Exploring Leader Behavior That Influences the Well-Being of Public Sector Employees in Malaysia

MENEROKA TINGKAHLAKU PEMIMPIN YANG MEMPENGARUHI KESEJAHTERAAN PEKERJA SEKTOR AWAM DI MALAYSIA

Abstract

Employee well-being refers to an individual's state of recognizing their own abilities, coping well with the stresses of life, working productively, and contributing to community development. Therefore, employee well-being must become a primary agenda for organizational management in both the public and private sectors to ensure employees can work productively and manage stress effectively. However, the well-being level of Malaysian public sector employees remains moderate. Previous studies indicate that organizational leadership is one of the factors influencing employee well-being. Thus, this study was conducted to identify specific leader behaviour that influence employee well-being from the Malaysian public sector employee perspective. The data for this study were collected using a qualitative approach, specifically through interviews with 44 public sector employees. The interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. This study identifies leader behaviour that can influence employee well-being in an organization, such as lack of fairness on employees, lack of empathy on employees, lack of understanding about rules and work procedures, integrity and professionalism. The findings of this study are highly significant for management in the Malaysian public sector, and the private sector in general, in designing development programmes for managers and supervisors, especially in aspects of behavioural development. This aspect needs to be developed holistically as it can impact employee well-being within the organisation