The impact of leadership on employee engagement : an assessment of SARS

Abstract

Organisations are constantly seeking for ways and means to enhance their profitability in a global economy. The current organisational trend to gain the competitive advantage has become a more people orientated focus. Numerous studies grant acclaim to employee engagement for its perceived increase in financial performance. A dominant driver effecting levels of employee engagement, is leadership. It is this driver, in particular, that is examined in this study. The aim is to determine to what extent leadership has an impact on employee engagement, which in turn directly impacts on the organisations bottom-line. The study was done by utilising existing secondary data on employee engagement (Connexion survey for 2008) in the Enforcement and Risk Management Division of SARS. A quantitative research study was conducted, utilising measures such as Cronbach alpha coefficient test and factor analysis, to establish a relationship between the two factors. The main finding of the research is that leadership has a profound impact on levels of employee engagement in the organisation of choice. It is also deduced that employee engagement, as a strategy to enhance an organisation’s competitiveness, is a continuous process that must be sustained for a number of years to fully perceive the value. Copyright