Does Servant Leadership Stimulate Work Engagement in the Workplace? The Mediating Role of Trust in Leader

Abstract

Servant leadership is a style that is considered to be ethical, positive, and desirable due to its compatibility with an array of situations. Moreover, work engagement is a key factor that can have positive short- and long-term outcomes for organizations. This research focuses on the role of servant leaders and their effects on employees’ work engagement in an academic setting. Furthermore, the role of trust as a mediator is analyzed to shed light upon its effect after the pandemic of COVID-19. As the academic sector has faced an abrupt shift to online formats, this study emphasizes on the role of leaders in fostering wellbeing for academic staff. This research emphasizes trust and work engagement as important elements for achieving positive employee outcomes within the context of sustainable psychology as a scientific domain. Through a specified approach, a sample of 138 people was collected from various faculty members and analyzed by SmartPLS. Results suggest a strong role played by servant leaders in improving the work engagement of their staff. Similarly, the mediating role of trust in a leader is statistically significant, implying its vitality for improving work engagement in an academic setting. These results can be beneficial for researchers (leadership and organizational psychology) and practitioners in the education sector.

الظلم التوزيعي والارتباط الوظيفي في وكالات السفر والفنادق: الدور المعدل للثقة في القيادة

“…Findings also revealed that there is a negative effect of trust in leadership on distributive injustice perception (H2), trust in leadership has a positive effect on job engagement (H3), and trust in leadership moderates the negative relationship between distributive injustice perception and job engagement (H4). These findings are consistent with those of Håvold et al (2021) and Rahal & Farmanesh (2022) who argued that job engagement is based on trust in leadership and consistent with Raza et al (2017) who claimed that fair treatment of employees leads to a higher perception of leaders as trustworthy and reliable. Trust in leaders is crucial for job engagement and overall organizational success.…”

“…Even when they believe there is a lack of justice, employees who trust their leaders may continue to put in the effort because they feel compelled to do their best for their leaders, as trust acts as a buffer for organizational injustices (Bal et al, 2011;Raza et al, 2022). Håvold et al (2021) and Rahal & Farmanesh (2022) concluded that job engagement is built on a bedrock of trust in leadership. This result is compatible with social exchange theory, which posits that leaders who act with integrity foster trust among their employees (trust in leaders).…”

Impact of human capital sustainability leadership on work engagement and job satisfaction in the hotels industry

“…This is because engaged employees are fully involved in their duties (Rich et al, 2010). (Rahal & Farmanesh, 2022). H5: Ethical leadership has a positive effect on job satisfaction.…”

“…This empowerment will also help to increase the level of job satisfaction that employees feel. Additionally, a climate of work that promotes the general wellness of academic staff can be maintained by servant leaders while also improving work engagement (Rahal & Farmanesh, 2022).…”

The Moderating Role of Internal Marketing on the Relationship Between Organizational Trust and Job Engagement: Evidence From Hotels and Travel Agencies

“…Strong relationships, both personal and professional, thrive on a foundation of mutual respect and trust (Kandade et al, 2021). This principle extends to the workplace, where respect, trust, and performance form the cornerstones underpinning employee engagement (Melhem and Al-Qudah, 2019;Rahal and Farmanesh, 2022). The logical link between OT and JE is undeniable.…”