How can leaders achieve high employee engagement?

Xu, Jessica; Cooper‐Thomas, Helena D.

doi:10.1108/01437731111134661

Cited by 176 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(111 reference statements)

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“…Khan, and more recent researchers, point out the lack of research into the processes of engagement and disengagement (Khan, 1990;Rich et al, 2010;Xu and Thomas, 2011). Khan (1990) claimed that task oriented leadership behaviours lead to disengagement.…”

Section: Engagement and Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Leadership between decks

Offord

Gill

Kendal

2016

Leadership &Amp; Organization Development Journal

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of interaction in the process of leadership. Interaction has been claimed to be a leadership competence in earlier research into leadership in the Royal Navy. The aim of this research is to define how interaction works within naval teams. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses Grounded Theory. Following a series of leadership discussions in separate focus groups, discussion topics were coded and subjected to recursive qualitative analysis. The grounded approach is used to synthesise and develop existing leadership theory strands as well as to extend the trait-process approach to leadership. Findings – The research discovers the key interaction behaviours of engagement, disengagement and levelling. Our findings support recent developments in follower-centric perceptions of leadership and in interaction specifically. The authors develop engagement theory by combining it with the less well researched area of leadership resistance. The authors then re-frame resistance as social levelling, a more comprehensive interaction mechanism. Research limitations/implications – The research is highly contextual because of its qualitative approach. Some of the detailed reactions to leadership behaviours may not found in other naval or military teams and are unlikely to be generalisable to non-military environments. However, the mechanism described, that of engagement, disengagement and levelling is considered highly generalisable if not universal. Rather than develop new theory fragments in an already confusing research environment, the authors fuse engagement and resistance theory to extend trait-process theories of leadership. The result is a coherent and integrative model of leadership dynamics which frames leadership in the mundane interaction of leaders and followers. Practical implications – Interaction as a competence is strongly supported as is the encouragement of cultures which promote interaction. Selection procedures for future leaders should include interaction skills. The use of subtle methods of resistance are highlighted. Such methods may indicate poor interaction long before more overt forms of resistance are apparent. Social implications – The continual monitoring of leaders and implied ambivalence towards leadership could be critical to our understanding of leadership. A dynamic feedback circle between leaders and followers may be a more useful paradigm for the characterising of leadership throughout society. A better understanding of the power of followers to frame and re-frame leadership would help to manage the expectations of leaders. Originality/value – This research uniquely uses Grounded Theory to extend current theories (competence based leadership and trait-process theories of leadership), explaining the complexity of leadership interaction. The research also synthesises and develops engagement and levelling (resistance to leadership) theories for the first time. As such the project suggests a full range model of follower response to leadership including subtle forms of resistance to power. The value of group-level analysis using focus groups is recommended, especially for other collective leader-follower approaches to leadership. The research is of interest to those studying leadership process theories, competencies, leader-follower traditions, engagement and power/resistance research.

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Section: Engagement and Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Engagement theory has been somewhat disembodied, although antecedents of engagement have been discussed (Khan, 1990;Xu and Thomas, 2011). These antecedents involve interaction, placing engagement centrally in the interaction leadership model.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leadership between decks

Offord

Gill

Kendal

2016

Leadership &Amp; Organization Development Journal

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“…Therefore, leadership is essential for running professional employees (Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990). A study conducted that a good leadership is certainly related to subordinate mind-set and behavior thought that cover with engagement (Xu et al, 2011) [39]. In addition to theory of social exchange described that member's display engaged behavior when they are given help and importance form the leaders.…”

Section: Leadership Support and Employee Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting Millennials Employee Engagement in Government Sector

Raza

Ansari

Humayon

et al. 2017

International Journal of Management Excellence

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“…According to Xu and Cooper [8], the engagement among the employees increase when they feel involved through a collaborative leadership style. Trust in the superiors, their support and a friendly environment lead to employee engagement.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the Demographic Variables on the Employee Engagement - An Analysis

Marcus¹,

Gopinath²

2017

IJMS

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Employees play a pivotal role in the success of every organization. They help to achieve organizational objectives. Various studies indicate that a highly-engaged employee can help the organization to respond to the changes in environment, competition, and changing workforce. The extent to which an employee believes in the mission and purpose of an organization and demonstrates commitment through their action and their attitude towards their employer is employee engagement. The aim of this paper is to understand the impact of demographic variables such as age and gender on employee engagement in IT companies in South Chennai. The drivers considered for the study are superior, performance appraisal and reward and recognition. The study was conducted among employees working in various IT companies situated in South Chennai. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and was analysed using appropriate statistical tools. It was observed that the age of the respondents has an influence on the drivers of employee engagement. It was further noted that gender has no impact on the selected drivers of employee engagement. However, the female respondents are found to be more influenced by the employee engagement initiatives by the IT companies in Chennai.

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How can leaders achieve high employee engagement?

Cited by 176 publications

References 49 publications

Leadership between decks

Leadership between decks

Factors affecting Millennials Employee Engagement in Government Sector

Impact of the Demographic Variables on the Employee Engagement - An Analysis

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