The findings of the study indicate that management leadership style had an effect on employee engagement within the workplace. It was consistently observed across all research methods that transformational leadership had the most impact on employee engagement.
However, it was also found out that transactional leadership style didn’t have as much as an impact. It was also found that work life balance and employee autonomy were also key drivers to keeping employees engaged, but not as much as management style. Corporate social
responsibility was found to have a moderate effect, more strongly so among younger employees.
It was found that technology had no impact whatsoever on employee engagement.
Study Limitations & Directions for Future Study
It is intriguing to see how management style affects employee engagement, further research could be performed to see if management style affects other aspects of employment such as job satisfaction or employee retention. Our samples were conducted during Covid-19 when many employees and students were required to stay home. Now with more employees returning to the office the dynamic in the workplace is starting to change once again. Perhaps with this our sample size could be increased to capture a wider swath of the working population.
The research only concentrated on employee age group, perhaps other factors could be included such as marital status, gender, income level, and education level. Even including whether the employee taking the survey is in a leadership role could have value, seeing what motivates employees to become leaders. We used the linear regression, logistic regression, discriminant model, and cluster model to determine results. Perhaps future studies could include other statistical methods such as factor analysis, or structural equation models.
Concluding Remarks
This research shed light on what factors contributed to employee engagement within the organization of a company. The key take away from this is that the transformational leadership style had the biggest impact on keeping employees engaged. Keeping employees engaged could lead to increased efficiency and profitability for the organization. It is also noted that work life balance and an autonomous environment are factors that result in highly engaged employees.
Incorporating these factors into workplace culture could lead to a company’s success.
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APPENDIX
This survey is a business class project at a state university in the New England area. The purpose of this research is to learn about employee behavior in the workplace. Your response will be kept anonymous. This survey will take about 5 to 10 minutes. The survey results will be used solely for educational and academic purpose. Your participation in this survey is greatly appreciated.
Please answer as honestly as possible for the following questions by circling a single number. “7” represents strongly agree while “1” represents strongly disagree.
Strongly Disagree Disagree
SREN1 I think the company I work tries to:
Take care of water, energy, and material uses. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AT3 I have considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do my
job. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LFIS1 My leader’s ideas have forced me to rethink some of my own ideas, which I
had never questioned before. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LFIS2 My leader enables me to think about old problems in new ways. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LFIS3 My leader has provided me with new ways of looking at things, which used to
be a puzzle for me. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LFIC1 My leader gives personal attention to members who seem neglected. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LFIC2 My leader finds out what I want and tries to help me get it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LFIC3 I can count on my leader to express his/her appreciation when I do a good job. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LTCR1 My leader tells me what to do if I want to be rewarded for my efforts. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LTCR2 There is a close agreement between what I am expected to put into the group
effort and what I can get out of it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LTCR3 Whenever I feel like it, I can negotiate with my leader about what I can get
from what I accomplish. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
LTME1 My leader asks no more of me than what is absolutely essential to get the work
done. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WLB4 I feel that you should change something about my work in order to balance my
responsibilities. (R) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
WLB5 I feel that personal commitments interfere with my job. (R) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 MI1 Why are you motivated to do your work?
Because I enjoy the work itself 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 RT1 Barring unforeseen circumstances, I would remain in this organization
indefinitely. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
RT2 If I were completely free to choose, I would prefer to continue working in this
organization. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
RT3 I expect to continue working as long as possible in this organization. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How is each item in compensation package important to you? Please rank each item in 1 (least important) to 7 (most important).
Leas