As the age of employer enlightenment continues to unfold, for the past half-century researchers have collected mounting empirical evidence linking management theory and environmental factors to worker productivity. The rise of professional research over the past several years has however signaled a change in the marketability of this research within the business community. The change is prompted by a newfound interest in workforce productivity as a source of profitability (Colan, 2009; Corporate Leadership Council, 2004; Gebauer, Lowman, & Gordon, 2008; Thomas, 2000, 2009). The study of management systems, the system of interrelationships between supervisory characteristics and organizational performance, has gained new found interest through common underpinnings innate to measures of employee engagement. The profit potential born out of workforce productivity now has business leaders seeking to understand the management and leadership practices that show a strong relationship to employee commitment. Savvy business leaders understand the new economy is dependent upon leaders nurturing the commitment and goodwill of the employee population. Employee attitudes expressed in the research as employee commitment, and more recently as employee engagement, capture the relationship between employee's perceptions and how those perceptions translate into organizational performance.

The ability to increase organizational performance depends upon the quality of leadership within an organization, and the literature has established solid linkages between employee engagement and organizational performance. This study seeks to identify and determine the relationship between leadership behaviors, employee engagement and organizational performance in an effort to effect positive change.