Social Services Directors' Transformational Leadership Influence on Social Workers' Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention: Organizational Commitment as a Mediating Mechanism

Summary: The main part of the social work profession is dealing with hardships pertaining to life situations and weakened populations. Moreover, Israeli social workers need to struggle with professional challenges regarding salaries, as well as work conditions and personal safety. These difficulties increase social workers’ turnover intentions and decrease their job satisfaction. In line with the psychological contract theory, the current research explores organizational factors that could help deal with these issues, by focusing on directors’ transformational leadership and social workers’ organizational commitment. A total number of 527 Israeli social workers responded to an online questionnaire regarding directors’ transformational leadership, social workers’ organizational commitment, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Findings: Hierarchical regression analysis reveals that social workers’ organizational commitment serves as a full mediator between directors’ transformational leadership and social workers’ job satisfaction, and as a partial mediator between directors’ transformational leadership and social workers’ turnover intentions. Applications: These findings emphasize the importance of social services directors’ leadership—a neglected subject in the research field—and encourages adaptation of team-focused leadership. The findings also highlight the significance of social workers’ emotional bonding with their organization and its mediating role in retention.