Laghari 2022

TYPE Original Research
PUBLISHED 06 September 2022

DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.955300
Authentic leadership and

OPEN ACCESS flourishing: Do trust in the
EDITED BY
Fahmida Laghari,
Xijing University, China
organization and organizational
REVIEWED BY
Samyia Safdar,
support matter during times of
Capital University of Science &
Technology, Pakistan
Atasya Osmadi,
uncertainty?
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),
Malaysia
Alejandro Vega-Muñoz,
Deon J. Kleynhans*, Marita M. Heyns and Marius W. Stander
Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Chile Optentia Research Entity, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
*CORRESPONDENCE
Deon J. Kleynhans
deon.kleynhans@arcelormittal.com
SPECIALTY SECTION
Orientation: This study investigated the influence of authentic leadership on
This article was submitted to
Organizational Psychology, employee flourishing while considering the potential mediating effect of trust
a section of the journal in the organization and organizational support as underlying mechanisms in
Frontiers in Psychology
an uncertain setting.
RECEIVED 28May 2022
ACCEPTED 16 August 2022 Research purpose: To examine the relationship between authentic leadership
PUBLISHED 06 September 2022
and employee flourishing by evaluating the indirect effect of organizational
CITATION
support and trust in the organization as potential mediators.
Kleynhans DJ, Heyns MM and
Stander MW (2022) Authentic
Motivation for the study: An authentic leadership approach, organizational
leadership and flourishing: Do trust
in the organization and organizational support, and trust in the organization may influence the flourishing of
support matter during times employees in uncertain times. Increasing the comprehension of the possible
of uncertainty?
Front. Psychol. 13:955300. interaction effect of organizational support and trust in the organization in
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.955300 the relationship between authentic leadership and employee flourishing may
COPYRIGHT improve individual and organizational efficiency.
© 2022 Kleynhans, Heyns and Stander.
This is an open-access article Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional
distributed under the terms of the
survey design was applied in this study. The sample comprised 314 employees
Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY). The use, distribution or in a noteworthy South African steel manufacturing entity. The Authentic
reproduction in other forums is Leadership Inventory, Workplace Trust Survey, Flourishing-at-Work Scale, and
permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) the Job Demands-Resources Scale were administered.
are credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in Main findings: The findings of this study suggest that authentic leadership was
accordance with accepted academic a significant predictor of employee flourishing through organizational support
practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does and trust in the organization.
not comply with these terms.
Practical/managerial implications: This research illuminates the potential
value-adding contribution of an authentic leadership style in promoting a
trust-filled relationship between team members and their organization and
the support they experience from their employer. Despite the prevailing
precarious context, working under the mentioned conditions might result in
the increased flourishing of employees.
Contribution/value-add: The analyses of the mentioned relationships
might assist businesses in optimizing the resources required to improve
Frontiers in Psychology 01 frontiersin.org

Kleynhans et al. 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.955300
employee and organizational performance. Additionally, the exploration of

organizational support in conjunction with organizational trust raises our
understanding of the possible influence these elements can have in enhancing
employee flourishing in the workplace.
KEYWORDS
authentic leadership, flourishing, trust in the organization, organizational support,

precariousness
Introduction employment relationship during times of uncertainty, the

unpredictability and precariousness may still lead to employees
The 21st -century international economic climate has been experiencing anxiety and stress (Ererdi et al., 2021; Greyling
characterized by organizational pressures and challenges in et al., 2021) that can adversely influence their emotional and
order to adhere to stakeholder requirements (Hameed and psychological well-being in the short term and can cause
Sharma, 2020). Apart from the other difficulties that business burnout over the medium to long term (Dewey et al., 2020).
entities have faced, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic In support of previous research suggesting that an uncertain
brought additional challenges that needed to be navigated. and insecure work context has a negative impact on team
COVID-19 (also called the coronavirus) was declared a global member health and well-being (Standing, 2011; Utzet et al.,
disease outbreak of worldwide concern on 30 January 2020 and 2020), recent studies have emphasized the adverse effects of
then a pandemic on 11 March 2020 (World Health Organization COVID-19 on job satisfaction, well-being (Bakker and Van
[WHO], 2020b). With more than 200 countries and territories Wingerden, 2021), and social relations (Möhring et al., 2021).
as well as most organizations being affected by around 441 Moreover, the International Labor Organization mentioned
million cases and fatalities exceeding five million (Worldometer, that the costs related to psychological health complications
2022), the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be one of the are equivalent to 3–4% of the European Union’s gross
most significant global crises of the modern era (World Health domestic product (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
Organization [WHO], 2020a). Its worldwide effect is visible in and Development, 2012). Chisholm et al. (2016) posit that
the more than 157 million cases in Europe, over 149 million in psychological health difficulties result in an annual loss in
the United States, more than 118 million in Asia, and over 11 productivity of an estimated $925 billion. When considering
million in Africa (Worldometer, 2022). Despite the increasing these costs, a clear need exists for research on the identification
number of COVID-19-related research studies, organizations of psychological health predictors (Caesens et al., 2021). Because
are troubled by the uncertainties accompanying the pandemic employees spend many hours at work, the way employers
(Gostin and Wiley, 2020). Governing bodies, policymakers, and treat and value their employees has a prominent effect on
researchers are increasingly concerned about the adverse effect their well-being, both inside and outside of the workplace
that COVID-19 can have on business management practices and (Eisenberger and Stinglhamber, 2011).
the international economy (Amankwah-Amoah, 2020). Huppert and So (2013) state that hedonic and eudaimonic
The influence of the ongoing global health dilemma, well-being are components of employee flourishing and that
together with the international efforts to try and contain the flourishing employees are able to handle uncertainties and
virus, has not only affected the worldwide economy and human challenges more effectively than those who are not flourishing
health, but also complicated the careers and working life of (Schotanus-Dijkstra et al., 2016). The importance of follower
countless individuals (Restubog et al., 2020). The pandemic well-being is reiterated in a study by Krekel et al. (2019),
has brought about abrupt changes in the workplace (e.g., which suggests that employee well-being is positively linked
remote working and virtual teamwork), while affecting the to organizational performance and team member productivity.
work-life of employees (e.g., social distancing, anxiety, and job Safeguarding the well-being of employees has, thus, become
insecurity) (Kniffin et al., 2021). The anxiety of individuals a primary focus area for most business owners during the
has, furthermore, been kindled by profoundly emotional pandemic (Deloitte, 2020). This study extends the existing
messages, disturbing images, and broadly reported death tolls knowledge base by developing a more nuanced understanding
(Peters, 2020). of selected factors that may affect flourishing as these manifests
Additionally, the pandemic and the resulting changes may within a post-COVID work environment characterized by
have resulted in workplace-related uncertainty due to followers uncertainty and volatility.
feeling concerned about the future of their employer, their Amid uncertain and challenging conditions, such as the
working conditions, and the security of their jobs (Chirumbolo COVID-19 period, the role of leaders is imperative (Baran and
et al., 2021; Obrenovic et al., 2021). While being in an Woznyj, 2020; Rath et al., 2021), as followers depend on them

