The role of perceived social identity leadership in influencing employee engagement

Abstract

The working world as we know it has fundamentally been altered by accelerated digitisation and rapid globalisation. The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked virtual workplaces that physically increase the distance between teams and their leaders, while also threatening to increase employee burnout, further elevating the importance of employee engagement. Scholars and practitioners are at odds regarding the definition and measurement of employee engagement. At the same time, leaders continue to seek ways to improve employee engagement as evidenced by studies exploring the intersection of famous leadership styles and employee engagement. As an extension, this study sought to explore whether the practice of social identity leadership (SIL), through its four dimensions of prototypicality, advancement, entrepreneurship and impresarioship, plays a role in influencing employee engagement. This study thus followed a qualitative research methodology, utilising semi-structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of 14 individuals employed by companies rated as top employers in South Africa. The average duration of interviews was 46 minutes, which were then analysed, coded and arranged into themes in line with the thematic content analysis phases. Consistent with literature, findings indicate that leaders were perceived to practice SIL. Adding to literature, the study discovered new insights for the novel application of activities to practice the identity advancement, identity entrepreneurship and identity impresarioship dimensions.