Abstract:
Even in today’s uncertain and turbulent times, employees remain the key driver of
organisational performance. Retaining high performing and loyal employees, while
maintaining a high level of organisational performance, is becoming increasingly
challenging for today’s leaders. Global levels of employee engagement are at an all-time
low. It has become imperative for leaders to cultivate a work environment that espouses
a more engaged work force. Servant leadership requires leaders to remove positional and
authoritative power, and work together with employees to enhance organisational
performance, and create an environment that is conducive to meeting organisational
goals.
OBJECTIVE: The focus of the research was to ascertain whether there is a relationship
between servant leadership and employee engagement, and to establish which sub scale
of servant leadership had the greatest relationship with employee engagement.
METHODOLOGY: The key parameter data in this mono-quantitative study were
employees across industries. The study set out to investigate the servant leadership style
of an employee’s manager, and the engagement of the employee. The study followed a
descriptive research design and data was collected from 115 employees across various
industries via an online survey. The researcher adapted research instruments for both
constructs: servant leadership was measured according to six dimensions, and employee
engagement was defined by three dimensions.
OUTCOME: The results in the study established a statistically significant relationship
between a perceived servant leadership style and overall employee engagement, and
found the servant leadership dimension, transcendental spirituality, to have the greatest
relationship with employee engagement.
