An overlooked connection: Work design quality and leadership intention

The present study investigated whether there is a connection between employees' perceived work design quality and their intention for a particular leadership position at their current organization. Mediator role of worries about leadership (WAL) and the moderator role of motivation to lead (MTL) were also examined. 350 white-collar employees (58% male, 41.4% female, and 0.6% other) in the US participated in the survey study through the Amazon MTurk. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between work design and leadership intention: as employees' work design quality increases, their intention to be a leader at the current organization increases. However, the mediation effect of WAL and the moderation effect of MTL were not significant. Post-hoc analyses were run to see if the mediation and moderation effects can be observed at the subdimensions of these two multidimensional constructs (i.e., WAL and MTL). The results of post-hoc analyses showed that none of WAL's subdimensions (failure, work-life balance, and harm) had a significant mediation effect and none of MTL's subdimensions (affective, normative, and non-calculative) had a significant moderation effect. Theoretical and practical implications, and future directions are discussed.