Assessing the role of trust in the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement of academic staff in selected South African universities

Abstract

Contemporary South African society is experiencing moral bankruptcy, as is evident through persistent acts of crime and corruption in media reports. The higher education sector has not remained unscathed, with a lack of leadership leading to recent breakdowns in governance at multiple public universities in South Africa. A need exists for a leadership approach that serves the interest of others, promotes ethical behaviour, restores trust in the leader, and improves the work engagement of academic staff to counter corruption's adverse effects. This study aimed to assess the role of trust in the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement of academic staff in four selected South African universities. The study adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional design, using a non-probability convenience sample (n=206) to achieve the study's objectives. The shortened servant leadership scale, the shortened Utrecht work engagement scale, and the trust in/loyalty to the leader scale were administered as measuring instruments. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis, mediation and moderation analyses, and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicated a positive association between servant leadership, trust, and work engagement. Insignificant results were found to determine the mediating or moderating effect of trust in the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement. Servant leadership and trust were found to successfully predict the outcome of work engagement, with servant leadership being the dominant predictor. The limitations are identified, including recommendations to address limitations in future research. Practical recommendations are also provided for higher education institutions.