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MSc Human Resource Management and
Organizational Psychology
Strategic Human Resource Management and Employee Engagement:
The Mediating Role of Authentic Leadership.
A Study Performed on the Icelandic Labour Market.
January 2021
Name of student: Telma Sigtryggsdóttir
ID number: 090375-6019
Supervisor: Dr. Freyr Halldórsson
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Declaration of Research Work Integrity
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being
concurrently submitted in candidature of any degree. This thesis is the result of my own
investigations, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by
giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended.
By signing the present document, I confirm and agree that I have read the RU´s ethics
code of conduct and fully understand the consequences of violating these rules in
regards of my thesis.
4th January 2021, Garðabær 090375-6019
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date and place Kennitala Signature
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Abstract
The mediating role of authentic leadership on the relationship between strategic human
resource management and employee engagement was studied (N=115) using three
questionnaires combined in one. The research set out to investigate the inter relationships
among the perception of employees of the degree of alignment of Human resource
strategy with business strategy, employee engagement and the extent to which next
superior is seen to be authentic. The goal of the research was to establish a model which
companies could use to improve the engagement of their employees. The study used
quantitative methods to collect data. The questionnaire was shared through Facebook and
LinkedIn. Findings revealed a relationship between strategic human resource
management, and authentic leadership as well as a relationship between authentic
leadership and employee engagement. The mediating role of authentic leadership
between strategic human resource management and employee engagement was not
established. Future research could benefit from investigating the relationship between
authentic leadership, employee engagement and factors such as gender. Further
implications of results and future research are discussed.
Keywords: Strategic human resource management, authentic leadership,
employee engagement
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Acknowledgment
This thesis is a final project for an MSc degree in Human Resource Management
and Occupational psychology at Reykjavík University, and it counts for 30 ETCS.
Dr. Freyr Halldórsson was the supervisor of the master thesis, and I would like to thank
him for his professional advice and constructive guidance and encouragement. I would
like to thank Guðrún Ösp Sigmundardóttir for taking the time right before christmas to
proofread my thesis. I want to thank my husband, Kjartan Örn Sigurðsson, who has
endless belief in me and my abilities. I want to thank him for all the support, patience,
and love he gave me during this time of my life. I want to thank my precious daughters,
María Sól, Karen Ósk, Ragnhildur Elva, and Katla Diljá, for all the support, patience, and
love. I want to thank my parents Ragnhildur Filippusdóttir and Sigtryggur Gíslason, for
raising me to believe that I can do everything that I set my mind to. Finally, I want to
thank the participants who took the time to answer my survey; all this would not have
been possible without you.
Garðabær, 4th. January 2020
Telma Sigtryggsdóttir
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 8
1.1 Statement of Objectives ............................................................................................................ 11
2. Theoretical Overview ........................................................................................................................ 12
2.1 History of Human Resource Management ................................................................................ 12
2.1.1 Definition of Human Resource Management ....................................................................... 13
2.1.2 Definition of Strategic Human Resource Management ........................................................ 14
2.1.3 Measurement of Strategic Human Resource Management ................................................... 18
2.2 Leadership ................................................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1 Leadership Versus Management ........................................................................................... 21
2.2.2 History of Authentic Leadership .......................................................................................... 21
2.3 Authenticity .............................................................................................................................. 23
2.3.1 Authentic Leaders ................................................................................................................. 24
2.3.2 Authentic Leadership ............................................................................................................ 25
2.3.3 Measurement of Authentic Leadership ................................................................................. 28
2.4 Employee engagement .............................................................................................................. 28
2.4.1 History of Employee Engagement ........................................................................................ 29
2.4.2 Definition of Employee Engagement ................................................................................... 29
2.4.3 The Opposite of Engagement-Disengagement or Burnout ................................................... 30
2.4.4 Measurement of employee engagement ............................................................................... 31
3. Methods ............................................................................................................................................. 32
3.1 Choice of Research Method ...................................................................................................... 32
3.2 Participants ................................................................................................................................ 34
3.3 The Design of the Measurement Equipment ............................................................................. 34
3.3.1 Perceived Strategic Human Resource Management Questionnaire. ..................................... 34
3.3.2 Authentic Leadership Questionnaire .................................................................................... 36
3.3.3 Employee Engagement Questionnaire .................................................................................. 38
3.3.4 Supplementary questions regarding turnover intentions ....................................................... 38
4. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 39
4.1 Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................................... 39
4.2 Regression Analysis. ................................................................................................................. 40
4.3 Supplemental analysis ............................................................................................................... 41
5. Discussion .......................................................................................................................................... 43
5.1 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 43
5.1.1 Hypothesis 1 ......................................................................................................................... 43
5.1.2 Hypothesis 2 ......................................................................................................................... 44
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5.1.3 Hypothesis 3 ......................................................................................................................... 45
5.1.4 Hypothesis 4 ......................................................................................................................... 45
5.1.5 Supplementary analysis. ....................................................................................................... 46
6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 46
6.1 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research. .................................................................... 48
References .................................................................................................................................................. 50
Appendix I .................................................................................................................................................. 64
Appendix II ................................................................................................................................................ 65
Appendix III ............................................................................................................................................... 77
Appendix IV ............................................................................................................................................... 78
Appendix V ................................................................................................................................................ 80
Appendix VI ............................................................................................................................................... 82
Appendix VII .............................................................................................................................................. 83
Appendix VIII ............................................................................................................................................ 84
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List of Figures
Figure 1.The Conceptual Research Model of the author ............................................................................ 12
Figure 2. Four linkages í Strategic human resource management by Boselia (2014). ................................ 16
Figure 3. Business Strategy Dictates HR Strategy by Paul Kearns (2006). ................................................ 17
Figure 4. HR Maturity scale by Paul Kearns (2006). ................................................................................. 18
Figure 5. The conceptual framework for authentic leader and follower development (Avolio et al. 2005).
.................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 6. The supplementary research model of the relationship between authentic leadership, perceived
SHRM, employee engagement and gender. ............................................................................................... 47
Figure 7. Examples from the authentic leadership questionnaire ............................................................... 82
Figure 8. The results from the ultra-short UWES questionnaire ................................................................ 83
List of Tables
Table 1. Means, standard deviations and Pearsons Correlations. ............................................................... 39
Table 2. Predicting employee engagement ................................................................................................. 41
Table 3. Predicting Loyalty ........................................................................................................................ 42
Table 4. Regression analysis with the forward selection technique where the dependent variable is
Loyalty and the independent variable is authentic leadership .................................................................... 42
Table 5. Variables excluded using the regression analysis with the forward selection technique where
Loyalty is the dependent variable and the independent variables are SHRM and gender .......................... 43
Table 6. Results from questions regarding SHRM ..................................................................................... 77
Table 7. Socio-demographic informations ................................................................................................. 78
Table 8. Job percentage of human resource manager at the company ........................................................ 80
Table 9. HRM has a seat at the executive board of the company ............................................................... 81
Table 10. The existence of written human resource policy within the company ........................................ 81
Table 11. Results from questions of turnover intentions. ........................................................................... 84
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1. Introduction
In today’s challenging competitive environment, it is important for companies to
be able to identify and increase their competitive advantage to arise to the competition.
Competitive advantages can be reached by implementing Human resource management
(HRM). By using Strategic human resource management (SHRM), a human resource
management that is aligned with the business strategy the competitive advantages can be
increased even further. High-performance work practices (HPWPs) are practices that
strategic human resource managers (SHRM) claim increases employee performance.
HPWPs are practices used within HR to select employees, train them, compensate, etc.
(Huselid, 1995).
The SHRM theory claims that if companies use HPWPs, it will result in increased
employee motivation and it will drive them to use their knowledge, skills, and abilities
(KSAs) in the company’s best interest (Bekker & Huselid, 1998 in GR.Ferris (Ed.),1998;
Delery & Shaw, 2001 in GR.Ferris (Ed.), 1998). The use of HPWPs will result in
increased employees job satisfaction, employee turnover decreases and productivity
increases (Bekker, Huselid, Pickus & Spratt, 1997).
The perception of employees of the SHRM within the company is important to be
able to reach alignment between the business strategy and the HRM strategy (Kearns,
2006). If employees´ do not perceive the HRM policies and practices being used by the
company as stated, then the company has not succeeded in implementing strategic human
resource management. Research on strategic human resource management shows a link
between good employee performance and the organization as well as a positive influence
on employees´ loyalty and job satisfaction (Green, Wu, Whitten & Miedlin, 2006 as cited
in Sigurðardóttir, 2016).
There is available research on the state of HR in Icelandic institutions, research
on HRM in Icelandic companies as well as the CRANET research (Einarsdóttir,
Ólafsdóttir & Bjarnadóttir, 2018; Sigurdardóttir, 2016; Sigurjónsson, 2018) but there is
no available research found on the perception of employees of the HRM maturity within
the companies and institutions. Therefore, it became one of the primary tasks of this thesis
to develop a validated questionnaire in Icelandic to measure the perception of employees
on the HRM maturity scale within organizations. It is my hope that this tool can be used
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by other researchers and HR managers in the future to further help companies create
competitive advantage through HRM. By using SHRM it becomes more likely that
companies will choose the right people for each available position within a company and
choosing employees that have the same or similar values as the company stands for
(Kearns, 2006).
Kearns (2006) claims that engagement is a key element in strategic thinking.
Engagement is about going the extra mile to achieve the business goals of the company.
If the company does not have a good mission statement and clear action statement on how
to achieve the set goals of the company, it will be difficult to get employees engaged
(Kearns, 2006). High levels of employee engagement are linked to increased employee
effort and productivity, higher likelihood of business success, lower absenteeism, and
higher employee retention, increased sales, improved quality, and reduced error rated as
well as more customer satisfaction (Guest, 2009 as cited in Armstrong 2014; Agrawal,
Harter, Killham & Schmidt, 2009).
Studies have been performed on employee engagement and the work environment
in Iceland (Guðmundsdóttir, 2018). And on employee engagement and mental health
(Birgisdóttir & Smáradóttir, 2018). There is available research on employee engagement
and quality management (Hreinsdóttir & Snorradóttir, 2014).
Engagement is not just about knowing the business goals and having a plan, it´s
about developing a good, trusting, and honest relationship with employees, managers, and
line managers (Kearns, 2006). The relationship between perceived SHRM and employee
engagement has not been studied in Iceland.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between perceived
strategic human resource management and employee engagement with the emphasis on
the mediation factor of authentic leadership. The mediation factor of leadership style will
be studied as a leadership style is an important management tool that affects how leaders
influence their employees in using their knowledge, skills, and abilities at work. And the
way leaders manage people under the HPWPs policies and practices matters.
Honesty is an important strategy for a company to use. If employees feel that the
information, they receive regarding the company is honest, they are more likely, to be
honest in their own conduct of employment (Kearns, 2006). Receiving the bad news as
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well as the good news, about the company, builds up trust and commitment which is the
purpose of the HR strategy (Kearns, 2006).
Authentic leaders are leaders that establish a trusting relationship and connection
to their followers (Northouse, 2016). Trust between employees and their next superior
establishes a feeling of belonging and psychological safety. If employees feel they are
being treated fairly and are trusted by their peers and supervisors, the feeling of belonging
emerges. The employee is able to express themself freely and is able to learn and develop
(Landy & Conte, 2013; Kim & Mauborgne, 2014; Strom, Sears & Kelly, 2013; Silva,
Caetona & Zhou, 2012; Carmeli, Brueller & Dutton, 2009; Li & Tan, 2013).
Leaders can enhance positive relationships with employees as well as positively
influence the culture of the company and increase service performance (Kozak & Uca,
2008 as cited in Kara, Lee, Sirgy & Uysal, 2013; Dickson, Smith, Grojene & Ehrhart,
2001; Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May & Walumbwa, 2005). Organizational culture can
be explained as individuals´ perceptions of organizational characteristics such as policies
and practices (Shneider, 1975).
Limited research is available on authentic leadership in Iceland. Research on
authentic leadership concerning the leadership style of the Icelandic president
(Halldórsdóttir, 2020), research where authentic leadership is compared to other
leadership styles (Jónsdóttir, 2011), and a research on authentic leadership style and
online networking (Þórhallsdóttir, 2016) is some of the available research on authentic
leadership in Iceland. This study translated a questionnaire developed by Avolio,
Gardner, Peterson, Wernsing & Walumbwa in 2008 from English/American to Icelandic.
The authentic leadership questionnaire by Avolio et al. was not available in Icelandic
translation until now with this thesis.
This thesis seeks to add new knowledge to human resource management and
occupational psychology, which can help companies and institutions understanding the
advantages of implementing SHRM and authenticity in leadership style to improve
employee engagement and the competitive advantages of organizations.
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1.1 Statement of Objectives
This research explores the proposition that authentic leadership and employee´s
perception of strategic human resource practices within the company can work together
to enhance employee engagement. This research attempts to identify the inter-relationship
among how the employees perceive the SHRM within the company, employee
engagement, and the extent to which the CEO or the manager is seen to be authentic. This
study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the relationship between authentic
leadership, perceived strategic human resource management, and employee engagement.
The contribution is to offer a framework that can help organizations estimate the overall
main effects of using SHRM and authentic leadership on employee engagement.
The stated hypotheses of this research are, as follows:
Hypothesis 1. Perceived strategic human resource management is positively
related to employee engagement.
Hypothesis 2. Authentic leadership is positively related to employee engagement.
Hypothesis 3. Perceived Strategic human resource management is positively
related to authentic leadership.
Hypothesis 4. Authentic leadership mediates the relationship between perceived
strategic human resource management and employee engagement.
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Figure 1.The Conceptual Research Model of the author
The theoretical background of the study will be discussed in the following
chapters. First, SHRM will be discussed as well as the measurement of SHRM in
organizations. Next, authentic leadership and measurements will be discussed and finally,
employee engagement and measurements will be discussed. Followed by a discussion on
the methodology used and the research results. Next, the conclusions are presented as
well as limitations and suggestions for future research. Concluding with the bibliography
and appendixes.
2. Theoretical Overview
2.1 History of Human Resource Management
Human resource management (HRM) is a concept that has been developing over
the past years. It involves policies and practices regarding the treatment of employees in
a proper and ethical manner and improving the organizational effectiveness through
managing people (Armstrong, 2014). It started with the term personnel management in
the 18th century with the industrial revolution. The need for improving productivity and
turnover arose greatly with the revolution. Frederick W. Taylor, the most influential
management theorist of the 20th century (Drucker 1979), was the first to start studying
jobs and how to make them more efficient. Taylor, which has also been credited as the
father of scientific management (SM), contributed along with Frank and Lillian Gilbreth,
industrial psychologists, to HR by originating and introducing job analysis to managing
13
practices. Scientific management (SM) demonstrated that job analysis could be used as
the base for selecting and training workers as well as for the evaluation of jobs for
compensation (Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015). SM brought up the idea that workers should
be rewarded based on their productivity, which, would increase their productivity and
decrease turnover. SM has contributed greatly to HR and the development of HR
functions (Drucker, 1979). During World War I, where labour shortage rose, especially
for skilled workers, turnover got higher because of the oversupply of immigrants and
demands for higher productivity. Because of demands for wartime products, businesses
started to respond by establishing personnel management departments (Jacoby, 1985 as
cited in Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015). Organizations also started to adopt other practices
than SM based on industrial psychology to, among others, improve the welfare of their
employees. HR emerged as a field as a consequence of an inside /outside approach (Ulrich
& Dulebohn, 2015). During the depression, the importance of HR was not considered as
important but only temporarily. Between 1935 to 1970s, the attention shifted to Industrial
relations (IR) from Personnel management (Burack & Smith, 1982 as cited in Ulrich &
Dulebohn, 2015). After 1970 the HR developed to be an inside-only approach, but this
changed again at the beginning of the 1980s (Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015). Today HR is
looking at a strategic approach and an approach that helps shape and create the strategy.
For the human resource manager to be fully involved and have a full partnership role in
the organization, react to organizational challenges and the development of the strategy
(Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015).
2.1.1 Definition of Human Resource Management
Armstrong (2014) defines human resource management as a „strategic, integrated
and coherent approach to the employment, development, and well-being of the people
working in organizations.” (Armstrong, p. 5., 2014). Human resource management
(HRM) is involved in attracting the right people to apply for a job, retaining qualified
people and includes the hiring process, training of employees, the development of a
reward system, and a compensation system. HRM involves communications, teamwork,
and layoffs. It involves recruiting, making job analysis and job descriptions. HRM is also
considered to play a big part in creating and maintaining a good culture within the
company (Armstrong, 2014; Beardwell & Clark 2010 as cited in Beardwell & Claydon,
2010; Noe, 2020). HRM “refers to the policies and practices that influence employee
14
behaviour, attitudes, and performance” (Noe, p.6, 2020). These individual human
resource systems can be implemented systematically in a way to influence employee´s
behaviours and attitudes too, and by doing so, the organization can gain a competitive
advantage (Gross & Friedman, 2004).
2.1.2 Definition of Strategic Human Resource Management
Research on strategic human resource management (SHRM) has focused on how
a set of human resource practices can influence performance. Those human resource
practices are designed as high- performance work systems (HPWS). Much of the research
on SHRM has focused on how these HPWS influence organizational performance
(Delery and Doty, 1996; Guthrie, 2001; Batt, 2002 as cited in De Pablo, Sanchez, Munoz
and Pena, 2019, Huselid, 1995). HRM cannot be strategic without a business strategy.
The development of a business strategy begins with a vision, and when the business
strategy has been formed through the vision, it can be used as a base for the development
of the HR strategy (Kearns, 2003).
When an organization makes a business strategy, it is primarily concerned with
how it achieves a competitive advantage. (Chen, & Hsieh, 2011). The business strategy´s
application to the company´s internal functions and procedures makes the HRM strategic.
It involves the degree of fitness between the business strategy and the HRM functions.
(Chen & Hsieh, 2011).
SHRM focuses on linking HRM to the business strategy, designing HPWS, and
adding value through good people management (Boselia, 2014). Strategy can be thought
of as a way of solving problems. For example, in SHRM, if there is a problem with high
employee turnover in an organization, the root causes of that problem need to be looked
at, and questions need to be asked. The problem is looked at analytically, and hopefully,
the diagnostic process leads to a solution (Kearns, 2003).
A competitive advantage can be gained when the company has a good business
strategy and an effective HR strategy (Kearns,2006). The ´best-fit´ proposition argues
that the organization´s success can only be reached by fitting the HRM into its context,
both internal and external (Boselia, 2014).
15
The strategic fit between the business strategy and HRM can help/assist the
organization to retain their employees and motivate them, and by doing so, enhance the
organizational performance and the competitive advantage of the company (Chen &
Hsieh, 2011).
Performing a context analysis of an organization using the HR scan method can
be useful. It can help determine the significant factors for the development of a new HR
strategy and practices in an organization. The strategy scan is suitable for assessing the
degree of fit between HRM and an organization´s context (Boselia, 2014).
The relationship between the business strategy and the HR strategy is, according
to Golden and Ramanujam (1985), divided into four different levels of fit. Those levels
are an administrative linkage, a one-way linkage, a two-way linkage, and an integrated
linkage (Boselia, 2014). The administrative linkage is the lowest level of fit, where there
is no linkage between the two strategies, business strategy, and the HR strategy (Boselia,
2014). The one-way linkage is where the HR strategy comes from the overall business
strategy; however, the HR strategy does not influence the business strategy; it is only one
way (Boselia, 2014). A two-way- linkage is where the HR strategy can affect the business
strategy and change it according to, for example, the knowledge of HR experts that there
will be a shortage of labour (Boselia, 2014). Last, the integrative linkage is where there
is a complete fit between the HR strategy and the business strategy, so significant that the
HR expert considers being one of the top leaders in the organization (Boselia, 2014).
16
Figure 2. Four linkages í Strategic human resource management by Boselia (2014).
Although the business strategy and human resource strategy are aligned, it is only
possible to gain a positive effect if the employees perceive that the HR practices are
aligned with the company´s business strategy. How employees perceive various HR
practices like job analysis affects the company’s performance (Krishnan & Loshali,
2013). Perceived HR practices influence HRM outcomes directly (Wright & Nishii,
2007).
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Vision
What does the future look like?
Mission
Where are we going?
Business strategy
How are we going to get there?
Business Plan
What are the numbers over the next three years
Operating plan
What is this year´s numbers?
Figure 3. Business Strategy Dictates HR Strategy by Paul Kearns (2006).
Universalistic, contingency and configurational theories are the three theoretical
perspectives mainly discussed in the Strategic human resource literature (Loshali &
Krishnan, 2013). According to the universalistic approach, there is a „best practice“
approach to SHRM. These practices will be implemented in the HR of the organization
and improve firm performance (Loshali & Krishnan, 2013). According to the contingency
approach, the HR practices must be consistent with all other company practices for the
company to gain better performance. The configurational approach claims that every
independent variable needs to be related to the dependent variable to improve the
company´s performance. It´s a holistic approach (Loshali & Krishnan, 2013). Increasing
the alignment between HR strategy and business strategy involves using, for example,
Balanced scorecard to identify the HR practices that are aligned with corporate strategy.
Use GAP analysis to identify work that is not meeting the expectations of the internal
customers. Get the HR employees to bring attention to HR practices and the
organizational goals and get the HR employees to be more at the front line with other
company managers (Loshali & Krishnan, 2013).
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2.1.3 Measurement of Strategic Human Resource Management
Paul Kearns (2006) offers a framework to measure where organizations are on a
maturity scale. This framework/ maturity scale talks about seven different stages of HR
maturity, from 0-6. The stages are as follows:
Figure 4. HR Maturity scale by Paul Kearns (2006).
In stage 0, an organization has no personnel management available, and it is not
actually on the scale. No employee contracts are made; a small catering or party service
could fall into this group. Workers get paid in cash at the end of the work done. No
selection process takes place in stage 0. There is secrecy about salaries, and the
organization tries to get away with paying as little as possible (Kearns, 2006).
In stage 1, there is a sign of personnel administration. Records are kept of previous
recruits, and the same people are contacted again for a new assignment. Payroll is in place
and done according to the law (Kearns, 2006).
In stage 2, good professional practices are in place. The payroll and salary records
become a job evaluated reward system. Stage two is a more systematic way than stage 0
and stage 1. At stage 1, an employee cannot get higher wages than another employee
doing the same job. At stage two, jobs are graded, and salaries go according to the
grading. An employee who is working harder than others cannot get higher wages unless
going through a mechanistic re-evaluation process. Managers are not able to reward
employees who are doing a great job (Kearns, 2006). There is not necessarily a hired HR
manager at the company.
19
In stage 3, HR management is being used in a systematic and structured way.
Performance management is being used, and employees can get higher salaries based on
their performance. The manager is starting to see the effects of HR practices on the
performance of the company. The company does not accept passengers. The workforce
sees this as a positive development (Kearns, 2006). An HR manager is hired by the
company.
In stage 4, the performance management system starts to include clear business
measures. Training starts to be in the direction of business goals. The company invests
money and time into the training. The organization is aware of how much money is
available for recruitment, and training and turnover figures are known. Underperformance
is not allowed. The business measurement system starts to produce people measurements,
not just financial and operational measures (Kearns, 2006).
In stage 5, the organization moves from a low or mediocre performer to a high-
performing company. Teamwork is necessary on stage five in order to reach high levels
of performance. Different departments need to work together to be able to achieve
common goals. Individual managers can make decisions on their own regarding a project
or assistant from another department. They do not have to seek permission from the
manager (Kearns, 2006).
In stage six, the organization becomes a whole system. It is extremely rare for an
organization to reach this stage. Employees work with many different managers from
different departments and different teams on a regular basis. New ideas are listened to
and appreciated, and employees are not frustrated although their idea is not being
accepted. A valued discussion takes place about all new ideas. The employee has trust
and confidence in the organization as a whole. All activities within the organization align
with the business strategy (Kearns, 2006).
2.2 Leadership
Leaders have an effect on whether organizations can gain a competitive advantage
by managing employees to the directions of the organizations mission and goals (Kearns,
2006). If the leader is honest and gains the trust of the employees, he is more likely to
engage the employees in reaching the companies/institutions goals (Kearns, 2006). The
leadership style should be in a way that enhances organizational performance and
20
influences the employees´ growth and wellbeing. Authentic leadership style is one of the
latest areas in leadership researches (Northouse, 2016).
Leadership has been researched worldwide, both with qualitative and quantitative
methods and in many different contexts. The concept of leadership has many different
definitions. In the book Leadership by Peter G. Northouse, the concept of leadership is
defined as a „process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve
a common goal “(Northouse, 2016, p.6). When defining leadership as a process, it means
that it is not a trait or characteristic, rather, it is something that happens between the leader
and the follower; the leader affects the follower and is affected by followers. It is an
interactive event. Leadership involves influence because, without influence, the followers
will not follow the leader. Leadership happens in group situations. The leader influences
a group of people that have a common goal. These can be various types of groups, small
task groups, large groups, or community groups. Leadership involves bringing attention
to the common goal of the group. It is important for leaders to work with followers to
achieve a common goal. Leaders´ need to work with the followers lessens the risk of the
leaders to act in ways that are forced or unethical (Northouse, 2016).
There are many different views on leadership. The trait view of leadership
suggests that certain people are born leaders; according to this view, people are born with
certain traits or characteristics that make them leaders. Some of those characteristics are
extraversion, intelligence, or physical factors like height. The process view has another
ideology on leadership. The process view suggests that anyone can be a leader and that
leadership can be learned by observing the behaviours of others (Northouse, 2016).
Assigned leaders are those that become leaders because of their formal position in the
organization, while emergent leaders are those leaders that become leaders because other
group members follow them and respond to them (Northouse, 2016).
In leadership, the concept of power is important because power is part of the
influence that the leader has on followers. However, there are no explicit theories about
power and leadership available. There are two kinds of power in organizations, position
power, and personal power. Position power is a power that a leader gets because of his
position in the organization. The leader has a higher status than others within the
21
organization. Personal power is when the leader influences his followers, and followers
see the leader as someone who is likable and knowledgeable (Northouse, 2016).
2.2.1 Leadership Versus Management
Leadership and management share some characteristics, for example, influence;
both concepts entail managing and working with people, and both concepts are working
to reach a certain goal (Northouse, 2016). But leadership and management are not the
same; there is a huge difference between them as well. As identified by Fayol (1916, as
cited in Northouse, 2016), the most important functions of management at that time and
continue to this day are planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and hiring people. To
lead means to reach out to people by influencing them and inspiring them to follow a
shared vision. To manage means to keep order on daily tasks, organize and plan (Bennis
& Nanus 1985 as cited in Northouse, 2016). The main function of leadership is to produce
change and movement (Kotter, 1990, as cited in Northouse, 2016). An organization needs
both competent management and skilled leadership to be effective (Northouse, 2016).
2.2.2 History of Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership is one of the most recent leadership theories, although
authenticity is not a new concept. The concept can be traced back to ancient Greek
philosophy. Being authentic generally means being true to yourself, being real or genuine,
or know thyself like expressed in the times of Greeks (Thacker, 2016; Covelli & Mason,
2017). The history of scientific psychology over the last 15 years has demonstrated that
being authentic and being an authentic leader is not the same. According to psychological
terms, authentic leadership consists of complex skills, interrelated skills (Thacker, 2016).
Being authentic consists of at least four interrelated variables. Those are; “selves”
awareness, unbiased processing, appropriate transparency, and concordance between
behaviour and values (Thacker, 2016). These skills require a depth of understanding about
the environment or the context of the environment.
Peter Drucker (2001) wrote about his visions on how workers should know their
strengths and weaknesses, and workers should be able to know themselves in which kind
of situations they could contribute the most. According to Drucker, knowledge workers,
would know their own values and the values of the organization that they are working
for. During the industrial era, people got the opportunities to earn money if they were
22
willing to work hard and do what they were supposed to do. With new technology, the
digital era and new businesses, this changed. Workers had more opportunities for work
and more freedom (Thacker, 2016). A new generation appeared that had a new vision of
life. The view on leadership has changed over the last 20 years, starting with the tragic
events of 9/11 in 2001, the financial market collapse in 2007, and the world crisis that
people are experiencing right now with Covid-19 (Thacker, 2016). Workers are
demanding managers and leaders that they can trust, believe in, and demonstrate honesty.
Gardner and Avolio suggest that the demand is on leaders today to restore confidence,
resilience, optimism, and hope among their followers (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). At the
macrolevel perspective, the increase in public scandals in organizations and false
management, and other difficult challenges facing both public and private organizations,
have increased the attention on authenticity and authentic leadership. Society calls for
more positive forms of leadership within organizations and institutions and the need to
build up again trust and confidence in leaders at all levels (Avolio & Luthans, 2006;
George, 2003; Lorenzi, 2004; Brown, Trevion & Harrison, 2005). Due to the repeated
and highly unethical collapses in judgment by well-known leaders, the society/public is
demanding a shift in leadership style. They are demanding trustworthy and highly ethical
leaders and accountability (Dealy & Thomas, 2006). The public is demanding that actions
are aligned with words; otherwise, leaders will lose the followers´ trust (Simons, 2002).
The hierarchy of organizations has flattened, which is a consequence of the digital era
where there is no longer one truth. The internet has brought us easy access to knowledge,
and everybody can access knowledge, and have a valid opinion on current matters
(Moore, 2020). Teamwork has gotten much more important in organizations, and
leadership is rotating. Employees need to be able to work together in the direction of a
special goal. Generational shifts are obvious in the workplace, people are getting much
older, and the young generation needs to be able to work with the older generation and
vice versa (Moore, 2020). It is not possible today to assume that the older employee is the
boss of the younger employee. There might not be a boss, and the older employee is not
necessarily the leader of the team. This calls for respect for each other and good listening
skills, and, as previously mentioned, good teamwork. Today´s organizational
stakeholders are expecting higher levels of integrity; there is less tolerance for actions not
23
to be aligned with previously expressed words (Walumbva, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsig &
Peterson, 2008).
Research by Bass & Steidleimer (1999) led to the formulation of authentic
leadership theory, where they questioned the morals and ethics of transformational
leaders. Bass & Steidleimer (1999) claimed that ethical leadership is built on three ethical
grounds: the moral nature, the moral legitimacy of the values embedded in the leader´s
vision, and the moral nature of the processes in which leaders and followers engage in.
Luthans and Avolio (2003) brought academic theories to the table regarding
authentic leadership. They connected authentic leadership with positive psychology and
its use in leadership. Positive psychology talks about the need for people to show their
personal experiences, for example, thoughts, emotions, or opinions, and act according to
those experiences (Luthans & Avolio, 2003 as cited in Cameron, Dutton & Quinn,2003)
2.3 Authenticity
Kernis (2003) identifies four main elements of authenticity: self-awareness,
relational authenticity, unbiased processing, and authentic behaviour/action. Kearns
identified those core elements of authenticity as a part of a larger theory of optimal self-
esteem (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). The definition of authenticity by Avolio, Luthans,
Gardner & Walumbwa (2004, p.4) is as follows: “those who are deeply aware of how
they think and behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and
others’ values/moral perspectives, knowledge, and strengths; aware of the context in
which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and of high
moral character” (Avolio et al., 2004). Authenticity in organizations is described by
Luthans and Avolio (2003, p. 243) “as a process that draws from both positive
psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in
both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviours on the part of the
leaders and associates, fostering positive self-development”. The “owning” of one’s
personal experience, that is what authenticity is about (Harter, 2002 as cited in Snyder &
Lopez, 2002).
Authenticity is both believing in own values, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts as
well as acting according to those beliefs (Harter, 2002 as cited in Snyder & Lopez, 2002).
24
2.3.1 Authentic Leaders
Shamir and Eilam (2005) claim that authentic leaders have four characteristics.
The first characteristic is that authentic leaders are true to themselves and do not fake
their leadership. The second characteristic of authentic leaders is that they are motivated
by personal persuasion. The third characteristic is that authentic leaders are truly
themselves; they do not fake a person or a character and the fourth characteristic of
authentic leaders, according to Shamir and Eilam is that authentic leaders act according
to their true values and persuasion. Authentic leader´s actions are consistent with what
they say, and they can be seen as highly transparent (Shamir & Eilam, 2005).
Although academics have not agreed upon one definition of the concept, four
major factors define authentic leadership. Those four factors are self -awareness, moral
perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. Authentic leaders foster a
healthy ethical climate that is characterized by transparency, high moral standards, trust,
and integrity (Avolio et al., 2004; Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Gardner et al., 2005;
Walumbwa et al., 2008). Here below those factors will be described more closely.
Self-awareness
Gardner et al. (2005) claim that authentic leaders have high levels of self-
awareness, and that is the core element of the authentic leadership development process.
Experiencing high levels of self-awareness is involved in having trust and awareness of
one´s emotions, desires, feelings, and motives, as well as being aware of one’s strengths
and weaknesses (Northouse, 2016). It is a process that can be triggered by external events
(Kearns, 2003). The literature from social psychology gives enough evidence for the
positive consequences of self-awareness (Hoyle, Kernis, Leary & Baldwin, 1999).
Moral perspectives
Authentic leaders make decisions based on their moral perspective and exhibit a
higher moral capacity to tackle a dilemma (May, Chan, Hodges, Avolio, 2003, Luthans
& Avolio, 2003 as cited in Cameron, Dutton & Quinn 2003). Authentic leaders can look
at the dilemma from different angles and are aware of the needs of different stakeholders
in a dilemma (May et al., 2003) External pressure should not influence the decision-
making process, but rather authentic leaders should follow their own morals and values
25
when making a decision (Luthans & Avolio, 2003). According to May, Chan, Hodges,
and Avolio (2003), authentic leaders need to possess three ethical aspects to make a
reliable decision, moral capacity, moral courage, and moral resiliency. The moral
perspective is a self-regulatory process because individuals control the influence, they
allow others to have on them (Northouse, 2016). Authentic leaders take action on moral
issues according to their expressed beliefs and morals (Northouse, 2016).
Balanced processing
Balanced processing can be understood by thinking about how individual
characteristics can influence the process of making a decision; for example, people with
either low self-esteem or high self-esteem (Kernis, 2003). It can be challenging for such
persons to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses correctly. Therefore, balanced
processing is an easier task for an authentic person with optimal self-esteem (Kernis,
2003). Authentic individuals are not egocentric, which is why they can evaluate more
objectively and consider both the positive and negative aspects, attributes, and qualities
of themselves (Gardner et al., 2005). Balanced processing is self-regulatory behaviour.
Avoiding favouritism about dilemmas and taking an unbiased decision. Authentic leaders
are open about their perspectives but are also able to take all other aspects in consideration
(Northouse, 2016).
Relational transparency
Relational transparency is about showing the behaviour that you stand for, being
open and honest to others. Relational transparency is self-regulatory. Individuals can
control how open and honest they are to others. It occurs when sharing feelings, motives,
and tendencies with others (Northouse, 2016, Kearns, 2003). It is not only about sharing
positive aspects of yourself but negative aspects as well. It is about being real in
relationships with others (Northouse, 2016).
2.3.2 Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership theories differ from other leadership theories in the way that
it does not say anything about their leadership style. Authentic leaders´ style is based on
their self-concepts (a collection of beliefs about oneself) and the relationships between
their self-concepts and their actions (Shamir & Eilam, 2005). Shamir and Eilam define
26
the leadership style of authentic leaders as individuals that have certain characteristics.
One of the characteristics of the authentic leader is that the leader role is their self-
concept; it is like those two roles have merged together. Another characteristic of
authentic leaders is that they are very firm and consistent with their inner values and
beliefs (Campell, Trapnell, Heine, Katz, Lavallee & Lechman 1996 as cited in Shamir &
Eilam, 2005) and they have a stable sense of self-concept (Luthans & Avolio, 2003).
According to Shamir and Eilam authentic leaders´ self-knowledge component is very
important because as people become more certain of their sense of self, they are more
likely to rely on their self-knowledge when it comes to making decisions, guide behaviour
and predict future events (Swann, 1990 as cited in Shamir & Eilam, 2005). Authentic
leaders are motivated by goals that constitute their own passions and values, and believes.
The authentic leader is committed to his self-concepts and motivated by his internal
commitment (Shamir, Arthur & House, 1994). The last characteristic of authentic leaders,
according to Shamir and Eilam is that the leaders’ behaviour is self-expressive. This
means that authentic leaders are consistent with their self-concepts and are motivated by
values and identities and not from expected benefits. They seek followers who increase
their sense of authenticity by confirming their self-concept instead of seeking to have
admiring followers (Shamir and Eilam, 2005). According to May et al. (2003, pg.2):
“knowing oneself and being true to oneself are essential qualities of authentic leadership”
Historically, leaders who believe they have some special qualities that do not have
the ordinary morals or ethics acknowledged by the society can be dangerous (Adorno,
1973 as cited in Shalimar & Eilam, 2005). To exclude those dangerous leaders from the
equation of authentic leaders, the leader-follower relationship must be included in the
authentic leaders definition (Shalimar & Eilam, 2005). Followers follow authentic leaders
because they share their beliefs, values, and convictions. Followers do not follow the
authentic leader because of the rewards they will get if they do so; they do so for authentic
reasons. Followers are aware of the leader´s strengths and weaknesses; they do not follow
the leader blindly (Shalimar & Eilam, 2005). By admitting their weaknesses to their
followers, authentic leaders can act as role models for followers. By being authentic, it
permits followers to act in the same way themselves. This authentic leadership behaviour
is more likely to produce authentic followership instead of blind followership (Shalimar
& Eilam, 2005, Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May and Walumbwa, 2005). The relationships
27
of authentic leaders are characterized by transparency, openness, trust, guidance towards
worthy goals, and the follower’s development (Gardner et al., 2005).
Figure 5. The conceptual framework for authentic leader and follower development (Avolio et al. 2005,
pp.346).
As can be seen in figure 5, the follower´s outcomes are described to be trust,
engagement, and workplace well-being (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002; Jones & George, 1998;
Ryan & Deci, 2000 as cited in Avolio et al. 2005, Harter, Schmidt & Keyes, 2003;
Kahneman, Diener, & Schwartz, 1999) The theory of the self -based model is based on
the literature on the self and identity (Gardner et al.2005).
Followers are important in the development of authentic leadership and that is
why it is important to understand what causes the followers´ responses. The follower’s
characteristics are important and how different personalities interpret the leader’s
behaviour differently (Eagly, 2005).
Research has shown that personal attributes as gender, age and ethnicity can affect
leadership outcomes (McColl-Kennedy & Anderson, 2005; Vecchio & Brazil, 2007).
Gender has been shown to be one of the most important factors affecting the followership
between a leader and a follower (Eagly, 2005; Gardiner, & Tiggerman, 1999; Houge &
Lord, 2007; Watson & Hoffman, 1996).
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2.3.3 Measurement of Authentic Leadership
The Authentic leadership questionnaire (ALQ) was developed by Avolio,
Gardner, Peterson, Wernsing, and Walumbwa in 2008. Data was used from Kenya, The
People´s Republic of China, and the United States. Most other leadership research has
used samples from Western cultures. This research differentiates itself because much
research on leadership is not done in culturally diverse settings; about 98% of leadership
theories come from the United States (Bass 1990; House & Aditya, 1997). The ALQ
questionnaire is, therefore, developed within diverse cultural contexts. Walumbwa et al.
used 16 items to measure authentic leadership and found internal consistency reliability
for each of the ALQ measures as follows: self-awareness (.73), relational transparency,
(.77), internalized moral perspective (.73) and balanced processing (.70). Walumbwa et
al.´s study on authentic leadership suggests that it is possible to use the questionnaire to
measure authentic leadership and discriminate authentic leadership from ethical and
transformational leadership (Walumbwa et al., 2008). Although the study by Walumbwa
et al. shows reliability and validity, it only provides the initial evidence of construct
validity (Walumbwa et al 2008). The ALQ has its limitations; for example, it does not
measure the influence of context on leadership development (Walumbwa et al. 2008).
The ALQ questionnaire is a survey that individuals can take by themselves to measure
their own level of authenticity as well as for employees to measure the perceived level of
authenticity of their next supervisor.
There are other questionnaires available to measure Authentic leadership such as
the Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI) developed by Neider and Schriensheim &
Chester in 2011. The ALI is a 16-item questionnaire like the ALQ by Walumbwa et al.
The items that compromise the ALI questionnaire were developed by adopting the
theoretical framework and dimensions provided by Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner,
Wernsing, and Peterson (2008) (Neider, Schriesheim & Cheister, 2011).
2.4 Employee engagement
To understand how the concept of employee engagement has developed and obtain a
clearer insight into the concept, it is important to look at history and different definitions
of employee engagement.
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2.4.1 History of Employee Engagement
The origins of the term employee engagement are not completely clear, although
some indications have been identified on how the term began to develop. A literature
review on employee engagement and human resource development by Shuck and
Wollard (2010) found that the term employee engagement first appeared in the Academy
of Management Journal article, „Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and
disengagement at work“ (Kahn,1990). In the article, Kahn explains how he defined his
employee engagement after having read the book by Goffman (1959) The Presentation
of Self in Everyday life (Kahn, 1990). Goffman (1959) talks in his book about how
individuals connect differently to different parts of their everyday tasks, but he recognizes
the need for a new perspective on an individual´s engagement within the organization.
Kahn believed that Goffman´s was right and extended that explanation to work-life by
talking about how the same occurs for employees. Kahn (1990) claimed that
meaningfulness, safety, and availability were important in understanding what drives
engagement at work. Kahns notions on meaningfulness, safety, and availability are
developed from the work of a psychologist (Freud, 1922 as cited in Schuck and Wollard,
2010), sociologist (Goffman, 1961 in Brien & Newman, 2008; Merton, 1957), and group
theorists (Slater, 1966; Smith & Berg,1987 as cited in Schuck and Wollard, 2010). Kahn´s
definition of personal engagement is believed to be the only literature on the engagement
until early 2001 or when the term burnout began to get academic attention. In 2001,
Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter claimed that employee engagement was the positive
opposite of burnout (Shuck & Wollard, 2010). Kahn (1990) and Maslach et al. (2001),
were the first to provide theoretical frameworks that explained the concept of employee
engagement (Saks, 2006).
2.4.2 Definition of Employee Engagement
There are many different definitions of the term „employee engagement”. The
first academic approach that defined employee engagement was written by Dr. William
Kahn (1990). Kahns description is as follows: „Employee engagement is the
psychological state experienced by employees concerning their work, together with
associated behaviours“(Armstrong, 2018, p. 171). Employee engagement involves the
connection between the workplace and the employee (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004; Macey
& Schneider, 2008). Employee engagement is claimed to be the connection that an
30
employee has to his work, his involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm to his work
(Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002). Engaged employees are willing to go the extra mile
for the organization, which can lead to better performance of the company. Engaged
employees are interested in what they are doing; they know what is expected of them and
have all the resources to perform their job well and finish the job (Eisinger, Guggenheim,
Mone, Price & Stine, 2011, Armstrong, 2018). Maslach et al. (2001) defined the concept
as: „a persistent positive affective state…. characterized by high levels of activation and
pleasure “(pg. 417).
Despite all the different definitions of employee engagement, there is no one
definition that practitioners or scholars agree on (Bakker & Leiter, 2010).
2.4.3 The Opposite of Engagement-Disengagement or Burnout
The term burnout or disengagement was first mentioned in 1960 in a Novel by
Graham Greene (Greenie, 1960) and the first academic research on burnout began in 1970
when Freudenberger did research on employee burnout (Freudenberger, 1974). Maslach
(1976) was also one of the first to research burnout with Human Behaviour research
(Maslach 1976 as cited in Leiter, Maslach & Schaufeli, 2001). Freudenberger researched
burnout as a clinical matter while Maslach researched burnout in sociological terms,
significantly different approaches on the same matter (Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012). It
was not until positive psychology emerged in 2001 that the idea came to mind that job
burnout could be the opposite of employee engagement. Burnout is described as having
negative health-damaging effects on the employee because of prolonged long-term stress
that the employee has been experiencing for a long time in his work environment
(Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). Maslach and Leiter (1997) discuss six reasons for
burnout: work overload, powerlessness, insufficient reward, unfair system, the value
system in conflict, and breakdown of community. They recommend a process-oriented
engagement to advance both the individual and the organization (Maslach and Leiter,
1997). Although burnout is considered as the opposite of engagement, they are unique in
their own way. They cannot be measured with the same measuring instrument (Schaufeli,
Tari, Le Blanc, Bakker, & De Jonge, 2001 as cited in Guðmundsdóttir, 2018). Schaufeli
et al., 2001 consider the term engagement as a state that is persistent, long-lasting,
emotional, and intellectual. A workaholic is a concept that refers to a strong inner
31
compulsion to work excessively hard (Schaufeli, Taris, & Bakker, 2008 in Burke &
Cooper, 2008) and is characterized by high arousal and displeasure. That clearly
distinguished employee engagement from a workaholic. Employee engagement can also
be distinguished from job-satisfaction because the levels of arousal are higher for
engagement than for job-satisfaction (Hakanen, Salanova, Schaufeli, Shimazu & Witte,
2019). Job satisfaction is a certain feeling that the employee has to his job, while
engagement is more of a state of mind that the employee is in at work (Schaufeli &
Bakker, 2004). Schaufeli et al. claim that the term engagement involves a positive,
satisfactory, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and
absorption (Schaufeli, Salanova, Roma & Bakker, 2002) Schaufeli et al. build their
definition of the term on the academic analysis of Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004 (Shaufeli et
al. 2001 as cited in Guðmundsdóttir, 2018) where two underlying factors were noticeable
in their research about wellbeing at the workplace. Those factors were activation that
stressed from exhaustion to vigour, and the second factor was the identification that
stressed from unbelief to dedication. After intense interviews in research that Schaufeli
et al. conducted (Schaufeli et al., 2001 as cited in Guðmundsdóttir, 2018), one other factor
was recognized; that factor was absorption. The three factors that describe employee
engagement can be described as follows: 1) Vigour is characterized by high levels of
energy and resilience while working, persistency, and willingness to put everything in
one´s work. 2) Dedication is characterized by enthusiasm, pride, „feelings of a sense of
significance“ and challenge 3) Absorption characterizes by „being fully concentrated and
deeply engrossed in one´s work, whereby time passes quickly and one has difficulties with
detaching oneself“ (Schaufeli, Salanova, Bakker, Gonzales-Roma., 2002, pp. 74-75).
Although engagement is similar to many other concepts, none of those concepts mean
exactly the same because engagement reflects the relationship between the employee and
the organizational unit. Therefore, it is agreed upon in the academic field that the term
employee engagement is entitled in itself as a separate concept on a theoretical basis
(Maslach et al., 2001; Shaufeli & Bakker, 2004).
2.4.4 Measurement of employee engagement
The Ultrecht Work Engagement scale or UWES is the most used measurement on
employee engagement in academic research (Farndale, Beijer, Van Veldhoven, Kelliher,
& Hope-Hailey, 2014 as cited in Schaufeli, Shimazu, Hakanen, Salanova and Witte,
32
2019). The UWES scale was first introduced as a 17-item self-report questionnaire, which
includes three dimensions. Those dimensions are as follows: 1) vigour 2) dedication, and
3) absorption (Schaufeli, Salanova, Bakker, & Gonzales-Roma, 2002). The UWES-17
scale has been demonstrated to show consistency, stability, and construct validity in a
number of different studies (Schaufeli, 2012 as cited in Schaufeli et al., 2017). A few
years later, a shorter version of the UWES questionnaire was introduced or the nine-item
questionnaire. There were three items for each dimension (Schaufeli, Bakker, &
Salanova, 2006). The internal consistency across ten different countries is from .85 and
.92, with a median of .92 (Schaufeli et al. 2006). By shortening the original UWES
questionnaire, it reduces the demands on survey participants. Survey participants of
employee engagement surveys are normally carried out in the business environment
where employers give their employees time to take the survey at work. That’s why the
pressure is high to make the survey as short as possible without losing the survey´s
validity and reliability (Fisher, Matthews, & Gibbons, 2015 as cited in Schaufeli et al.,
2017). In 2017 an even shorter version of the UWES scale was introduced, a three-item
scale, one for each dimension of work engagement (Schaufeli et al., 2017). The ultra-
short version of the UWES has similar internal consistency as of the 9-items UWES scale
(Schaufeli et al., 2017).
3. Methods
In the following chapter, the research method will be explained, the selection of
participants, the procedure of the research and measurement instruments, as well as data
processing.
3.1 Choice of Research Method
This research aimed to investigate the inter-relationship between perceived
strategic human resource management, authentic leadership, and employee engagement.
The working population in Iceland was identified as the ideal sample to use in this study.
The working population consists of employees working in different industries, and
different sized companies, employees of different age and gender groups. In October
2020, the working population in Iceland was 199,300 in the age group between 16 and
74. The employment rate of the population in Iceland was estimated to be around 73% in
October 2020, and the unemployment rate around 6,8% (Statistics Iceland, 2020). The
33
data was collected over five weeks period or from September 28th through November 1st,
2020. The employment rate has decreased by 3.1% points from October 2019 (Statistic
Iceland, 2020). With a large population like the whole working population in Iceland,
which is 199,300 (+/- 5,600), a sample of 100 people from the working population could
be considered as a good sample. Fritz and MacKinnon (2007) claim a sample of 74 is
enough when testing the mediation factor in a relationship (Fritz & MacKinnon, 2007).
The research goal was to reach as many employees of the working population in Iceland
as possible and evaluate the answers to accept or reject the hypotheses set out at the
beginning of the research. Qualitative research methods were most suitable as the method
is based on collecting numerical data and investigating the relationship between theory
and research (Bryman & Bell, 2011). The sample is a random sample because by using
an online questionnaire there is no available knowledge of who will respond to the survey.
The manager of the company Zenter (a company that focuses on conducting
research for companies and organizations), was contacted to get advice on how difficult
it would be to reach out to managers of different companies to participate in the research.
Zenters feedback was pessimistic, and the manager of Zenter thought it would be very
difficult to get managers to participate during the pandemic. VR (the Store and Office
Workers’ Union) was contacted next, and asked if they would be able to send out the
survey to a certain amount of their members. VR was not willing to participate in the
research. Therefore, it was decided to send out a survey/questionnaire through Facebook
and LinkedIn because by doing so, it would be possible to reach a broad sample of the
working population in a short period of time. It was considered a better approach than
trying to reach to different managers of different companies and convince them to send
the questionnaire to their employees. That would have been very time consuming as well
as difficult due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. The survey/questionnaire required
participants that were currently working (See appendix A). All answers from participants
were non-traceable. The preparation for the research started in August 2020. The
survey/questionnaire was sent out on Facebook and LinkedIn on the third of November
2020. Survey Monkey was used for the survey/questionnaire. Facebook friends were
encouraged to share the survey with other Facebook friends. Facebook friends were
reminded of the survey each day until the tenth of November 2020. The data from the
Survey that was performed in Survey monkey was exported to SPSS version 26.
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3.2 Participants
A total of 133 participants answered the survey, of which18 participants were
excluded from the results due to the fact that they didn´t answer all three parts of the
questionnaire. The total number of participants that answered all three parts of the
questionnaire were115 (N=115) thereof 45 were male (39,4%) and 69 were women
(60,5%), 0 were other (0%). There was one missing value. Most respondents were in the
age group between 39-45 (27%) and the fewest respondents were in the age group 18-
24(0,9%). Most of the participants (49,6%) had completed postgraduate studies at
university. The participants came from various industries (see Appendix IV). Most of the
participants are working for a company that has 70 or more employees (60,18%) and the
fewest participants were working for a company that has 30-69 employees (10,62%).
Ninety-six participants (83,4%) work for a company that is ten years or older, and forty-
three participants (37,39%) have tenure for ten years or longer in their job. Fifty-six
participants (48,7%) have worked with their next superior for 33 months or longer, and
most of the participants (80%) are working 90-100% job percentage. Forty-six
participants work as managers at a company (40,35%). For more detailed socio-
demographic information, see Appendix IV.
Implementation
The data was collected through a questionnaire that measured the three variables:
perceived strategic human resource management, the authentic leadership style of next
superior, and employee engagement. One questionnaire was created for the purpose of
this research, and two questionnaires were translated. All three questionnaires were
combined into one questionnaire, divided into three parts, which participants were able
to access online (see appendix B). The questionnaire contained 39 questions and took
approximately 5 minutes to complete. Anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed.
The questionnaire was posted on the Facebook and LinkedIn pages of the
researcher.
3.3 The Design of the Measurement Equipment
3.3.1 Perceived Strategic Human Resource Management Questionnaire.
The first questionnaire designed for this research was intended to measure
employees´ perceived strategic human resource management within the company they
35
work for. The questionnaire is built on a questionnaire that the researcher, along with his
fellow students, made for the course Strategic human resource management during the
master studies. The questions are built on the HRM maturity scale by Paul Kearns (2006).
The questionnaire was used to measure the perceived strategic human resource
management within a specific company in the forementioned course. The questionnaire
about perceived strategic human resource management was made by considering the six
steps of SHRM maturity by Paul Kearns (2006). After having researched the
questionnaire more closely, some questions were removed, and other questions were
added. The changes to the questionnaire were performed to be able to meet the goals and
needs of this particular research. The purpose of the first questionnaire was to be able to
measure where on the maturity scale, the employees of a company perceive the company
to be at. The aim of the design of the questions was for the questions to focus on the
employee instead of the manager of the company. The researcher´s focus was to formulate
questions easily understood for people with different education and backgrounds. The
questions were intended to measure whether employees perceive a company to be low on
the HR maturity scale or high on the maturity scale (see Appendix II for Questionnaire).
The stages of the HR maturity scale are six where stage 1 is about personnel
administration; stage 2 is about good professional practice, stage 3 is about effective HR
management, stage 4 is where HR becomes integral into operations, stage 5 is where the
transition from operational HR turns into strategic focus, and stage 6 is where the
organization becomes a whole system (Kearns, 2006).
The first sixteen questions were answered on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from
1(“Strongly disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly agree”). The questionnaire contained questions
such as “A written job description is available for my job” and “It is important for the
company that the training of employees is in line with the company´s policy” and
“Employee surveys of job satisfaction are conducted on a regular basis”. Additional four
questions were added, which were answered with three to six-point answers. The
additional four questions were not considered suitable to use with the five-point Likert
scale. One question was answered with “Yes, full occupation”, “yes, a part time
occupation”, “no” and “I don’t know”. Two questions were answered with “yes”, “no”
and “I don’t know” and one question was answered with “Permanent employment (fixed
monthly salary, not paid separately for evening or overtime”, “Permanent employment
36
(hourly wage according to contracts)”, “Temporary employment (fixed monthly salary,
not paid separately for evening or overtime)”, “Temporary employment (hourly wage
according to contract)”, “Contractor” and “Other, what?”. The questions used to
measure the perceived strategic human resource management were twenty in total. If the
participant answers all the questions with „strongly agree“, he receives a high score (84
points), which means that the participant perceives the company he works for to be high
on the maturity scale. On the other hand, a participant that answers all his questions with
the answer „strongly disagree”, receives a low score (21 points) which means that the
participant perceives the company he works for to be low on the maturity scale. The
questionnaire results indicate how far the company is on the maturity scale by Paul
Kearns, perceived by the employee. The questionnaire was pretested on three Master
students and three people from the working population. Detailed results for questions on
perceived SHRM measured by a five-point Likert scale can be seen in Appendix III.
Detailed results can be seen for four additional questions on perceived SHRM in
Appendix V.
3.3.2 Authentic Leadership Questionnaire
The second questionnaire is a questionnaire to measure the employee´s next
manager´s perceived level of authenticity (see Appendix II). Authentic leadership was
measured using the Authentic leadership questionnaire (ALQ). It comprises 16 items that
measure authentic leadership (Avolio et al., 2009; Walumbwa et al., 2008). The
questionnaire about Authenticity by Bruce J. Avolio and Walumbwa was translated from
American/English to Icelandic. Permission from MindGarden Inc. in Menlo Park,
California (www.mindgarden.com) for the use of the authenticity questionnaire was
applied for and a permission to translate the questionnaire and for using the questionnaire
on an online instrument.
The translation process was based on guidelines by Beaton, Bombarider, Ferraz
and Guillemin (2000). Beaton et al. based their guidelines on a review of cross-cultural
adaptation in the medical, psychological, and sociological literature (Beaton et al. 2000).
The translation process by Beaton et al. is the first step in the three-step process adopted
by the International Society for Quality-of-life assessment (IQOLA) project (Beaton et
al. 2000). Three native-speaking Icelanders translated the questionnaire with a second
37
language as English. The first translator is the researcher himself, a master´s student in
Human Resource Management and Occupational psychology, the second translator is an
MBA graduate student, and the third translator is a graduate master´s student in Geriatric
nursing. After the three translators had translated the text from American/English, they
compared their books and talked about difficulties they had in translating certain words
and the formulation of sentences. One final translation was agreed upon. The next step
was reverse translation. Two native American/English speaking people with Icelandic as
a second language then translated the text from Icelandic to American/English. The two
translations were then compared with the original questionnaire to notice if there was
some wording in the Icelandic text that needed to be modified. The final process was for
the expert committee to compare their books. The expert committee consists of the
translators and a methodologist/professor. The translation process took a lot of time due
to the fact the researcher had to apply for permission to use and translate the
questionnaire. The Icelandic translation of the authentic leadership questionnaire can be
used with the permission of the authors in future research. Example items from the
Authentic questionnaire are as follows:
My next superior:
1. says exactly what he or she means
2. demonstrates beliefs that are consistent with actions
3. solicits views that challenge his or her deeply held positions
4. seeks feedback to improve interactions with others
The responds are measured with five-point Likert scale. The responds options
are as follows: not at all, once in a while, sometimes, fairly often and
frequently, if not always.
Copyright © 2007 by Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner, & Fred O. Walumbwa. All
rights reserved in all media.
Published by Mind Garden, Inc. www.mindgarden.com.
Results from example items from the Authentic questionnaire can be seen in
Appendix VI.
38
3.3.3 Employee Engagement Questionnaire
The third questionnaire is a questionnaire to measure employee engagement (see
Appendix II). The UWES-3 questionnaire by Schaufeli et al. (2017) was used. The
UWES-3 questionnaire consists of three questions. Those three questions were translated
from English to Icelandic by two native speaking Icelanders with English as a second
language. The questions were back translated from Icelandic to English by two native
English-speaking persons with Icelandic as a second language. The UWES-3 is free for
use for non-commercial scientific research. Commercial and/or non-scientific use is
prohibited unless previous written permission is granted by the authors (Schaufeli et al.
2017).
The questions are as follows:
1. At work, I feel like bursting with energy
2. I am enthusiastic about my job
3. I am immersed in my work
The responses are measured with a seven-point Likert scale. The responses options are as
follows: never, almost never (a few times a year or less), rarely (once in a while or less),
sometimes (several times a month), often (once in a week), very often (a few times a week),
always (every day). Detailed results from UWES-3 can be seen in Appendix VII.
3.3.4 Supplementary questions regarding turnover intentions
Two additional questions were added by the researcher regarding turnover
intentions. One question about turnover intention within the next six to twelve months
and another about turnover intention if it was not for the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The Covid-19 situation has caused increased unemployment due to the fact that many
companies have not been able to keep up their businesses as usual (Statistic Iceland,
2020).
Turnover intentions give indications of employee´s job satisfaction and attitude
towards the organization ( Einarsdóttir, Ólafsdóttir & Bjarnadóttir, 2018; Boselia, 2014).
According to the CRANET research, employees´ turnover is lower or only 9% in
companies with 149 employees and fewer than in middle-sized and large companies. In
large companies where there are 300 or more employee´s the turnover rate is 17%
(Einarsdóttir, Ólafsdóttir & Bjarnadóttir, 2018). When the turnover rate goes over 10%,
39
it is likely that it could have damaging effects on the performance of the company and
various performance-related factors (Watson Wyatt, 2005 as cited in Einarsdóttir,
Ólafsdóttir & Bjarnadóttir, 2018). Detailed results from supplementary questions
regarding turnover intentions can be seen in Appendix VIII.
4. Results
4.1 Statistical Analysis
The following table explains the correlation between the questionnaires and a few
important variables can be seen.
Table 1. Means, standard deviations and Pearsons Correlations.
M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. SHRM 3,7 0,7 (,86)
2. Authentic leadership 3,6 0,8 ,45** (,95)
3. Employee engagement 6,0 0,8 ,32** ,27** (,80)
4. Gender 1,6 0,5 ,05 -,04 ,23*
5. Age 4,5 1,4 -,01 -,15 ,12 ,04
6. Tenure 3,9 2,0 ,12 ,04 -,08 -,09 ,43**
7. Age of organization 5,8 0,8 ,06 ,09 ,09 ,05 ,031** ,22*
8. Size of organization 2,3 0,9 ,25** -,04 ,09 ,07 ,17 ,05 ,30**
9. Tenure w/ supervisor 6,5 2,9 ,01 ,01 -,02 -,06 ,30** ,52** ,11 -,24*
SHRM: Strategic human resource management score
** Correlation is significant at the 0,01 level (2-tailed). * Correlation is significant at the 0,05 level (2-tailed).
Cronbach´s coefficient alpha is shown in the diagonal.
The internal consistency of the three questionnaires can be confirmed where the
Cronbach´s alpha for the perceived SHRM is ,86, the Cronbach´s alpha for the authentic
leadership questionnaire is ,95 and the Cronbach´s alpha for the UWES questionnaire is
,80.
There is a clear significant correlation between authentic leadership and SHRM
(,45) between employee engagement and SHRM (,32) and between employee
engagement and authentic leadership (,27). There is also a clear significant relationship
between gender and employee engagement (,23) and between tenure and age (,43).
The age of the organization and age of the employee has a significant relationship
(,031) as well as the age of organization and tenure (,22).
40
SHRM has a significant relationship with the size of the company (,25). The size
of the company and the age of the company has a significant relationship (,30).
Tenure of the employee with the next supervisor has a significant relationship
with tenure at the job (,52), age (,30) and size of the company (-,24).
4.2 Regression Analysis.
Before the regression analysis was performed, the skewness of the data was tested,
and it showed that both SHRM and UWES are skewed. The Bootstrap was then
performed, which showed that the data was a little skewed; but both values were positive.
Regression analysis should be used to test for mediation (Baron & Kenny, 1986
as cited in Krishnan & Loshali, 2013). Three regressions should be estimated to test the
mediator factor. Number one: regress the mediator on the independent variable; number
two: regress the dependent variable on the independent variable, and number three:
regress the dependent variable on both the independent variable and the mediator. The
following conditions must hold to prove the mediator factor: 1. The independent variable
must affect the mediator in the first equation, 2. The independent variable must affect the
dependent variable in the second equation, and 3. The mediator must affect the dependent
variable in the third equation. In the third equation, the effect of the independent variable
on the dependent variable must be less than in the second equation. A perfect mediation
can be proved if the independent variable has no effect when the mediator is controlled
for (Krishnan & Loshali, 2013).
A simple regression analysis was conducted where the dependent variable (Y) is
employee engagement. The independent variables are perceived SHRM, authentic
leadership and gender. Those variables were chosen due to their clear significant
correlation with employee engagement. The results can be seen in table 2.
41
Table 2. Predicting employee engagement
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
SHRM 0,351 0,272 0,253
Authentic Leadership 0,263 0,155 0,374
Gender 0,172
F 12,763 8,93 7,765 7,542
Adjusted R square 0,094 0,065 0,106 0,148
n 115 115 115 115
As can be seen in Table 2. Employee engagement will increase by ,351 by using
SHRM and employee engagement will increase by ,263 by deploying authentic
leadership. Employee engagement will increase by ,038 by using gender differences but
tenure in job will not increase employee engagement (-,035).
For the mediator factor to hold in the predicted direction, the effect of SHRM on
Employee engagement must be less in the third equation than in the second equation.
Perfect mediation holds if SHRM has no effect when the Authentic leadership factor is
controlled for. As can be seen in Table 2. the effects of SHRM on employee engagement
have increased in the third equation compared to the second equation. Therefore, the
regression analysis does not support to conduct a Sobels test on mediation of authentic
leadership on perceived SHRM and employee engagement.
4.3 Supplemental analysis
The researcher investigated the supplementary questions regarding turnover
intentions. Those questions were two with “yes”, “no”, “don´t know” and “don´t want
to answer” options. The response options of “don´t know”, and “don´t want to answer”
were determined as missing values. As can be seen in Table 1. there is a clear significant
relationship between employee engagement and gender. Due to the significant
relationship between employee engagement and gender, the researcher decided to add a
new variable, which includes both gender and the supplementary turnover questions. The
new variable was called Loyalty.
The researcher decided to perform a regression analysis as previously done on the
relationship between SHRM, authentic leadership, and employee engagement and see
whether there could be an established inter-relationship between perceived SHRM,
authentic leadership, and loyalty.
42
Table 3. Predicting Loyalty
Model1 Model 2 Model 3
SHRM 0,167 0,065
Authentic leadership 0,236 0,211
F 8,79 25,236 13,283
Adjusted R 2 0,07 0,19 0,193
n 115 115 115
As can be seen in table 3. there is a significant relationship between loyalty and
SHRM and loyalty and authentic leadership. In Model 3, where the independent variables
are both SHRM and authentic leadership, the effect of SHRM on loyalty is less than in
Model 1.
For the mediator factor to hold in the predicted direction, then the effect of SHRM
on loyalty must be less in the third equation than in the second equation. Perfect mediation
holds if SHRM has no effect when the authentic leadership factor is controlled for.
Therefore, the mediation factor for authentic leadership holds. Authentic
leadership is a mediator factor in the relationship between SHRM and loyalty.
Due to the reason that mediation has been found between Authentic leadership,
SHRM, and loyalty, it was decided to conduct a Sobel´s test to see whether the indirect
effect of authentic leadership on loyalty via SHRM was significantly different from zero.
The Sobel test p-value is 0,0012. With a 95% significant level, the mediation
effect can be confirmed. The mediator factor of authentic leadership can be detected and
confirmed on SHRM and Loyalty.
The regression analysis with the forward-selection technique (Judge, Griffiths,
Hill, Lukepohl & Lee, 1985) was used to see whether SHRM is better than authentic
leadership in predicting loyalty. The results are presented in Table 4 and Table 5.
Table 4. Regression analysis with the forward selection technique where the dependent variable is
Loyalty and the independent variable is authentic leadership
Regression Analysis with the forward selection technique
Dependent variable
Independent
variable
Parameter
estimates t
43
Loyalty
Authentic
leadership 0,442 4,959
Table 5. Variables excluded using the regression analysis with the forward selection technique where
Loyalty is the dependent variable and the independent variables are SHRM and gender
Excluded variables
Dependent variable
Independent
variable
Independent
variable n
Loyalty Strategic HRM Gender Beta In 0,110 0,155 115
t 1,119 1,751 115
Sig. 0,266 0,083 115
Partial Correlation 0,111 0,172 115
The table shows that Authentic leadership is a better predicter of Loyalty than
SHRM is. Results on supplementary questions on turnover intentions can be seen in
Appendix VIII.
5. Discussion
The purpose of this research was to explore whether authentic leadership and
employee´s perception of SHRM within a company can work together to enhance
employee engagement. The contribution was intended to be a framework that could help
organizations to estimate the overall effects of using SHRM and authentic leadership on
employee engagement. The results show a clear significant relationship between SHRM
and employee engagement as well as a clear significant relationship between authentic
leadership and employee engagement. The mediation factor of authentic leadership
between SHRM and employee engagement was not supported.
5.1 Summary
5.1.1 Hypothesis 1
Perceived strategic human resource management is positively related to employee
engagement.
The findings show a clear significant relationship between perceived strategic
human resource management and employee engagement. Therefore hypothesis 1 is
supported.
44
As Kearns (2006) mentioned perceived strategic human resource management is
important for employees to be engaged. This study confirms this statement. It increases
employees´ engagement to perceive that a company uses valued selection methods when
hiring employees, that they perceive training to be in place and other policies and
practices of SHRM being used. The SHRM theory claims that by deploying HPWPs the
employee motivation will increase. According to Kearns (2006) engagement is the key
element in strategic thinking and if companies use SHRM it will be easier to increase
employees´ engagement level. This finding supports Kearns theory as well as the SHRM
theory. Therefore, it is recommended for companies to formulate a good business strategy
which can be implemented through SHR management to increase the level of engagement
of employees.
The relationship between perceived SHRM and employee engagement has not
been studied in Iceland before, but the research supports foreign research.
5.1.2 Hypothesis 2
Authentic leadership is positively related to employee engagement
The findings show that there is a clear significant relationship between authentic
leadership and employee engagement. Therefore hypothesis 2 is supported.
There is limited research on this matter in Iceland, but the research supports
foreign research on the subject. Authentic leaders are leaders who establish trust and
connection with their followers. Authentic leaders can easily develop a feeling of
belonging with team members. When employees feel like they are trusted, they can easily
express themselves without being afraid of judgment. This feeling of belonging increases
employee engagement.
This finding supports that authentic leaders can increase engagement by creating
the feeling of belonging among employees. And therefore, serves as a recommendation
for organizations to support authentic leadership within the organization to increase the
level of engagement of employees.
45
5.1.3 Hypothesis 3
Perceived strategic human resource is positively related to authentic leadership.
The findings show that there is a clear significant relationship between perceived
SHRM and authentic leadership. Therefore hypothesis 3 is supported.
There is no research available in Iceland or foreign research to be found on the
relationship between perceived SHRM and authentic leadership. This relationship could
have been found because by using SHRM; the company is more likely to be hiring
employees that value authenticity and train them towards that direction. As Kearns (2006)
mentions, engagement is not just about having a business plan and a goal but about
developing a good, honest, trusting relationship with employees, managers, and line
managers. If the line manager of the organization is authentic then it could be possible
that the employee´s perception of the SHRM is stronger. The line manager is the one that
helps employees to understand the HR policies and practices and act according to them.
Therefore, it is recommended for organizations to formulate a business strategy
and to increase the likelihood of a successful implementation of SHRM, hire a line
manager that is authentic. By doing so it will increase the likelihood of a successful
implementation of SHRM as employee’s perception of the SHRM will be better.
5.1.4 Hypothesis 4
Authentic leadership mediates the relationship between perceived strategic human
resource management and employee engagement.
The findings did not demonstrate a significant mediation effect of authentic
leadership on SHRM and employee engagement. Therefore hypothesis 4 is not supported.
There is no available research in Iceland nor foreign research to be found on the
mediation factor of authentic leadership on perceived SHRM and employee engagement.
Therefore, it cannot be expected that by using authentic leadership with SHRM
will increase the level of employee engagement of employees, this finding could, though,
be due to or caused by the reasons mentioned here below.
This finding might be the result of the sample size being small or the fact that the
sample used in this research is not the best representation of the working population in
Iceland. By placing the questionnaire on the researcher´s Facebook and LinkedIn are
46
likely to have increased the likelihood of getting a sample that was too similar to the
researcher himself despite the fact that the researcher encouraged Facebook and LinkedIn
friends to share the questionnaire. In this case, the majority of participants were women
(60,53%), and most of the participants were in the age group between 39-45 (27%). Most
of the participants (49,56%) had completed postgraduate studies at university. The
researcher is a 45-year-old woman that is finishing postgraduate study at a university. It
could also have an effect affected that most of the participants (60,18%) worked at
companies that had 70 or more employees. According to the CRANET research (2018),
companies that have 70 or more employees are more likely to be using SHRM, and
therefore this research could have a sample that is too homogeneous.
5.1.5 Supplementary analysis.
The supplementary analysis found the mediation factor of loyalty between SHRM
and authentic leadership, where males seem to be more engaged when the leadership is
more authentic. As mentioned in chapter 2.3.2 about authentic leadership, the personal
characteristics of the follower is important, and how different personalities interpret the
behaviour of the leader (Eagle, 2005). Gender has been shown to be one of the most
important factors in effecting the followership between a leader and a follower (Eagle,
2005; Gardiner & Tiggerman, 1999; Houge & Lord, 2007; Watson & Hoffman, 1996).
Research has shown that personal attributes as gender, age, and ethnicity can affect
leadership outcomes (McColl-Kennedy & Andersson, 2005; Vecchio & Brazil, 2007).
Another reason for the mediation factor of loyalty between SHRM and authentic
leadership could be because the turnover questions are simple and can easily be
interpreted.
6. Conclusion
According to the literature, employee engagement is important for the firm´s overall
performance. Engagement is not only good for the organization but also for the
employee’s well-being. Research shows that, among others, SHRM and leadership style
can have an effect on the employee’s engagement. The interrelationship between SHRM,
employee engagement, and authentic leadership style was investigated. The mediation
factor of authentic leadership on employee engagement and SHRM was not confirmed.
Although the model cannot be confirmed as it was laid out at the start of the research, the
47
research has added important information to the theoretical understanding of the
relationship between authentic leadership, SHRM, and employee engagement. The
relationship between authentic leadership and employee engagement was confirmed, and
the mediator factor of gender was also confirmed in the supplementary analysis. This
knowledge adds an important theoretical understanding of the role of authentic
leadership.
Figure 6. The supplementary research model of the relationship between authentic leadership, perceived
SHRM, employee engagement and gender.
The supplementary research model (Fig.6) can be used for further research in the
field of business. It is apparently necessary to think about the gender difference when
choosing the right leader for the organization.
Gender
Perceived SHRM Employee engagement
Authentic Leadership
48
6.1 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research.
According to the literary review conducted tor this research, this study is the first
in the world to focus on the mediation factor of authentic leadership in the relationship
between SHRM and employee engagement. The study is the first in Iceland to research
the relationship between perceived SHRM, employee engagement, and authentic
leadership.
This research is similar to other studies as it has weaknesses and limitations. The
research could, for example, benefit from narrowing the study to employees of a few
companies and request the CEO of a number of different sized companies to send the
survey to their employees. The researcher found this was difficult to perform due to the
current Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that many companies are facing a crisis. The
research could benefit from using a representative sample.
The Survey included many questions that could have resulted in tiredness when
completing the Survey. This could be prevented by focusing on a few companies that
could send one questionnaire at a time (1. Perceived SHRM, 2. Authentic leadership, 3.
UWES-3) to the same employees with regular intervals.
The results might also be limited due to cultural differences in the translation of
both the UWES-3 questionnaire and the authentic leadership questionnaire. The questions
were translated from English to Icelandic, and translated back from Icelandic to English,
and might therefore have been subjected to cultural differences in interpretation of the
questions in translation.
After the researcher had send out the Survey, he found out that Ásdís
Guðmundsdóttir used the measurement UWES-3 in her research on employee
engagement and Iceland Travel-school. Ásdís added three questions to the UWES-3 from
the UWES -9 questionnaire. The three additional questions added to the UWES-3 were
carefully chosen by adding one more question to each factor. By doing so
Guðmundssdóttir created her own „UWES-6“(Guðmundsdóttir, 2018). By adding
questions that are more culturally accepted could influence the result of engagement.
Future research should consider adding culturally appropriate questions in order to
achieve more significant results.
49
Interestingly, authentic leadership has more effect on males than on women.
Future research could place more emphasis on the gender variable in the leader-follower
relationship as well as other personal attributes as age and ethnicity.
Due to the difference between genders on authentic leadership and loyalty it is
recommended in further research to add a question with the authentic leadership
questionnaire about the gender of the next superior. This research failed to take that into
account. The gender of the follower is known but not the gender of the leader. As
mentioned before, the personal characteristics of the followers can influence the follower
leadership relationship. Authentic leadership does not occur without the follower
relationship. Dickson et al. (2001) explain how the values of the leader shape the
organization´s cultural climate. Leaders´ values have been shown to be influenced by
gender (Jensen, White, & Singh, 1990). It can, therefore, be assumed that authentic male
leaders influence their organizational climate differently than women authentic leaders.
More males are leaders in organizations in Iceland than women leaders (Statistic Iceland,
2018). This fact could affect the level of employee engagement in general among
Icelandic women and is worth further research. Further research is recommended to
investigate other personal characteristics that can influence authentic leadership on
employee engagement.
50
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Appendix I
Samband stefnumótaðrar mannauðsstefnu, sanns leiðtoga og
starfsmannahollustu.
Upplýst samþykki um þátttöku í rannsókn þessari.
Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar er að skoða samband stefnumótaðrar mannauðsstjórnunar,
sanns leiðtogastíls og starfsmannahollustu. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar geta gefið
mikilvægar upplýsingar um gagnsemi þess að innleiða stefnumótaða mannauðsstjórnun
og notast við sannan leiðtogastíl yfirmanna til þess að auka starfsmannahollustu í
íslenskum fyrirtækjum.
Þáttaka í rannsókninni felst í því að svara spurningarlista þeim sem hér er fyrir neðan.
Spurningarlistinn skiptist í fjóra hluta en þeir eru eftirfarandi:
1. Skynjun þín á stefnumótaðri mannauðstjórnun innan fyrirtækisins sem þú vinnur
hjá núna.
2. Skynjun þín á leiðtogastíl þín næsta yfirmanns.
3. Starfsmannahollusta
4. Bakgrunnsupplýsingar
Það tekur um það bil 5. mínútur að svara spurningarlistanum í heild sinni.
Þáttaka í rannsókninni er nafnlaus og verður farið með öll gögn sem trúnaðarmál.
Rannsókn þessi er framkvæmd af Telmu Sigtryggsdóttur mastersnema í
Mannauðsstjórnun og Vinnusálfræði í Háskóla Reykjavíkur. Ef einhverjar spurningar
vakna núna eða síðar um rannsóknina skaltu ekki hika við að hafa samband við
rannsakanda: [email protected], sími:7707100. Leiðbeinandi rannsóknarinnar og
ritgerðarinnar er Freyr Halldórsson, Lektor við Viðskiptadeild Háskóla Reykjavíkur.
Með því að taka þátt í könnuninni samþykki ég ofangreindar upplýsingar.
65
Appendix II.
Samband stefnumótaðra mannauðsstefnu, sanns leiðtoga og starfsmannahollustu.
1. Hluti- skynjun þín á stefnumótaðri mannauðsstjórnun innan þess fyrirtækis
sem þú vinnur núna hjá
Leiðbeiningar: Vinsamlegast hakið í þann kassa sem best á við þinn vinnustað.
Likert scale mæling: Mjög ósammála, frekar ósammála, hvorki né, frekar
sammála, mjög sammála.
1. Við ráðningu mína var notast við faglegt ráðningarferli (ferilskrá, viðtal,
persónuleikapróf eða annað).
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
2. Skrifleg starfslýsing er til fyrir mitt starf
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
3. Ég fékk þjálfun í mínu starfi þegar ég byrjaði að vinna hjá fyrirtækinu
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
66
4. Fyrir mitt starf eru gerðar skýrar hæfniskröfur sem eru í samræmi við stefnu
og hlutverk fyrirtækisins
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
5. Fyrirtækið ber sig eftir því að gæta jafnræðis í ráðningum á milli kynja,
aldurs og kynþáttar
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
6. Kannanir á starfsánægju starfsmanna eru framkvæmdar reglulega
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
7. Launahækkanir starfsmanna eru metnar eftir frammistöðu
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
67
8. Ég hef farið í frammistöðusamtal með mínum næsta yfirmanni á síðustu 6-12
mánuðum
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
9. Það er tekið á málum ef starfsmaður er ekki að standa sig í starfi sínu
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
10. Að vinna í teymi er stór hluti af minni vinnu
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
11. Ég þekki stefnu og hlutverk fyrirtækisins vel
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
12. Ég þekki gildi fyrirtækisins vel
Mjög ósammála
68
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
13. Ég þekki megináherslur í rekstri fyrirtækisins vel
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
14. Ég geri mér grein fyrir því hvernig áherslur í rekstri fyrirtækisins hafa bein
áhrif á mitt starf
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
15. Fyrirtækinu er mikilvægt að þjálfun starfsmanna sé í samræmi við stefnu
fyrirtækisins.
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
16. Mér finnst ég geta haft áhrif á þróun starfs míns
Mjög ósammála
Frekar ósammála
Hvorki né
69
Frekar sammála
Mjög sammála
Aðrar spurningar- ekki svarað með Mjög sammála- Mjög ósammála.
17. Er sérstakt stöðugildi mannauðs- eða starfsmannastjóra hjá
fyrirtækinu/stofnuninni?
Já, fullt starf
Já, hlutastarf
Nei
Veit ekki
18. Ef já við spurningunni hér að ofna, á mannauðs- eða starfsmannastjóri sæti í
stjórn fyrirtækisins/stofnunarinnar?
Já
Nei
Veit ekki
19. Er til skriflega mannauðsstefna innan fyrirtækisins/stofnunarinnar?
Já
Nei
Veit ekki
20. Hvað lýsir best launasambandi þínu við núverandi vinnuveitanda þinn?
Fast ráðning (föst mánaðarlaun, ekki greitt sérstaklega fyrir kvöld-eða
yfirvinnu)
Fast ráðning (tímalaun samkvæmt samningum)
Tímabundin ráðning (föst mánaðarlaun, ekki greitt sérstaklega fyrir kvöld-
eða yfirvinnu).
Tímabundin ráðning (tímalaun samkvæmt samningum)
Verktaki
Annað, hvað?
70
2. Hluti- Sannur leiðtogi - Spurningalisti
Leiðbeiningar: atriðin hér fyrir neðan vísa til leiðtogastíls þíns næsta yfirmanns
eins og þú upplifir hann. Notaðu eftirfarandi svarmöguleika til að leggja mat á
hversu oft hver fullyrðing á við.
Minn næsti yfirmaður:
21. Segir nákvæmlega það sem hann/hún meinar
Alls ekki
Einstöku sinnum
Stundum
Nokkuð oft
Oft, ef ekki alltaf
Minn næsti yfirmaður:
22. Sýnir viðhorf sem endurspeglast í verki
Alls ekki
Einstöku sinnum
Stundum
Nokkuð oft
Oft, ef ekki alltaf
Minn næsti yfirmaður:
23. Leitar eftir sjónarmiðum sem ögra hans/hennar eigin fastmótuðu afstöðu
Alls ekki
Einstöku sinnum
Stundum
Nokkuð oft
Oft, ef ekki alltaf
Minn næsti yfirmaður:
71
24. Leitar eftir endurgjöf til að bæta samskipti við aðra.
Alls ekki
Einstöku sinnum
Stundum
Nokkuð oft
Oft, ef ekki alltaf
Copyright © 2007 by Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner, & Fred O.
Walumbwa. All rights reserved in all media.
Published by Mind Garden, Inc. www.mindgarden.com
3. Hluti spurningalistans snýr að starmannahollustu þinni.
Leiðbeiningar: vinsamlegast hakið í þann kassa sem best á við þig.
Skalinn er: Aldrei, Næstum aldrei (nokkrum sinnum á ári eða sjaldnar), Sjaldan
(einu sinni í mánuði eða sjaldnar), Stundum (nokkrum sinnum á mánuði), Oft
(einu sinni í viku), Mjög oft (nokkrum sinnum í viku), Alltaf (alla daga).
7-kvarða skali.
25. Í vinnunni er ég yfirfull/ur af orku
Aldrei
Næstum aldrei (nokkrum sinnum á ári eða sjaldnar)
Sjaldan (einu sinni í mánuði eða sjaldnar)
Stundum (nokkrum sinnum í mánuði)
Oft (einu sinnum í viku)
Mjög oft (nokkrum sinnum í viku)
Alltaf (alla daga)
26. Ég er mjög áhugasamur/söm um starfið mitt
Aldrei
72
Næstum aldrei (nokkrum sinnum á ári eða sjaldnar)
Sjaldan (einu sinni í mánuði eða sjaldnar)
Stundum (nokkrum sinnum í mánuði)
Oft (einu sinnum í viku)
Mjög oft (nokkrum sinnum í viku)
Alltaf (alla daga)
27. Ég sekk mér ofan í vinnuna mina
Aldrei
Næstum aldrei (nokkrum sinnum á ári eða sjaldnar)
Sjaldan (einu sinni í mánuði eða sjaldnar)
Stundum (nokkrum sinnum í mánuði)
Oft (einu sinnum í viku)
Mjög oft (nokkrum sinnum í viku)
Alltaf (alla daga)
Auka spurningar varðandi starfsmanna hollustu:
28. Ég hef hugsað mér að skipta um starf á næstu 6-12 mánuðum
Já
Nei
Veit ekki
Vil ekki svara
29. Ef ekki væri fyrir Covid-19 þá hefði ég hugsað mér að skipta um starf á
næstu 6-12 mánuðum.
