires were applied to obtain data from 360 employees mainly with engineering qualifications from four companies in the defense sector in Turkey. Data were collected with a simple random sampling method in November and December 2020. Hypotheses were tested using correlation and regression analysis. The reason why the defense sector was selected for this study is the fact that the defense industry field has characteristics that make for a unique working environment. Findings - The findings show that LMX positively and significantly affects IWB and additionally voice behavior has a mediating role in this relationship. LMX had a significant influence on employee voice behavior that was ultimately associated with IWB. Finally, Voice behavior mediated the positive correlation between LMX and IWB, and stronger voice behavior boosted the indirect relationship. Discussion - This research reveals the effects of LMX and provides practical suggestions to help employees express their opinions in the organization to enhance innovation performance. Based on the SET, this research helps to understand how certain LMX which encourage high-quality exchange relationships with the supervisors and foster employee voice behaviors, may nurture employee IWBs in the organizations.

Inclusive leadership and employees’ voice behavior: A moderated mediation model

The number of studies dedicated to organizational inclusion is rapidly growing. Using relational leadership theory (RLT) as the overarching framework, the current study aimed to examine how inclusive leadership indirectly influences the voices of Chinese employees via leader-member exchange (LMX). The boundary conditions of these relationships were also explored by using employee achievement values as a potential moderator. A total of 814 full-time Chinese employees were recruited. The results showed that LMX mediated the positive effect of inclusive leadership on employee voice behaviors. Specifically, inclusive leadership enhanced LMX, and employees were then more likely to express ideas in front of supervisors. Moreover, achievement values moderated the positive linkage of LMX–voice. When building the high quality LMX relationships, employees with higher achievement values were more willing to speak up compared to their counterparts holding lower achievement values. We further found that the magnitude of the mediating effect of LMX on the relationship between inclusive leadership and voice also relied on employee achievement values (i.e., a second-stage moderated mediation model). This indicates that the indirect effect was stronger when the employees had higher achievement values. The conceptual and applied implications of our findings are also discussed.

Otel Çalışanlarının Örgüt Yararına Ahlaki Olmayan Davranışları: İş Tatmini, LiderÜye Etkileşimi ve Örgütsel Adaletin Rolü

Employees can exhibit unethical behaviors that benefit organizations. Although such behaviors benefit the organization in the short term, it can harm the organization in the long term. The aim of the research is to determine the antecedents of the unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) of hotel employees. In this context, the effect of job satisfaction, leader-member exchange and organizational justice has been investigated. The data were collected from employees working in a five-star hotel operating in Alanya at two different times. Data on demographic information and job satisfaction between September-October 2019; leader-member exchange, distribution justice and UPB variables were collected between November and December 2019. A convenience sampling method was used. Analyzes were carried out with SPSS and AMOS programs. Research hypotheses were tested with the structural analysis model. Accordingly, it has been determined that job satisfaction, leader member interaction and distribution justice have a significant and positive effect on UPB. The high level of job satisfaction and the quality leader-member exchange relationship cause the employees to display more UPB. In addition, positive perception towards organizational justice provides more UPB.

Abusive retaliation of low performance in low-quality LMX relationships

In the current study, we investigated the occurrence of abusive retaliation in response to low performance. More specifically, we hypothesize an association between low work performance and abusive supervision, as well as leader-member exchange (LMX) as a moderator of the association. Furthermore, we explored a potential link between abusive supervision and social loafing, and whether work-related negative affect would mediate this link. Data were collected from business organizations in Norway. To alleviate potential common method variance, data were collected separately from leaders and followers. In line with our expectations, we present results indicating that low performing followers are more prone to be abused by their supervisor, particularly if they are in a low quality LMX relationship. Conversely, LMX relationships can have a “buffering” effect on the performance/abusive supervision association. Furthermore, our results suggest abused followers reacted with both work-related negative affect and social loafing. The implications of this latter finding are discussed in light of the ongoing conversation regarding the role of emotions in exchange processes.

