Disengaged employees are a threat to a company's survival in a highly competitive world. Despite employee engagement benefits, the mediation of interactions between leaders and followers and the specific drivers of engagement remain poorly understood. This correlational study was grounded on leader member exchange (LMX) theory and examined the relationship between 2 dimensions of LMX (perceived contribution and professional respect) and employee engagement. In this study, 68 manufacturing employees from the southern region of the United States responded to 2 surveys to measure the LMX dimensions and the level of employee engagement. Using multiple regression analysis, the existence of a positive correlation, p < .001 and R2= .277, was demonstrated, which explained 28% of the variation in engagement. This research may serve as a roadmap for studying additional variables and providing workable tools for developing strategies to improve engagement in the workplace. The results of this study might contribute to positive social change by helping managers develop strategies to engage employees and reduce turnover, by improving the sense of stability for employees and their families, and by helping companies become more competitive and generate new jobs.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:31:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Derly Jardim do Amaral.pdf: 1303669 bytes, checksum: bdbed4159c19b330d3238392f94f5448 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-30 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The study of organizational behavior has called the attention of the researchers interested in understanding the phenomenon of the leadership exerted in the organizations. The range of possibilities of these studies permeates several levels of analysis. The intention of this work was to identify and to analyze the factors that stimulate the relationships' construction in a dyadic level. The Leader-Member Exchange Theory - LMX, was adopted as the basic reference, not yet explored in Brazil. In LMX´s theory, high quality relationship is based on loyalty, affection, contribution and professional respect, this fourth dimension, recently discovered. The instrument chosen for this study was the one elaborated from Liden and Maslyn (1998) added with some assertive created on assumptions from the Theory of the Social Identity and the Theory of the self-categorization, both interpreted in literature as the bases of the construction of the dyadic relationship. The instrument was applied on a sample of 255 individuals. The result analysis permits to affirm that the four dimensions of LMX, except contribution, presented a correlation, among them and with the other variables of the study. The factor grouping obtained indicated that the Professional Respect dimension agglutinates the dimensions of the social identity and the auto-categorization giving evidence that the respondents perceive themselves as pertaining to the leader s closest circle. It was also verified that the perception of the quality of the relationship and the gender of the respondents were useful to discriminate the priorities given to the construction of this relationship. On the other hand, the same was not observed when it came to the type of company s respondent or to the elapsed time of dyadic relationship. Another outcome of the study was an acceptable structural model for formative and reflective variables. As a conclusion, high quality dyadic relationships can influence the results of personal performance, hence deserving, attention and investment from organizations. / O estudo do comportamento organizacional tem chamado à atenção dos pesquisadores interessados em compreender o fenômeno da liderança exercida nas organizações. A gama de possibilidades que estes estudos apresentam se dá em vários níveis de análise. O propósito deste trabalho foi o de identificar e analisar os fatores que estimulam a construção de relacionamentos no nível diádico. Adotou como referência fundamental a Teoria da Troca entre Líder e Liderado LMX, conhecida, em inglês, como Leader-Member Exchange Theory LMX e ainda não explorada no Brasil. Para a LMX, o relacionamento de alta qualidade é formado a partir da lealdade, do afeto, da contribuição e do respeito profissional, sendo essa uma quarta dimensão recentemente descoberta. Optou-se por utilizar o instrumento elaborado por Liden e Maslyn (1998). Foram adicionadas a esse instrumento assertivas concebidas a partir dos pressupostos da Teoria da Identidade Social e da Teoria da Autocategorização, ambas entendidas na literatura como bases que sustentam a construção do relacionamento diádico. A aplicação do instrumento envolveu uma amostra composta por 255 sujeitos. A análise dos resultados permite afirmar que as dimensões da LMX, exceto a Contribuição, se apresentaram correlacionadas entre si e com as outras variáveis envolvidas no estudo. O agrupamento fatorial obtido indicou que a dimensão Respeito Profissional aglutinou as dimensões da identidade social e da autocategorização, evidenciando que os respondentes se percebem identificados e pertencentes ao círculo mais próximo do líder. Verificou-se que a percepção da qualidade do relacionamento e o gênero dos respondentes foram capazes de discriminar as prioridades dadas à construção desse relacionamento. O mesmo não foi observado no tocante ao tipo de empresa a que o respondente pertence e ao tempo que possuem de relacionamento diádico. Obteve-se, ainda, um modelo estrutural considerado adequado, composto por variáveis formativas e reflexivas. Conclui-se que relacionamentos diádicos de alta qualidade podem influenciar os resultados do desempenho individual, merecendo, por conta disso, atenção e investimento das organizações.