The Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Engagement in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

This study examines the influence of servant leadership on employee engagement in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ho Chi Minh City and tests the mediating role of job satisfaction. A mixed-methods design was adopted. Four experts first reviewed the conceptual model and refined the measures, followed by a quantitative survey of employees and first-line managers with at least three months of organizational tenure. After data screening, 243 valid responses were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics and SmartPLS 4 for partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory indicator reliability, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. All four hypotheses were supported. Servant leadership positively affected job satisfaction (β = 0.337, p < 0.001) and employee engagement (β = 0.514, p < 0.001), while job satisfaction positively affected employee engagement (β = 0.421, p < 0.001). Job satisfaction also provided complementary partial mediation in the servant leadership–employee engagement relationship (indirect β = 0.142, p < 0.001). The model explained 74.0% of the variance in job satisfaction and 58.0% of the variance in employee engagement. The findings extend evidence on servant leadership in Vietnamese SMEs and indicate that engagement is strengthened most effectively when leader behaviors-listening, empathy, support, empowerment, ethical conduct, employee development, and community building are integrated with practices that improve employees’ evaluation of their work experience.