Impact of Despotic Leadership on Employees Outcome: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Failure

Abstract

The study explored the possible outcome of Despotic Leadership (DL) on Work Withdrawal Behavior (WWB) of employees working in the Federal Government Secretariat Islamabad, Pakistan. The present study investigated the consequences of Despotic Leadership (DL) on employees of the Establishment Division. The study is using a deductive approach, and cross-sectional modality of research by applying a convenient sampling technique, the data was collected from the nine (09) Wings and seven (07) Attached Departments/Autonomous Bodies with basic scales ranging from 17 to 20 working in the Establishment Division (ED) (Federal Government Secretariat Islamabad). The authors have collected the final 254 responses through questionnaires from employees of the ED. Furthermore, using the time-legged design approach, the survey was conducted in a non-contrived setting by collecting the data over three-time spans (Time T1, T2, and T3). Thus, the independent variable (Despotic Leadership) and moderating variable (Supervisor’s Organizational Embodiment) of this study were tapped in time 1, the mediator (Emotion Regulation Failure) was tapped in time 2, and employees’ outcome (Work Withdrawal Behavior) was tapped in time 3. The findings revealed that Despotic Leadership (DL) had a substantial impact on Emotional Regulation Failure (ERF), which led to employees withdrawing from productive work. The findings also indicated that under the moderating role of the Supervisor’s Organizational Embodiment (SOE), the effects of DL on ERF were weaker and vice versa. The paper concluded with further discussion, implications, and future research along with limitations in a similar domain of the study. This research will benefit the Establishment Division's training wing, which provides training to officers in occupational groups as well as civil servants. This study can assist policymakers in determining the true function of the leader in Federal Government organizations and developing measures to curb the detrimental outcome of despotic leadership.