Remote Employee Engagement and Organizational Leadership Culture, Measured By EENDEED, a Validated Instrument

Abstract

With the current post-pandemic unpredictable work environment characterized by remote and hybrid work, the leadership culture of an organization is important in fostering a desirable working environment. Such a culture of leadership is modeled by leaders of the organization and instilled in new leaders, as leadership helps motivate, inspire, and engage employees. The purpose of this study was to analyze if the four types of leadership culture (mentoring, risk-taking, result-oriented, and coordinating) as determined by the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) have a direct influence on the level of engagement of employees. To analyze the influence of organizational leadership culture on remote employee engagement, this study implemented a quantitative non-experimental correlational design. Remote employee engagement was measured using a validated instrument called EENDEED (Enhanced Engagement Nurtured by Determination, Efficacy, and Exchange Dimensions). Data were collected through an online survey from 325 participants, all remote workers in organizations within the United States and a multiple regression analysis was conducted. The findings of this study confirmed that there was a statistically significant relationship between an organization’s leadership culture and its employees’ level of engagement. In other words, the organization leadership culture as defined by OCAI contributes to employee engagement. Mentoring was shown to be the highest contributor in employee engagement. In other words, a mentoring-based leadership culture produced more engaged employees. While risk-taking and coordinating produced a statistically significant positive contribution to employee engagement, a result-oriented culture was not significant in contributing to employee engagement.