for support and guidance. During COVID-19 the role of the employee attitudes in times of uncertainty? We know that
leader changed from face-to-face interaction to having virtual authentic leadership is a positive predictor of organizational
interactions, limiting the time spent on one-to-one interactions support (Aria et al., 2019; Baykal, 2020), trust in the organization
and opportunities to support employees. Farhan and Wright (Stander et al., 2015; Coxen et al., 2016), and flourishing
(2021) stressed the importance of a leadership model that create (Chevalier et al., 2021; Kleynhans et al., 2022). However, it is
a culture of care and trust in uncertain times. According to not clear to what extend the impact on each other play in a
Wang et al. (2014), authentic leadership is a positive leadership model incorporating all the constructs. Consequently, the link
style that can be described as a transparent, moral, and between perceived organizational support and organizational
genuine approach that can make a constructive contribution trust as serial mediators between authentic leadership and
during periods of precariousness. Although authentic leadership flourishing needs more investigation. Considering the gaps
has generated interest among researchers, there seems to be illustrated above, the aim of the paper is to reveal the
limited research involving the relationship between authentic linkage between authentic leadership, organizational support,
leadership and employee well-being (Inceoglu et al., 2018), trust in the organization, and flourishing in uncertain times.
especially in volatile times. Authentic leaders have the ability to The paper seeks to answer the following: (a) What is the
positively affect team member trust in the organization, intrinsic potential value of authentic leadership in the way employees
motivation, job satisfaction, and commitment (Miniotaite and experience organizational support, trust in the organization,
Buciuniene, 2013; Tabak et al., 2013) and may add value in and flourishing during times of uncertainty? (b) Will authentic
times of uncertainty. Furthermore, Yijia and Jinhong (2016) leadership strengthen employees’ perceptions of organizational
maintain that authentic leadership is positively associated with support, thereby enhancing their trust in the organization and,
perceived organizational support. Imran et al. (2020) found consequently, furthering higher levels of flourishing?
perceived organizational support to be linked positively to This paper aims to make three main contributions to the
flourishing and work engagement. Flourishing, trust in the existing body of knowledge. First, it intends to enrich the
organization, and career progression were also found to be leadership literature by identifying how authentic leadership
associated with perceived trust in the workplace (Caesens affects work-related attitudes in terms of the experience of
et al., 2017). Rautenbach and Rothmann (2017b) indicate that organizational support, leading to trust in the organization,
organizations can benefit when promoting authentic leadership, and flourishing of employees in uncertain times. Second,
as the flourishing of their employees will be enhanced. the paper deals with the chain of effects between authentic
Tuzovic and Kabadayi (2021) posit that, while endeavoring leadership, organizational support, trust in the organization, and
to identify the factors that may have an impact on employee flourishing and captures the expected positive effect caused by
well-being, researchers have applied the job demands-resources authentic leadership. Third, practical implications for leaders
(JD-R) model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007) in many well- will be discussed.
being-related studies. Subsequently, the JD-R model was also
used in this study. According to the principles of the JD-
R model, having applicable job resources available when job
demands are high will benefit the organization (Bakker et al.,
Literature review and hypothesis
2007). To this end, applying the JD-R model approach could be
to the advantage of the entity where this study was conducted, The relationship between authentic
as it was functioning in challenging circumstances. Outside leadership and organizational support,
forces, including technology, certain factors in the business trust in the organization, and
environment, and government regulations, may affect job employee flourishing
demand and resource levels (Bakker et al., 2003). When the
mentioned external factors change, it may result in a change in The notion of flourishing has become one of the most
the demands and resources of employees, which can influence notable multifaceted well-being-related models (Keyes, 2002;
their well-being (Brauchli et al., 2013). Due to the possibility Seligman, 2011). Flourishing consists of two components,
that workplace well-being can increase when the job resources namely, hedonic and eudaimonic wellness. Hedonic wellness
at team members’ disposal may capacitate them to reduce refers to positive emotions and a life filled with good
the impact of job demands (Bakker et al., 2014), it may be feelings, while eudaimonic wellness relates to how individuals
advantageous to find and apply identified job resources to nurture their abilities to function well in their everyday life
mitigate the effect of job demands (Lesener et al., 2019). (Keyes, 2006). Keyes and Annas (2009) state that flourishing
Very little, if any, research is available on these specific encompasses the subjective well-being of persons, involving
constructs during times of uncertainty, in this case during a psychological, emotional, and social features.
global pandemic. The central research question that can be Flourishing in a work context can be separated
asked is whether authentic leadership will positively influence into flourishing, mental well-being, and languishing

