Value congruence and tenure as moderators of transformational leadership effects

Purpose Using the substitute for leadership framework, the purpose of this paper is to verify whether employees’ perceived value congruence with their organization can act as a moderator of the relationship between transformational leadership and empowered behaviors. A triple moderation hypothesis, wherein value congruence could both enhance or substitute leadership practices depending on employee tenure, is tested. Design/methodology/approach Self-reported data were collected from 1,934 employees of a large public organization. Findings Hierarchical regressions show that value congruence enhances transformational leadership’s effectiveness in new employees, but plays either a substitute role or no role at all in more tenured employees. Research limitations/implications Findings suggest that the substitutes for leadership framework are useful in understanding both the enhancing and substitute role of value congruence with regards to transformational leadership. This study also underlines this framework’s complexity and the need for additional research that goes beyond bivariate models to further our understanding of transformational leadership moderators. Practical implications The knowledge of when leadership practices are enhanced or substituted could help leaders focus their efforts to maximize empowered behaviors. Originality/value This study verifies the theorized moderating role of value congruence in transformational leadership, which has been largely ignored in research. Additionally this study shows that this role can fluctuate according to tenure.