Servant Leadership, Engagement, and Employee Outcomes: The Moderating Roles of Proactivity and Job Autonomy

Abstract

This paper presents a moderation-mediation model suggesting that proactivity and job autonomy moderate the mediating effects of engagement on the relationship of servant leadership with job performance and lateness. Data were collected from a sample of 50 bank departments from three sources: managers (n = 50), employees (n = 165), and objective data provided by human resources departments. The results show that as expected, the association of servant leadership with work engagement was stronger for employees with low levels of proactivity and job autonomy. Proactivity moderated the mediating effect of engagement on the relationship of servant leadership with both job performance and lateness; autonomy moderated the mediating effect of engagement on the relationship between servant leadership and lateness. The results imply that placing employees with low levels of proactivity and job autonomy under the supervision of servant leaders can engender higher job engagement and better organizational outcomes.

Keywords

• servant leadership
• engagement
• proactivity
• job autonomy
• performance
• lateness