Leaders, teams and work engagement: a basic needs perspective

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between engaging leadership and open conflict norms in teams, with work engagement. A mediating role of basic needs satisfaction between these relations is proposed based on self-determination theory. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling was used with 133 employees who rated their leader, their team and their own basic need satisfaction and engagement to analyze the direct and indirect effects simultaneously. Findings The analysis confirmed that both engaging leadership and open conflict norms had an indirect effect on work engagement through basic needs satisfaction. Furthermore, engaging leadership was positively related with open conflict norms. Research limitations/implications The current study adds to the validation of engaging leadership as it confirms that engaging leaders strengthen work engagement through basic need satisfaction. Furthermore, it shows that not only the leader is important, but the team can impact their well-being through the creation of other social resources as open conflict norms. Originality/value This paper provides evidence that not only leaders are important to increase work engagement through basic needs satisfaction but also other social resources, such as conflict management. This offers a brand new perspective and opportunities on how to increase work engagement using social resources as conflict management.