The association between sustainable leadership, employee work-related attitudes and economic outcomes

Purpose Grounded in the Harvard model of human resource management (HRM), this study provides an insight into the mediating role of two employee work-related attitudes (job satisfaction and organisational identification) in the association between sustainability leadership and three economic outcomes (financial performance, non-financial performance and competitive advantage). Design/methodology/approach The data were collected by Qualtrics, who distributed an online survey to its panel of respondents. The questionnaires were completed by 229 Australian middle-level managers. Established constructs were utilised with their reliability and validity confirmed using IBM SPSS Version 27 and IBM AMOS Version 29. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the hypothesised relationships. Findings Sustainable leadership exhibited a positive association with both job satisfaction and organisational identification, while job satisfaction was found to mediate the association between sustainable leadership with non-financial performance and competitive advantage, and organisational identification was found to mediate the association between sustainable leadership with financial performance and competitive advantage. Originality/value The findings contribute to the literature through highlighting the important role of sustainable leadership as a HRM policy which can be utilised to influence economic outcomes due to its influence on employee-related behaviour. In particular, in line with the Harvard model of HRM, the effectiveness of sustainable leadership is dependent on employees, specifically their work-related attitudes (job satisfaction and organisational identification), which mediate the association between sustainability leadership and economic outcomes.