This study was designed to examine affective leader behaviours, and their impact on cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement. Researchers (e.g., Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005; Moorman et al., 1998) have called for more research to be directed toward modelling and testing sets of relationships which better approximate the complexity associated with contemporary organisational experience. This research has attempted to do this by clarifying and defining the construct of engagement, and then by examining how each of the engagement dimensions are impacted by affective leader behaviours. Specifically, a model was tested that identifies leader behaviour antecedents of cognitive, affective and behavioural engagement. Data was collected from five public-sector organisations. Structural equation modelling was used to identify the relationships between the engagement dimensions and leader behaviours. The results suggested that affective leader behaviours had a substantial direct impact on cognitive engagement, which in turn influenced affective engagement, which then influenced intent to stay and extra-role performance. The results indicated a directional process for engagement, but particularly highlighted the significant impact of affective leader behaviours as an antecedent to engagement. In general terms, the findings will provide a platform from which to develop a robust measure of engagement, and will be helpful to human resource practitioners interested in understanding the directional process of engagement and the importance of affective leadership as an antecedent to engagement.

This study seeks to explore, in one particular UK Higher Educational Institution (HEI), the relationships between engagement, motivation, resilience and the quality of the relationship between managers and those being managed. A literature review provides salient themes relating to the four concepts of: employee engagement, motivation, emotional resilience, and leadership. The changing landscape of the University sector in the UK is also considered for contextual purposes. A mixed methods approach was used to explore relationships between these four concepts. Methods included: observation, focus groups, questionnaires and interviews. Findings from this study indicate that motivation, resilience, engagement and leadership all interrelate; but that leadership interrelated with the other concepts to a lesser extent. Prerequisites of engagement were found to be motivation and resilience, both of which were inter-reliant and as such were difficult to separate. Prerequisites of motivation and resilience were found to be individuals’ personality characteristics, mind-set and thinking style. Higher quality relationships with managers were consistently associated with higher effort, whereas lower quality relationships ranged from making no difference to the exertion of effort, to being a minor irritation in the background, to adversely affecting effort and resilience. Specific leadership attributes and behaviours were found to be more influential in terms of creating affinity between the line manager and follower which were more likely to positively influence engagement, motivation and resilience. Conclusions indicate that the majority of effort is influenced by an individual’s personality characteristics, mind-set and thinking style. The minority of effort therefore was influenced by external factors such as job enjoyment, as a loci of engagement, and autonomy, as a determinant of engagement. The role of a leader is therefore critical in terms of creating and maintaining an engaging work environment. Certain leadership attributes such as gaining trust, being genuinely caring and compassionate and having a positive outlook were positively associated with the followers having a stronger emotional attachment to the organisation manifesting in increased engagement, motivation and resilience. Practical recommendations for senior leaders in organisations, people managers and HR practitioners include: creating operational clarity and clarity of vision; creating and maintaining a culture of care and support; developing leadership attributes and competencies which are key to achieving an engaged workforce; and implementing practices to facilitate job satisfaction, personal and professional growth and a climate of team collegiality which were found to be the three most important work related factors which positively influenced engagement. This research contributes by bringing a new dimension to employee engagement, motivation, resilience and leadership, adding to the existing literature relating to these four concepts. Three different perspectives are presented and one conceptual approach, relating to these four concepts. Each perspective and approach contains elements which can be applied by HR professionals and organisational leaders to create a culture of employee engagement. This study provides a questionnaire that may be used by other organisations to determine engagement strategies and policies.