Leader Member Exchange (LMX) and Followership Styles

The Leader Member Exchange (LMX) often has more ramifications for organizational results than a leader trait or behavior. LMX theory studies the quality of the relationship between the leader and each individual follower in a work unit. In certain instances, the styles of followers’ is an ancestor for the formation of high-quality LMX relationships. Five styles of followership styles have been described as alienated, conformist, passive, exemplary and pragmatic based on two behavioral dimensions of independent critical thinking and active engagement. How these followership styles relate with the formation of quality of LMX is an absent field in both relationship based approach to leadership and as well as followership literature. Accordingly, this investigation was carried out to fill this gap. Based on a purposeful sampling procedure, 200 newly graduated employees were selected. The main research instruments were questionnaires. The LMX 7 questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the quality of the relationship between leaders and followers, while Kelley’s followership styles assessment and model was used to identify the followership styles of the respondents. Findings have shown that the existing level of LMX, active engagement and independent critical thinking behavior of newly graduated employees are not in a satisfactory. Further, active engagement behavior is closely linked with LMX as opposed to independent critical thinking behavior. Moreover, it was revealed that high quality LMX relationships were encountered by conformist and exemplary followership styles.

“I know it’s not your job but…”: Extra-role tasks, communication, and leader-member exchange relationships

Employees are sometimes assigned tasks that lie outside their official role. Employees may perceive such extra-role tasks (ERTs) as unreasonable or illegitimate. Grounded in role theory and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, we conducted two studies that examined how ERTs are associated with supervisor-employee relationship quality and how the ERT assignment is communicated. While supervisor-subordinate relationship quality was unrelated to the likelihood and frequency with which supervisors assign ERTs to employees, employees with low-quality relationships evaluated ERTs as more unreasonable than those in high-quality relationships. Study 1 showed that ERT messages that included a request (vs. command), acknowledgement, explanation, and appreciation were associated with higher quality LMX relationships. Study 2 found that ERT message characteristics influenced the perceived unreasonableness of the task for employees in high-quality relationships, suggesting employees in such relationships are particularly vulnerable to “job creep” and role expansion.

The impact of leader‒member exchange on follower performance in light of the larger social network

Relationships with leaders do not happen in isolation from the relationships one has with one’s peers. Therefore, we examine the influence of leader‒member exchange on follower job performance in light of the larger social networks in which followers are embedded. Testing multilevel models with data that were gathered using questionnaires from a sample of 240 nurses and 20 supervisors working at four Dutch hospitals revealed that a positive relationship exists between leader‒member exchange and follower job performance when follower workflow network centrality and/or follower friendship network centrality are high but not when they are both low. The results of this study show how the different follower relationships with the supervisor and colleagues intertwine in explaining follower job performance and suggest that the larger network in which followers are embedded within their work teams is important for explaining variations in the results regarding the relationship between leader‒member exchange and follower job performance. Our study indicates that leaders should have an eye for the network position of their followers when developing high quality leader‒member exchange relationships. For followers, a good relationship with their leader is important, but its value depends on their relationships with colleagues.

Proactive Personality, LMX, and Voice Behavior: Employee–Supervisor Sex (Dis)similarity as a Moderator

In today’s changing environment, employees’ voice behavior can enhance organizational effectiveness. This study tests an integrative model linking proactive personality, leader–member exchange (LMX), voice behavior, and employee–supervisor sex (dis)similarity. Sex (dis)similarity is posited as a moderator. Results showed proactive personality was positively related to both voice behavior and LMX quality, and LMX quality was positively related to voice behavior. LMX quality partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and voice behavior. Employee–supervisor sex (dis)similarity moderated the effect of LMX quality on voice behavior. Employees working in higher quality LMX relationships with supervisors of dissimilar sex exhibited more voice behavior.

Hanging in There in the Throes of a Performance Climate and Burnout

Drawing on leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that the interplay between a perceived performance climate and job burnout reduces employees’ work engagement, which facilitates a low- quality LMX relationship that results in reduced employee organizational citizen behavior (OCB). Contrary to our hypothesis, a field study among seven different organizations (N=718) revealed a more positive relationship between a perceived performance climate and work engagement for employees with higher job burnout. Work engagement and LMX were found to be important mechanisms in the performance climate and OCB relationship for these employees. Our study has important implications for organizations with respect to the role of context and well-being for LMX and its outcomes.

