Relationship between psychological characteristics of managers and employee work engagement

Zadnjih nekoliko desetljeća prepoznaje se važnost radne angažiranosti zaposlenika u organizacijama. Za uspješnost organizacije na današnjem kompetitivnom tržištu, ključno je imati radno angažirane zaposlenike koji svojom visokom razinom energije, posvećenosti i zadubljenosti obavljaju svakodnevne radne zadatke. Kako bismo razvili takve zaposlenike u organizacijama, jedan od relevantnih faktora jesu i karakteristike njihovih rukovoditelja. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos sociodemografskih (spol, dob, obrazovanje) i psiholoških karakteristika rukovoditelja (inteligencije, osobina ličnosti i transformacijskog vodstva) s radnom angažiranosti njihovih zaposlenika. Također, ispitali smo medijatorsku ulogu transformacijskog vodstva na odnos osobina ličnosti rukovoditelja i radne angažiranosti njihovih zaposlenika. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 137 rukovoditelja i 273 njihovih zaposlenika. Svaki rukovoditelj imao je od jedne do četiri samoprocjene njegovih zaposlenika. Podaci su prikupljeni online diljem Hrvatske. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da sociodemografske karakteristike i inteligencija rukovoditelja nisu bile povezane s radnom angažiranosti zaposlenika. Međutim, čini se da rukovoditelji koji su se procijenili ugodnijima imaju radno angažiranije zaposlenike. Nadalje, ugodnost rukovoditelja povezana je s facetama posvećenosti i zadubljenosti, a transformacijski stil vodstva s facetama energičnosti i posvećenosti kod njihovih zaposlenika. Provedenim medijacijskim modelom nismo uspjeli objasniti ulogu transformacijskog vodstva na odnos osobina ličnosti rukovoditelja i radne angažiranosti zaposlenika. U radu se objašnjavaju metodološka ograničenja, preporuke i praktične implikacije.Over the last few decades, there has been recognized the importance of employee work engagement in organizations. For the success of the organization in today's competitive market, it is crucial to have work engaged employees who with their high level of vigor, dedication and absorption perform everyday work tasks. One of the relevant factors for developing those employees in organizations are characteristics of their managers. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship of sociodemographic (gender, age, education) and psychological characteristics of managers (intelligence, personality traits and transformational leadership) with the work engagement of employees. In addition, we examined the mediating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between the personality traits of managers and the work engagement of their employees. The survey included 137 managers and 273 their employees. Every manager had one to four selfratings of their employees. The data were collected online across Croatia. Research findings demonstrated that the sociodemographic characteristics and intelligence of managers were not related to the work engagement of employees. However, it seems that managers who found themselves more agreeable, proved to have more work engaged employees. Furthermore, the agreeableness of managers is associated with the facets of dedication and absorption, and the transformational leadership style with the facets of vigor and dedication of their employees. The implemented mediation model did not explain the role of transformational leadership in the relationship between the managers personality traits and the work engagement of their employees. The paper explains the methodological limitations, recommendations and practical implications