The Role of Transformational Leadership and Work Climate in Enhancing Employee Motivation and Engagement in Modern Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Authors

  • Naufal Hanif Firdaus Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
  • Suhadianto Suhadianto Universitas 17 Agustus 1945
  • I Gusti Ayu Agung Noviekayati Universitas 17 Agustus 1945

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/ijsmr.v4i7.109

Keywords:

Transformational leadership, Work climate, Work motivation, Employee engagement, Modern organization

Abstract

The articles addressed transformational leadership, organizational climate, work motivation, employee engagement, and work-related outcomes. The evidence was analyzed through thematic coding and narrative synthesis. The review indicates that transformational leadership supports motivation and engagement by articulating meaningful vision, providing individualized consideration, stimulating new ideas, strengthening psychological empowerment, and building trust. Employee engagement serves as a behavioral mechanism linked to performance, creativity, commitment, knowledge sharing, and support for organizational change. These effects become weaker when leadership remains symbolic, workload is excessive, or organizational systems restrict autonomy. The article proposes an integrative model positioning transformational leadership as an initiating force, work climate as a contextual amplifier, motivation as a psychological mechanism, and engagement as a proximal outcome leading to organizational performance.

References

Abolnasser, M. S. A., Abdou, A. H., Hassan, T. H., & Salem, A. E. (2023). Transformational leadership, employee engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological well-being among hotel employees after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: a serial mediation model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3609. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043609

Abu-Qutaish, R., Alosta, M. R., Abu-Shosha, G., Oweidat, I. A., & Nashwan, A. J. (2025). The Relationship between Transformational Leadership, Work Motivation, and Engagement among Nurses in Jordanian Governmental Hospitals. BMC Nursing, 24(1), 842. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03518-7

Alfalih, A., & Ragmoun, W. (2025). The Impact of Transformational Leadership on the Workplace Well-Being of Employees with Disabilities: Series Mediation and Moderation Process. Frontiers in Public Health, 13, 1506257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1506257

Bui, N. V., Giao, H. N. K., & Hung, D. Van. (2023). How Transformational Leadership Influences Employees’ Job-Related Outcomes through Public Service Motivation: Does Power Distance Orientation Matter? Cogent Business & Management, 10(1), 2176281. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2176281

Chen, S., & Calero Cuervo, J. (2022). The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Work Engagement in the Context of Learning Organization Mediated by Employees’ Motivation. The Learning Organization, 29(5), 567–585. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-01-2022-0011

Helalat, A., Sharari, H., Alhelalat, J., & Al-Aqrabawi, R. (2025). Transformational Leadership and Employee Performance: A Further Insight Using Work Engagement. Economics: Innovative and Economics Research Journal, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/eoik-2025-0015

Huang, Q., Wang, L., Huang, H., Tang, H., Liu, J., & Chen, C. (2025). Transformational Leadership, Psychological Empowerment, Work Engagement and Intensive Care Nurses’ Job Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Structural Equation Modeling. BMC Nursing, 24(1), 1025. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03685-7

Ibrahim, M., Karollah, B., Juned, V., & Yunus, M. (2022). The Effect of Transformational Leadership, Work Motivation and Culture on Millennial Generation Employees’ Performance of the Manufacturing Industry in the Digital Era. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 908966. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.908966

Islam, M. N., Furuoka, F., & Idris, A. (2022). Transformational Leadership and Employee Championing Behavior during Organizational Change: The Mediating Effect of Work Engagement. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 11(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-01-2020-0016

Juyumaya, J., & Torres, J. P. (2023). Effects of Transformational Leadership and Work Engagement on Managers’ Creative Performance. Baltic Journal of Management, 18(1), 34–53. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-11-2021-0449

Karimi, S., Malek, F. A., Farani, A. Y., & Liobikienė, G. (2023). The Role of Transformational Leadership in Developing Innovative Work Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Psychological Capital. Sustainability, 15(2), 1267. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021267

Kim, J.-K., Yang, J.-J., & Lee, Y.-K. (2023). The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Service Employees in the Hotel Industry. Behavioral Sciences, 13(9), 731. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13090731

Meiryani, Nelviana, Koh, Y., Soepriyanto, G., Aljuaid, M., & Hasan, F. (2022). The Effect of Transformational Leadership and Remote Working on Employee Performance during {COVID-19} Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 919631. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.919631

Meng, F., Xu, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, G., Tong, Y., & Lin, R. (2022). Linkages between Transformational Leadership, Work Meaningfulness and Work Engagement: A Multilevel Cross-Sectional Study. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 15, 367–380. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S344624

Mustaffa, A., Lajuma, S., & Wider, W. (2022). Employee Engagement during {COVID-19} in Malaysia. Frontiers in Sociology, 7, 976966. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.976966

Saif, N., Goh, G. G. G., Rubin, A., Shaheen, I., & Murtaza, M. (2024). Influence of Transformational Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior and Task Performance of Individuals: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing. Heliyon, 10(11), e32280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32280

Tsoni, E., Lazanaki, V., & Katsaros, K. (2025). The Influence of Organizational Climate on Work Engagement: Evidence from the Greek Industrial Sector. Administrative Sciences, 15(11), 413. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15110413

Wang, J., Wang, Z., Alam, M., Murad, M., Gul, F., & Gill, S. A. (2022). The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Affective Organizational Commitment and Job Performance: The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 831060. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831060

Yu, J. (2024). Enhancing Employee Job Satisfaction through Organizational Climate and Employee Happiness at Work: A Mediated--Moderated Model. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 744. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02269-5

Zhang, L., Han, L., Liang, X., Wang, R., Fan, H., Jia, Y., Li, S., & Jiang, X. (2025). The Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Work Engagement among Intensive Care Unit Nurses: The Mediating Function of Organizational Climate. BMC Nursing, 24(1), 398. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03057-1

Published

2026-07-27

Issue

Section

Articles