Mario Fernando

Transformational leadership and work engagement: the mediating effect of meaning in work

Purpose – This paper reports the findings of a study examining the relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement through the mediating role of meaning in work.Design/methodology/approach – Transformational leadership, work engagement and perceptions of meaning in work were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 530 full‐time employees working in Australia.Findings – The results from structural equation modelling reveal that the transformational leadership style influences followers’ attributes of work engagement. The direct relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement was found to be partially mediated by employees’ perceptions of meaning in work.Practical implications – Industry reports show that globally, the number of unengaged employees have increased, costing nations billions in productivity losses. We present a model that could help reduce these losses by providing human resource managers with new insights into developing training programme...

The spiritual dimension in leadership at Dilmah Tea

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is first to report an exploratory study intended to capture the elements of a leaders spirituality; and second to examine these elements against the current discussion of spiritual leadership in general, and the transcendental leadership model in particular.Design/methodology/approach – Within a single case study scenario, the in‐depth interview method captures the elements of the leaders spirituality. Grounded theory is used to analyze the data.Findings – The findings suggest that a spiritually driven leaders high internal locus, a strong passion for giving and caring for his followers, and spirituality epitomize the concept of transcendental leadership.Research limitations/implications – The major limitation concerns generalizability of the findings. While in‐depth studies of larger samples of spiritually driven business leaders are needed, these leaders could be drawn from different cultural settings. Using different assessment tools to measure various aspects of ...

Revealing the screening: organisational factors influencing the recruitment of immigrant professionals

Little attention has been paid to factors that influence employers in their recruitment behaviour, especially as it affects immigrants. In order to address this gap in the literature, a case study of regional Australian employers is used to examine how organisation-based factors influence the employer screening and recruitment of immigrant professionals. The findings indicate that employers are not primarily driven by a human capital lens during the recruitment process. Rather they seem to be influenced by the place and specificity of the process. Some of the key factors which can either favourably or unfavourably influence employers include the organisational size, type, resource availability, ethnic diversity of clients, level of role criticalness, industry-based culture and management style.

The place of self-actualisation in workplace spirituality: evidence from Sri Lanka

The aim of this paper is to develop a self-actualising spirituality model. It examines the place of self-actualisation in the experience of workplace spirituality of Sri Lankan business leaders. The primary method of data collection was in-depth and face-to-face interviews with 13 Sri Lankan business leaders. Within the qualitative tradition and case study method, grounded theory and data triangulation were used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that when the business leaders experience workplace spirituality, they commonly project a need to grow, become and evolve towards the ideal (ought) self. This need is primarily driven by a desire to relate or connect to ones self. Findings suggest that self-actualising work arrangements offer a way to implement inclusive workplace spirituality, devoid of the challenges usually associated with the practice of religion-based workplace spirituality. Despite the geographical, cultural and social differences that exist between Sri Lanka and other cultures, this paper provides research implications for spiritual leadership and ethical decision-making in other cultural settings.

Enacting spiritual leadership in business through ego-transcendence

Purpose – By applying Parameshwar’s (2005) ego-transcendence model to two influential business leaders, the purpose of this paper is to examine how social innovation is promoted by business leaders through spiritual leadership. Design/methodology/approach – The study used research tactics available within a phenomenological framework. Findings – Based on the analysis of the two business leader case studies, several links between spiritual leadership and social innovation were identified. The central role of a higher purpose in enacting spiritual leadership as well as bringing about social innovation was most significant. Research limitations/implications – Use of secondary data, the inherent weaknesses in analysis based on a single individual’s interpretations and the analysis of only two business leaders were key limitations. A unique overlap was found between Dawson and Daniel’s (2010) social innovation model and Parameshwar’s (2005) ego-transcendence model. Practical implications – As higher purpose wa...

Are popular management techniques a waste of time

The article looks at a study on the effects of popular management techniques on organizational performance. Research is referenced that reveals no significant improvement in organizational performance as the result of implementing popular management techniques within large industrialized U.S. companies. The author suggests that corporate status markers often associated with the use of popular management techniques, such as the reputation of a firm or the pay structure of its chief executive officers, lead others to perceive their presence as proof of the management techniques efficacy. He also notes that financial conditions of an organization are often considered to be a separate goal from the reputation.

Fitting the mould: the role of employer perceptions in immigrant recruitment decision-making

Human capital theory presumes that skill-accredited immigrant professionals can access positions in the labour market to match their skills and qualifications. It implies that employers have little power to influence the labour market outcomes of immigrant professionals. Using social identity theory, we examine the influence of similarity effect in recruitment decision-making involving immigrant information technology (IT) professionals in New South Wales, Australia. We assess how decision makers (N = 331) hiring IT professionals need to associate and identify with people that resemble themselves in some way more than those that do not, can influence their perception of the immigrant candidates fit into their organisation. Particularly, we examine how the level of exposure to diversity, the decision makers origin and the diversity of clientele can moderate the assessment of the candidates fit to the organisation. We also assess how attire, name, accent and any overtly expressed religious affiliations influence employer perceptions. The findings indicate decision makers with lower levels of exposure to diversity or working in organisations with mostly Anglo clients tend to be more concerned of the fit regarding the Indians, South-east Asians and the Chinese. They were also more likely to be negatively influenced by the non-Anglo personal attributes.

Describing work as meaningful: towards a conceptual clarification

Purpose – Providing employees with meaning in their work has inspired numerous researchers to study the role of personal meaningful work and its related outcomes. Despite this high level of interest, the theoretical views and methodological approaches used to explore this concept still require refinement and development. Without a comprehensive review of these views and approaches, the concept of meaningful work will remain an ill defined notion. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap with a review of the theoretical and empirical research on meaningful work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes a discussion on the concepts of “meaning” and “work”, and its importance and the sources for conceptual confusion, and a synthesis of the common features that form the idea of meaningful work in numerous empirical and theoretical studies. Findings – The paper found meaningful work is derived when the employee has a perfect understanding of the nature and expectations of the task environment (...

Impact on Employee Productivity From Presenteeism and Absenteeism: Evidence From a Multinational Firm in Sri Lanka

Objective: This study examines the effects of 13 psychological and physical health conditions on work productivity. Methods: One hundred fifty-two staff at the headquarters of a Sri Lankan multinational firm completed a questionnaire asking whether they experienced 13 health conditions common in workplaces, and about their related absenteeism and presenteeism. Results: Most respondents (85.5%) reported absenteeism, presenteeism, or both. Among those reporting a health condition, 57.6% reported losing days due to absenteeism, and 69.5% reported losing additional days to presenteeism. Among those caring for a sick adult or child, 57.3% reported losing days due to absenteeism, and 36.5% reported losing additional days due to presenteeism. Overall productivity loss was 10.43 days each year, 3.95% of employee capacity, equating to about Sri Lanka Rupees 8 million (US

Making the cut: occupation-specific factors influencing employers in their recruitment and selection of immigrant professionals in the information technology and accounting occupations in regional Australia

54,421) for all headquarters employees. Conclusions: The health conditions’ effects on productivity significantly increased employee costs.