How does Work Engagement Transmit from Supervisors to Subordinates: The Test of a Trickle-Down Model

Abstract

Abstract:

Under the logic of the trickle-down model, this study examines whether and how work engagement transits from team leaders to their direct followers. In order to reduce the common method bias, the time-lagged sampling is used to collect data. The participants are customer services employees working in a call centre of a large state-owned telecom company in China. Hierarchical Linear Mode (HLM) is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that: (1) team leaders' work engagement is positively related to their followers' work engagement, (2) followers' work meaningfulness mediates the relationship between leader's work engagement and followers' work engagement, (3) empowering leadership moderates the relationship between work meaningfulness and subordinates' work engagement, and (4) the indirect effect of work meaningfulness is moderated by empowering leadership. In the end, some theoretical and managerial implications are offered, and limitations and future directions are discussed.

Key words: trickle-down model, work engagement, work meaningfulness, empowering leadership

Xie Baoguo, Guo Yongxing, Xia De. How does Work Engagement Transmit from Supervisors to Subordinates: The Test of a Trickle-Down Model[J]. , 2018, 30(11): 141-151.

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