Impact of Servant Leadership on Employee Retention in Corporate Sector Organizations of Indore, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31674/ijmhs.2026.v10i01.005Abstract
Background: Organizational retention has been among the measures that organizations working in competitive and high-attrition industries have been keen about. Although conventional motivators to retention like pay and job stability are still significant, current studies put more focus on the leadership style in influencing employee attitudes and withdrawal intentions. Servant leadership is a style in which a leader concentrates on employee growth, encouragement, and welfare, with scholarly interest in this type of leadership drawing the attention of potential retention outcomes. Objectives: This research paper seeks to investigate how servant leadership affects employee retention among employees in organizations in the corporate sector in Indore, India. Methods: The research design was a quantitative, descriptive one. The study design involved the use of a structured questionnaire in convenience sampling of 100 employees by use of a five-point Likert scale. The instrument was tested through Cronbach's Alpha (0.940) to determine the reliability of the instrument. Linear regression analysis was used in examining data with the assistance of SPSS and MS Excel. Results: The findings indicated that servant leadership and employee retention have a statistically significant and strong positive relationship (R = 0.837, p < 0.05). The model predicts 71% variation in employee retention (R² = 0.710), which means that servant leadership is a significant predictor of retention among the sampled population. Conclusion: The research gives empirical results that servant leadership is a key factor for employee retention. Institutions that aim to lower staff turnover and improve workforce retention can be interested in advancing leadership, employee-centered support, development, and relationship-building practices.
Keywords:
Attrition Intention, Employee Retention, Leadership Style, Withdrawal IntentionDownloads
References
Barbuto, J. E., & Wheeler, D. W. (2006). Scale Development and Construct Clarification of Servant Leadership. Group & Organization Management, 31(3), 300–326. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/aglecfacpub/51
Batterywala, R. (2020). Study on High Employee Attrition in Selected BPO Companies in India: a Key Issue in BPO Industry (Doctoral dissertation, Gujarat Technological University). https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/gtusitecirculars/uploads/Final%20Synopsis%20%2853%29_405906.pdf
Cai, M., Wang, M., & Cheng, J. (2024). The effect of servant leadership on work engagement: the role of employee resilience and organizational support. Behavioral Sciences, 14(4), 300. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14040300
Canavesi, A., & Minelli, E. (2021). Servant leadership: A systematic literature review and network analysis. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34(3), 267–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09381-3
Chen, J. K. C. (2020). Perspective on the influence of leadership on job satisfaction and lower employee turnover in the mineral industry. Sustainability, 12(14), 5690. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145690
Darmawan, D., Jahroni, Irfan, M., & Hakim, A. (2022). Leadership and Employee Welfare in Improving Organizational Productivity. Journal of Social Science Studies, 2(2), 173–176. https://jos3journals.id/index.php/jos3/article/view/179
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
George, F., Wayoga, O., Govindasamy, R., & Alubi, T. (2026). Leadership styles and employee retention in modern organization. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.67756
Gigol, T. (2024). Impact of servant leadership on turnover intention in students working at a hybrid workplace: The mediating role of work engagement. Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology. Organization and Management Series, 201, 105–115. https://doi.org/10.29119/1641-3466.2024.201.8
Gupta, V. (2026, January 21). Leadership Development and Employee Retention Statistics: Impact, ROI & Engagement Insights. Kapable. https://kapable.club/blog/statistics/statistics-on-leadership-development-and-employee-retention
Harter, J. (2025, January 14). U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to 10-Year Low. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx
Henry, U. C., & Uzoechi, Z. K. (2025). Servant Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction. Journal of Business Development and Management Research, 8. https://doi.org/10.70382/ajbdmr.v8i7.017
Kumar, S. (2023). The impact of leadership style on employee motivation and retention in the Indian retail industry. International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 9(2), 48-52. https://www.managejournal.com/assets/archives/2023/vol9issue2/9035-1694157618892.pdf
Lee, A., Lyubovnikova, J., Tian, A. W., & Knight, C. (2019). Servant leadership: a Meta‐analytic Examination of Incremental contribution, moderation, and Mediation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12265
Mahembe, B., & Engelbrecht, A. S. (2014). The relationship between servant leadership, organisational citizenship behaviour and team effectiveness. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40(1), 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v40i1.1107
Mustamil, N., & Najam, U. (2020). The Impact of Servant Leadership on Follower Turnover Intentions: Mediating Role of Resilience. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting, 13(2), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.22452/ajba.vol13no2.5
Nagpal, A. (2026, February 15). Attrition Rate in India 2026: Trends & Industry Data. Wisemonk. https://www.wisemonk.io/blogs/managing-attrition-in-india
Nantamu, S., Grazi, A., & Cromie, S. (2025). Testing turnover intentions and organizational justice on servant leadership: a validation of the servant leadership survey scale in sub-Saharan Africa. Leadership in Health Services, 38(5), 16–34. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-05-2024-0048
Ojha, M., Mishra, A. K., & Singh, A. (2024). Servant Leadership in India: A Comprehensive Exploration of Contributions, Trends, and Patterns. Public Organization Review, 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-024-00781-1
Paycor. (2026, March 5). 28 Employee Retention Statistics [2026]. Paycor. https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/employee-retention-statistics
Pircher Verdorfer, A., Feng, X., Peus, C., & Frey, D. (2025). How does servant leadership work in times of uncertainty? Examining servant leadership and perceived job insecurity during significant organizational change. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmp-02-2024-0096
Putri, S. D. T., Salendu, A., & Pahlawan, A. W. (2025). Understanding turnover intention in Gen Z: Servant leadership and ethical climate in organization. Asian Management and Business Review, 5(1), 216-230. https://doi.org/10.20885/ambr.vol5.iss1.art14
Rahman, R. B. A. (2012). A study on turnover intention trend in commercial banks in Penang, Malaysia. (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Sains Malaysia). https://eprints.usm.my/26699/1/A_STUDY_ON_TURNOVER_INTENTION_TREND_IN_COMMERCIAL.pdf
Romi, M. V., Alsubki, N., Almadhi, H. M., & Propheto, A. (2022). The Linkage between Leadership Styles, Employee Loyalty, and Turnover Intention in Healthcare Industry. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(13). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.890366
Spears, L. C., & Lawrence, M. (2016). Practicing servant-leadership: Succeeding through trust, bravery, and forgiveness. John Wiley & Sons. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Practicing+Servant-Leadership%3A+Succeeding+Through+Trust%2C+Bravery%2C+and+Forgiveness-p-9781119378396
Tarar, A. R. (2021). Employee retention strategies in small and medium sized companies (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University). https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12504&context=dissertations
Whitaker, T. (2009). What Great Principals Do Differently. https://www.promotingthepositive.com/WhatGreatPrincipalsDoDifferentlyLong.pdf
Xiang, N. (2024, November 14). Future of talent retention: Understanding why employees leave and why they stay. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/in/executive-network/insights/future-of-talent-retention-report-why-employees-leave
Xuecheng, W., Iqbal, Q., & Saina, B. (2022). Factors Affecting Employee’s retention: Integration of Situational Leadership with Social Exchange Theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.872105
Yi, R. (2024, September 18). Employee Retention Depends on Getting Recognition Right. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/650174/employee-retention-depends-getting-recognition-right.aspx
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Management and Human Science (IJMHS)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
