Does observation of employees affect the quality of Leader Member Exchange (LMX)-relationships?

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the relationship between observation of employees and leader-member exchange theory (LMX). Hence, exploring whether observation of employees affects the quality of relation shared between an employee and its closest supervisor. Our study examines a total of 286 respondents working within the field of marketing and sales in the UK and USA. The results show that intense and hierarchical forms of employee observation negatively affects LMX-quality. In the results we also found a significant positive impact on LMX-quality, when employees perceive that the intention of observation is to facilitate learning and development, which we have operationalized through the theory of mastery climate. Furthermore, the study posits that a performance climate negatively affects LMX-quality. However, we did not find any support for this in the results