The Mediating Role of Transformational Leadership in the Relationship Between Job Empowerment and Work Engagement Among Employees of a City Local Government Unit

Abstract

This research shows the mediating role of transformational leadership in the relationship between job empowerment and work engagement among employees of a City Local Government Unit in the Philippines. The study utilizes a quantitative descriptive correlational design. This study was conducted with 233 Plantilla employees in the Local Government of Panabo City. Respondents were selected through stratified random sampling. The study revealed that job empowerment, transformational leadership, and work engagement were described as very high. Moreover, job empowerment and work engagement, job empowerment and transformational leadership, and transformational leadership and work engagement revealed significant positive relationships. The mediation analysis showed that transformational leadership partially mediated the relationship between job empowerment and work engagement, as confirmed by the significant Sobel test result. The findings imply that job empowerment directly improves work engagement, while transformational leadership strengthens this effect through vision, support, intellectual stimulation, shared goals, performance expectations, and role modeling. The findings of this study serve as a basis for City LGUs to improve employee engagement and public service delivery through empowerment practices, leadership training, mentoring, participatory decision-making, recognition systems, feedback mechanisms, and regular engagement monitoring.