Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future

Research Through Literature Review

Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee

Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future Research
through Literature Review
Aarya Singh
Research Scholar, Shri Venkateshwara University, Gajraula

ARTICLEINFO ABSTRACT
Keywords:
In today’s aggressive business world, employee
transformational engagement has become an indispensable element for
leadership, employee organizational success and excellence. Leadership is
engagement, considered to be the most inevitable and critical aspect
subordinates, for organization’s advancement. Transformational
empirical studies. leaders create a greater involvement in the work of
subordinates resulting in higher efficiency and
satisfaction, thus elevating overall employee
engagement level in organization. Both leadership and
employee engagement are one of the most researched
subject in human resource management, however
linking transformational leadership to employee
engagement has not been extensively explored. This
paper aims to relate transformational leadership and
employee engagement. Main objective is to evaluate
the role of transformational leadership by examining
all the related factors that have an impact on employee
engagement. Research methodology is established on
the foundation of existing literature review, diverse
empirical and conceptual studies and the relevant
findings, which is then analysed to anticipate the
transformational leadership–employee engagement
relationship for future research.

Introduction
Leadership is the potential to influence behavior of others. It is the capacity to influence
a group towards the realization of a goal. Everyday endless articles, journals, blogs are
being written on leadership and much is being talked about it, but the exact meaning of
this skill cannot be easily defined. While this term in general is enigmatic, charismatic
and inexplicable; the demand for it in the corporate world continues to grow.
In business world, the interests of the organization and its employees need to be aligned
and in true sense it is a task of the leaders to align them. It is essential to understand
that leadership is an essential part of effective management. As a crucial component of

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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

management, remarkable leadership behavior stresses upon building an environment in

which each and every employee develops and excels.
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective and they do not get the
things done in the same manner. Their style varies. Transformational leadership is one
of the many kinds of leadership that is usually on display in the real world.
Transformational leadership goes beyond normal leadership and as the name implies, it
results in a complete revival of the organization in the corporate world.
Employee Engagement is the extent to which employee’s commitment, both emotional
and intellectual, exists relative to accomplishing the work, mission, and vision of the
organization. Engagement can be seen as a heightened level of ownership where each
employee wants to do whatever they can for the benefit of their internal and external
customers, and for the success of the organization as a whole. Engaged employee are
considered to be the nerve of sound and positive working atmosphere.

Literature Review
Transformational Leadership: Review of Literature
In 1978, James MacGregor Burns defined the concept of a "transformational leader."
His work has been continued and expanded upon by other researchers, including
industrial psychologist Dr. Bernard Bass.
Bass (1985) described transformational leadership as a process by which leaders and
subordinates help each other to advance to a higher level of motivation and morality.
Bass (1985) has shown that transformational leaders can appear in times of
development, change, and crisis. According to Bass (1985), transformational leaders are
concerned about changing organizational culture and personal development of
subordinates. Although early research demonstrated that transformational leadership
was a particularly powerful source in military settings (e.g., Bass, 1985; Boyd, 1988;
Curphy, 1992; Longshore, 1988; O’Keefe, 1989; Yammarino & Bass, 1990a), more
recent research has accumulated that demonstrates that transformational leadership is
important in every sector and in every setting (Avolio & Yammarino, 2002).
According to Avolio and Bass, transformational leaders can be more readily accepted in
organizations that face dynamic markets and technology that is changing at a rapid
pace. The transformational leader increases individual needs and desires to achieve
more, to work at a more sustained pace, leading to the extra effort and performance of
subordinates (Howell and Avolio, 1993). Transformational leadership has much in
common with charismatic leadership, but charisma is only part of transformational
leadership. Research has shown that transformational leadership involves satisfaction
(Hatter&Bass, 1995) as well as commitment of employees to the organization (Barling
et al., 1996). The Weberian notion of charismatic leadership was, in fact, fairly limited.
More modern conceptions of charismatic leadership take a much broader perspective
(e.g., Conger & Kanungo, 1998; House & Shamir, 1993), however, and have much in
common with transformational leadership. Bass and Avolio (1993) argued that
leadership and culture are so well interlinked that it is possible to describe an
organizational culture through its transformational qualities.
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

