Patiently winning through virtuous leadership: The impact of virtuous leadership behavior on employee engagement across time

Abstract

Activating employee engagement continues to be a challenge for organizations despite interest by many, if not most, organizations. Recent research suggests that the expression of virtue could be a key to addressing this challenge. The authors examine how employees’ perceptions of virtuous leadership behaviors shape employee engagement. Specifically, this research bridges virtuous leadership theory with employee engagement theory, explicitly focusing on the attitudinal change in employees as they witness leaders intentionally incorporating the classic virtues in workplace interactions. The authors explore through a mixed-method field study with two facilities of a multinational company how virtuous leadership behaviors can shift employee engagement over a 3-year period. Results indicate that after leaders completed a training program on how to enact virtuous leadership behaviors that employee engagement dipped, initially. The reduction in employee engagement was temporary while employees assessed the longevity of the initiative. As leaders continued to practice virtuous leadership behaviors, employee engagement increased significantly beyond the levels before the dip. The findings suggest that engagement may not initially improve while employees are assessing whether leaders will remain committed to virtuous leadership behaviors. However, the findings indicate that the commitment to ongoing practice of virtuous leadership behaviors can create meaningful change in employee engagement.