Daily perceptions of relationship quality with leaders: implications for follower well-being

ABSTRACTWe examined how a key relationship at work, an employee’s relationship with their leader, affects employee daily well-being. In a study of 129 employees across a variety of industries, we examined how follower perceptions of their daily leader–member exchange (LMX) quality across a workweek influenced their well-being (n = 468 observations). Results provided general support for our hypotheses. Specifically, we found that on days when employees perceived a higher quality LMX relationship with their leader, they were more likely to report a sense of belongingness, which was then positively associated with daily reports of vigor and negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. Lagged analyses showed that perceptions of LMX quality were also negatively associated with reports of emotional exhaustion the following workday suggesting that these effects may persist over time. Finally, we found that day-to-day variation in reports of LMX quality attenuated the beneficial effects of LMX on relatedness and vigor supporting our hypothesis that uncertainty related to resource availability may contribute to a threat mindset focused on resource conservation rather than engagement. Implications and future research on leadership and employee well-being are discussed.

Leader-member Exchange, Work-to-family Enrichment, and Work Engagement

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the influence of leader–member exchange (LMX) on employee work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and work engagement. Based on data from a sample of 138 employees in China, this study demonstrated that LMX was positively related to both WFE and work engagement. Work engagement mediated the relationship between LMX and WFE. The results indicate the important implications of a resourceful environment in high quality LMX relationships for employees’ work-family enrichment and work engagement, and the mediating mechanism of work engagement as well.

Attachment style and leader-member exchange

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine psychological attachment styles (secure, anxious, and avoidant) as antecedents to leader-member exchange (LMX) quality both directly and through their impact on employees’ efforts to build high quality LMX relationships. Employees with secure attachment styles are proposed to be successful at building high quality LMX relationships while employees with anxious and avoidant styles are proposed to display the opposite effect.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through a survey of 213 employees nested in 37 work groups. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel modeling within MPlus.FindingsResults indicated that secure and anxious attachment styles were associated with LMX only by impacting the exertion of effort specifically aimed at relationship development with the manager. Alternatively, the avoidant style was directly and negatively linked to LMX but not associated with effort undertaken to build a high quality relationship.Practical implicationsThe effects of attachment style on effort to develop high quality LMX relationships reveal that subordinate attachment style may impact those subordinates’ ability and interest in developing positive LMX relationships. Therefore, managers may need to purposively deviate from typical LMX development processes in order to create a more conducive environment for developing high quality relationships with subordinates of differing attachment styles.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to examine the mediating impact of effort to build high quality LMX relationships given personal propensities (attachment style) to form relationships in the workplace.

Impact of leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment and job performance: An application of leader- member exchange theory

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment and job performance from a Leader- Member Exchange (LMX) perspective. It aims at contributing new knowledge to research constituting servant leadership within the workplace. The aim of the study was to examine in essence, the impact of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational commitment and the consequential outcome on employee job performance. LMX theory is the theoretical framework that forms the basis on which the study is undertaken. The problem was investigated within the SME sector of Zimbabwe. The study was quantitative by nature and adopted positivism as the research paradigm. 189 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe formed the unit of analysis. The empirical testing of the study’s six hypotheses revealed that the relationships are positive and significant. This implied that servant leadership, organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational commitment have a constructive effect on employee job performance and thus SMEs in general. The study extracts the fundamental impact that servant leadership has on employee behaviour and their performance within the workplace subsequently. While quality LMX relationships are exemplified by mutual trust, respect and commitment, this virtue was employed to assess if it impels a good relationship between servant leadership and employee behaviour and the resulting job performance of employees. The implication is that the general SME sector should encourage their senior employees to embrace a servant leadership style given that it has a positive effect on employee organizational behaviour, employee commitment and job performance subsequently. This is particular important for a country like Zimbabwe that is still developing and therefore relies much on the superior performance of SMEs for sustainability.

