The Role of Servant Leadership in Predicting Job Performance of Public Sector Employees: Examining the Mediation of Work Engagement and Moderation of Trust in Leader and Self-Efficacy

Ahmad Usman, Muhammad Abdullah and Abdul Basit
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Ahmad Usman: Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Muhammad Abdullah: Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Abdul Basit: Lahore Institute of Science and Technology, Pakistan

Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 2024, vol. 13, issue 2, 1300-1308

Abstract: This paper discusses an important issue concerning the contribution of servant leadership in terms of predicting job performance based on work engagement as the mediator while trust in leader and self-efficacy serve as the moderators. In line with the social exchange theory, research puts forward the notion that the positive emotional states with reciprocated trust lead the high levels of work engagement which subsequently contribute to more impressive job performance. The study obtained data from 350 employees of the public sector in Pakistan with 320 valid responses that were analyzed using SPSS 22 and Hayes Process Macro for mediating and moderating analyses. This means that servant leadership significantly boosts work engagement, which is a mediator in its effect on job performance. Moreover, trust in the leader strengthens the relationship of servant leadership style and the employees’ work engagement, and finally, the perceived self-efficacy amplifies the effect of work engagement on job performance. In this light, the findings have important implications for understanding how servant leadership proves to be an important factor in creating a strong and vibrant organizational culture that supports and fosters employee engagement, commitment, and productivity through the activation of trust in leadership and self-efficacy as critical boundary conditions. By situating the analysis within the context of Pakistan, a high power-distance culture with limited empirical exploration of its leadership dynamics, the study offers important theoretical and practical contributions. It enriches the understanding of servant leadership in underrepresented contexts and emphasizes the strategic importance of fostering trust and self-efficacy within organizational frameworks. Such findings are of great importance for managers and policymakers, since they show how these constructs can be used to effectively operate in resource-constrained and rapidly changing environments.

Keywords: Social exchange theory; self-efficacy; work engagement; trust in leader; servant leadership style; job performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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