Leadership styles, work engagement, and turnover intention at a South African steel manufacturer

Abstract

Orientation: Employee retention is a serious risk in South Africa’s steel-manufacturing industry because the loss of specialist employees disrupts operations and depletes technical knowledge. Few studies have examined transformational, transactional, and toxic leadership together in this context.
Research purpose: This study examined the relationships between these three leadership styles, work engagement and turnover intention among specialists at a South African steel-manufacturing company and tested the mediating role of work engagement.
Motivation for the study: Specialist turnover reduces experience and continuity, delays projects, and may increase safety risks. Understanding whether leadership affects turnover intention directly or through work engagement can strengthen retention practices.
Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted from a post-positivist orientation. Data were collected from 93 specialist employees using established measures. Pearson correlations, regression and mediation analyses were performed.
Main findings: Work engagement partially mediated the relationships between all three leadership styles and turnover intention. Transformational and transactional leadership were positively associated with work engagement and negatively associated with turnover intention. Toxic leadership showed the opposite pattern.
Practical/managerial implications: Retention strategies should develop constructive leadership, promote fair performance management, monitor work engagement and address toxic leadership early.
Contribution/value-add: The study extends the Job Demands-Resources model by demonstrating how leadership relates to specialist turnover intention through work engagement in a South African steel manufacturing company.