Leadership in the safety sense: where does perceived organisational support fit?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine leaders’ influence on the safety behaviours of employees and the possible mediating role of perceived organisational support (POS), focussing on transformational and transactional leadership. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through a survey from 264 engineers and technicians in the power transmission subsector in Ghana and analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings The analyses revealed that transformational leadership influenced safety behaviours positively while transactional leadership had no significant influence on employees’ safety behaviours. POS also mediated between the leadership styles and safety behaviours. Practical implications Supervisors need to exhibit more transformational leadership behaviours and organisations need to show support for their employees’ wellbeing in order to aid supervisors’ influence on employees’ safety behaviours, especially if the leaders are more transactional in nature. Originality/value The study addresses a dearth in literature and highlights the influences of leadership styles on the safety behaviours of the employees, as well as the importance of the organisation to commit to employees’ support and safety so as to enhance their good perceptions and consequently elicit better performance from them.

Examining transformational and transactional leadership styles and safety citizenship behaviors in the power distribution sector: evidence from Ghana

“…The current results revealed that transformational leadership style has a positive impact on SCBs in the PDS. Consistent with the views of Addo and Dartey-Baah (2019), managers who exhibit a transformational leadership style can influence employees to oblige and demonstrate safety behaviors beyond the regular safety expectation of top management. Though past research on the subject matter is scanty, a few safety experts examining safety leadership within the power and energy sector have also reiterated the point that transformational leaders and managers are capable of promoting SCBs if they can set a vision and strategic direction, empower, provide resources and constantly emphasize and reinforce the importance of safety to employees beyond their normal obligations (Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2011; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2011; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2013; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2012).…”

“…However, earlier research has been inconsistent regarding the role of transactional leaders in employee safety behaviors in the power and energy sector. While Addo and Dartey-Baah (2019) argued that transactional leaders or managers have no influence on employee safety behaviors, Kivimaki et al (1995) were of the view that certain transactional leadership practices such as providing communication and feedback to subordinates can help foster appropriate safety behaviors. Moreover, the traditional view of transactional leadership is that rewards and punishments may not produce and achieve expected results in the long term (Bass, 1985).…”

“…Prior research has reported that the transactional leadership style negatively influences employees’ safety behaviors. For example, in their study, Addo and Dartey-Baah (2019) revealed that transactional leadership had no significant influence on employees’ safety behaviors in the power transmission subsector in Ghana. On the contrary, Kivimaki et al (1995) found that transactional leadership style, including participative management, which involves providing communication and feedback to subordinates, was positively associated with safety behaviors and performance in the nuclear power sector.…”

“…Despite the large body of work on safety leadership, there is relatively less research conducted on leadership styles for SCBs in the PDS and the energy industry. However, the few existing research on safety leadership in the power and energy sector has shown that transformational leadership and its related dimensions can influence employee safety behaviors (Addo and Dartey-Baah, 2019; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2011; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2013; Martínez-Córcoles et al , 2012; Flin and Yule, 2004; Katsva and Condrey, 2005). For instance, Flin and Yule (2004) found that stimulation and individual consideration, a known dimension of transformational leadership style, positively influence employees’ safety behaviors.…”

Effectiveness of business leadership in the Eurasian context: empirical evidence from Kazakhstan

“…Effective leadership is considered as sine qua non for successful organizational management irrespective of nature of business, industry and national contexts (Addo and Dartey-Baah, 2019; Amin et al , 2017; Cummings et al , 2018; Hanges et al , 2016). The positive effects of perceived “good” leadership styles (Banks et al , 2017; Inceoglu et al , 2018; Keskes et al , 2018; Wang et al , 2018) as well as the negative impacts of perceived “bad” or “dark” leadership styles (Kim et al , 2019; Mackey et al , 2018; Milosevic et al , 2019) on managerial effectiveness and organizational performance are well documented in empirical research.…”