The moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between perceived organisational politics and employee well-being

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to examine the link between perceived organisational politics and various dimensions of well-being (psychological well-being, social relationships, physical well-being and environmental well-being) of academic teaching staff of public technical universities in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study used a quantitative approach and used a survey for data collection involving 695 full-time academic teaching staff from six selected public technical universities across five regions in Ghana. Multi-stage sampling techniques were used in selecting organisations and target populations. To assess the proposed research model and hypothesis in this study, data was analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The research results showed that perception of institutional politics positively affects employees’ physical health well-being, environmental well-being and general well-being but negatively affects psychological well-being. Furthermore, transformational leadership was shown to have a significant positive association with physical health wellbeing, psychological well-being, relationship well-being and general well-being but not environmental well-being. Lastly, transformational leadership reveals a negative moderation link between perception of institutional politics and various dimensions of well-being. The study concludes that organisational politics enhance well-being in the context of Ghana. Originality/value The findings are an enrichment to existing literature by revealing that transformational leadership is not an effective moderator in the relationship between organisational politics and well-being in the context of sub-Saharan Africa. The findings provide evidence for future researchers to consider cultural context in leadership and organisational politics studies.