article · SAGE Open
Leadership practices play an important role in shaping the workplace environment in higher education institutions in Namibia. An investigation evaluating four hundred and fifty employees through an online survey examined how these practices interact with job demands, job resources, and work engagement. Structural equation modelling revealed that leadership practices significantly relate to both job demands and job resources. However, only job demands demonstrated a significant positive relationship with employee work engagement levels, whereas job resources showed no significant effect. Consequently, job demands fully mediate the link between leadership practices and work engagement in this context. These findings clarify the specific pathways through which institutional leadership influences staff engagement, demonstrating that the management of job demands serves as the critical mechanism linking leadership behaviour to engagement outcomes in higher education environments.
Understanding employee engagement helps universities improve workforce productivity and institutional outcomes. By identifying that job demands, rather than job resources, mediate the effect of leadership on engagement in higher education, institutional leaders can better focus their management approaches. This insight allows university administrators to structure and manage workloads in ways that directly sustain staff commitment and day-to-day engagement.
The abstract does not indicate a direct commercialisation pathway or commercial application. The findings provide early-stage organizational evidence that could inform leadership training programmes or human resources advisory services for university administrators, but no specific product or market mechanism is described.
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There has been extensive research on leadership and work engagement, but little is known concerning leadership practices and work engagement levels in higher education in Namibia. This study examines leadership practices and work engagement in higher education, as well as the mediating role of job demands and job resources in the link. A quantitative approach was adopted following an explanatory research design to explain the mediating roles of job demands and resources in the interplay between leadership practices and work engagement. A combination of sampling strategies (stratified, convenience, and purposive sampling) was adopted to draw a sample of 450 respondents from different groups of employees within the target population of the study. The primary data was collected through an online survey, which was formatted using the Likert-type rating scale. Quantitative data was analyzed using structural equation modelling via SmartPLS Version 3.3.9. Leadership practices have significant relationships with both job demands and resources. On the other hand, job demands have a significant positive relationship with work engagement, but job resources exert no significant effect on work engagement levels. Therefore, the relationship between leadership practices and work engagement was fully mediated by job demands in higher education.
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DOI: 10.1177/21582440241233378
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