When Leadership Transforms, Engagement Follows: The Mediating Role of Psychological Well-Being among Administrative Staff in Ghanaian Higher Education

Faustina Kwofie; Vera Rosemary Ankoma-Sey; Nathaniel Quansah; Adriana Apagya-Quayson; Philip Aikins

doi:10.59653/jbmed.v3i02.1734

Authors

Faustina Kwofie University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Vera Rosemary Ankoma-Sey University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Nathaniel Quansah University of Cape Coast, Ghana https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8274-1480
Adriana Apagya-Quayson University of Cape Coast, Ghana https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4872-3079
Philip Aikins Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6415-2783

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59653/jbmed.v3i02.1734

Keywords:

transformational leadership (TL), employee psychological well-being (PWB), work engagement (WE), Ghanaian Higher Education (GHE)

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between transformational leadership (TL), psychological well-being (PWB), and work engagement (WE) with a specific focus on the mediating role of psychological well-being. Anchored in an explanatory research design, the study involved 104 administrative staff members from the University of Cape Coast (UCC). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential methods, particularly mediation analysis. Correlation results revealed a moderately significant positive relationship between TL and EPW, as well as between TL and WE. Furthermore, EPW was found to significantly mediate the link between TL and WE, highlighting its critical role in fostering employee engagement. This implies that for higher education institutions, improving leadership alone is not enough; there must also be efforts to create a healthier work milieu where staff members feel valued, less stressed, and more satisfied. Both important theoretical and practical implications have been discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agyemang, C. B., & Ofei, S. B. (2013). Employee work engagement and organisational commitment: a comparative study of private and public sector organisations in Ghana. Eur J Bus Innov Res,1(4):20–33.

Akdere, M. (2006). Improving the quality of work-life implications for human resources. Business Review (Cambridge), 6(1), 173-173.

Arnold, K. A., Turner, N., Barling, J., Kelloway, E. K., & McKee, M. C. (2007). Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: The mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), 193-203.

Babbie, E. R. (2016). The practice of social research (14th ed.). Cengage Learning, Belmont

Baffour-Awuah, E., & Agyei, S. K. (2020). Effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles on job satisfaction: The Case of Cape Coast Technical University. International Journal of Education and Evaluation, 6(4), 9-24.

Bass, B. M. and Avolio, B. J. 1997. Full range leadership development: Manual for the multifactor leadership questionnaire, CA, Mind Garden.

Bass, B.M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations, Free Press, New York, NY.

Bland, J. M., & Altman, D. G. (1997). Statistics notes: Cronbach's alpha. BMJ, 314(7080), 572.

Blomme, J. R. B. (2018). Positive Coworker Exchanges. In Turner de Tormes Eby, L., Allen, T.D. (eds.) Personal Relationships. The Effect on Employee Attitudes, Behaviour and Well-being. Routledge, New York, 107-130.

Bolarinwa, K. A. E. (2015). Identities, intentionality and institutional fit: Perceptions of senior women administrators at liberal arts colleges in the Upper Midwestern USA. Journal of Higher Education Research & Development, 33(1), 100-113.

Cloete, N., Maassen, P., & Bailey, T. (Eds.). (2015). Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education. Cape Town: African Minds.

Dai, Y. D., Zhuang, W. L., Lu, S. C., & Huan, T. C. (2021). Work engagement or job burnout?Psychological ownership amongst the employees of international tourist hotels. Tourism Review, 76(6), 1243-1259.

Decuypere, A., & Schaufeli, W. (2020). Leadership and work engagement: Exploring explanatory mechanisms. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(1), 69-95.

Duarte, A. P., Ribeiro, N., Gomes, D., & Hernandez, D. (2015). The role of leadership in employee motivation. Journal of Human Resource Management, 3(2), 1-20.

Dulac, W. B. (2008). The Elley-Irving socio-economic index, 1981 census revision. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 20(2), 115–128.

Evelyn, T. A., & Elegwa, J. E. (2020). Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(5), 751–765.

Ghadi, M. Y., Fernando, M., & Caputi, P. (2017). Transformational leadership and work engagement: The mediating effect of meaning in work. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 34(6), 532–550.

Ghadi, M.Y., Fernando, M., & Caputi, P. (2013). Transformational leadership and work engagement: The mediating effect of meaning in work. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 34(6), 532-550.

