The Moderating Role of servant leadership in the Relationship between occupational Stressors and well-being among Humanitarian Workers in Gedo Region, Somalia.

Abstract

Humanitarian work is typically situated in challenging operational contexts defined by volatility and scarcity. Such a harsh environment generates occupational pressures for humanitarian staff that could negatively impact their well-being. Servant leadership is a valuable way of mitigating employee stress; however, its applicability is limited to stable, less volatile settings, unlike humanitarian contexts. Against this background, this study assessed the moderating effect of servant leadership on the relationship between occupational stressors and well-being among humanitarian workers in Gedo Region, Somalia. The study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional survey design to draw a sample of 75 personnel employed by humanitarian organizations in Gedo through simple random sampling. The data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed through frequencies, percentages, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results revealed that occupational stressors had a statistically significant effect on well-being (B= 0.137, p = 0.013) as well as the interaction between occupational stressors and servant leadership (B = 0.582, p < 0.001). Therefore, it was concluded that servant leadership moderates the effect of occupational stress on employee well-being as the p-value was statistically significant at the threshold of 0.05%. These findings suggest that humanitarian agencies should invest in servant-leadership development as a strategy for sustaining workforce resilience.