The influence of electronic leadership on work engagement, trust and intention to quit of university employees in South Africa
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Date
2024
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The global pandemic has been a catalyst for many revolutionary changes in the world, including remote work. Today, many organisations experience the benefits and reality of remote working, i.e., employees working in a location outside of the organisation. The new era of diverse working environments has had both an exponential and incremental impact on all industries, including the higher education industry. Most importantly, due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic; academics employed at higher education institutions (HEIs) were expected to adapt to these remote work-related changes at a rapid pace. This situation left many academics confused and unsure about how a remote work setting would affect their way of communicating, fulfilling their responsibilities, completing their tasks and working together with management, staff and students. It is not clear whether employees at HEIs perceive leaders, who practice a traditional leadership style, as sufficiently confident and appropriately equipped to manage staff virtually. The influence of e-leadership on South African HEIs employees’ work engagement, trust in leadership and intention to quit was explored to determine the relationships between the variables. Specifically, the impact of e-leadership on these employee outcomes was explored through a quantitative research design approach. Survey methodology was utilised to gather data from academic employees in South African HEIs.
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Keywords
Academics, E-Leadership, Intention to quit, Trust, Work Engagement