Evidence points to an indirect relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and employee well-being, and numerous work characteristics have been identified as mediators. However, the relative mediating effect of different types of job resources and job demands on the TFL–well-being relationship remains unclear, rendering it impossible to determine which ones are the most influential. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relative mediation potential of different work characteristics in the TFL–well-being relationship in multiple three-level meta-analytical structural equation models of 243 samples. Based on the JD–R Model, this study extends this theoretical framework by suggesting TFL as a predisposing variable that influences both job resources and job demands, leading to changes in indicators of both positive and negative employee well-being. The results show that, while all the examined job resources and demands mediated the TFL–well-being relationship, organizational resources were identified as the strongest mediators. Furthermore, job demands had a strong mediating effect on the relationship between TFL and negative well-being, while job resources more strongly mediated TFL and positive well-being. We present a differentiated picture of how transformational leaders can influence their employees’ well-being at the workplace, providing valuable knowledge for future research and practice.

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Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we developed and evaluated a supportive leadership training (SLT) intervention designed to teach leaders ways to be supportive of their employees. Given the important role of supportive leaders in helping employees deal with excessive workloads, we theorized that the beneficial intervention effects on employee well-being would be particularly evident for employees who perceive higher levels of quantitative and qualitative workloads prior to the intervention. Using a cluster randomized controlled field trial, we tested the effects of the SLT on employee social well-being in terms of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and employee hedonic well-being, including positive affective well-being, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. The participants in the training were directors of childcare centers in Germany. To rigorously evaluate the intervention effects at the employee level, we collected survey data at baseline, 1 month postintervention, and 6 months postintervention, and we used an intent-to-treat approach to analyze the data. A total of 496 employees from 77 childcare centers provided data at baseline, of whom 266 and 226 employees participated in the 1-month and 6-month surveys, respectively. Linear mixed-effects models showed that the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of LMX quality and emotional exhaustion varied depending on the employees' baseline perceptions of quantitative workloads, such that employees with higher quantitative workloads benefited more from the SLT. The findings of this study improve the understanding of the types of outcomes of SLT and contribute to clarifying for whom SLT is effective.

The link between leadership and employee well-being is long established. In particular, health-oriented leadership is discussed as a leadership style specifically promoting employee well-being. However, the preconditions of health-oriented leadership remain largely unexplored. From the perspective of conservation of resources theory, leaders can only provide resources when receiving some themselves. We propose that organizational health climate (OHC) is an important organization-based resource for a health-oriented leadership style. More specifically, we hypothesize that the relationship between OHC and employee job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion is mediated by health-oriented leadership. We thereby differentiate two levels of analysis: a within-team level and a between-team level. We examined 74 teams with 423 employees of childcare centers at three time points, each 6 months apart. By means of multilevel structural equation modeling, we found OHC to be a significant antecedent of health-oriented leadership at the between-team level. The relationship between OHC and employee job satisfaction was mediated by health-oriented leadership at the between-team level, but not at the within-team level. The relationship between OHC and employee exhaustion showed another pattern of relationships at the different levels of analysis, while it was not significantly mediated by health-oriented leadership. This indicates the value of differentiating between levels of analysis. We discuss the implications for theory and practice that can be drawn from our findings.