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

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  • Fatme El Zahraa M. Rahal

    (Department of Business Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Girne American University, Mersin 10, Girne 99300, Turkey)

  • Panteha Farmanesh

    (Department of Business Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Girne American University, Mersin 10, Girne 99300, Turkey)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Fatme El Zahraa M. Rahal & Panteha Farmanesh, 2022. "Does Servant Leadership Stimulate Work Engagement in the Workplace? The Mediating Role of Trust in Leader," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16528-:d:998894
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    Cited by:

    1. Panteha Farmanesh & Alla Mostepaniuk & Parisa Gharibi Khoshkar & Riham Alhamdan, 2023. "Fostering Employees’ Job Performance through Sustainable Human Resources Management and Trust in Leaders—A Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Hazem Ahmed Khairy & Sijun Liu & Samar Sheikhelsouk & Ahmed M. EI-Sherbeeny & Omar Alsetoohy & Bassam Samir Al-Romeedy, 2023. "The Effect of Benevolent Leadership on Job Engagement through Psychological Safety and Workplace Friendship Prevalence in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-22, September.

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