Enhancing employee engagement through integrating leadership and employee job resources: evidence from a public healthcare setting

Abstract

This study examines the mediating role of job resources on the relationship between leadership and the work engagement of healthcare professionals. A stratified random sample from across the public healthcare sector of Cyprus was used. Data from a total of 605 respondents were analyzed: nurses (n = 348), physicians (n = 114), and other health professionals (n = 143). Using exploratory factor analysis, the antecedents of engagement were extracted, and a structural equation model was developed to investigate the hypothesized relationships. The results suggest that leadership factors such as leadership role encouragement and employee orientation leadership could elicit greater engagement among healthcare professionals by facilitating improved job resources (line-management supervision, development and training opportunities, and shared organizational vision). Notably, our results highlight the important role of a shared organizational vision in enhancing employee engagement. Our study provides important insights that can help managers and decision-makers further engage public healthcare employees.

Acknowledgements

We thank the State Health Service Organization, Ministry of Health Cyprus, for financial and field work support. The authors would like also to thank NHS England, who own the copyright in the Staff Survey questionnaire modules, and who gave us permission for their use. The authors are grateful to the Editor and the anonymous reviewers for the insightful and value-added comments and suggestions.

Conflicts of interests

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The primary research was funded by the State Health Service Organization, Cyprus.

Notes on contributors

Giorgos Giallouros

Giorgos Giallouros, BSc, MSc, PhD candidate at the Department of Business and Public Administration, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Christos Nicolaides

Christos Nicolaides, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Business and Public Administration, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Elena Gabriel

Elena Gabriel, RN, BSc, MSc, PhD Ministry of Health, Cyprus.

Mary Economou

Mary Economou, BSc, RD, MSc, MPH, PhD School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus.

Andrea Georgiou

Andrea Georgiou, BSc, MSc, PhD Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.

Manolis Diakourakis

Manolis Diakourakis, BSc, MSc, MBA, PhD Candidate Department of Business and Public Administration, University of Cyprus.

Andreas Soteriou

Andreas Soteriou, PhD, Professor, Department of Business and Public Administration, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Georgios K. Nikolopoulos

Georgios K. Nikolopoulos, DDS, MSc, PhD, CPH, FACE Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.