Giorgi, G.; Arcangeli, G.; Perminiene, M.; Lorini, C.; Ariza-Montes, A.; Fiz-Perez, J.; Di Fabio, A.; Mucci, N. (2017). Work-Related Stress in the Banking Sector: A Review of Incidence, Correlated Factors, and Major Consequences. Front. Psychol. 8, 2166.

Grant, L. W., Christianson, B., Price, H. (2007). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(6), 693–727.

Harrell-Cook, G., Levitt, K., & Grimm, J. (2017). From engagement to commitment: A new perspective on the employee attitude-firm performance relationship. International Journal of Leadership Journal, 9(1), 3-29.

Hayati, D., Charkhabi, M., & Naami, A. Z. (2017). The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospital nurses: A survey study. Springer Plus, 3(25), 3–25.

Holstad, T. J., Korek, S., Rigotti, T., & Mohr, G. (2014). The relation between transformational leadership and follower emotional strain: The moderating role of professional ambition. Leadership, 10(3), 269-288.

Huertas-Valdivia, I., Llorens-Montes, F. J., & Ruiz-Moreno, A. (2018). Achieving engagement among hospitality employees: A serial mediation model. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(1), 217-241.

Hunter, E.M., Neubert, M.J., Perry, S.J., Witt, L.A., Penney, L.M., Weinberger, E. 2013. Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organisation. The Leadership Quarterly, 24, 316-331.

Israel, M., & Hay, I. (2006). Research Ethics for Social Scientists. SAGE Publications.

Issahaku, J., Nkyi, R. S., & Dramanu, W. C. (2020). Leadership trapeze: Strategies for leadership in team-based organisations. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Yukl, G. A. (1994). Leadership in Organisation. Englewood

Jackson, S. E., & Schuler, R. S. (2011). Managing Human Resources. Cengage Learning.

Jiang, W., Zhao, X., & Ni, J. (2017). The impact of transformational leadership on employee sustainable performance: The mediating role of organisational citizenship behaviour. Sustainability, 9(9), 1567.

Kara, A. (2019). Employee engagement in the U.S. was stagnant in 2015. Gallup Management Journal Online, 5(1), 1–5.

Kark, R., Van Dijk, D., & Vashdi, D. R. (2018). Motivated or demotivated to be creative: The role of self‐regulatory focus in transformational and transactional leadership processes. Applied Psychology, 67(1), 186-224.

Keloway, E. K., Turner, N., Barling, J., & Loughlin, C. (2012). Transformational leadership and employee psychological well-being: The mediating role of employee trust in leadership work and stress. An International Journal of Work, Health & Organisations, 26, 39-55.

Kim, H. D.; Cruz, A. B.(2022). Transformational Leadership and Psychological Well-Being of Service-Oriented Staff: Hybrid Data Synthesis Technique. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19, 8189. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph 19138189.

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D.W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3): 607-610.

Kuenzi, E., & Schminke, L. (2019). Leadership style, organisational culture and performance: Empirical evidence from UK companies. International Journal of Human Resources Management, 11(4), 766–788.

Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Li, J., & Yuan, B. (2017). Both angel and devil: The suppressing effect of transformational leadership on proactive employee’s career satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 65, 59-70.

Liden, R. C., & Maslyn, J. M. (1998). Multidimensionality of leader-member exchange: An empirical assessment through scale development. Journal of Management, 24(1), 43-72.

Liden, R. M. & Graen, D. A. (1980), “The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), pp. 1173-1182.

Liu, J., & Zhang, Y. (2017, April). Attention modelling for targeted sentiment. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics: Volume 2, Short Papers (pp. 572-577).

Liu, Y., & Liu, J. (2021). The influence of transformational leadership on employee creativity: The mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of knowledge sharing. Journal of Business Research, 130, 113-125.

Liyanage, F. J. (2020). Indirect leadership. Transformational leadership at a distance (pp. 26–47).

Lord, R. G., Day, D. V., Zaccaro, S. J., Avolio, B. J., Eagly, A. H. (2017). Leadership in applied psychology: Three waves of theory and research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 434-451.

Manoppo, J. (2021). The influence of transformational leadership on employee performance. Journal of Business and Management, 23(4), 45-52.