The relationship between transformational leadership and personal results, such as

satisfaction and commitment at work, is evident in Bass and Avolio's research (1999).
Other research has shown that this style of leadership has a direct influence on
organizational behavior and performance (MacKenzie et al., 2001). Zaccaro and Banks,
(2001) conducted several studies to show a positive relationship that exists betwixt
transformational leaders and organizational vision. Transformational leadership also
has an impact on the commitment to organizational change (Yu, Leithwood & Jantzi,
2002), but also on organizational conditions (Lam et al., 2002). Trust represents an
essential element in the relationship that exists between transformational leaders and
their subordinates.
The degree of trust that exists in an organization can determine a large part of the
organization's character and influences the organizational structure, work satisfaction,
commitment, communication and organizational behavior (Zeffane & Connell,
2003). There is empirical evidence showing a relationship between transformational
leadership on the one hand and the creativity and innovative ideas of subordinates on
the other. Jung, Chow and Wu (2003) used data from 32 Taiwanese electronics and
telecommunications companies and analyzed how transformational leadership
influences creativity at organizational level. In another study, conducted in Korea, Shin
and Zhou (2003) demonstrated that transformational leadership is positively correlated
with the level of creativity of subordinates. Because of the impact that transformation
leadership generates on personal and organizational outcomes, it is considered
necessary in organizations from different domains (Tucker & Russell, 2004). The main
purpose of these leaders is to change the organization's current structure and inspire
employees to consider a new vision which has new opportunities (Tucker & Russell,
2004) for the individual, but also the organization as a whole.
Nguni et al. (2006) found that the transformational leader has an impact on
organizational commitment, generating subordinates' commitment to the organization,
organizational goals and values. Transformational leaders increase the intrinsic
motivation of subordinates, which stimulates creativity, and intellectual stimulation
encourages subordinates to think creatively (Bass & Riggio, 2006). It is very important
that transformational leaders can inspire others to be more creative (Bass & Riggio,
2006). Authors such as Nguni et al., (2006), Emery and Barker (2007) have shown
that workplace satisfaction is positively correlated with transformational leadership.
Morrow has suggested that the transformational leader will help promote employees'
professional skills, organizational involvement, self-determination, delegation, and self-
realization. Eisenbeiss et al. (2008) investigated the relationships between
transformational leadership, team innovation, support for innovation and the climate to
excel. The results showed that transformational leadership supports innovation.
Innovation also interacts with the climate to excel, so support for innovation improves
team innovation only when the climate to excel is best. Moreover, similarly, Gong,
Huang and Farh (2009) found that learning orientation and transformational
leadership were positively associated with employee creativity.
Wang and Rode (2010) analyzed relationships between transformational leadership,
employee identification with the leader, innovative climate, and employee creativity.
According to the results, transformational leadership was not associated with employee
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

creativity, innovative climate, or employee identification of the leader. However,

employee identification with the leader and the innovative climate has been associated
with employee creativity. Lee & Kim (2011) found that transformational leadership is
positively related to the professional satisfaction of employees in government agencies,
and that performance, professional satisfaction and transformational leadership are
positively correlated. Numerous studies have demonstrated that transformational
leadership is positively linked to personal results (Dumdum et al., 2013).
According to the results of Yıldız and Özcan (2014), there is a positive link between
transformational leadership and subordinate creativity. In addition, transformational
leadership and creativity are closely interrelated. The majority of the developed studies
are oriented towards highlighting the impact of transformational leadership on
subordinate performances (Bo, 2013; Clifford et al, 2010; Hawkins & Dulewicz, 2009)
and organizational performance (Jing & Avery, 2008, Vincent-Höper et al., 2012). The
culture of an organization is heavily influenced by leadership (Girneata & Potcovaru,
2015).

