Edinburgh Napier University

  Social exchange theory is used to understand the relationship between leadership and employee corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement in a hybrid work environment. Using interview data from managers (5), CSR champions (6), and employees (17), we find that the influence of managerial level leadership can be hindered by hybrid work environments, where there are barriers to communication and relationship-building, including fewer informal leader-follower exchanges, which negatively impact levels of trust. Results also show that by expanding the scope of CSR leadership to include alternative sources of leadership, including organisational leadership and peer-leadership, alternative means to generate employee CSR engagement emerge, offsetting the limitations of hybrid work environments. Given the theoretical and managerial interest in understanding the processes of effectively leading CSR internally, our study makes an important contribution in that it adds to knowledge about the boundary conditions influencing when and how employees engage in CSR. In doing so, additional means by which to engage employees outside of the traditional work environment, and beyond formal top-down leadership, are identified. Organisations can subsequently use this information to better support CSR leadership and employee CSR engagement.