(Rautenbach and Rothmann, 2017a). A person’s mental without contradicting, manipulating, or overstating available
health state can be measured across a continuum. Individuals evidence. Lastly, relational transparency refers to the self-
who flourish are plotted at the one end of the continuum and disclosure of an individual, the person’s genuine convictions
those who languish at the other end (Keyes, 2002). As can be and emotions, and the establishment of trust-based associations.
deduced, those with a positive state of mental health are at the Authentic leadership is an original, ethical, and transparent
higher end of the spectrum and deemed to flourish. Employees leadership style known for its positive approach during times
who flourish at work feel well (i.e., they are content with their of uncertainty (Wang et al., 2014). When displaying authentic
job and have positive emotions, perform psychologically well) leadership behavior, such as a positive moral perspective,
(i.e., are devoted and determined and find purpose at work), elevated awareness, and timely and clear communication,
and are socially well-adapted (i.e., are socially accepted, make leaders can inspire team members to achieve work-related goals
social contributions, and are socially growing) (Rothmann, (Crawford et al., 2020).
2013). Individuals who are in a languishing state of being are Authentic leadership was also found to predict
at the lower end of the mental health spectrum. According to organizational support (Vermeulen, 2017; Gojny-Zbierowska,
Keyes (2006), most individuals experience a moderate mental 2018; Aria et al., 2019). According to Eisenberger et al. (1986),
health state and are located between a languishing and a perceived organizational support is defined as “employees in
flourishing state on the spectrum. The well-being of individuals an organization form global beliefs concerning the extent to
is not only viewed as a desirable end state in psychological which the organization values their contributions and cares
terms but improving the well-being of employees is also about their well-being” (p. 500). However, organizations have
regarded as beneficial for business and, thus, something to different ways of expressing to its employees that it values their
aspire to (Schotanus-Dijkstra et al., 2016). The contribution contribution and that it cares for their well-being (Kurtessis
that well-being can make in the workplace is demonstrated et al., 2017). One way of demonstrating to employees that the
by findings that it relates to work engagement (Diener et al., organization cares about their well-being is through its leaders
2003; Bakker and Oerlemans, 2011; Ariza-Montes et al., 2018), because they can influence the connection that employees
career development (Rosenbaum et al., 2011), hope for the feel toward the organization (Kurtessis et al., 2017). To this
future (Pleeging et al., 2021), and improved productivity end, Cropanzano et al. (2001) determined that fairness and
(Oswald et al., 2015). Authentic leaders are likely to cultivate an inspirational and supportive leadership style is a strong
positive social exchanges, they can have a positive effect on predictor of perceived organizational support. The results
team member well-being, as positive social exchanges enhance from a recent study conducted by Kurian and Nafukho (2022)
well-being (Ilies et al., 2005). suggest that authentic leader can create high levels of perceived
According to Rego et al. (2016), authentic leadership fairness due to the climate they create for their team members.
originated from the constructive perspective and action of Moreover, authentic leaders might have a positive effect on
leaders who positively influenced their followers. Authentic employee behavior due to the support and assistance that they
leadership grants a framework of positive, trusting, and ethical provide to employees to develop and perform at their best (Ilies
leadership (Kiersch and Peters, 2017). Even though authentic et al., 2005). Lastly, because authentic leaders are self-aware,
leadership has been described in numerous ways and analyzed have high moral standard and build transparent relationships,
in several studies (Gardner et al., 2011), the definition most they can build positive relationships with followers, while
often employed is the description proposed by Walumbwa et al. inspiring and encouraging them to achieve their goals (Deshwal
(2008): “A pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and and Ali, 2020). It is thus plausible to suggest that authentic
promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive leadership associates with organizational support.
ethical climate to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized A study conducted by Chen and Sriphon (2022) indicated
moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and that authentic leadership was linked positively to both social
relational transparency on the part of leaders working with exchange relationships and trust. Furthermore, an authentic
followers, fostering positive self-development” (p. 94). leadership style can promote a healthy and supportive work
According to the description, authentic leadership consists setting characterized by sound relationships and trust among
of four dimensions, namely, self-awareness, internalized moral team members, follower trust in their leaders (Asad et al., 2021),
perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency and in their organization (Miniotaite and Buciuniene, 2013;
(Banks et al., 2016). Self-awareness relates to the awareness Alkaabi, 2018; Kleynhans et al., 2021a). It is thus plausible to
of, and trust in, an individual’s values, cognitions, and argue that increased levels of trust can be ascribed to the example
motives. Internalized moral perspective points to behaving set by authentic leaders who are characterized by high moral
in accordance with one’s true self rather than displaying standards, honesty, transparency, and integrity.
behavior directed at gaining the favor of external parties Recent studies found that authentic leadership could
or avoiding some form of punishment. Balanced processing be beneficial to organizations, as it was associated with a
pertains to the unbiased processing of available information variety of positive end results, such as follower creativity,
that includes relevant knowledge during decision-making team member performance (Duarte et al., 2021), consumer

focus, personnel retention (Ribeiro et al., 2020), and employee provision of meaningful and challenging work, the provision of
flourishing (Nair et al., 2021; Kleynhans et al., 2022). Ryff employee benefits, and payment of a fair wage (Sun, 2019).
and Keyes (1995) maintain that when leaders exhibit behavior Authentic leaders can influence the climate within an
linked to the dimensions of authentic leadership (self- organization (Woolley et al., 2011) and the well-being of team
awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, members by means of different mechanisms (Ilies et al., 2005).
and relational transparency), they can influence the well- Because of their open and honest communication, and the
being of employees. For example, self-awareness and balanced trust and sincere interest these leaders have in their team
processing could assist followers with increases self-acceptance, members (Gardner et al., 2005), they cultivate a positive and
personal growth, and the mastery of their environment, while safe climate where followers can feel free to express themselves
relational transparency should lead to positive relationships (Nelson et al., 2014). The perception of employees regarding
in the workplace. the support provided by their leader, who is considered by
Considering the information provided above, it can be them as a representative of the organization, is hereby positively
argued that an authentic leadership approach can have a positive influenced resulting in them extending that perception to
influence on employees’ perceptions regarding the support the organization.
provided by the organization, their trust in the organization, and Previous research indicated that perceived organizational
their levels of flourishing. Accordingly, the following hypothesis support can be linked to the enhancement of job satisfaction
was formulated: and flourishing while reducing the stress levels of employees
(Kurtessis et al., 2017). According to Ho and Chan (2022),
Hypothesis 1: authentic leadership positively influences (a) and in line with the organizational support theory (Kurtessis
organizational support, (b) trust in the organization, and (c) et al., 2017), perceived organizational support was identified as a
employee flourishing. prominent contributor to employee flourishing. These findings
imply that when followers perceive that their organization
or their leader appreciates their contribution, values their
well-being, and demonstrates support, these employees will
Organizational support as a mediator likely experience increased levels of flourishing. Based on this
in the relationship between authentic discussion the following hypothesis was formulated:
leadership and employee flourishing
Hypothesis 2: organizational support mediates
Organizational support theory was introduced in 1986 by the relationship between authentic leadership and
the American social psychologist Eisenberger, who maintained employee flourishing.
that perceived organizational support was represented by
follower perception of the value that an organization attached to
followers’ contributions and the care it demonstrated for their
well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Sun, 2019). When applying Trust in the organization as a
the social exchange theory, perceived organizational support facilitative mechanism in the
implies that followers provide the employing organization relationship between authentic
with their capabilities, time, attitude, and efforts for favorable leadership and employee flourishing
treatment from the employer (remuneration, development,
career advancement, support, etc.) (Kurtessis et al., 2017). The Trust is an essential aspect of any human relationship,
support that organizations provide to their employees assists in and although there seems to be no unanimously accepted
meeting their own needs and demonstrates their willingness to description of trust, scholars tend to agree on the key defining
supply the employee with material and other support. features that describe trust. Accordingly, Rousseau et al. (1998)
Based on the principle of reciprocity, how organizations posit that trust can be described as a psychological state that
treat their employees can influence perceived organizational consists of “the intention to accept vulnerability based upon
support, which, in turn, will have an impact on employee positive expectations of the intention or behavior of the other”
attitudes and behavior (Sun, 2019). When team members, thus, (p. 395). Trust includes an element of risk perception (Siegrist
perceive that the company has their best interests at heart, et al., 2021), while being a future-oriented state shaped by the
demonstrated by its commitment and support, they are likely actions and behavior of another party (Corbett and Le Dantec,
to reciprocate by showing loyalty and adopting the actions 2018). In an organizational context, trust can be classified as
and attitudes required by the company (Sun, 2019). Examples interpersonal and impersonal. Examples of interpersonal trust
of the support organizations can provide to their employees are trust in colleagues and in leaders, an example of impersonal
include how they react to employee health issues, the errors that trust is trust in the organization (Güçer and Demirdağ, 2014;
employees make, and their performance (good or bad), their Haynes et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2020). When considering

