Spiritual leadership and work engagement: a mediating role of spiritual well-being

• Authors: Joanna Samul

Abstracts

EN

Purpose – Recently, both researchers and practitioners have been very interested in the impact of leadership on employee engagement. Thus, I aimed to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and work engagement through the mediating role of spiritual well-being at work. Design/methodology/approach – I assessed spiritual leadership, engagement, and well-being in an empirical study based on a sample of 223 employees. I collected data through a survey-based method and analyzed them using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – The present study contributes to the existing knowledge in the leadership field, especially spiritual leadership. The results revealed that spiritual leadership impacts employees’ work engagement by indirectly influencing employees’ spiritual well-being. Research limitations/implications – Theoretically, the findings imply that spiritual well-being can be one of the factors considered in enhancing work engagement through spiritual leadership. Practical implications – Finding evidence that spiritual leadership, like other leadership styles, can foster employee engagement. Therefore, leaders should take care of employees’ spiritual needs. Originality/value – Many researchers have indicated that well-being is associated with employee engagement. However, they overlooked employees’ spiritual well-being in the research. The study confirmed the unexplored mediating role of spiritual well-being between spiritual leadership and employee engagement.

Keywords

EN

Spiritual leadership; Work engagement; Well-being

• Publisher: Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
• Journal: Central European Management Journal
• Year: 2024
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 421-435

