Balancing the performance benefits and health costs of leader high performance expectations: the role of servant leadership
| Date | 01 August 2024 |
| Pages | 1172-1190 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-03-2024-0157 |
| Published date | 01 August 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Zhen Wang,Huan Chen |
Balancing the performance
benefits and health costs of leader
high performance expectations:
the role of servant leadership
Zhen Wang and Huan Chen
Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
Abstract
Purpose –Leader high performance expectation (LHPE) as a performance management practice is becoming
more common in today’s business environment, with managers setting ambitious goals to motivate employees
to excel at their jobs. This study aims to criticallyexamine LHPEas a performance management practice within
contemporary organizations, focusing on whether LHPE has opposing effects on employee performance and
health, as well as how servant leadership can improve the benefits of LHPE while lowering its costs.
Design/methodology/approach –A path analysis of data from a three-wave survey of 416 full-time
employees was used to test our hypotheses.
Findings –LHPE has opposing effects on employees via two distinct pathways: motivational effects on
employee performance via harmonious work passion and strain effects on employee health via work strain. In
the face of LHPE, servant leadership can assist in achieving a mutual gain between employee performance and
health.
Originality/value –This study contributes uniquely to the field of employee relations by offering a
comprehensive analysis of LHPE’s dual effects. It moves beyond traditional views that focus on singular
outcomes, providing a deeper understanding of how LHPE can both motivate and strain employees.
Highlighting servant leadership’srole signifies a novel approach to managing LHPE’s complexities, presenting
valuable insights for HR practitioners and organizational leaders. This research underlines the importance of
balancing performance expectations with employee well-being, aligning with modern perspectives on positive
employment relationships.
Keywords Leader high performance expectations, Harmonious work passion, Work strain,
Servant leadership, Performance, Health
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In the realm of performance management, modern businesses navigate a complex and
competitive global economy, prompting a shift in how organizational leaders approach the
setting of goals and expectations. Known as leader high performance expectations (LHPE), this
strategy has gained prominence for its focus on setting lofty objectives and demanding superior
performance, quality, and excellence from employees (Jacobsen and Andersen, 2019). The
rationale behind LHPE is not just about ambition; it’s a structured attempt to drive organizational
performance success in a fiercely competitive landscape. Indeed, research has underscored the
benefits of LHPE in steering employee performance to new heights, making it a key topic for
researchers and practitioners (Jacobsen and Andersen, 2019;Veestraeten et al., 2021).
Despite the widespread use of LHPE in organizations, its effects are debatable. While
numerous studies have shown that LHPE produces desirable work outcomes such as
increased engagement and improved employee performance (e.g. Binyamin, 2020;
Veestraeten et al., 2021;Whiteley et al., 2012), recent studies have shifted their focus to its
disadvantages. According to these studies, LHPE necessitates tight deadlines and heavy
ER
46,5
1172
Funding: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 72172170).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 16 March 2024
Revised 2 June 2024
17 June 2024
Accepted 17 June 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 5, 2024
pp. 1172-1190
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-03-2024-0157
workloads (Dai et al., 2018); employees with higher performance expectations face stricter
criteria and may feel more pressure at work. Indeed, these studies have found that LHPE can
cause stress (Li et al., 2019,Wang et al., 2021a), indicating that LHPE may harm employee
health. The emerging evidence suggests that while LHPE can drive organizational success, it
necessitates careful consideration of its broader impact on employee health —an aspect
central to fostering a supportive work environment (Chillakuri and Vanka, 2022). Thus,
understanding and managing the dual outcomes of LHPE is imperative for managers aiming
to cultivate positive employee relations.
However, prior research has often tr eated the positive and negative ramifications of
LHPE in isolation, leaving a hol istic understanding unexplore d. This issue is particularly
concerning given the critical balance between enhancing org anizational performance and
ensuring employee well-bein g —a balance that epitomizes the essence o f positive
employment relationships (Ch illakuri and Vanka, 2022). The nuanced relationship betwe en
LHPE and its potential to simultaneou sly drive performance gains and impos e health-
related costs underscores the nec essity for a comprehensive inquiry . This balanced
approach, integrating performa nce and health considerations, aligns with the conte mporary
movement toward an employee-c entric evaluation of manage ment practices (Kloutsiniotis
and Mihail, 2017). By focusing on str ategies that foster mutual gains in per formance and
health, this study aims to contribute to th e development of more resilient and posit ive
employee relations.
To do so, this study intends to comprehensively examine LHPE’s impacts on employee
performance and health, alongside identifying ways to enhance its benefits and minimize its
drawbacks. Drawing on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Bakker and Demerouti,
2007;Taris and Schaufeli, 2016), we propose that LHPE can enhance performance through
harmonious work passion (motivational pathway) and harm health through work strain
(strain pathway); servant leadership can facilitate LHPE’s motivational process while
mitigating its strain process.
2. Theory and hypotheses
2.1 Understanding the effects of LHPE: the JD-R model
LHPE refers to a performance management practice implemented by line managers, where
they set ambitious performance expectations and clearly communicate them to their
employees (Jacobsen and Andersen, 2019). LHPE can act as a powerful motivator by
enhancing employees’motivation, engagement, and overall performance (Binyamin, 2020;
Veestraeten et al., 2021;Whiteley et al., 2012;Yang et al., 2023). However, these high
expectations can also become a source of stress, leading to increased pressure and potentially
resulting in negative outcomes (Chen and Liang, 2017;Dai et al., 2018;Syrek and Antoni, 2014,
Wang et al., 2021a). This dual nature makes LHPE especially important in performance
management contexts, necessitating a comprehensive inquiry into its effects as both a
motivator and a stressor.
Drawing on the JD-R model, we analyze the dual role of LHPE and its diverse effects on
employee performance and health. The JD-R model, which analyzes how the organizational
environment affects employee performance and health, distinguishes job characteristics into
demands and resources (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). This model, extensively applied in
human resource management, acknowledges high performance management practices as
both job resources and demands (Kim et al., 2023;Topcic et al., 2016). For one thing, LHPE can
be viewed as a job resource that promotes employee growth and success through support and
motivation (Whiteley et al., 2012). For another thing, it can be perceived as a job demand that
pushes employees towards higher performance at a possible cost to their health (Syrek and
Antoni, 2014).
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
1173
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
