Leadership styles and engagement

Chambers-HolderNPSY8400-12 1


This action guide explores different strategies that leaders in a public sector organization

could use to improve the psychological health and workplace safety of their employees.

Drawing from a wide field of research on organizational behavior and leadership, consultant

Nicola Chambers-Holder explores both company-wide policies and job specific methods that can

ultimately create productive employees. The major findings of this proposal show that

establishing a well-articulated organizational culture with engaging employees and effective

leaders is essential to achieving and enhancing employee’s psychological health and workplace

safety (Yukl, 2012).

Effective Leadership

The discussion about leadership and its role in organizations is decades old, and it

continues today. This discussion continues to ignite numerous research in the field, leaving

many questions unanswered, as new perspectives, theories, and definitions of leadership

continues to emerge. Leadership styles are important because organizations are always looking

for ways to increase productivity, and studies have shown that leadership styles play a critical

role in improving performance and productivity (Yukl, 2012). According to Yukl (2012),

leadership is a process where one or more persons influence a group of people to move in a

particular direction. The degree to which the individual exhibits leadership traits depend not

only on his/her skills and abilities to get people to follow, but also on their capacity to get others

to follow willingly and with enthusiasm (Yukl, 2012).

Types of Leadership


Organizations hire effective leaders who have the power and authority to influence their

employees to align their goals with that of the organizations (Arnold et al., 2015). Leaders have

different styles of influencing employees. Among the numerous leadership styles, the ones

below seem to be more popular among researchers and organizations. First, there is the laissez-

faire leadership style, which does not provide feedback or direction to subordinates. Secondly,

the autocratic leadership who does not allow input from others and possesses total authority over

his/her subordinates (Muchinsky & Culbertson, 2016). Thirdly, the transactional leadership,

which is a relationship based on exchanges of rewards or punishments depending on the

performance of the follower. There is the democratic leadership style that allows subordinates to

give their feedback and input, but the final decision is on the leader. The transactional leadership

style is a relationship based on exchanges of rewards or punishments depending on the

performance of the follower. Lastly, there is the transformational leadership style. This type of

leadership seems to be the most popular and sought after by organizations. The transformational

leader tries to transform the follower into something greater than what he or she was before

(Muchinsky & Culbertson, 2016).

Employee Performance under Effective Leadership

Employee performance is the foundation of organizational success. How well employees

perform the activities expected by their employers depends on how compelling their leaders are

(Nixon, 2014)). This researcher found that employees under effective leadership usually achieve

organizational goals (Nixon, 2014). Employees, who perform under mediocre leadership, often

end with psychological issues such as stress, burnout, and depression (p.75). Organizations need

leaders who can inspire subordinates’ potential to enhance efficiency while meeting the

organization’s goals. Organizational efficiency is associated with the quality of work done by

their employees. As well and the ability of the leader to influence the employees into believing

that their values and goals and are aligned with that of the organization. Organizations will


continue to experience high absenteeism and turnover if their leaders cannot provide direction,

implement plans, and motivate employees to produce.

Impact of employee’s performance on behavior of leaders

Researchers Quintana and Cabrera (2015) found that the way that leaders communicate

have a significant effect on employee’s performance, and, in turn, productivity. The study found

that the transactional leadership style, guide employee’s behavior by reinforcing rewards and

sanctions. However, leaders such as the transformational leadership unlock potential in others,

motivating them to perform beyond their interest (Kapp, 2012). Effective leadership influences

employee’s performance by increasing their efforts in contributing towards the organizational

goals. Great leaders understand that for their organizations to operate efficiently, they have to be

able to communicate effectively with organizational members. In addition, the way leaders

communicate information to make decisions, delegate responsibilities, and interact with their

employees significantly affected the way that employees perceived the entire organization

(Kapp, 2012).

Research on the relationship of employee performance and effective leadership in

the workplace. Research has shown that employees perform better under effective leadership.