previous research studies, trust in leaders has frequently been According to Kleynhans et al. (2021a), there is a positive
investigated (Ullah et al., 2019) and trust in colleagues somewhat relationship between trust in the organization and authentic
less (Bachmann et al., 2015). Trust in the organization is, leadership, while Paolini et al. (2020) found an association
however, a relatively new phenomenon that requires more in- between trust and well-being during times of uncertainty.
depth analysis (Jaškevičiūtė, 2021) and is one of the constructs Because authentic leaders can be described as those “who are
used in this study. deeply aware of how they think and behave and are perceived
When trust in the workplace is diminished, it can function as by others as being aware of their own and others values/moral
a barrier, resulting in increased vulnerability, heightened caution perspectives, knowledge and strengths; aware of the context in
among employees (which leads to diminished levels of effort), which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic,
and, thus, reduced benefits flowing from team member efficacy resilient, and of high moral character” (Avolio et al., 2004,
(Bandura, 2001; Dirks and Ferrin, 2001). To this end, trust in the p. 4), it can be argued that authentic leadership associates
organization is represented by the trust stakeholders (including with trust and the well-being of employees. Additionally, the
employees) have in an entity and includes perceived factors possible mediating effect of trust in the leader on the relationship
such as the fairness and transparency of actions, processes, between authentic leadership and the attitudes and behaviors
and procedures (Rawlins, 2008; Schnackenberg and Tomlinson, of employees in the workplace has been confirmed in previous
2014). Additionally, the way companies are true to their word studies (Wang and Hsieh, 2013; Agote et al., 2016). The
also plays a vital role in perceived trust. Trust in the organization following hypothesis was thus formulated:
refers to a setting where positive attitudes/viewpoints, elevated
performance, and collaboration are highly likely (Brown et al., Hypothesis 3: trust in the organization mediates
2014). Trust in the organization and trust in its leaders the relationship between authentic leadership and
were found to associate with vital outcomes, which included employee flourishing.
organizational commitment (Baştuğ et al., 2016), organizational
citizenship behavior (Singh and Srivastava, 2016; Dhiman and
Sharma, 2021), employee performance (Ekhsan and Saroh,
2021), knowledge management and organizational performance Testing the simultaneous, serial
(Fitria, 2020), and employee well-being (Jaškevičiūtė, 2021). mediating effect from organizational
Research indicates that a trusting relationship is established support to trust in the organization in
through the social exchange between parties (Wang et al., 2019). the relationship between authentic
The social exchange theory involves the processes and principles leadership and flourishing
related to the exchange of treasured social and psychological
commodities (Cross and Dundon, 2019). A key concept of social This study investigated the relation between authentic
exchange theory is that participants in a relationship feel obliged leadership, Flourishing, organizational support, and trust in the
to reciprocate the commodities at their disposal because they are organization during times of uncertainty.
inspired to safeguard the balance between inputs and outputs to While the prevalent challenges in the world economy,
preserve a social transaction equilibrium (Buchanan, 2021). society, and the labor environment have resulted in the
The prevalence of trust in the organization can have occupational environment being increasingly precarious, the
an impact on work-related outcomes by influencing how outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation,
employees appraise the anticipated behavior of the business putting the health and well-being of individuals at risk (Giunchi
(Dirks and Ferrin, 2001; Adnan et al., 2018). When the future et al., 2019; Alradhawi et al., 2020; Jajodia et al., 2020; Rajendran
actions of an organization are perceived positively by employees, et al., 2020). Many business entities were affected negatively
the resulting trust in the organization can lessen the negative by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and were forced
impact of the uncertainty that may prevail (Dirks and Ferrin, to implement measures to contain the spread of the virus,
2001), having a positive impact on employee outcomes such while adversely affecting their business processes and outcomes
as well-being. Research studies determined, among others, that (Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Sohrabi et al., 2020). Because
perceived trust in the organization was positively associated individuals had to start practicing social distancing and self-
with employee well-being (Kurtessis et al., 2017; Imran et al., isolation and limit their travels to try and contain the spread of
2020; Ho and Chan, 2022), employee retention (Baranchenko the virus, it affected organizational activities (Nicola et al., 2020)
et al., 2020), job satisfaction (Andriyanti and Supartha, 2021), and possibly the well-being of individuals negatively.
employee performance (Shabbir et al., 2021), and organizational Drawing on the JD-R model, followers require appropriate
performance (Imran and Aldaas, 2020). Conversely, when resources that will equip them to cope with challenges in
employees perceive that they are treated unfairly by the the workplace (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007; Schaufeli, 2017).
organization, their confidence and trust in the organization The well-being of employees is likely to improve if they have
will likely suffer, leading emotional exhaustion and reduced adequate resources at their disposal to face taxing job demands.
employee well-being. In contrast, when employees are confronted with high work

demands and have insufficient resources, it may have a negative additional resources. Because employees feel supported and
impact on their well-being. psychologically safe, they might reciprocate with increased levels
Many researchers support the notion that effective of trust in the organization. Moreover, it can be argued that
leadership is vital in times of uncertainty and insecurity employees who feel supported and cared for could experience
because the organization and its followers need the support heightened levels of emotional well-being because they do not
and encouragement of their leaders to guide them through feel unsafe and without the necessary resources. Changes are
these precarious conditions (Dirani et al., 2020; Li et al., that they will have more energy to focus on the task at hand and
2020). Researchers have also suggested that the leadership feel more motivated and engaged which points to components
of an organization can substantially influence follower well- of psychological well-being. Lastly, because trust is relational
being (Fullagar and Kelloway, 2012; Rahimnia and Sharifirad, in nature, employees who trust may reciprocate, as suggested
2015). Influential leaders will encourage positive outcomes by social exchange theory, resulting in enhanced positive
through their authentic engagement with team members teamwork and more harmonious interpersonal relations that
in an organizational setting (Park et al., 2017). Conversely, could enhance social well-being.
leaders who exhibit inauthentic behavior and fail to create a According to Sun (2019) the way organizations treat their
supportive environment will adversely affect the well-being of employees may influence their experience of support, which,
team members (Bhandarker and Rai, 2019). will have an impact on employee attitudes. By integrating the
In an attempt to mitigate the challenges that modern arguments above, it is possible to argue that when authentic
organizations face, as well as enhance positive individual and leadership enhances the employee perceived organizational
organizational outcomes, an interest in positive leadership support, they feel more trusting toward the organization because
styles such as authentic leadership has been the focus of they are of the opinion that the organization has their best
recent studies (Sidani and Rowe, 2018; Weiss et al., 2018). interest at heart and wants to see them develop and be successful,
Because authentic leadership as an influential resource (Adil which eventually leads to their enhanced level of flourishing.
and Kamal, 2019; Adil et al., 2019) can promote the resources The rationale for postulating that the sequential mediation
necessary for team members to confront challenging work of organizational support and trust in the organization in
demands, it may be an effective leadership approach under the relationship between authentic leadership and employee
these conditions. The focus on authentic leadership during flourishing is thus plausible. We propose that employees who
difficult times may be due to the positive characteristics such as experience their leaders as authentic are likely to flourish in their
resilience, confidence, optimism, transparency, ethical behavior, jobs, firstly because they appreciate the support they receive,
and future-oriented viewpoints that authentic leaders exhibit and secondly, they trust that the organization have their best
(Daraba et al., 2021). These qualities may affect employee and interest at heart. Therefor it is desirable to suggest and test the
organizational outcomes positively. sequential mediation chain so as to accurately understand how
Baykal (2020) posits that authentic leaders exhibit authentic leadership has an effect on flourishing. Flowing from
empowering qualities and can influence organizational this discussion, the following hypothesis was formulated:
support perceptions and organizational commitment positively.
Additionally, perceived organizational support has been Hypothesis 4: perceived authentic leadership is indirectly
identified as a job resource (Hobfoll et al., 2018) and found and positively related to flourishing, sequentially mediated
to predict increased trust in the organization (Chen et al., through first organizational support, and then trust in
2005). Improved organizational trust is likely brought about the organization.
by the perception of followers that the business is concerned
about their welfare, appreciates their effort and contribution,
and will do its best to meet their needs. Jaškevičiūtė et al.
(2021) found a direct and an indirect relationship between Materials and methods
trust in the organization and employee well-being. Trust in the
workplace is recognized as an important job resource (Alcoba Participants
and Phinaitrup, 2021), as it can enhance motivation levels and
foster employee well-being. This study focused on the managers employed at a
It is likely that employees who feel supported may prominent South African steel manufacturing organization. The
experience a measure of benevolence that has been found to target group consisted of 570 potential participants, and 314 of
be a predictor of trust (Colquitt et al., 2007; Lapidot et al., the candidates participated, culminating in a 55% response rate.
2007). If employees feel that they are treated with compassion Data collection was performed in 2020 by applying stratified
and kind-heartedness it might cause them to experience random sampling.
psychological safety. The increased level of psychological safety The respondent characteristics were as follows: a total of
could likely result in employees spending more time and 41.7% of the respondents were between 51 and 60 years of
energy on their work as opposed to devising strategies to find age. The majority of the participants (64.7%) stipulated that

