Authentic Leadership and Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Employee Work Environment

Abstract

The study investigated the interrelation between authentic leadership style and employee engagement in the local government service. It also investigated the effect of the employee work environment in mediating the relationship between authentic leadership and employee engagement. The study was quantitative in nature using a cross-sectional survey design. The cross-sectional survey design was utilised to collect data from five randomly selected assemblies in Ghana's Eastern Region. For this study, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed to collect data from a total of two hundred and forty-five (245) respondents. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 and covariance-based structural equation modelling (IBM AMOS version 21.0). The study findings revealed that there is a significant positive association between authentic leadership and employee engagement. It was discovered that there was a significant positive association between authentic leadership and employee work environment. Furthermore, the findings revealed a significant positive association between the work environment of employees and employee engagement. The data also revealed that the employee work environment partially mediated the association between authentic leadership and employee engagement. It is recommended that attention be paid to the types of leadership styles demonstrated at the various assemblies and that supervisors be trained and encouraged to exhibit positive leadership attributes in order to foster improved levels of staff participation.