Effective leaders give employees feedback, suggestions, help them set goals, and inspire them to

be all they can be (Kapp, 2012). Employees feel valued under effective leadership. Because

effective leaders listen to employees and use their input, their relationship creates a more

efficient work method to improve productivity (Kapp, 2012). Findings from the study assert that

all organizations desire to increase profit and productivity. Therefore, to achieve this goal

efficiently, they need leaders who can motivate and inspire employees to produce. Employees’


performances improve under leadership who effectively allocate tasks and direct employees to

do their jobs and to go willingly beyond.

Gender, employee performance, and effective leadership. Numerous gender stereotypes

affect workers' perceptions of appropriate male and female leader’s behavior (Harteis et al.,

2015). Studies have shown that in the workforce, male leaders are expected to be assertive,

controlling, competitive, and should show no signs of weakness. In contrast, women leaders are

expected to be sympathetic, concerning, and should demonstrate more empathy and flexibility.

These type of gender stereotypes and perceptions could have an adverse impact on leadership

roles, especially for female leaders. According to Harteis et al. (2015), this type of stereotype

becomes problematic when either gender demonstrates traits or characteristics that do not fit the

perception. This could result in followers’ negative perceptions. The findings from these studies,

assert that female leaders who adopted gender role, receive the most positive evaluations from

their employees. While those who demonstrate behaviors not associated with their gender were

not liked and valued. These findings suggest that the relationship between gender and leadership

roles could have positive or negative effects on employee performance (Wang et al., 2013).

Age, employee performance in Effective Leadership. Tilcsik (2014) argued that there is

a significant correlation between age, employee performance, and leadership. The author

conducted a study and found that employees' age and the way they support their leaders were

correlated. The older workers could identify more with senior leaders while younger employees

were more supportive of younger and more vibrant leaders. The findings also indicated that

younger employees who worked under young leaders experienced an advantage over older

employees. The study found that even though more senior employees had more extensive

experiences compared with the younger employee they did not experience any benefit, while

under the more senior leadership, they did ((Tilcsik, 2014).


Ethnicity, employee performance, and effective leadership. Employees spend 8 hours

out of the day, five days a week in the workplace. This time is spent communicating,

collaborating and planning with their own as well as other ethnic groups (Plaut et al., 2014).

Whether working with leaders or subordinates of different ethnic groups, everyone needs to be

trained on how to be sensitive to others, so the environment feels friendly, safe, and accepting.

People cannot control what their ethnicity is but they can control who and where they chose to

work. Therefore, when employees are treated equally in spite of their ethnic background, they

will perform as expected or even go beyond. On the other hand, when people are dealt with in a

discriminatory fashion based on their ethnicity, the work environment could become hostile,

morale low, and they will not perform well. In most cases, when employees experience

discrimination based on their ethnicity, they will experience issues such as isolation, stress, and

high absenteeism (Plaut et al., 2014). Organizations have to see that employing diverse ethnic

groups is an asset to their organization as they bring a wide variety of new ideas and different

point of views. Effective organizational leaders integrate policies into their mission statement

and provide training programs that embrace employees with cultural diversity. Which will

promote awareness on how to communicate and approach diversity with cultural sensitivity.

The organizational structure, employee performance, and leadership. Without

effective leadership, employees performance will suffer and ultimately the organizations'

structure. An organization’s structure is how the people within the organization allocate activities

and tasks, and set goals to achieve the organization's mission (Carter et al., 2013). Leaders have

to be careful about the way they model the organization's missions, because, employees will

form perceptions of their behaviors and act accordingly. For example, if the organization's

mission is to practice integrity, yet the leaders are modeling unethical behaviors, then employees

will most likely not perform well or support their organization's mission. It is critical for the

organization to build a structure and culture promoting the psychological well-being of


employees. Small and large businesses should develop ways to enhance psychological well-

being, foster employee resilience, and improve mental health issues in the workplace. Life

happens, and employees need to know how to adapt and recover quickly from traumatic events

or other difficulties they may face.