Dates

published

2024

Contributors

author

Joanna Samul

• Białystok University of Technology

References

• Ahmed, S. S., Khan, M. M., & ur Rahman, M. (2023). Unlocking employees resilience in turbulent times: The role of spiritual leadership and meaning. Continuity & Resilience Review, 5(11-12), 249–261. doi: 10.1108/CRR-12-2022-0036.
• Akoglu, H. (2018). User’s guide to correlation coefficients. Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18(3), 91–93. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2018.08.001.
• Amor, A. M., Váguez, J. P. A., & Faina, J. A. (2020). Transformational leadership and work engagement: Exploring the mediating role of structural empowerment. European Management Journal, 38(1), 169–178. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2019.06.007.
• Arnold, K. A., Turner, N., Barling, J., Kelloway, E. K., & McKee, M. C. (2007). Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), 193–203. doi: 10.1037/1076-8998.12.3.193.
• Arshad, A., & Abbasi, A. S. (2014). Spiritual leadership and psychological ownership: Mediating role of spiritual wellbeing. Science International (Lahore), 26(3), 1265–1269.
• Ashforth, B. E., & Humphrey, R. H. (1995). Emotion in the workplace: A reappraisal. Human Relations, 48(2), 97–125. doi: 10.1177/001872679504800201.
• Babcock-Roberson, M. E., & Strickland, O. J. (2010). The relationship between charismatic leadership, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Jornal of Psychology, 144(3), 313–326. doi: 10.1080/00223981003648336.
• Bailey, C., Madden, A., Alfes, K., & Fletcher, L. (2017). The meaning, antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement: A narrative synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 31–53. doi: 10.1111/ijmr.12077.
• Bakker, A. B., & Oerlemans, W. (2011). Subjective well-being in organizations. In K. S Cameron, & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Bakker, A. B., Scharp, Y. S., Breevaart, K., & de Vries, J. D. (2020). Playful work design: Introduction of a new concept. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 23, 1–6. doi: 10.1017/SJP.2020.20.
• Bayighomog, S. W., & Arasli, H. (2022). Reviving employees’ essence of hospitality through spiritual wellbeing, spiritual leadership, and emotional intelligence. Tourism Managemant, 89, 104–406. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104406.
• Brunetto, Y., Teo, S. T. T., Shacklock, K., & Farr-Wharton, R. (2012). Emotional intelligence, job satisfaction, well-being and engagement: Explaining organizational commitment and turnover intentions in policing. Human Resource Management Jornal, 22(4), 428–441. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2012.00198.x.
• Carasco-Saul, M., Kim, W., & Kim, T. (2015). Leadership and employee engagement: Proposing research agendas through a review of the literature. Human Resource Development Review, 14(1), 38–63. doi: 10.1177/1534484314560406.
• Carsten, L. D., Jahn, S., & Boztug, Y. (2017). Conducting mediation analysis in marketing research. Marketing ZFP, 39(3), 76–98. doi: 10.15358/0344-1369-2017-3-76.
• Cenkci, A. T., Bircan, T., & Zimmerman (2020). Inclusive leadership and work engagement: The mediating role of procedural justice. Management Research Review, 44(1), 158–180. doi: 10.1108/MRR-03-2020-0146.
• Chen, C. Y., & Li, C. I. (2013). Assessing the spiritual leadership effectiveness: The contribution of follower’s self-concept and preliminary tests for moderation of culture and managerial position. Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 240–255. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.11.004.
• Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B. (2014). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being: The role of trust in supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653–663. doi: 10.1007/s10551-014-2126-7.
• Cozby, P. C., & Bates, S. C. C. (2012). Methods in behavioral research (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Cruz, J. P., Alquwez, N., & Balay-odao, E. (2022). Work engagement of nurses and the influence of spiritual climate of hospitals: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(1), 279–287. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13492.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). Good business: Leadership, flow and the making of meaning. New York: Penguin.
• Delbecq, A. (1999). Christian spirituality and contemporary business leadership. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12(4), 345–349. doi: 10.1108/09534819910282180.
• Dodge, R., Daly, A. P., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. D. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222–235. doi: 10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4.
• Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Fagley, N. S., & Adler, M. G. (2012). Appreciation: A spiritual path to finding value and meaning in the workplace. Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion, 9(2), 167–187. doi: 10.1080/14766086.2012.688621.
• Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 693–727. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.001.
• Fry, L. W. (2005). Toward a theory of ethical and spiritual well-being, and corporate social responsibility through spiritual leadership. In R. A. Giacalone, & C. L. Jurkiewicz (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
• Fry, L. W., Vitucci, S., & Cedillo, M. (2005). Spiritual leadership and army transformation: Theory, measurement, and establishing a baseline. Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 835–862. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.07.012.
• Garg, M., Punia, B. K., Garg, N., & Punia, V. (2022). Spiritual leadership and well-being in the context of the modern workplace. In Garg, N., & Punia, B. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Integrating Spirituality in Modern Workplaces (pp. 170–185). Hershey: IGI Global.
• Geldenhuys, M., Łaba, K., & Venter, C. M. (2014). Meaningful work, work engagement and organisational commitment. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40(1), 1–10. doi: 10.4102/sajip.v40i1.1098.
• Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250–279. doi: 10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7.
• Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., Anderson, R., & Tatham, R. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th Edition). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Hair, J. F., Jr., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. New York: Pearson New International Edition, United States of America.
• Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2013). Partial least squares structural equation modeling: Rigorous applications, better results and higher acceptance. Long Range Planning, 46(1-2), 1–12. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-05542-8_15-2.
• Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & Kuppelwieser, V. G. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSSEM). European Business Review, 26(2), 106–121. doi: 10.1108/EBR-10-2013-0128.
• Halbesleben, J. (2010). A meta-analysis of work engagement: Relationships with burnout, demands, resources, and consequences. In A. B. Bakker, & M. P. Leiter (Eds.), Work Engagement: A Handbook of Essential Theory and Research. New York: Psychology Press.
• Howard, S. (2002). A spiritual perspective on learning in the workplace. Journal of Management. Psychology, 17(3), 230–242. doi: 10.1108/02683940210423132.
• Huang, Y. (2022). Spiritual leadership and job engagement: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 844–991. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.844991.
• Hunsaker, W. D. (2019). Spiritual leadership and job burnout: Mediating effects of employee well-being and life satisfaction. Management Science Letters, 9, 1257–1268. doi: 10.5267/j.msl.2019.4.016.
• Hunsaker, W. D., & Jeong, W. (2020). Engaging employees through spiritual leadership. Management Science Letters, 10, 3527–3536. doi: 10.5267/j.msl.2020.6.042.
• Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A metanalytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755–768. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.89.5.755.
• Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724. doi: 10.2307/256287.
• Khan, A. N., Khan, N. A., Bodla, A. A., & Gul, S. (2020). Impact of psychopathy on employee creativity via work engagement and negative socioemotional behavior in public health sector: Role of abusive supervision. Personnel Review, 49(8), 1655–1675. doi: 10.1108/PR-02-2019-0072.
• Khanna, H., & Srinivas, E. (2000). Spirituality and leadership development. In Presented to the Roundtable Conference on Developing Leaders, Teams, and Organizations: Meeting the Challenges of Global Markets and Technology Gurgaon, India: Management Development Institute.
• Lewis, R., & Donaldson-Feilder, E. (2014). Managing for sustainable employee engagement and wellbeing. In 11th Conference of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology: Looking at the Past – Planning for the Future: Capitalizing on OHP Multidisciplinarity, London. Available from: https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/30007.
• Matthews, R. A., Mills, M. J., Trout, R. C., & English, L. (2014). Family-supportive supervisor behaviors, work engagement, and subjective well-being: A contextually dependent mediated process. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(2), 168–181. doi: 10.1037/a0036012.
• McCarthy, G., Almeida, S., & Ahrens, J. (2011). Understanding employee well-being practices in Australian organizations. International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society, 1(1), 181–197. doi: 10.18848/2156-8960/CGP/v01i01/41076.
• Mehmood, Q., Nawab, S., & Hamstra, M. R. W. (2016). Does authentic leadership predict employee work engagement and in-role performance? Considering the role of learning goal orientation. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 15(3), 139–142. doi: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000164.
• Mendes, F., & Stander, M. W. (2011). Positive organisation: The role of leader behaviour in work engagement and retention. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37(1), 1–13. doi: 10.4102/sajip.v37i1.900.
• Na-Nan, K. (2020). Organizational behavior scale development. Bangkok: Triple Education.
• Nguyen, P. V., Tran, K. T., Dao, K. H., & Dinh, H. P. (2018). The role of leader’s spiritual leadership on organization outcomes. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 23(2), 45–68. doi: 10.21315/aamj2018.23.2.3.
• Nielsen, K., Randall, R., Yarker, J., & Brenner, S. O. (2008). The effects of transformational leadership on followers’ perceived work characteristics and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study. Work and Stress, 22(1), 16–32. doi: 10.1080/02678370801979430.
• Nielsen, K., Yarker, J., Randall, R., & Munir, F. (2009). The mediating effects of team and self-efficacy on the relationship between transformational leadership, and job satisfaction and psychological well-being in healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(9), 1236–1244. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.03.001.
• Peterson, U., Demerouti, E., Bergstrom, G., Samuelsson, M., Asberg, M., & Nygren, A. (2008). Burnout and physical and mental health among Swedish healthcare workers. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 84–95. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04580.x.
• Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127. doi: 10.1016/j.riob.2010.09.00.
• Russell, J. E. A. (2008). Promoting subjective well-being at work. Journal of Career Assessment, 16(1), 117–131. doi: 10.1177/1069072707308142.
• Salanova, M., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2008). A cross-national study of work engagement as a mediator between job resources and proactive behaviour. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(1), 116–131. doi: 10.1080/09585190701763982.
• Samul, J. (2020). Spiritual leadership: Meaning in the sustainable workplace. Sustainability, 12(1), 1–16. doi: 10.3390/su12010267.
• Samul, J., & Wangmo (2021). Spiritual dimensions in leadership: A comparative analysis of polish and Bhutanese managers. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 14, 847–856. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S311456.