they functioned at the senior management level, while 19.1% feel that you really belong to your organization?”) represents
specified that they had 11 to 20 years of service. A smaller the frequency of social wellness feelings. Previous research in a
portion of the participant population (24.2%) indicated that they South Africa setting reported reliability values ranging between
had 11 to 20 years of experience in their current job. 0.77 and 0.89 (Rautenbach and Rothmann, 2017a). The FAWS-
SF was applied with success in research conducted by Heyns
et al. (2021).
Measures Many survey designs state single single-method bias as a
limitation. In this study, single-method bias was mitigated by
Participants were requested to complete a biographical limiting the number of items in the research questionnaire,
information document together with the survey to appraise applying different response set-ups (Podsakoff et al., 2012),
authentic leadership, organizational support, trust in the and phrasing the questions clearly and concisely (Podsakoff
organization, and employee flourishing. et al., 2003). Additionally, participants were made aware of their
Employee perception of authentic leadership characteristics anonymity, contributing to honest answers (Steenkamp et al.,
was measured by administering the Authentic Leadership 2010). Finally, standardized questionnaires were utilized.
Inventory (ALI; Neider and Schriesheim, 2011) to measure
four subdimensions: self-awareness, internal moral perspective,
balanced processing, and relational transparency. An example Statistical analysis
item is “My leader uses his/her core beliefs to make decisions”.
The individual items (14 in total) were scored on a five-point Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were
Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly computed to describe the data and the sample characteristics.
agree). Previous research in a South African setting confirmed a As Cronbach’s alpha does not provide a reliable estimation
Cronbach’s alpha value of α = 0.93 (Stander et al., 2015) for the of scale reliability when factor loadings differ (Raykov, 2009;
ALI. The ALI was successfully applied in a study by Crawford Wang and Wang, 2020), we did not compute alpha coefficients,
et al. (2020). but preferred to compute omega reliability coefficients instead.
Organizational support was measured by using the seven- A cut-off value of.70 for scale reliability, as proposed by
item related part of the Job Demands-Resources Scale (JDRS) Nunnally and Bernstein (1994), was used.
instrument developed by Jackson and Rothmann (2005). An Latent variable modeling in Mplus 8.8 (Muthén and
example item is “Does your work give you the feeling that you Muthén, 1998–2022) was used to test the measurement and
can achieve something?”. The items were appraised on a scale structural models. The variables were considered continuous,
ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always). The Cronbach’s alpha and as there were no missing values, the mean-adjusted
reliability coefficient was 0.88 (Rothmann et al., 2006). The maximum likelihood (MLM), which is robust to the non-
Job Demands-Resources Scale was applied with success in a normality of data (Wang and Wang, 2020), was used as an
study by Cornelisse (2021). estimator. Model fit was evaluated by means of the following
One scale of the Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) (Ferres and indicators: the chi-square statistic (the test of absolute model
Travaglione, 2003) was used to measure trust in the organization fit), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), comparative fit index (CFI),
(11 items), which was scored by means of a seven-point Likert root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and
scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). standardized root mean residual (SRMR). TLI and CFI values
An example item is “There is a widely held belief that my with a minimum threshold of.90 are acceptable, although values
organization is moving forward for the better” (Ferres and of.95 or higher are preferred; RMSEA and SRMR values lower
Travaglione, 2003). A recent study that applied the WTS in a than.08 indicate a close fit between model and data (Wang
South African setting reported a composite reliability coefficient and Wang, 2020). In addition, the Akaike information criterion
of.96 (Kleynhans et al., 2021b). Ramdas and Patrick (2019) (AIC), which is meaningful when estimating different models,
administered the WTS successfully in their research. and the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), which indicates
The Flourishing-at-Work Scale – Short Form (FAWS-SF), model parsimony, were also used to appraise the fit of competing
consisting of 17 items in total, was employed to capture models. Lower AIC and BIC values point toward better fit
the frequency of specific symptoms experienced during the (Wang and Wang, 2020).
preceding month on a six-point scale, ranging between 1 (never) For mediation analysis purposes, a serial multiple mediator
and 6 (every day). Psychological well-being (nine items, e.g., model, as proposed by Hayes (2017), was employed using
“How often did you get excited when you perform well on Hayes’s PROCESS macro as preferred regression-based
your job?”) reflects the frequency of psychological wellness. path analytic technique (Hayes, 2017). To establish whether
Emotional well-being (three items, e.g., “How often did you dependent variables were indirectly affected by independent
feel grateful?”) indicates the frequency of feelings of emotional variables via mediating variables, bootstrapping (5000 samples)
wellness. Social well-being (five items, e.g., “How often did you was used to construct two-sided bias-corrected 95% confidence

