Leader–Follower Congruence in Work Engagement and Leader–Member Exchange: The Moderating Role of Conscientiousness of Followers

Abstract

Extant research has investigated the relationship between work engagement and various outcomes, such as job performance and organizational commitment, neglecting the effect of work engagement on social relationships at work. Drawing upon person-environment fit theory and LMX theory, the present study aims to examine the effect of (in)congruence between leader and follower work engagement on leader–member exchange (LMX) and the moderating effect of conscientiousness. About 273 employees and 72 leaders participated in this study and completed the measurements of work engagement, conscientiousness, and LMX at two time points. Using cross-level polynomial regressions, we found that, compared with incongruent work engagement, employees perceived high levels of LMX quality when their work engagement was aligned with that of their leaders. Regarding the congruence, the employees reported higher levels of LMX when congruence in work engagement was at higher rather than lower levels. Regarding the incongruence, when the employees engaged less in their work tasks than their leaders, they were more likely to experience lower LMX. Moreover, the negative relationship between incongruence in leader and follower work engagement and LMX was mitigated when followers were more conscientious. All our hypotheses were supported. Both theoretical and practical implications for work engagement as well as future directions are discussed.

The relationship between toxic leadership and nurses' followership effectiveness

“…The results of the present study are also similar to those of Ammon (2013), Beever (2008), andJohnson (2003), who found that the majority of followers report high levels of effective followership. Similarly, Delfino (2019) found that there were high levels of overall active engagement in participants, while Cardwell (2011), andYe et al (2021) found high mean scores for followership and engagement in work. On the other hand, the results of the present study are contradicted by Novikov (2016), who found only a moderate level of followership effectiveness in study subjects Concerning the relationship between toxic leadership and nurse effectiveness, it is notable that there was a statistically significant negative weak correlation between overall toxic leadership and its related dimensions with overall nurse effectiveness and its related dimensions.…”

Congruence of Leader-follower Evaluations and the Effect of Leadership Styles on Work Engagement

“…Although several scientific pieces of evidence support the relationship between leadership and work engagement, congruent and simultaneous leader-follower evaluations and their effect on followers' work engagement have not been investigated yet. As far as we know, only Ye et al (2021) examined the leader-follower congruence in work engagement in association with fit theories, but they did not investigate the effect of leadership behaviour on engagement, while Thompson and Glasø (2018) also used joint assessment from leaders and followers in association with situational leadership and follower commitment, but with different theoretical backgrounds. Based on the preliminary findings of Chaudhary (2014); Monica (2019), and Wollard and Shuck (2011), we hypothesised that evaluations based on perceptions affect work engagement, and they could have different impacts in the case of followers' and leaders' evaluations.…”