What about leader engagement? A preliminary analysis of this forgotten variable

PurposeSince the early 2000s, employee engagement has become a growing point of interest for scholars, organizations, and consultants alike due to its association with a variety of organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent. Though there is much focus surrounding the measurement of employee engagement within the literature, there is a notable absence in research related to a leader's own level of engagement.Design/methodology/approachThis study aimed to address this gap in the literature, utilizing the Employee Engagement Scale (EES) to measure for leader engagement. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the data from 147 formal leaders who completed the EES measure.FindingsResults indicated that the model goodness-of-fit indices did not provide irrefutable evidence that leader engagement could be assessed with the 12-item EES. Using EFA results, the 12 items were rearranged and an additional run of CFA indicated better model fit with the modified EES, specifically focused on assessing leader-level engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample size (n = 147) limits the generalizability of the results. Additional studies using the revised EES structure indicated in this study is necessary to inform the validity and reliability in measuring for leader engagement with this modified tool.Practical implicationsThe paper includes implications for future researchers to pay attention to assessing leader-level engagement within the workplace and what organizational outcomes leader engagement may impact, specifically the financial impact of leader engagement.Originality/valueThis paper sought to address the gap in the literature surrounding measuring for leader engagement and its potential association with organizational outcomes.