TABLE 1 Fit statistics for the competing measurement models. also specified as a second-order latent variable, consisting of
M Chi-square df TLI CFI RMSEA SRMR AIC BIC three first-order latent variables that were allowed to correlate,
namely, emotional well-being (three items), psychological well-
1 1826.53* 1111 0.906 0.911 0.045 0.055 37078.10 37689.25 being (nine items), and social well-being (five items). The results
2 1840.20* 1115 0.905 0.910 0.046 0.055 37086.14 37682.30 indicated an acceptable fit to the data (χ2 = 1826.53, df = 1111,
3 1997.18* 1114 0.884 0.890 0.050 0.059 37260.86 37860.77 p < 0.001; CFI = 0.911; TLI = 0.906; RMSEA = 0.045, p > 0.983
4 2010.76* 1118 0.883 0.889 0.050 0.059 37268.90 37853.80 [0.042,0.049]; SRMR = 0.055).
Three alternative models were specified. For Model 2, all
df, degrees of freedom; TLI, Tucker-Lewis index; CFI, comparative fit index; RMSEA,
root square error of approximation; SRMR, standardized root mean square residual, factors were expressed similarly to those in the first model,
*p < 0.01. except for authentic leadership, which was now specified as a
TABLE 2 Descriptive statistics, reliabilities, and single latent factor measured by 14 directly observed variables.
correlations of the scales. Model 2 (χ2 = 1840.20, df = 1115, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.910;
Variable Mean SD p 1 2 3 TLI = 0.905; RMSEA = 0.046, p = 0.978 [0.042,0.049];
SRMR = 0.055) offered an acceptable, yet slightly poorer, fit to
1 Authentic leadership 3.61 0.65 0.98 – – – the data compared to Model 1.
2 Organizational support 3.13 0.48 0.78 0.64 – For Model 3, all factors were expressed similarly to those
3 Trust in the organization 3.65 1.26 0.93 0.48 0.49 – in Model 1, except for employee flourishing, which was now
4 Flourishing 4.45 0.77 0.93 0.45 0.74 0.79 specified as a single latent factor measured by 17 directly
All correlations were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Parameters for the correlation
observed variables. This model (Model 3) offered a clearly
coefficients were considered as a small effect when r ≥ 0.10, medium effect when r ≥ 0.30, poorer fit to the data than the first two models.
and large effect when r ≥ 0.50 (Cohen, 1998).
We also tested a final competing measurement model
(Model 4), where all constructs were measured by directly
intervals (CIs) (Hayes, 2017). We could demonstrate mediation observed variables only. This model rendered the least
in the event that zero did not lie within the range of values acceptable fit to the data when compared to the first three
represented by the upper and lower CIs. alternatives. Table 1 presents the fit statistics for the competing
measurement models.
Comparison of the fit indices indicated that Model 1 fitted
Results the data best and was also the model that was closest to what
the theory proposes. The standardized regression coefficients
Testing the measurement model were all statistically significant (p < 0.01), and all items
loaded on their respective constructs as expected, with values
To evaluate the distinctness of the measured variables, ranging from 0.404 to 0.987. Table 2 presents the correlation
four competing measurement models were tested by means matrix for the latent variables, including their corresponding
of confirmatory factor analysis. The first model (Model 1) reliability coefficients.
was configured as the theory proposes: authentic leadership The composite reliability of all the scales was above
was specified as a second-order latent variable, consisting the cut-off point of.70. Table 2, furthermore, shows that
of four first-order latent variables that were allowed to all correlations were statistically significant. Correlations
correlate, namely, self-awareness (three items), internal moral of large effect were recorded for the relationships between
perspective (four items), balanced processing (four items), and authentic leadership and organizational support, between
relational transparency (three items). Trust in the organization organizational support and employee flourishing, and
(alternatively referred to as organizational trust) was measured between trust in the organization and employee flourishing.
by 11 directly observed items, and organizational support was Correlations approaching a large effect were recorded for
measured by seven directly observed variables. Flourishing was the relationships between authentic leadership and trust in
TABLE 3 Standardized regression coefficients of authentic leadership, organizational support, and organizational trust, in predicting
employee flourishing.
Variable Estimate SE Estimate/SE p
Flourishing as predicted by
Authentic leadership –0.46 0.043 –1.067 0.286
organizational support 0.580 0.041 14.300 0.000*
organizational trust 0.471 0.042 11.230 0.000*
*p< 0.01.

the organization, between authentic leadership and employee Secondly, the model tested whether the effect of an authentic
flourishing, and between organizational support and trust in the leadership style on employee flourishing could be explained
organization. by trust in the organization as a facilitative mechanism,
independent of the degree of organizational support provided
to the employees. This indirect effect was also positive and
statistically significant (β = 0.1813, 95% CI = [0.1177,0.2519])
Testing structural models and confirmed that an authentic leadership style would
enhance employees’ trust in the organization, which, in turn,
The structural model was tested based on the results of the
would promote higher levels of employee flourishing at work.
ideal measurement model. The results indicated a good fit of
Hypothesis 3 was supported.
the re-estimated model to the data: χ2 = 1786.91, df = 1110,
Finally, the indirect effect of the two-mediator sequential
p < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.044 (90% CI:0.040,0.048); CFI = 0.916;
pattern was also significant, as indicated by the fact the 95% CI
TLI = 0.911; SRMR = 0.055. Although the chi-square test of
did not include zero (β = 0.0624, 95% CI = [0.0328,0.0994]). This
model fit was statistically significant, the RMSEA and SRMR
finding was consistent with the hypothesis that organizational
were below.08, and the TLI and CFI values were acceptable, with
support enhanced employees’ trust in the organization, which, in
the results above the.90 criteria. Table 3 shows the standardized
turn, was the more proximal predictor of employee flourishing.
coefficients estimated by Mplus for the structural model. From
Hypothesis 4 was accepted.
Table 3, it is evident that organizational support and trust in the
Figure 1 below displays the full model, with unstandardized
organization positively and statistically significantly predicted
β weights for the path coefficients.
employee flourishing. Hypothesis 1a and b were supported, but
In summary, the data were consistent with the claim
1c could not be accepted.
that authentic leadership had no direct effect on employee
flourishing. Instead, authentic leadership had a substantial
indirect, positive effect on employee flourishing through
Mediating effects organizational support and trust, firstly, as underlying
mechanisms that operated simultaneously, but independently
Due to the significant regression relationships from of each other, as well as serially through organizational support,
authentic leadership to organizational support and trust in which enhanced trust in the organization, in turn promoting
the organization, respectively, as well as from organizational employee flourishing. The full model, including mediators and
support and trust in the organization to employee flourishing, controlling for the covariates, accounted for 42% of the variance
mediation analyses were performed to consider the roles of in employee flourishing.
organizational support and trust in the organization as potential
underlying mechanisms through which authentic leadership
might indirectly affect employee flourishing. Discussion
Through the Hayes (2017) procedure, a serial multiple
mediation model was tested. Employing 5000 bootstrap The job demands-resources (JDR) framework has
samples, bias-corrected 95% CIs were estimated. The established job resources as critical elements contributing
unstandardized regression coefficients of the variables were to employees’ wellness. According to Bakker and Demerouti
used (Montoya and Hayes, 2017). (2017), a lack of resources can lead to a health impairment
The mediation model simultaneously tested two alternative process, resulting in poor well-being. In contrast, organizational
single-mediator pathways, as well as a two-mediator sequential resources can lead to a motivational process with positive
pattern, to consider all possible alternative ways in which outcomes (Schaufeli and Taris, 2014). In this research in
the predictor variables might influence employee flourishing. a manufacturing context, we investigated how authentic
In addition, two demographic aspects – job category and leadership, trust in the organization, and organizational
employees’ years of service in their current positions – were support, as potential job resources, influenced employee
controlled for in each instance. well-being (outcome) during uncertainty (COVID-19).
Firstly, the model tested whether the effect of an authentic While controlling for job category and years of service in
leadership style on employee flourishing was mediated through the current position, our first findings indicated that all the
the provisioning of organizational support alone. The indirect correlations between constructs were statistically significant,
effect was significant (β = 0.2053, 95% CI = [0.1401 while correlations of large effect were recorded for the
to.2760]), thereby indicating that organizational support relationships between authentic leadership and organizational
served as an underlying mechanism through which an support, between organizational support and trust, and between
authentic leadership style promoted employee flourishing. trust and employee flourishing. All the other correlations
Hypothesis 2 was accepted. were of medium effect. Authentic leadership was seen as

