Investigating the relationships between engaging leadership, need satisfaction, work engagement and workplace boredom within the South African mining industry

Abstract

Leadership and the effects it has on organisational outcomes, has been a popular topic of interest due to its importance. Recently, engaging leadership has surfaced as a new leadership style that emphasises the connection between the leader and the follower. Leadership studies within the South African mining industry are especially beneficial due to the numerous challenges that the industry has faced in recent years. The current study investigated the relationships between engaging leadership, need satisfaction, work engagement and workplace boredom within the South African mining industry. The general objective of the study was to determine the relationships between engaging leadership, need satisfaction, work engagement and workplace boredom. A cross-sectional research approach was followed. Non-probability, convenience sampling was utilised, whereby the sample consisted of 361 participants from the mining industry. The discriminant validity between engaging- and transformational leadership was tested. Thereafter, structural equation modelling was applied to analyse the relationships between the variables. This was done by testing the goodness-of-fit between the measurement models, utilising Cronbach's alpha coefficients and composite reliability coefficients to calculate the variables' reliability and adding regression paths between variables to determine the relationships between the variables in a structural model. The results indicated that all of the variables had acceptable reliability values and that the discriminant validity between engaging- and transformational leadership was acceptable although a significant overlap existed between these two constructs. Furthermore, engaging leadership had a direct positive relationship with need satisfaction, but no significant relationship with either work engagement or workplace boredom. Interestingly, significant indirect relationships through need satisfaction were found between engaging leadership and work engagement, and engaging leadership and workplace boredom - indicating the importance of need satisfaction as an important explanatory variable for these relationships. Recommendations regarding practice and future research are made.