Abstract
In today’s dynamic business environment, employee engagement has emerged as a key factor influencing productivity and organisational success. Engaged employees demonstrate higher levels of motivation, which translates into increased productivity and better performance outcomes for organisations. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors drive the relationship between employee engagement and organisational success. Intrinsic factors, such as self-efficacy and passion for work, alongside extrinsic factors, such as supportive leadership and conducive work environments, play a significant role in fostering engagement. Moreover, leaders who cultivate psychological safety and demonstrate genuine care for their employees can further enhance engagement, leading to resilience and sustained team productivity.
The purpose of this minor dissertation, with limited scope, was to determine the moderating effect of heart-centred leadership on the relationship between employee engagement, and psychological safety. A quantitative, cross-sectional, post-facto survey research approach was adopted. A sample of N=107 was obtained from individuals employed in the finance industry in South Africa.
This study initially aimed to examine the relationship between employee engagement, psychological safety, and heart-centred leadership, with a focus on testing the moderating effect of heart-centred leadership. However, through Exploratory Factor Analysis, new empirical factors emerged: workplace vitality and engagement, work immersion, lack of interpersonal psychological safety, supportive environment for psychological safety, and heart-centred leadership, each warranting further investigation.
Notably, the heart-centred leadership scale was held as reliable, while new factors emerged for the employee engagement and psychological safety scales, likely due to the unique South African context. South Africa’s collective cultural orientation (e.g., Ubuntu) emphasises community, shifting perceptions of engagement and safety toward a collective focus. Additionally, high unemployment and economic disparities heightened the importance of job security, potentially impacting responses. Language nuances and hierarchical structures further influenced interpretations, making constructs like supportive environments for psychological safety particularly relevant
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in this setting.
Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the strength and direction of relationships in both the original and newly emerged hypotheses. This shift in focus yielded valuable insights into the continued development of the employee engagement scale, the psychological safety scale with the addition of new constructs, and the addition of the heart-centred leadership scale. These insights may contribute to the existing body of knowledge and pave the way for future research to examine further and refine these new empirical constructs.