a3 = .75*
Organizational trust (M2)
Organizational support (M1)
b1 =.71**
b2 = .29*
a1 = .29*
a2 = .63*
c’= .04, ns
Authentic leadership Flourishing
Job category Years’ service
FIGURE 1
Two-mediator sequential model depicting the relationship between authentic leadership and flourishing as mediated by organizational support
and trust, controlling for job category, and years’ service in current position. Asterisks indicate significant coefficients (∗ p < 0.05).
a direct antecedent of organizational support. According to employee flourishing. This supports organizations investing in
the literature, by being authentic, that is, being genuine interventions that will enhance trust and create psychologically
and trustworthy, leaders establish constructive organizational safe environments where employees feel that the organization
conditions (Avolio and Gardner, 2005) and create trust has their best interests at heart. These findings imply that leaders
(Gardner et al., 2005; Stander et al., 2015; Coxen et al., 2016). positively influence employees when they illustrate personal
Employees who experienced their leader as authentic were insight and active listening and consider employees’ opinions
likely to perceive the organization as supporting them. The and ideas, while being transparent in their interactions.
positive relationship between organizational support and trust Demonstrating these behaviors will create a feeling of
strengthens the conclusion reached by Zeng et al. (2020) that psychological safety and promote trust in the organization. In
support as a resource generates positive emotions – in this study, this study, the support and trust led to a positive outcome: the
trust – among employees. Additionally, Kleynhans et al. (2021a) flourishing of employees. This outcome is similar to previous
mention that leaders who are open and allow employees to get research that established that authentic behavior had a profound
to know them instill trust in the organization. influence on creating supportive workspaces and trust (Alkaabi,
The positive relationship between organizational support 2018; Malik et al., 2020), as well as the well-being of employees
and employee flourishing corroborates previous research (Kernis, 2003; Ilies et al., 2005; Rautenbach and Rothmann,
(Kurtessis et al., 2017; Imran et al., 2020; Ho and Chan, 2022) 2017b; Kerns, 2018; Agarwal, 2021; Nair et al., 2021), directly
and, at the same time, illustrates the importance of healthy or indirectly. What makes these results more significant is that
work environments in uncertain times. In terms of the research during times of COVID-19, leaders had less time to interact on
context of this study, the particular manufacturing organization a one-to-one basis or to demonstrate support and care. Having
had been confronted with tough business challenges even before such a positive effect on employees in uncertain times reinforce
COVID-19. Having been exposed to support before could the value of being an authentic leader. Without having empirical
have softened the impact of the pandemic and strengthened evidence, one may reason those authentic leaders possibly have
employee trust in the organization. Employees could have an even more substantial influence on trust and feelings of
trusted that the organization had demonstrated resilience in support in uncertain times compared to normal circumstances.
confronting business challenges in the past, while caring for its Chully et al. (2022) found that in a pandemic world, authentic
people. Therefore, they could have trusted that the same would leaders need to ensure that employees are comfortable sharing
happen in future. their opinions while the leaders support them and build a
Furthermore, from the results, it was evident that a flexible and innovative culture that can endure the disruptive
strong relationship existed between authentic leadership, external environment. To sustain trust in circumstances such
organizational support, trust in the organization, and as a pandemic, leaders should remain closely connected to

employees and demonstrate actions to enhance the strength of to the literature, flourishing employees manage uncertainty
the authentic relationship (Ahern and Loh, 2020). better (Schotanus-Dijkstra et al., 2016). This result confirms
Significant regression relationships from authentic the importance of protecting and maintaining the well-being of
leadership to organizational support and trust in the employees in challenging times (Deloitte, 2020) by practicing
organization, respectively, and from organizational support positive leadership, providing support, and enhancing trust in
to employee flourishing were found. The direct effect of the organization.
organizational support and trust in the organization on Testing for serial mediation, authentic leadership positively
employee flourishing was positive and significant. Authentic and statistically significantly predicted employee flourishing
leadership positively and statistically significantly predicted via the directional impact of organizational support on trust
employee flourishing via organizational support and trust in in the organization. The level of trust will increase when
the organization. In addition, from the results, it was evident employees perceive the organization as investing time and
that trust in the organization and organizational support energy in meeting their needs, contributing to a higher level
significantly predicted employee flourishing. Being transparent of trust in the organization. Organizational support on trust
and objective and behaving with integrity, authentic leaders in the organization played a combined facilitating role, where
contributed to developing healthy work environments with authentic leadership indirectly predicted employee flourishing.
open, trustful relationships between the employees and the Organizational support predicted trust in the organization. To
organization. The findings support Baran and Woznyj (2020) be able to trust, employees needed evidence of previous positive
and Rath et al. (2021), postulating that employees depend on experiences. Experiencing a healthy organizational climate,
leaders for support and guidance. The present results, moreover, even in times of extreme demands, would, therefore, enhance
revealed that employees’ experiences of organizational support employees’ confidence in the organization, trusting that the
contributed to trust in the organization. Ultimately, this organization would prioritize their needs and demands. Based
positive experience of support and trust influenced employees’ on the principle of reciprocity, Sun (2019) mentions that how
psychological, emotional, and social well-being and benefitted organizations treat their employees can influence perceived
employees and the organization (Schotanus-Dijkstra et al., support, which, in turn, will have an impact on employee
2016). The results support Jaškevičiūtė (2021), who found that attitudes and behavior – in this case, trust.
trust in the organization and trust in its leaders were positively This study provided empirical evidence that authentic
associated with employee well-being. leadership promoted employees’ feelings that the organization
Mediation analyses were performed to consider the roles of supported them, while creating higher levels of trust
organizational support and trust in the organization as potential in the organization. Employees’ perceptions of their
underlying mechanisms through which authentic leadership leaders’ authenticity stimulated employee wellness through
might indirectly affect employee flourishing. The study supports organizational support and trust in the organization. Previous
the mediating role that organizational support can play in research suggested that an uncertain, insecure work context
the relationship between perceived authentic leadership and harmed employee well-being (Standing, 2011; Utzet et al., 2020;
trust. This implies that, when individuals perceive their Bakker and Van Wingerden, 2021). The findings in this study
leaders as authentic, organizational support can be seen as indicated that authentic leadership, organizational support,
a facilitative process that translates the perceived authenticity and trust in the organization could counterbalance the harm of
into a higher level of trust in the organization. This result uncertain work contexts.
is in line with the social exchange theory. Its basic principle These results are consistent with other research reporting
is that relations are formed based on cost-benefit analysis, that the role of leaders is imperative in challenging business
and people tend to duplicate behavior rewarded in the past environments (Baran and Woznyj, 2020; Rath et al., 2021).
(Blau, 1964). In this study, a good relationship between leaders Wang et al. (2014) view authentic leadership as a positive
and employees created a constructive climate, influencing the approach that can be described as transparent, moral, and
level of trust in the organization. It was then worth it for genuine, making a valuable contribution during precariousness.
the employees to trust in the organization again in future More specifically, leaders must create a positive work
(Dirks and Ferrin, 2001). environment in which organizational support and trust in
The results showed that trust played a mediating role in the organization are endorsed and encouraged. Employees
the relationship between organizational support and employee who feel that the company offers opportunities for growth,
flourishing. Perceived organizational support improved trust development, and achievement will trust that the organization
in the organization, while trust strengthened the relationship considers their needs and best interests, while treating them
between organizational support and employee flourishing. The fairly. One can expect that such leadership behavior will
results support the notion that trust plays a key role in influence employees’ wellness and contribute to organizational
enhancing employee wellness in uncertain times. Support and outcomes such as performance, extra-role behavior, and the
trust will enhance the experience of flourishing, and according retention of high-potential employees.