Manu, B., & Sinosh, A. M. (2020). Employee Engagement and Leadership. Human Resource Development Review, 11(2), 156–181.

Marwan, A., Suriyanti, S., & Wahyudi, W. (2022). The effect of transformational leadership on organisational commitment and job satisfaction: Evidence from higher education in Indonesia. Journal of Educational Management, 18(2), 234-245.

Meng, F., Wang, Y., Xu, W., Ye, J., Peng, L., & Gao, P. (2020). The diminishing effect of transformational leadership on the relationship between task characteristics, perceived meaningfulness, and work engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 585031.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Basics of social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.

Nurtjahjani, F., Batilmurik, R. W., & Pribadi, J. D. (2021). The influence of transformational leadership style on work engagement, remuneration dimediation and educator motivation. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 19(1), 11-22.

Nurtjahjani, F., Batilmurik, R. W., Puspita, A. F., & Fanggidae, J. P. (2022). The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement. Moderated mediation roles of psychological ownership and belief in a just world. Organisation Management Journal, 19(2), 47-59.

Parker, A. M., Amidu, M., & Abor, J. Y. (2015). The effects of revenue diversification and cross-border banking on risk and return of banks in Africa. Research in International Business and Finance, 40, 1-18.

Pearce, C. L., & Conger, J. A. (2003). All those years ago. Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership, 1-18.

Popli, S., & Rizvi, I. A. (2016). Exploring the relationship between service orientation, employee engagement and perceived leadership style: A study of managers in the private service sector organisations in India. Journal of Services Marketing, 29(1), 59–70.

Popli, S., & Rizvi, I. A. (2017). Leadership style and service orientation: the catalytic role of employee engagement. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(1), 292-310.

Posadzińska, I., Słupska, U., Karaszewski, R. 2020. The Attitudes and Actions of the Superior and the Participative Management Style. European Research Studies Journal, 23(S1), 479-492.

Puni, A., Mohammed, I., & Asamoah, E. (2018). Transformational leadership and job satisfaction: The moderating effect of contingent reward. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 39(4), 522-537.

Saks A. M. (2019). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement revisited. J Organ Eff. 6:19 38. doi:10.1108/joepp-06-2018-0034

Schaufeli W, Shimazu A, Hakanen J, Salanovam M, De Witte, H. (2017). An ultra-short measure for work engagement: the UWES-3 validation across five countries. Eur J Psychol Assess. 35(4):577–591.

Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi‐sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(3), 293-315.

Schneider, T. (2015). The Skipper Effect in the Icelandic Herring Industry. Reykjavik: University of Iceland.

Shepperd, B. Z. (2018). An investigation into the leadership practices of volunteer leaders. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 36(7), 885-898.

Skakon, J.; Nielsen, K.; Borg, V.; Guzman, J. (2010). Are Leaders’ Well-Being, Behaviours and Style Associated with the Affective Well-Being of Their Employees? A Systematic Review of Three Decades of Research. Work Stress, 24, 107–139.

Telef, B. B. (2013). The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 13(2), 1301-1306.

Thisera, T. J. R., & Sewwandi, E. P. I. (2018). Transformational leadership and employee engagement in the hospitality sector in Sri Lanka. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 18(12), 27-33.

Thisera, T., & Sewwandi, K. (2020). Impact of transformational leadership on employee engagement in Sri Lankan universities. Journal of Management Research, 22(3), 145-158.

Trofino, A. M. (2000). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600- 619.

University of Cape Coast. (2023). Human Resource Office Annual Report 2023. University of Cape Coast Publications.

Van De Voorde, K., Paauwe, J., & Van Veldhoven, M. (2012). Employee well-being and the HRM-organisational performance relationship: A review of quantitative studies. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), 391-407

Verbraak, G. M. (2014). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 18(5), 1442-1465.

Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., & Peterson, S. J. (2011). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89-126.

Wray, L. (2016). Research Methods in Education. Routledge.

Wu, P. U. (2017). Influence of autocratic leadership style on the job performance of academic librarians in Benue State. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 4(7), 148- 152.

Zhu, J. (2009). Quantitative models for performance evaluation and benchmarking: data envelopment analysis with spreadsheets (Vol. 2). New York: Springer.