Abstract

Effective leadership is a cornerstone of successful organizations. Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this thesis proposes that servant leadership functions as a contextual resource that reduces the perceived costs and risks of learning, thereby enabling employees to invest in skill development, which in turn strengthens perceived employability. This research examined the effects of servant leadership on skill development and employability and tested whether three agentic characteristics (personal initiative, self efficacy, and need for achievement) strengthen these relationships. A sample of 192 full time employees completed an online questionnaire at two time points. Results showed that servant leadership was positively associated with skill development, and that skill development positively predicted perceived employability; moreover, skill development mediated the relationship between servant leadership and employability. Moderation tests provided limited and inconsistent support for the strengthening effects of personal initiative, self efficacy, and need for achievement on the relationship between servant leadership and skill development, although each characteristic directly and positively related to development. The theoretical implications of this research include specifying skill development as the proximal conduit through which servant leadership relates to employability, adding temporal nuance by showing that employability judgments are most sensitive to recent, salient capability gains, and refining contingency views by positioning agentic characteristics as parallel, additive drivers rather than necessary amplifiers of leader effectiveness. For practitioners, the findings highlight the value of pairing sustained servant leadership behaviors (which include empowerment, coaching, ethical stewardship) with visible, ongoing development opportunities (e.g., stretch assignments, mentoring, feedback cycles) that make capability gains concrete and timely, thereby translating supportive leadership into stronger employability beliefs.