Managerial implications and the creation of a trustful climate where employees feel
safe to optimize their potential are within the control of
Some of the significant challenges facing organizations in the organization.
the next few years are retention of talented people (“the great
resignation”), being digital fit, managing ambiguity, fostering
learning agility and change, and enhancing the wellness of their
employees. In times of uncertainty and volatility, employees Contribution, limitations of the study,
must trust their organization to implement initiatives that can and recommendations for future
possibly alleviate the negative effect of internal and external studies
forces on the organization. Our results support the notion
that organizational support and trust in the organization can This study contributed to the theory by suggesting that
be considered essential explanatory mechanisms in making authentic leadership directly created supportive working
it clear how positive perceptions of leadership may translate conditions and created trust. The positive association of
into employee flourishing in challenging times. This study authentic leadership with support and trust and the indirect
confirmed that when employees experienced their leaders as effect on employee flourishing through the two variables
being authentic, being self-aware, having a moral perspective, mentioned highlighted the potential value of authentic
and displaying objectivity and transparency, would enhance leadership in the broader South African business context
feelings of trust and being supported by the organization. and, specifically, in the manufacturing industry. The findings
Ultimately, this would improve employee flourishing. From a of this study may also be extended to other industries that
JDR perspective, authentic leadership, organizational support, find themselves in an unstable business environment. This
and trust in the organization are resources that should be study attempted to add value by clarifying and providing
nurtured to limit the influence of an imbalance between understanding of the positive role of job resources in
resources and demands, especially in times of uncertainty. contributing to employees’ wellness in times of exposure
Organizations should invest time and energy in developing to hostile forces.
authentic leaders. Authentic leadership is a valuable resource This research was not without limitations. Firstly, using a
that has an add-on effect: in this research, enhanced trust and cross-sectional design did not allow investigation of the causal
experiences of support. One can assume that the only constant relationships between the variables. Secondly, the use of self-
will be a continuous change in the future. The impact of report information could have influenced the accuracy of results.
change, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguousness results in Nevertheless, an effort was made to limit possible bias and
discomfort, adding a demand on the consumption of energy. ensure trustworthy responses. The respondents were assured
Managers should focus on spending time with their people that participation was voluntary and that they could withdraw
to get to know them, optimize their strengths, and create at any time, that there were no right or wrong answers, and
a psychologically safe environment by sharing information, that the data would only be used in an aggregated format.
being open, developing people, and showing concern for A third limitation related to the sample. The study focused
wellness. This support and care will inform employees that on only one company, and it might, thus, be interesting to
their leaders are genuinely concerned about them as human determine whether the same results would be achieved in the
beings and not only as production factors. Support will lead industry or manufacturing in general. The current study focused
to positive expectations regarding the leaders’ intentions and on management levels within the manufacturing organization.
the organization. When employees experience trust in the Future studies could include all levels of employees. Similar
organization and its leaders, it will soften the impact of a future studies should consider a longitudinal approach to
demanding business environment, creating feelings of “being in interrogate the relation between authentic leadership, trust
this together”. in the organization, and employee flourishing over time to
Healthy positive relationships between employees and determine whether changes in the business context will affect
leaders will form the cornerstone of a positive work climate the findings of this study. The vital role of organizational
that is conducive to building trust and enhancing employees’ resources was highlighted in this research. The role of personal
wellness. Experiencing a positive organizational environment resources in times of uncertainty should be explored in the
and trusting the intentions of the organization will strengthen future. Currently, there is a qualitative and quantitative gap
employees’ willingness to deal with challenges and cope in research on the role of job resources compared to research
with a volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex business on organizational or job aids. Exploring how the availability
environment. Leaders must act as role models, authentically of personal resources might influence the way in which job
living their values. Leaders should accept that specific external resources and demands are experienced in challenging times
threats are beyond their control. Still, leadership development could add value to the field of organizational psychology.

Conclusion their written informed consent to participate in this

study.
Based on our results and discussion, this study, thus,
suggested that authentic leadership indirectly affected trust
in the organization and feelings of support. Concurrently, Author contributions
the last two directly influenced employee flourishing.
Employee wellness will be one of the most critical MH and MS made contributions regarding the
challenges for organizations and human capital practitioners conceptualization, review, and editing of the study. MH
in the next few years. The results indicated the value performed the statistical analysis. All the authors contributed
that leaders with insight, acting without personal biases, to the article and approved the submitted version.
sharing information transparently, and building healthy
relationships contributed to emotional wellness, with an
expected positive impact on organizational health. From Acknowledgments
a JDR perspective, leadership, support, and trust in the
organization resources ignited a motivational process that A word of appreciation is expressed to the manufacturing
could counterbalance job demands in times of ambiguity. The business and its employees for their participation and for
results suggested that, despite operating in a turbulent context, making this study possible.
endorsing an authentic leadership style could have beneficial
individual consequences.
Conflict of interest
Data availability statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could
will be made available by the authors, without undue be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
reservation.
Publisher’s note
Ethics statement
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
This study involving human participants were reviewed authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
and approved by the Economic and Management Sciences organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
Research Ethics Committee (EMS-REC) of the North- reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa (ethics claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed
number: NWU-00609-20-A4). The participants provided or endorsed by the publisher.
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TYPE Original Research

PUBLISHED 06 September 2022

Authentic leadership and

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employee and organizational performance. Additionally, the exploration of

authentic leadership, flourishing, trust in the organization, organizational support,

Introduction employment relationship during times of uncertainty, the

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Variable Estimate SE Estimate/SE p

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Job category Years’ service

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Conclusion their written informed consent to participate in this

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