The relationship between an employee's perception of a leader's propensity to practice Ubuntu and employee engagement in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative research was to examine the relationship between African leadership philosophy of Ubuntu and employee engagement. The study aimed to test for the existence of a significant relationship between Ubuntu and employee engagement and whether this can be moderated for the race and gender of the leader. An online survey that included measures of Ubuntu and employee engagement was completed by 247 employees working at a South African multinational. The majority of the respondents were between the ages of 30 and 49 years with 64% being male and 42% being of African descent. The linear regression found a significant, moderate, positive correlation between employee engagement and Ubuntu. Hierarchical linear regression found that this relationship is not be moderated by the leaders race or gender. A limitation of the research was that it was conducted on one South African companyÕs workforce; therefore the results gained cannot be inferred without being aware of this context. The findings of this research indicate that the adoption of the African leadership philosophy of Ubuntu can benefit managers operating in the South African business environment increase employee engagement. This research contributes to the theory of Ubuntu and African management philosophy.