How do servant leaders promote engagement? A bottom-up perspective of job crafting

• Rui Yang

  Zhejiang University

• Ying Ming

  Zhejiang University

• Jianhong Ma

  Zhejiang University

• Rongmian Huo

  China Jiliang University

We drew on the literature addressing servant leadership and job crafting, self-determination theory, and the job demands–resources model, and hypothesized that employees who are supported by servant leadership would craft their own jobs to stay engaged and perform well. Chinese employees (N = 544) working in various organizations participated in a survey. We found that servant leadership, as evaluated by employees, predicted work engagement and that job crafting played a partial mediating role in this relationship. Results of structural equation modeling offered strong support for the proposed model. Specifically, empowering promoted employees’ absorption through task crafting, and emotional healing promoted employees’ vigor through relational crafting. Our findings enrich the literature on positive organizational behavior and will help with identifying practical considerations around promoting work engagement.

1. Rui Yang, Zhejiang University
   School of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
2. Ying Ming, Zhejiang University
   School of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
3. Jianhong Ma, Zhejiang University
   School of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
4. Rongmian Huo, China Jiliang University
   School of Humanities and Social Sciences

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