The role of emotional labor in the effect of authentic leadership on job performance and intention to leave

The aim of this study is to examine the role of mediating role of emotional labort in the effect of authentic leadership on employees' job performance and intention to leave.This research was conducted with 319 people working in SMEs operating in Mersin Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone. Personal information form, The Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Job Performance Scale, Intention to Leave Scale and Emotional Labor Scale were used to collect data. The validity and reliability analyzes of the scales were performed before the application. The data obtained from the application of the scales were analysed by the SPSS statistical analysis program. Descriptive statistics were expressed as frequency (n), percentage (%), mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values. Whether the scales fit the normal distribution assumption was determined by looking at the skewness and kurtosis coefficients. While independent samples t-test was used for comparison of two groups of variables with normal distribution, one-way ANOVA was used for comparisons of three and more groups. In addition, regression analysis was conducted for the role of emotional labour in the effect of authentic leadership on job performance and intention to leave. Finally, the Bootstrap bias corrected confidence interval (95%) method was applied to calculate the mediation effect with a modern approach and to examine its significance. All results were evaluated with statistical significance p <0.05.. As a result of the analyzes, it was seen that the average of the participants' authentic leadership, job performance, intention to leave and emotional labor variables did not differ according to demographic characteristics in general. According to the results of the research, there is a moderate positive relationship between the authentic leadership behaviors of the leaders working in SME enterprises and the job performance level of the employees. As the leaders' authentic leadership behaviors increase, employees job performance levels increase. This linear relationship was also found to be statistically significant. However it was determined that as the leaders' authentic leadership levels increased, employees intention to leave decreased, there was no significant relationship between authentic leadership and emotional labor level, and finally, authentic leadership did not have an intermediary role of emotional labor on job performance and intention to leave. Keywords: SME, Authentic Leadership, Job Performance, Intention to Quit, Emotional Labor