Leadership, risk taking and employee engagement in a South African context

Abstract

Leadership is responsible for goal achievement, the ultimate goal of which is the survival and growth of the organisation. Growth is facilitated by innovation, which in turn drives employee engagement. Risk taking spurs innovation, while resources, especially engaged employees, are important in innovation. In addition, engaged employees are fundamental in shaping a competitive advantage, the hallmark of a sound strategy, the tool organisations use to achieve their goals. Hence, leadership should create an environment that encourages risk taking and employee engagement to achieve the long-term goals of the organisation. The study reported on here forms part of a larger study conducted in South Africa (2015 – 4099 respondents), measuring employee engagement at both the organisational and the individual levels. Data were collected from a convenience sample (an existing, permission-based database, comprising economically active persons employed in all sectors) by means of an electronic survey. The instrument was validated for the South African context. The aim of this study was to examine the factor, strategy and implementation, which scored the lowest of all the factors measured, and its impact on employee engagement. The results (means and standard deviations) showed that ‘risk taking’ was ranked the lowest of all items comprising the factor, strategy and implementation. Top management perceived that risk taking was encouraged, while employees perceived risk taking as not being encouraged (ANOVA). The results of the regression analysis indicate that the dimension of strategy and implementation contributes significantly to employee engagement. The results demonstrate that leadership needs to reconsider ‘encouraging risk taking’ because of its favourable influence on innovation and employee engagement, which may lead to actions that can enhance organisational performance.