• Sanders, J. E., Hopkins, W. E., & Geroy, G. D. (2003). From transactional to transcendental: Toward an integrated theory of leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 9(4), 21–31. doi: 10.1177/107179190300900402. Available from: link.gale.com/apps/doc/A105440117/AONE?u5googlescholar&sid5bookmark-AONE&xid5c748ef37
• Sani, F., Madhok, V., Norbury, M., Dugard, P., & Wakefield, J. R. (2015). Greater number of group identifications is associated with healthier behaviour: Evidence from a Scottish community sample. British Journal of Health Psychology, 20(3), 466–81. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12119.
• Saripudin, W., & Rosari, R. (2019). Does spiritual leadership model enhance work engagement? Empirical evidence from an islamic hospital in yogyakarta. Journal of Leadership in Organizations, 1(2), 112–133. doi: 10.22146/jlo.45520.
• Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 25(3), 293–315. doi: 10.1002/job.248.
• Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2008). Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(2), 147–154. doi: 10.1002/job.515.
• Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., Roma, V. G., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two samples confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Study, 3(1), 71–92. doi: 10.1023/A:1015630930326.
• Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. doi: 10.1177/0013164405282471.
• Seppälä, P., Harju, L., & Hakanen, J. J. (2020). Interactions of approach and avoidance job crafting and work engagement: A comparison between employees affected and not affected by organizational changes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(23), 1–20. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17239084.
• Singh, J., & Chopra, V. G. (2018). Workplace spirituality, grit and work engagement. Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 14(1-2), 50–59. doi: 10.1177/2319510X18811776.
• Smith, G., Minor, M., & Brasher, H. (2018). Spiritual leadership: A guide to A leadership style that embraces multiple perspectives. Journal of Instructional Research, 7(1), 80–89. doi: 10.9743/JIR.2018.7.
• Spreitzer, G. M., Kizilos, M. A., & Nason, S. W. (1997). A dimensional analysis of the relationship between psychological empowerment and effectiveness satisfaction, and strain. Journal of Management, 23(5), 679–704. doi: 10.1177/0149206397023005.
• Srivastava, S., Mendiratta, A., Pankaj, P., Misra, R., & Mendiratta, R. (2022). Happiness at work through spiritual leadership: A self-determination perspective. Employee Relations, 44(4), 972–992. doi: 10.1108/ER-08-2021-0342.
• Stains, D. M. (2018). Spiritual well-being, job meaningfulness, and engagement for human resource managers. Minneapolis: Walden University Scholar Works.
• Su, R., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2014). The development and validation of the comprehensive inventory of thriving (CIT) and the brief inventory of thriving (BIT). Applied Psychology. Health and Well Being, 6(3), 251–279. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12027.
• Truss, C., Shantz, A., Soane, E., Alfes, K., & Delbridge, R. (2013). Employee engagement, organisational performance, and individual well-being: Exploring the evidence, developing the theory. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(14), 2657–2669. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2013.798921.
• Vaezipour, F., Atef-Vahid, M., Amini, M., & Ramezani Farani, A. (2021). Investigating the relationships between spiritual well-being and other well-being dimensions, and attitude toward high-risk behaviors in adolescents, with emphasis on the mediating role of personality traits. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 15(3). doi:10.5812/ijpbs.110586.
• VanderWeele, T. J. (2017). On the promotion of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(31), 8148–8156. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702996114.
• Wakefield, J. R. H., Sani, F., Herrera, M., Khan, S. S., & Dugard, P. (2016). Greater family identification – but not greater contact with family members – leads to better health: Evidence from a Spanish longitudinal study. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(4), 506–513. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2171.
• Wrzesniewski, A., McCauley, C., Rozin, P., & Schwartz, B. (1997). Jobs, careers, and callings: people’s relations to their work. Journal of Research in Personality, 31(1), 21–33. doi: 10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162.
• Wu, W. L., & Lee, Y. C. (2020). How spiritual leadership boosts nurses’ work engagement: The mediating roles of calling and psychological capital. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 6364. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176364.
• Yang, F., Huang, X., & Wu, L. (2019). Experiencing meaningfulness climate in teams: How spiritual leadership enhances team effectiveness when facing uncertain tasks. Human Resource Management, 58(2), 155–168. doi: 10.1002/hrm.21943.
• Yang, F., Chen, G., Yang, Q. L., & Huang, X. (2022). Does motivation matter? How leader behaviors influence employee vigor at work. Personnel Review, 52(9), 2172–2188. doi: 10.1108/PR-10-2021-0734.
• Yusof, J. M., & Mohamad, M. (2014). The influence of spiritual leadership on spiritual well-being and job satisfaction: A conceptual framework. International Review of Management and Business Research, 3(4), 1948–1957.
• Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering baronand kenny: Myths and truths about mediation analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206. doi: 10.1086/651257.
• Zou, W., Zeng, Y., Peng, Q., Xin, Y., Chen, J., & Houghton, J. D. (2020). The influence of spiritual leadership on the subjective well-being of Chinese registered nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 28(6), 1432–1442. doi: 10.1111/jonm.13106.
• Zuhaena, F., Tjahjono, H. K., El Qodri, Z. M., Prajogo, W., & Palupi, M. (2018). The proposition model of employees’ involvement, innovative behavior and spiritual leadership as a moderating variable. In Proceedings of the 31st International Business Information Management Association Conference, IBIMA

Identifiers

DOI

10.1108/CEMJ-05-2023-0223

Biblioteka Nauki

55994810