Positive Supervisor Behaviors and Employee Performance: The Serial Mediation of Workplace Spirituality and Work Engagement

Alessandro De Carlo; Laura Dal Corso; Francesca Carluccio; Daiana Colledani; Alessandra Falco

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01834

Positive Supervisor Behaviors and Employee Performance: The Serial Mediation of Workplace Spirituality and Work Engagement

Front Psychol. 2020 Jul 24:11:1834. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01834. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Alessandro De Carlo¹, Laura Dal Corso², Francesca Carluccio³, Daiana Colledani², Alessandra Falco²

Affiliations

¹ Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
² Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
³ Department of Human Science (Communication, Training, Psychology), LUMSA University, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Organizational research has highlighted the crucial role of supervisors in promoting employee well-being and performance. According to the motivational approach, supervisors positively influence employees' outcomes by enhancing their positive feelings. In this study, we examine how positive supervisor behaviors may improve employee performance through the serial mediation of workplace spirituality and work engagement. Data were collected from 330 Italian employees. Results showed that supervisor integrity and responsible behaviors have a positive effect on employee performance directly; moreover, positive supervisor behaviors influence performance indirectly, through both the partial mediation of work engagement and the serial mediation of workplace spirituality and work engagement. The present study highlighted that supervisors should behave responsively and honestly to trigger a virtuous motivational process in their employees, which leads to boost their performance. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: employee performance; positive organizations; positive supervisor behaviors; work engagement; workplace spirituality.