What goes around comes around: The mediation of corporate social responsibility in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement

Organization studies have investigated transformational leadership and employee engagement as key variables in the field. Recent calls in the literature propose further investigation of the link between leadership and engagement, through different levels within the organization. Hence, the current study examines the leadership–engagement relationship in more depth and introduces perceived corporate social responsibility as an organizational level mediator. Hypotheses were tested amongst employees in a European bank (N = 5313) and were supported. This study contributes both to theory and practice by: (a) expanding the scope of transformational leadership effectiveness, specifically as a facilitator for employee engagement, and (b) demonstrating the contribution of perceived corporate social responsibility as a mediator in the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement.