The Effect of Inclusive Leadership on Work Engagement of Temporary Workers: Psychological Empowerment as a Mediator

This study aimed to explore the associations between individual employees’ perception of inclusive leadership (IL) and employee work engagement (EWE) with a mediating effect of individual employees’ perception of psychological empowerment (PE) and a moderating role of employment status (permanent vs. temporary). The cross-sectional study utilized online-based survey tools to distribute to employees in a variety of working fields. Out of received 256 responses of the employees, 252 responses were found to be useful for analysis. Significant and positive relationships were found between IL and PE, PE and EWE, IL and EWE. The relationship between IL and EWE was partially mediated by PE and employment status moderated relationships between IL and PE, and IL and EWE. The positive effect of IL was stronger for temporary employees. The paper contributes both to the body of literature and managerial practice. In order to be successful in an agile, highly competitive environment, managers should recognize that they could encourage their employees to be engaged in their work through inclusive approaches. The paper found IL could be one of the effective ways of boosting employees’ EWE by utilizing PE.