Employee Engagement: Review Of Literature

Employee engagement is defined as employees’ willingness and ability to help their
company succeed, largely by providing discretionary effort on sustainable basis (Perrin’s
Global work study, 2003). ‘Employee engagement’ is a relatively new term in HR
literature and really started to come to prominence from 2000 onwards. Scarlett survey
views it as measureable degree of an employee’s emotional attachment to their job,
colleagues and organization that profoundly influences their willingness to learn and
perform at work. The employee engagement is an emergent working condition and a
positive cognitive, emotional and behavioral state directed toward organizational
outcomes (Shuck & Wollard, 2009). Gallup (which is known as authority on employee
engagement) relates employee engagement to a positive employee’s emotional
attachment and employee’s commitment (Demovsek D, 2008). Thus the employee
engagement make employees emotionally bonded to their organization and tend them
to become passionate about their work and hence results in improvement of employee
retention. Melcrum Publishing (2005) found that from a global survey of over 1,000
communication and HR practitioners 74% began to formally focus on the issue between
2000 and 2004. According to Scarlett Surveys, "Employee Engagement is a measurable
degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job,
colleagues and organization which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and
perform at work".
Employee engagement was described in the academic literature by Schmidt et al. (1993).
A modernized version of job satisfaction, Schmidt et al.'s influential definition of
engagement was "an employee's involvement with, commitment to, and satisfaction
with work." This integrates the classic constructs of job satisfaction (Smith et al., 1969),
and commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991). In the service industry in particular, the level of
employee engagement and satisfaction has been found to have positive effects on
customer satisfaction as well as productivity (Harter, Schmidt & Hayes, 2002). Knowing
value propositions (i.e. what to expect and what is expected) and having personal values
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

consistent with them can help organizations utilize employees as representatives of the
corporate brand, since awareness of value propositions is the first step of building a
brand (Sandberg, 2001). Organizations must look beyond commitment and strive to
improve engagement, as it is engagement that defines employees’ willingness to go
above and beyond designated job responsibilities to promote the organization’s success,
Meere (2005).
Although there are many different definitions of employee engagement, the common
theme among them is captured in the definition provided by Schaufeli and Bakker
(2004),“Positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor
(feeling energetic and resilience at work), dedication (being proud of and happy about
one’s work) and absorption (being totally immersed in ones’ work).” Having engaged
workers benefits the organization in a number of ways. According to the Corporate
Leadership Council (2004), engaged workers were more likely to exhibit discretionary
efforts and improve individual performance. In addition, engaged workers are less likely
to feel exhausted or to express cynicism toward the organization.
According to a 2006 ISR survey of 664,000 employees across countries, a higher level of
employee engagement actually improved financial outcomes of organizations in terms of
operating income, net income and earnings per share. Thus engagement is distinctively
different from employee satisfaction, motivation and culture. Engaged employees can
improve customer satisfaction in that they become the living brand of the organization
(Bendapudi & Bendapudi, 2005). Currently, many companies develop their employees
as a part of the corporate branding process (Hardaker & Fill, 2005). If employees are
engaged in the organization and reflect values and missions, employees become active
messengers who spread corporate brand to the world. EE has been reported to belong
on the continuum of stress, as the antithesis of burnout (Halbesleben, 2003). It has also
been reported to belong on the time continuum, as measured by the time spent on a job
(Goddard, 1999). EE has also been used interchangeably with commitment
(MacCashland, 1999). Authors use these different definitions and continuums often
interchangeably, within the same articles and even in the same sentence. Mc Cashland
(1999, p. 15) refers to engagement and commitment interchangeably. Yet commitment is
a well-established construct, generally separated into either affective or continuous
commitment (Mowday, Steer, & Porters, 1979).
Engagement is important for managers to cultivate given that disengagement or
alienation is central to the problem of workers’ lack of commitment and motivation
(Aktouf). Meaningless work is often associated with apathy and detachment from ones
works (Thomas and Velthouse). In such conditions, individuals are thought to be
estranged from themselves (Seeman, 1972). Other Research using a different resource of
engagement (involvement and enthusiasm) has linked it to such variables as employee
turnover, customer satisfaction –loyalty, safety and to a lesser degree, productivity and
profitability criteria (Harter, Schnidt & Hayes, 2002).

Need For Study

Leadership continues to be one of the most researched topics in the field of human
resource management and employee engagement is the latest one. However, the
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

relationship between leadership and employee engagement has not been extensively
studied. All organizations weather big or small, utilizes significant resources and
strategies in acquiring, developing, retaining and engaging employees. Leaders play a
major role in delivering those strategies effectively and efficiently. Thus, it becomes
crucial to study the relationship between leadership and engagement and the role of
transformational leadership in particular in enhancing employee engagement.

Objective Of Research
This study was undertaken for the purpose of expanding the knowledge of
transformational leadership and linking it with employee engagement. The primary goal
of the study is to analyze and synthesize the role of transformational leadership research
in enhancing employee engagement.
The paper is based on following objectives:
1. To gain by the means of extensive literature review, the perspectives of
transformational leadership and employee engagement in terms of its definition,
historical development and current status.
2. To link transformational leadership and employee engagement.
3. To finally evaluate the role of transformational leadership by examining all the
related factors that have an impact on employee engagement.
The paper reports only on the context analysis.
The method employed was an integrative literature review. This procedure included an
exhaustive literature search.

I. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Transformational leadership is a leadership style that can inspire positive changes in
those who follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and
passionate. Not only are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are
also focused on helping every member of the group succeed as well. A transformational
leader exhibits certain traits and behaviors to inspire and motivate a team or
organization to rally around a common vision or goal. These behaviors and traits include
charisma, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and individual consideration
for each team or group member. For many reasons, transformational leadership is an
important factor at both the micro, or individual level, and macro, or organizational,
societal level.
I.I Background
The concept of transformational leadership was initially introduced James MacGregor
Burns. According to Burns, transformational leadership can be seen when "leaders and
followers make each other to advance to a higher level of moral and motivation." Later,
researcher Bernard M. Bass expanded upon Burns's original ideas to develop what is
today referred to as Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory. According to Bass,
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

transformational leadership can be defined based on the impact that it has on followers.
Transformational leaders, Bass suggested, garner trust, respect, and admiration from
their followers.
I.II Different Components of Transformational Leadership
Bass also suggested that there were four different components of transformational
leadership.
1. Intellectual Stimulation – Transformational leaders not only challenge the status
quo; they also encourage creativity among followers. The leader encourages
followers to explore new ways of doing things and new opportunities to learn.
2. Individualized Consideration – Transformational leadership also involves
offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster
supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication
open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct
recognition of the unique contributions of each follower.
3. Inspirational Motivation – Transformational leaders have a clear vision that they
are able to articulate to followers. These leaders are also able to help followers
experience the same passion and motivation to fulfill these goals.
4. Idealized Influence – The transformational leader serves as a role model for
followers. Because followers trust and respect the leader, they emulate this
individual and
I.III Importance of Transformational Leadership
Researchers have found that this style of leadership have a positive effect on the group.
It also helps in individual growth and development and it increases performance of the
subordinates. "Research evidence clearly shows that groups led by transformational
leaders have higher levels of performance and satisfaction than groups led by other
types of leaders," explained psychologist and leadership expert Ronald E. Riggio in
an article for Psychology Today.
The transformational leaders believe that their followers can do their best, leading
members of the group to feel inspired and empowered. Transformational leaders
eliminate communication barriers existing in an organization and enable effective
functioning of the organization. Transformational leaders make their followers
understand the purpose of the change that is being introduced and make them adopt the
same. They are high risk takers and do not hesitate to fight against injustice and
unethical conduct present in an organization, if any. They have an in-built power to
attract people towards them. They inspire their followers to a great extent in such a way
that the followers support all their endeavors whole heartedly without any regret or
hesitation. Another great advantage of having a transformational leader in an
organization is improvement of its overall productivity.
As seen before, transformational leaders motivate their followers to a great extent to
bring the best out of them. This in turn makes every employee working in an
organization to put his or her fullest effort with personal commitment and a sense of

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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

ownership, thereby improving the overall productivity, performance and profit of an

organization.
I.IV Well-Being and Transformational Leadership
According to the results of one study, this style of leadership can also have a positive
influence on employee well-being. The study published in the Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine involved surveying workers at several different German
information and communication technology companies. Researchers asked participants
to answers questions about their employer's leadership style. A score for
transformational leadership was then determined based on qualities such as providing
intellectual stimulation, giving positive feedback for good performance, leading by
example, and helping employees feel like they were making a contribution toward the
goals of the group.
The researchers discovered that employees who identified a higher level of
transformational leadership in their employers also had higher reported levels of well-
being. The effect stayed significant even after researchers controlled for factors that are
linked to well-being such as job strain, education, and age. "The results of this study
suggest that a transformational leadership style, which both conveys a sense of trust and
meaningfulness and individually challenges and develops employees, also has a positive
effect on employee well-being."

II. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

II.I Meaning of Employee Engagement
Much of the academic research on engagement has been inspired by the definition
proposed by Kahn in 1990 (e.g. Rothbard, 2001). Kahn (1990) defined engagement
in terms of a psychological state as ‘the harnessing of organization members_ selves to
their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically,
cognitively, and emotionally during role performances’ (p. 694).
Three basic aspects of employee engagement according to the global studies are -
• The employees and their own unique psychological makeup and experience.
• The employers and their ability to create the conditions that promote employee
engagement
• Interaction between employees at all levels.
Thus it is largely the organization’s responsibility to create an environment and culture
conducive to this partnership, and a win-win equation. As a concept that has developed
over time, engagement has been defined in numerous, often inconsistent, ways in the
literature.
II.II Types of Employee Engagement

According to the Gallup the Consulting organization there are there are different types
of people -
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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

Engaged--"Engaged" employees are builders. They want to know the desired

expectations for their role so they can meet and exceed them. They're naturally curious
about their company and their place in it. They perform at consistently high levels. They
want to use their talents and strengths at work every day.
Not Engaged---Not-engaged employees tend to concentrate on tasks rather than the
goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish. They want to be told what to do
just so they can do it and say they have finished. They focus on accomplishing tasks vs.
achieving an outcome. Employees who are not-engaged tend to feel their contributions
are being overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped.
Actively Disengaged--The "actively disengaged" employees are the "cave dwellers."
They're "Consistently against Virtually Everything." They're not just unhappy at work;
they're busy acting out their unhappiness. They sow seeds of negativity at every
opportunity. Every day, actively disengaged workers undermine what their engaged
coworkers accomplish.
II.III Employee Engagement Medium and Consequences
Medium of Employee Engagement
Studies have shown that there are various critical factors which lead to employee
engagement. Some of them are:
 A two-way relationship between the employer and employee.
 The importance of the individual being able to align themselves to the products,
services and values of the organization.
 The ability of the organization to communicate its vision, strategy, objectives and
values to its staff so that they are clearly understood.
 Management should give staff sufficient ‘elbow room’ and autonomy to let them
fulfill their potential.
 Empowering employees.
Consequences of Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a positive phenomenon. Research suggests engaged employees
are more likely to stay with the organization and performs 20 percent better than their
colleagues.
The consequences of employee engagement can be summarized as:
1. Employee consequences

 Enable individuals to invest themselves fully in their work with increased

self‐ efficacy.
 Result in positive health effects and well-being.
 Lead to mindfulness, intrinsic motivation, creativity, authenticity, non‐ defensive
communication, playfulness, ethical behavior, increased effort and involvement and
overall a more productive and happy employee (Kahn, 1990).
2. Organizational consequences

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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
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 Customer loyalty -Levinson (2007a) suggests that employees who are happy in their
work are more likely to create loyal customers.
 Employee retention -Levinson (2007a) also suggests that employees who are happy
in their work are more likely to stay in the organization.
 Employee productivity -Engagement affects employee performance (Kahn, 1990).
 Advocacy of the organization- ‘Engaged employees are more likely to advocate the
organization as a place to work and actively promote its products and services’
 (Scottish Executive Social Research, 2007 p.23).
 Bottom-line profit - ‘The appeal of employee engagement to management is its
proven links to bottom line results’ (People Management, 2008).
 Organizational Performance- ‘The best (performers) tended to be those with the
highest engagement scores’ (Robinson et al., 2007, p. 26).
Employee engagement is about how people behave at work. It refers to the extent to
which people in an organization know what they have to do, and willingly give of their
discretionary effort to do that. It is the difference between people coming to work and
doing an adequate job, and people coming to work and really giving of their best,
displaying creativity and using their initiative.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT

Employee engagement and transformational leadership are closely studied in the
context of working environment and studies conducted on organizational settings.
Transformational leadership theory has been expanded and extended by numerous
authors and has been the focus of numerous research studies over the years. In Kahn’s
seminal article on employee engagement (1990), he proposed that leadership has the
greatest potential to influence follower feelings of psychological safety by providing a
supportive environment in which one feels safe to fully engage in a task. However, Kahn
did not consider that transformational leaders appear capable of promoting
psychological meaningfulness and availability as well. Because of their ability to elicit a
sense of challenge and meaning while boosting their followers’ belief that they can
complete their work, transformational leaders are in an ideal position to promote
psychological availability and meaningfulness.
Some authors have suggested that leadership is one of the most important factors
contributing to employee engagement (Harter et al., 2002; May et al., 2004; Xu &
Cooper Thomas, 2011), thus it is necessary to understand how an influential leadership
style such as transformational leadership can affect the three psychological states that
Kahn proposes lead to engagement on a task. Past research has shown that
transformational leadership influences employee attitudes and behavioral outcomes,
such as performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Other research suggests a
link between transformational leadership and employee engagement. Furthermore,
many studies and research results had indicated that transformational leadership
significantly predicted employee engagement and trust. Transformational theory
proposed by Burns (1978) explains that transformational leadership style supports
mutual understanding between employees and management while Burn’s (1985) theory