Are leaders defined by followers? Role of follower’s ILT and the mediating influence of LMX on follower outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to cast followers in an active role, and proposes a research model in which follower’s implicit leadership theory (ILT) congruence (ILT congruence) influences perceptions of transformational leadership (TL) and the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship. In addition, the authors expect LMX to mediate the influence of ILT congruence and TL on outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The research model was tested with data collected at three different points in time from 210 newly hired employees. Results of structural equation modeling provided strong support for the overall model. Findings – This study focussed on extending the understanding of leader-follower relationships. First, ILTs measured on the first day of employment shaped new entrants’ perceptions of TL measured 30 days after date of hire. Second, both ILT congruence and TL influenced the quality of LMX measured approximately 90 days from followers’ date of hire. As expected, LMX fully mediated the influence of ILT congruence and perceptions of TL on the dependent variables of turnover intentions, organizational identification and perceived organizational support (POS). Practical implications – Organizations should focus on measuring and developing LMX quality during the early phases of a follower’s socialization into the organization. Consistent with other research (Erdogan and Liden, 2002), LMX was a significant predictor of turnover intentions, organizational identification, and POS. Given the cost of turnover, organizations focussed on developing high quality LMX relationships could realize dramatic results. Originality/value – This study extends prior research by showing LMX fully mediates the influence of followers’ ILTs and transformational leader behaviors on POS, organizational identification and turnover intentions. By using data collected at three points in time from new employees, the authors demonstrated the effect of ILT congruence on the early development of LMX. Additionally, the results showed high ILT congruence leads followers to perceive their leaders as more transformational. Finally, data show the effects of ILT congruence and TL perceptions on turnover intentions, POS and organizational identification were fully mediated by LMX.

Boundaryless LMX: Examining LMX's Impact on External Career Outcomes and Alumni Goodwill

Research has convincingly shown that leader–member exchange (LMX) is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for employees within organizations. As employees increasingly pursue boundaryless careers that straddle multiple organizations, it is important to ask: Do advantages from LMX extend beyond the current organization and persist even after employees have left it? We propose that employees in higher quality LMX relationships with their managers benefit from stronger professional development, which can pay off in the form of better career outcomes on the external job market. Further, after leaving, whether or not ex‐employees (i.e., alumni) harbor goodwill toward their former organizations is likely to depend on their LMX quality prior to leaving. Alumni goodwill matters because organizations can potentially reap important strategic benefits from their alumni. Using time separated data including alumni interviews conducted by third‐party consultants, we find that, among employees who quit, pre‐turnover LMX is positively related to higher salaries and greater responsibility in their next jobs and is also positively related to alumni goodwill. Moreover, the strength of the LMX–alumni goodwill relationship depends on whether managers made robust retention efforts after employees communicated their decisions to quit.

Effective delegation among Hong Kong Chinese male managers: the mediating effects of LMX

Purpose – With the continued expansion of Western organisations and their leadership personnel and practices across national boundaries there is a need for continued critical examination of assumptions about the transferability of these practices into other cultural settings. The purpose of this paper is to focus on one such practice, delegation, and explores its relationship to leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships and work outcomes in a non-Western organisation. Design/methodology/approach – Participants (186) were Chinese subordinate managers in a large transport company in Hong Kong. Data were collected via questionnaire and analysed using a path-analytic model. Findings – The data supported a direct and indirect path between delegation and job satisfaction and an indirect path only between delegation and job performance where LMX was the mediating variable. The results highlight the importance of LMX in the delegation-work outcomes relationship. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of using a single site for investigation, cross-sectional data and common method bias are discussed in relation to suggestions for future research. Practical implications – For the company in question, quality LMX relationships are seen as key for improving delegation-work outcome relationships particularly in terms of the potential to “soften” the autonomy requirements of the delegation process for Chinese subordinate managers. Originality/value – This research adds new knowledge to the literature about the conditions under which delegation may be effective in improving subordinate job satisfaction and performance through the agency of enhanced LMX relationships in a Chinese work context.

Leader–member exchange (LMX) in context: How LMX differentiation and LMX relational separation attenuate LMX's influence on OCB and turnover intention

Using the group engagement model, we hypothesize that two differentiated leadership constructs – LMX differentiation at the group level and a new construct, LMX relational separation, at the individual-within-group level – interact with LMX to affect follower citizenship behaviors (OCB) and turnover intentions. Data from 223 followers and their leaders situated across 60 workgroups demonstrate that the effects of individual perceived LMX quality are contingent upon a group's overall variability in LMX (i.e., LMX differentiation) and employees' similarity in terms of LMX with their coworkers (i.e., LMX relational separation). Specifically, the effects of high quality LMX relationships on OCB and turnover intentions are weaker when group LMX differentiation or employees' LMX relational separation is higher, rather than lower. Our findings contribute to a growing stream of multilevel LMX research incorporating climate effects and offer an alternative view of differentiated leadership in groups. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed.