Exploring Leadership Styles of Federal Civilian Employees and the Relationship to their Individual Employee Engagement
Open Access
Author:
Hurlbutt, Nicole
Graduate Program:
Workforce Education and Development
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
October 04, 2021
Committee Members:
Jacqueline Mogle, Outside Field Member Jean Phillips, Outside Unit Member Heather Zimmerman, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies William Brendel, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor Hyung Joon Yoon, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Keywords:
engagement leadership federal government turnover intent transformational leadership COVID-19
Abstract:
This exploratory study aimed to investigate the relationship between a participant’s self-assessed leadership style, their level of employee engagement, and turnover intention. The population of interest was full-time civilian employees in the United States Federal Government. This study was conducted during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and the online assessment collected data for two weeks in August of 2021. The study used a survey design combining four existing scales to measure participants' leadership behaviors, levels of engagement, and intent to leave. The existing scales included the Leadership Self-Report Scale (Dussault, Frenette, & Fernet, 2013), the Employee Engagement Scale (Shuck, Adelson, & Reio, 2017), the Office of Personnel Management Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey Employee Engagement Index (Office of Personnel Management, 2019), and the Turnover Intention Scale (Bothma & Roodt, 2013). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing through regression analysis. The study's findings suggest that an individual’s leadership style correlates to the level of employee engagement of that leader. This study further indicates that leaders with balanced transactional and transformational leadership behaviors have higher levels of employee engagement than other leadership styles.