Creating a respectful workplace, including fostering employee resilience and promote

knowledge of mental health issues in the workforce. According to Bardoel et al. (2014),

resilience is not a trait, it is teaching employees how to think and behave a certain way in the

face of stress and tragedy (p.281). Some ways to foster employee resilience in the workplace is

to create a culture of open communication, support, acceptance, and non-judgement. Creating an

environment where employees feel safe enough to communicate openly with their superiors and

each other strengthens resilience (Bardoel et al., 2014). In addition, providing a supportive

environment helps employees to deal better with stressful events. Findings have shown that

employers benefit by helping employees build resilience to stress. When employees are

overwhelmed and stressed, it affects their mental well-being. The result is high absenteeism,

high turnover rate, and low productivity (Robertson et al., 2015). Therefore, it is beneficial to

the organization and its employees to promote ways to increase resilience and the knowledge of

mental health issues in the workforce. Stress and burnout could lead to a broad range of mental

illness, anywhere from mild anxiety to severe depression or even violence in the workplace

(Robertson et al., 2015).

The importance of training for employees and supervisors to create a culture of

psychological safety. Employees and supervisors should have training on psychological safety

in the workplace. This type of training is necessary for the organization and all employees since

it will increase awareness and establish a culture of psychological safety. Organizations should

promote an environment of trust where employees feel comfortable reaching out to someone as


well as providing services such as EAP, where they can contact a professional. In most cases,

mental illness could be a result from outside sources such as family life, personal issues, and

genetics. This cannot be avoided because employees bring the whole person into the workplace,

including their problems (Tilcsik, 2014). Therefore, organizations cannot afford to ignore these

type of challenges. Instead, they must recognize that a stressful work environment can

precipitate behavioral disorders in employees, and implement strategic preventative measures.

When employees are aware of triggers, and can manage their psychological wellness, they will

be more productive. There should be training on cultural sensitivity, mental health, and ways to

alleviate stress and deal with trauma (Tilcsik, 2014). Training builds strong, knowledgeable

teams, encourages interpersonal relationships, prevents isolation, and teaches awareness about

the mental health issues and the resources available.

Strategies and resources to reduce the risk of psychological harm. Researchers May

et al. (2014), conducted a study of the different job-related injuries that employees suffer in the

workplace. Findings from the study suggested that employees suffer from different physical,

economic, emotional, and cognitive harm. Depending on the magnitude of these injuries, they

can have detrimental psychological effects on the employee, in turn, the organization. There are

four strategies and resources to reduce the risk of psychological harm. These include keeping

employees safe from workplace violence, promoting employee engagement, incorporating

mental health and safety elements into the job design, and identifying self-help tools and

resources for stress management.


Keep employees safe from workplace violence by recognizing the benefits of an early

alert system for workplace violence. Organizations are expected to abide by the Occupational

Safety and Health Standards (OSHA). However, conflicts are expected when working in an

environment with different people with different values, beliefs, and expectations (Fida et al.,

2015). In a matter of seconds, organizations can quickly find themselves in an untenable

dilemma where conflicts turn into violence. Violence in the workplace threatens the

psychological welfare and lives of its employees. Therefore, it is important to create a workplace

violence program where employees can recognize the early signs of workplace violence and

learn preventative measures (Fida et al., 2015). Supervisors could create a crisis team, then

conduct a vulnerability assessment, then train employees how to prevent violence. The crisis

team could see signs of inappropriate behaviors and hear threatening comments and

conversations from their peers that upper management might not be aware of (Kenny, 2010).

Unfortunately, employees only report incidents when they escalate. Therefore, the crisis team

would be able to get a handle on issues that might seem unimportant at first, but with further

assessment, these small issues might give a picture of a more serious problem.

Promote employee engagement in a way that supports an organization’s mission and

ultimately improve productivity. Organizations benefit more when leaders can get employees to

align their personal values and goals with that of the organization (Carter et al., 2013). When

employees feel like they are a part of the organization's mission, they are more positive and will

willingly support and get other to support the company’s strategies, policies, and procedures

(Carter et al., 2013). In a research article by Janssens and Zanoni (2014), the researchers

examined the impact leadership styles on how goals are set to maximize employee productivity.

