Values-Based Leadership and Workplace Engagement: Unpacking the Moderating Role of Sustainable Social Responsibility

This study examines the effect of values-based leadership on workplace engagement and explores the moderating role of sustainable social responsibility. The proposed study is based on the social learning theory, the leader–member exchange theory, and the social exchange theory, proposing a multidimensional model of values-based leadership, leadership qualities (LQ), ethical values (EV) and balance in achieving interests (BAI). The quantitative survey design was employed in the collection of data amongst 390 employees of the Ministry of Interior, Qatar. The measurement and the structural models were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using WarpPLS V. 7 Software. The findings show that the three dimensions of values-based leadership make important and positive contributions to engagement in the workplace. The results indicated that sustainable social responsibility had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between leadership qualities and workplace engagement, or on the relationship between achieving a balance of interests and workplace engagement. However, sustainable social responsibility significantly moderated the relationship between ethical values and workplace engagement. The study adds value to the literature on leadership and workplace engagement by separating the dimensions of values-based leadership and the contextualized enhancing role of sustainable social responsibility.