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explained that interaction between employees and management is managed in ways that
ultimately leads employees beyond their self-interest in support of organizational
targets. Social Learning Theory (SLT; Bandura, 1977) may explain how followers of
transformational leaders adopt meaningfulness and are therefore more engaged in their
work.
Although SLT is generally thought of as explaining how individuals modify their
behavior based on the observation of others (Manz & Sims, 1981), it has also been
conceptualized as a mechanism in which leaders pass on abstract concepts such as
values, attitudes, and beliefs (Lam, Krause, & Ahearn, 2010; Weiss 1977, 1978). Joubert
and Roodt (2011:96) report that leadership has a direct relationship with employee
engagement in organizations. With reference to organizational development, Clegg,
Kornberger and Pitis (2008:140) are of the opinion that transformational leaders are
the ‘ideal people’ to have during major organizational change, because they inspire
employees to work towards achieving the organization’s vision. Transformational
leadership includes affective and charismatic elements of leadership that resonate with
workers who experience a need to be inspired and empowered in uncertain and volatile
times (Hughes 2010:139).
Organizations aspire to have engaged employees, and spend considerable resources
to measure and improve employee engagement. Theoretically, transformational
leadership is a key antecedent of engagement. The importance of transformational
leadership in creating an enabling organization environment is undeniable. Booysen (in
Robbins, Judge, Odendaal & Roodt 2009:289) quotes Brand Pretorius, one of South
Africa’s most prominent business leaders, as saying that leadership is like the electricity
that powers an organization. An organization with transformational leadership has
electricity, energy and commitment. There is a growing awareness of the importance of
transformational leadership from the line manager in the shaping of human resource
functions, including employee development (Boselie 2010:212). Stander and Rothman
(2010:10) concur with Boselie by stating that transformational leaders develop
followers’ potential. The direct supervisor plays an essential role in the engagement of
an employee with specific reference to knowledge, skills and abilities (Boselie
2012:216). Mokgolo et al. (2012:8) postulate that transformational leadership is “vital”
for organizational success. Increasing employee engagement is a challenging and
complex undertaking; however, the relationship quality an employee shares with
immediate supervisors, known as LMX, plays a pivotal role in fostering engagement
(Macey and Schneider, 2008). The principle of LMX theory is that leaders develop
different types of exchange relationships with direct reports, a phenomenon labelled
LMX differentiation (Liden et al., 2006). The quality of these relationships influences
the attitude and behaviors of important leaders and members (Bhal et al., 2009 ;). The
levels of a higher sense of engagement depend on the extent to which employees are
prepared to offer discretionary effort (Medlin & Green 2009; Furness 2008; Lockwood
2007; Richman 2006; Lanphear 2004). Discretionary behavior has been found to be an
important outcome that is caused by engagement which involves mental and emotional
commitment that employees have in exchange for benefits (Kular et al 2008; Macey,
Schneider, Barbera, & Young 2009; Macey & Schneider 2008). Transformational
leaders who are rated highly in the transforming style of leadership establish a positive
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connection with followers, thereby developing followers who are highly involved,
committed and attached to their work. When followers believe in their organizations,
they are likely to reflect that belief in their work outcomes. They will exert an
extraordinary effort and go the extra mile in looking for creative solutions while taking
intelligent risks (Wildermuth & Pauken 2008; Richman, 2006; Bass, 2008; Podsakoff,
Mackenzie & Bommer, 1996; Shamir et al, 1993). Furthermore, leaders who articulate a
shared vision and are stimulating create an optimal climate for work where followers
can activate their lower order needs and also reach higher needs (self-actualization)
(Bass 1985, 2008; Bass & Riggio 2006). In attempting to look at additional processes
beyond those previously suggested, Ilies et al. (2006) have proposed a theoretical model
that incorporates both an affective and cognitive mechanism through which
transformational leadership affects follower motivation. The general idea is that
transformational leaders affect motivation in two ways. First, transformational leaders
induce positive emotional experiences in their followers. Second, transformational
leaders communicate a clear vision and the effects of that vision on goal setting. These
two mechanisms and the interplay between them are proposed to be the processes
through which transformational leadership affects followers’ motivational behaviors.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any empirical research regarding this model.
In searching through the organizational literature on employee motivation, employee
engagement consistently comes up as the most “current” indicator of employee
motivation. A strong contributor to this literature is a piece by Macey and Schneider
(2008a). In this piece, Macey and Schneider (2008a) attempt to define and map out the
construct in order to give aid to future research on employee engagement.

