What drives perceived internal reputation? Empirical evidence from Chile

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the impact of servant leadership on employees' perception of organizational reputation by investigating the sequential mediating effects of employee psychological empowerment and employee thriving at work.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative online survey with 357 employees from Chile was conducted in this study.FindingsFindings of this study showed that servant leadership both directly and indirectly relates to perceived organizational reputation. Employees perceiving servant leadership behaviors from the employees' supervisors report higher levels of psychological empowerment and, in turn, feel a greater sense of vitality and learning at work that eventually leads to higher ratings of perceived organizational reputation.Originality/valueThis study's novelty lies in extending the internal drivers of organizational reputation by adding behavioral and psychological factors rarely explored in past research.