Já
Nei
Veit ekki
Vil ekki svara
4. Hluti- spurningalistans eru bakgrunnsupplýsingar
73
Leiðbeiningar: Vinsamlegast hakið í þann kassa sem best á við þig.
30. Hvert er kyn þitt?
Karl
Kona
Annað
31. Á hvaða aldursbili ert þú?
18-24 ára
25-31 árs
32-38 ára
39-45 ára
46-52 ára
53-59 ára
60 ára +
Vil ekki svara
32. Hvert er hæsta stig náms sem þú hefur lokið?
Grunnskólanámi
Framhaldsskólanámi
Iðnnámi
Háskólanámi- BA/BS eða sambærilegt
Háskólanámi- MA/MS, Meistaranámi eða sambærilegu námi
Háskólanámi- DR eða sambærilegt
Vil ekki svara
Annað, hvað?_________________
33. Hvað vinna margir í fyrirtækinu sem þú vinnur hjá?
70 manns eða fleiri
30-69 manns
74
Færri en 30.manns
34. Í hvaða starfsgrein starfar fyrirtækið?
Landbúnaður, skógrækt og fiskveiðar
Námugröftur og vinnsla hráefna úr jörðu
Framleiðsla
Rafmagns-, gas og hitaveitur
Vatnsveita, fráveita, meðhöndlun úrgangs og afmengun
Byggingarstarfsemi og mannvirkjagerð
Heild- og smásöluverslun, viðgerðir á vélknúnum ökutækjum
Flutningur og geymsla
Rekstur gististaða og veitingarekstur
Upplýsinga og fjarskipti
Fjármála- og vátryggingarstarfsemi
Fasteignaviðskipti
Sérfræðileg, vísindaleg og tæknileg starfsemi
Leigustarfsemi og ýmis sérhæfð þjónusta
Opinver stjórnsýsla og varnarmál; almannatryggingar
Fræðslustarfsemi
Heilbrigðis-og félagaþjónusta
Menningar-, íþrótta-og tómstundarstarfsemi
Félagasamtök og önnur þjónustustarfsemi
Atvinnurekstur innan heimilis, þjónustustarfsemi og vöruframleiðsla til
eigin nota
Starfsemi stofnana of samtaka með úrlendisrétt
Annað?
35. Hve lengi hefur þú unnið hjá fyrirtækinu sem þú vinnur hjá núna?
0 – 1 ár.
2 - 3 ár
4 - 5 ár
6 - 7 ár
75
8 - 9 ár
10 ár eða lengur
Veit ekki
Vil ekki svara
36. Hve lengi hefur þú unnið með þínum næsta yfirmanni?
0 – 1 ár.
4 - 7 mánuði
8 - 11 mánuði
12 - 15 mánuði
16 - 19 mánuði
20 - 24 mánuði
25 - 28 mánuði
29 - 32 mánuði
33 mánuði eða lengur
Veit ekki
Vil ekki svara
37. Hvert er starfshlutfall þitt?
10 - 20%
30 - 40%
50 - 60%
70 - 80%
90 - 100%
Annað
Vil ekki svara
38. Hvaða stöðu gegnir þú í fyrirtækinu?
Stjórnandi
Sérfræðingur
Skrifstofustarfsmaður
Almennur starfsmaður
76
Annað
Vil ekki svara
39. Hver er aldur fyrirtækisins sem þú vinnur hjá?
0 – 1 árs
2 - 3 ára
4 - 5 ára
6 - 7 ára
8 - 9 ára
10 ára eða eldra
Veit ekki
Vil ekki svara
Takk fyrir þátttökuna.
77
Appendix III
Table 6. Results from questions regarding SHRM
Questions regarding P.SHRM Strongly disagree Disagree Neither nor Agree Strongly agree Total
1. My recruitment used a professional
recruitment process ( CV, interview,
personality test or other). 18,80% 8,27% 12,78% 28,57% 31,58% 133
2. A written job description is available
for my job. 16,03% 12,21% 8,40% 26,72% 36,64% 131
3. I received a training in my job when I
started working for the company. 15,04% 17,29% 12,03% 38,35% 17,29% 133
4. For my job, clear qualification
requirements are made that are in
accordance with the company´s ploicy
and role. 7,52% 11,28% 18,80% 35,34% 27,07% 133
5. The company strives to ensure
equality in recruitment between
genders, age and race. 8,27% 10,53% 19,56% 27,07% 34,59% 133
6. Surveys of employee job satisfaction
are conducted on a regular basis. 21,05% 15,04% 9,02% 24,06% 30,83% 133
7. Wage increases for employees are
assessed on the basis of performance. 30,83% 17,29% 19,55% 25,56% 6,77% 133
8. I´ve had a performance interview
with my next boss in the last 6-12
months. 42,11% 6,02% 9,02% 15,04% 27,82% 133
9. Matters are taken care of if the
employee is not doing his job. 10,53% 16,54% 20,30% 32,33% 20,30% 133
10. Working in a team is big part of my
work. 2,27% 11,36% 6,82% 32,58% 46,97% 132
11. I know the strategy and role of the
company. 2,27% 6,82% 3,03% 28,79% 59,09% 132
12. I know the value of the company. 3,76% 6,02% 6,02% 28,57% 55,64% 133
13. I know the main emphases in the
operation of the company. 3,01% 6,02% 4,51% 35,34% 51,13% 133
14. I am aware of how the emphasis in
the company´s operations directly
affects my work. 3,05% 6,87% 9,92% 30,53% 49,62% 131
15. It is important for the company that
the training of the employees is in
accordance with the company´s policy. 4,51% 9,02% 19,55% 32,33% 34,59% 133
16. I feel I can influence the
development of my work. 5,30% 6,82% 14,39% 33,33% 40,15% 132
78
Appendix IV
Table 7. Socio-demographic job characteristics of the respondents
Men Women
N
18-24 y/0 1 0 1
25-31 y/0 0 6 6
32-38 y/0 11 9 20
Age 39-45 y/0 12 19 31
46-52 y/0 12 17 29
53-59 y/0 2 10 12
60 y/0 or older 6 8 14
Total 44 69 113
Primary school or less 0 2 2
Secondary education 8 13 21
Education
Undergraduate studies at
Univ. 14 17 31
Postgraduate studies at Univ. 20 36 56
Master´s degree in vocational
education 3 0 3
Total 45 68 113
One year or less 7 11 18
2-3 years 6 14 20
Job tenure 4-5 years 4 9 13
6-7 years 5 4 9
8-9 years 3 8 11
10 years or longer 20 23 43
Total 45 69 114
0-3 months 2 4 6
4-7 months 7 10 17
8-11 months 0 2 2
12-15 months 2 6 8
16-19 months 4 2 6
Time worked with
next superior 20-24 months 2 6 8
25-28 months 2 5 7
29-32 months 0 4 4
33 months or longer 25 30 55
Total 44 69 113
Manager 21 24 45
Specialist 15 30 45
Occupation Clerk 3 5 8
General employee 4 9 13
Total 43 68 111
79
30-40% 1 2 3 Job percentage 50-60% 0 2 2
70-80% 3 12 15
90-100% 39 52 91 Total 43 68 111
80
Appendix V
Results from perceived Strategic Human Resource Management questionnaire.
Ninety-four of the participants perceived the company they work for to be high
on the SHRM maturity scale (stage 4-5) and twenty-one participants perceived the
company they work for to be low on the maturity scale (stage 0-3).
In the Appendix III a detailed response to each question on the SHRM
questionnaire can be seen. Four additional questions related to the perceived SHRM that
did not suit the Likert scale measure, the questions were as follows:
1. Is there a special fulltime position of human resources or human resource manager
at the company/institution?
2. If yes to the question above, does the human resource or human resource manager
have a seat on the executive board of the company/organization?
3. There is a written human resource policy within the company/institution.
4. What best describes your wage relationship with your current employer?
62,2% of the participants responded that HR manager was in full-time job at the
company they work for. 6,82% responded that Human resource manager was in part time
job at the company they work for and 29,99% responded that Human resource manager
is not working at the company they work for. And 1,52% do not know whether there is
HR manager working at the company they work for.
Table 8. Job percentage of human resource manager at the company
Full
time
Part
time No Don´t know
Human Resource
manager at the
company 62,20% 6,82% 29,99% 1,52%
37,29% of the participants claim that the HR manager at their company sits on the board
of directors in the company they work for. 25,42% claim that the HR manager does not
sit on the board of directors at the company they work for, 27,97% claim that they do not
know whether the HR manager sits on the board of directors at the company they work
for. 9,32% do not want to answer this question.
81
Table 9. HRM has a seat at the executive board of the company
Yes No
Don´t
know Don´t want to answer
The HRM manager
have a seat on the
executive board of
the company. 37,29% 25,42% 27,97% 9,32%
51,52% of the participants responded that there is a written HR policy within the
organization. 20,45% responded that there was not available written HR policy within the
organization, and 28,03% did not know whether there is a written HR policy available in
the company/institution that they work for.
Table 10. The existence of written human resource policy within the company
Yes No Don’t know
Written human
resource policy
within the company 51,52% 20,45% 28,03%
Most of the participants or 61,65% responded that they were permanently employed with
fixed monthly salaries, not paid specially for evenings or overtime and 28,57% responded
that they were permanently employed with hourly wage according to agreements.
There were three answers to the „other “option, and those were as follows:
1. A part-time job with a school
2. Fixed salary performance-related
3. Fixed salary + performance-related bonus payments
82
Appendix VI
Results from Authentic Leadership Questionnaire.
69 participants (60%) perceive their next superior to be high on authenticity while
46 participants or 40% perceive their next superior to be low on authenticity.
Figure 7. shows examples from the authentic leadership questionnaire:
Figure 7. Examples from the authentic leadership questionnaire
Copyright © 2007 by Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner, & Fred O. Walumbwa. All
rights reserved in all media.
Published by Mind Garden, Inc. www.mindgarden.com.
There was no correlation (.958) between the how long the employee had worked
with his next supervisor and the perceived authenticity of the supervisor. There was a
significant correlation (.003) between perceived authenticity of next supervisor and
employee engagement.
0,00%
10,00%
20,00%
30,00%
40,00%
50,00%
Not at all Once in a while Sometimes Fairly often Frequently, ifnot always
My next superior:
says exactly what he or she means
demonstrates beliefs that are concistent actions
solicits views that challenge his or her deeply held positions
seeks feedback to improve interactions with others
83
Appendix VII
Results from Employee Engagement questionnaire.
49,14% of the participants responded that they were very often (several times a
week) enthusiastic about their job, and 34,48 % responded that they were always (every
day of the week) enthusiastic about their work. 49,14% responded that they were very
often (several times a week) immersed in their work, and 36,21% are always immersed
in their work (every day of the week). 56,90% of the participants responded that they feel
like they are bursting with energy at work very often (several times a week), and 16,38%
responded that they are always (every day of the week) bursting with energy at work.
Figure 8 shows the results of the Ultra-short UWES questionnaire.
Figure 8. The results from the ultra-short UWES questionnaire
0,00%10,00%20,00%30,00%40,00%50,00%60,00%
The Ultar-short UWES Questionnaire
1. At work I feel like bursting with energy 2.I am enthusiastic about my job
3. I am immersed n my work
84
Appendix VIII
Results from supplementary turnover intentions questions.
Sixty-four participants (57%) most of the participants do not intent to change jobs
within the next 6-12 months. Thirty-four participants (29%) want to change jobs over the
next 6-12 months. 13% do not know whether they intent to change jobs on the next 6-12
months.
Table 11. Results from questions of turnover intentions.
Men Women N
Turnover intentions Yes 15 19 34
No 23 41 64
Total 38 60 98
Turnover intention if
not for Covid-19
Yes 15 14 29
No 26 45 71
Total 41 59 100
25% of participants would be thinking about changing job if it would not be for Covid-
19, 62,93% are not thinking about changing job, and 11,21% do not know whether they
would be thinking about changing job in the next 6-12 months.