Findings
The main findings were that a transformational leadership style and employee
engagement are related to one another and is considered holistically. Various studies
tested the effect of transformational leadership on employee engagement and
transformational leadership was found to be positively related to employee engagement.
Through the review of literature it is found out that there is a positive association
between the frequent demonstration of transformational leadership behaviors by
managers and high levels of employee engagement amongst their organization’s staff.
Also in various studies and researches conducted in this area, it is further seen that the
engaged subordinates with high work engagement have leaders who demonstrate
transformational leadership behaviors more frequently than transactional leadership
behaviors. In other researches and studies done it is seen that the charismatic
transformational leaders who manage to create a work climate that enables
subordinates to achieve their work goals, are expected to be highly successful in
engaging employees. Studies done by Babcock-Roberson and Strickland (2010: 322);
Khatri, Templer and Budhwar (2012: 58) and Sandberg and Moreman (2011: 239)
found a common trend that indicated a link between the charismatic dimension of
transformational leadership and engagement.

Direction For Future Research

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Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

The study focused on the effects of transformational leadership on employee

engagement through literature review. There is however still need for future researchers
to focus on specific areas of employee engagement influenced by transformational
leadership and their relevance to employee engagement and success of organization.
Also further research can be done has what strategies can the senior leadership or top
level management implement in the middle level to bring out effective transformational
leadership so that their subordinates can be highly engaged.
Transformational leadership behavior has the potential to influence engagement
significantly. (Aryee, Walumbwa, Zhou, & Hartnell, 2012; Breevaart, Bakker, Hetland,
Demerouti, Olsen, & Espevik, 2014; Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011; Serrano &
Reichard (2011) showed that engagement correlated positively with organization
performance, thus improved engagement should benefit the organisation and its
outputs. While employee engagement research is emerging and several models suggest
transformational leadership as crucial in the development of employee engagement,
there remains a gap in understanding what transformational leadership behaviors could
influence engagement (Shuck & Herd, 2012). Ayree et al. (2012) and Ghadi, Fernando,
and Caputi (2013) directed future research to identify other mediators to explain the
link between transformational Leadership and employee engagement. So considering
the above, future researchers can further establish how and which traits, characteristics
and behaviors of transformational leaders in specific can enhance employee
engagement.

Suggestions
The HR professionals should take in to consideration these transformational leadership
behaviors while hiring the leaders and managers. Human resource managers should
develop training programs in such a way that it helps in improving and enhancing the
traits and behaviors of the leaders with respect to transformational leadership. The
synergy between transformational leadership and employee engagement is also evident
in the “growth” and “development” context. So it is essential that the leader actively
work towards creating an organizational climate that is conducive to growth and
development. Several barriers operate in the way of strategic orientation of
transformational leadership in enhancing employee engagement which is always needed
to be identified and taken care by HR managers and senior leadership.

Conclusion
While it is understood and accepted that employee engagement is not only necessary for
improving productivity and diminishing turnover rates, but also closely connected with
other bigger pieces of business such as enhancing corporate brand power. Through
literature review it has been established that transformational leadership significantly
predicted employee engagement and trust. Transformational leadership develops self-
efficacy in employees to move further. It also supports the development of identity
within subordinates. Both transformational leadership style and employee engagement
practices develop sense of ownership in employees. They feel responsible for their
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 Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing Employee Engagement: Evolving Issues and Direction for Future
Research Through Literature Review

actions; develop confidence in their abilities, sense of self-identity and sense of

belongingness to their work and organization. Transformational Leadership style
encourages the culture and human resource practices that motivate employees to
participate in organizational development. These practices engage employees into their
tasks and decision making process. Transformational leadership leads to empowerment
of employees that improves employee’s engagement.

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