They found that leaders and managers who help employees to set clear objectives maximized

employee productivity. Leadership style has a significant effect on how employees set and

exceed goals (Janssens & Zanoni, 2014). Transformational leaders motivate employees to


success by setting specific goals, and give employees all the tools they need to reach those

objectives. This type of leadership style empowered employees to create their goals and help

them to make their decisions while guiding them towards fulfilling organizational goals (Nixon,

2014). Transformational leaders can overcome the difficult task of developing and maintaining

production goals and enforcing adherence to their organization mandates.

Incorporate psychological health and safety elements into the job design and employee

selection process. It is important to address the psychological demands, and psychological

safety, when planning and designing jobs. Kenny (2010) defined psychological safety as a

shared perception of organizational practices by employees. This is an excellent strategy for

reducing the risk of psychological harm. Protecting employees including their mental health and

security should have priority. There is a high rate of skilled workers suffering from illness or

injury due to the lack of a psychologically healthy workforce. Implementing mental health into

job designs, and the selection process, will further the goals of the organization, and promote the

psychological health of the entire workforce. It will improve workers safety, and keep

employees engaged and productive (Kenny, 2010).

Determine how to identify counterproductive behaviors and how to conduct a risk

assessment. When employee’s behaviors and attitudes are not in alignment with that of their

organizations these types of actions are counterproductive and must be stopped. Effective

leaders understand how harmful counterproductive behaviors are to employees, the organization,

as well as to the services it provides (Fida et al., 2015). There should be clear guidelines on

acceptable behaviors, and consequences when violated. Subordinates do not only display

counterproductive behaviors, but it could also be between leadership and subordinates. For

example, leaders do in fact retaliate against their subordinate for reporting them or by showing

favoritism. Therefore, effective leaders should conduct risk assessments as a preventative

measure to identify any potential dangers, analyze the outcome if the hazard occurs, and then put


the appropriate system in place. The psychological harm and financial consequence of

workplace violence are too high not to have a system in place to reduce the risk of

counterproductive behaviors turning into workplace violence.

Self-help tools and resources for stress management. Effective leadership integrates

healthy ways to cope with stress, which helps to alleviate the harmful effect of stress. However,

when it comes to stress management, each person must find what works or does not work

because individuals are different and respond to challenges and stressful situations differently

(Fida et al., 2015). Employees should listen to their body, when they need to take a break, take a

break, go for a walk, knowing triggers will help prevent stress from getting out of control. Some

other tools involve managing time effectively, prioritizing tasks to get a better handle on meeting

deadlines. It is important to discuss conflicts instead of avoiding them. Exercise regularly, eat

healthy, sleep, socialize, and try to communicate openly and respectfully about things that might

be bothersome and could build up and become stressful (Fida et al., 2015). Implementing these

self-help tools should help keep employees more focused and calm.

Conclusion

Numerous research has shown that employees who receive support and inspiration from

their leaders are more likely to experience work as more satisfying, and consequently, become

more engaged with the job tasks. Transformational leaders seem to be the most efficient at

producing this type of satisfaction in employees. Employees working under transformational

leaders tend to be more optimistic, believing they can achieve their goals. Transformational

leaders can use persuasion to convince employees that they are capable of more, boosting self-

efficacy, and beliefs about their capacities to be successful in a given task (Carter et al., 2013).

Effective leadership is essential for organizations to succeed. At the same time, findings and

leadership theories show that transformational leadership might be the most effective in meeting

this goal. Their leadership style enhances employees' work engagement, increases performance,


and ultimately productivity. The number one reason employees thrive in organizations is the

way they led or managed. Unfortunately, it is also the number one reason they quit (Bardoel et

al., 2014). Therefore, organizations should use effective leadership to produce greater

engagement and momentum for change. Effective leaders go beyond managing day-to-day

operations, focus on team building, create cultural awareness, and build an aesthetic around the

psychological health and safety of their employees.


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Leadership & Management

Leadership styles and engagement