THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION STYLE ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AT PT BIOFARMA

This research aims to study the influence of transformational leadership style on employee engagement, mediated by the practice of subordinate communication styles with women as their direct superiors. The research method employed is quantitative in nature. Data were collected online at PT Biofarma by distributing a questionnaire comprising 40 questions. Purposive sampling was used to ensure specific conditions were met before respondents were considered eligible to fill out the questionnaire. Once all the data were collected, the study applied the SPSS method, which included correlation analysis, regression analysis, and ANOVA tables. The research results indicate that women's transformational leadership significantly impacts employee engagement through communication styles. According to the findings, there is a positive correlation between transformational leadership style and both employee engagement and communication style. Employee engagement and communication style also exhibit a positive correlation. The implications of this research underscore the need for the development of effective women leadership through training, mentoring, or specialized leadership development programs to enhance employee engagement. This study can aid in recognizing women's significant contributions in improving employee engagement, potentially leading to policies promoting recognition, promotion, or increased gender equality in organizational leadership.


INTRODUCTION
Leaders play an important role in generating enthusiasm, improving the quality of the groups they lead, and raising the degree of performance that may be achieved (Tania, 2017).A leader possesses abilities and strengths, particularly in a specialized sector, and can collectively persuade others to engage in activities to attain specified goals and outcomes (Bass, 2019).
Leadership cannot be isolated from the person who is leading.Many people associate individual abilities with biological distinctions, such as between men and women.This leads to gender inequity through discrimination against women, even though women outnumber men globally (Heise et al., 2019).Today, gender is no longer the primary determinant.
Many previously performed by men are now well performed by women, such as soldiers, drivers, mining equipment technicians, project managers, petrol stations, etc.The phenomena of leadership styles in Indonesia are fascinating topics with significant consequences for political life and government.In business, leadership style impacts how an organization runs and survives to fulfill its vision, mission, and goals (Maisyura et al., 2022).As a result, developing essential organizational strategies is a challenge for the company and is dependent on leadership.Executives have a significant impact on the performance of a company.Leadership is an important aspect of organizational performance since an organization's quality is reflected in the cooperation of its members and leaders (Castelli, 2016).
Men typically lead organizations, although, in rare instances, women must be able to lead an organization (Aulia, 2022).Many remarkable women have served as presidents, commercial executives, organizational leaders, and other positions of power.Leadership styles differ between men and women (Gipson et al., 2017).Men have a stronger belief in justice, whereas women have a stronger belief in equality.Men also utilize more inclusive and proactive techniques, and when women feel confident, disparities in leadership are not noticed (Folkman et al., 2019).It was discovered by Eagly (1990) that women have democratic tendencies and are valued as organizational leaders (Eagly, 2020).
Based on the background above, the objective of this research is to determine and analyze the influence of female leaders' communication styles on employee engagement.Thus, the benefits of this study lie in providing a deeper understanding of how the communication style of female leaders affects employee engagement.This opens a window of insight into effective communication styles in the context of women's leadership.Other benefits include providing valuable information for the development of more effective leadership, particularly in gender contexts, and enhancing employee engagement.This, in turn, can boost organizational performance and productivity.

METHOD
The study subjects were several PT Biofarma employees who operated under the direction of women.Women's transformational leadership styles (X1), communication styles (X2), and employee engagement (Y) were the research objects.Figure 1 illustrates how leadership style can directly impact employee engagement.Leadership style can be moderated by communication style, thereby influencing employee engagement.
To measure employee engagement, questions based on a study conducted by (2015) were used to assess respondents' commitment to work and commitment to the organization with a focus on transformational leadership (idealizing influence, intellectual stimulation, personal consideration, and inspirational aspects of motivation).
This research uses primary data from a survey of company employees and secondary data from a study using the library method to acquire data from books, related journals, and electronic documents.This study's employee survey data were collected using self-administered online questionnaires with a 6-point Likert scale; the sampling method was designed specifically for employees who fulfilled the criteria.The questionnaire consists of forty closed questions with answer options that indicate the respondent's level of agreement or disagreement with the questions posed.
The response analysis of the questionnaire was conducted by gathering data based on the results of the responses' recapitulation.SPSS is used to analyze questionnaire response data.The SPSS procedure used in this study to display survey results includes correlation analysis, regression analysis, and ANOVA tables.Validity testing determines whether each statement item accurately measures the variable.Pearson Product Moment is the correlation technique used to test the validity of the statement items in this study (Obilor & Amadi, 2018).The instrument was also subjected to a single reliability test, which was then analyzed using the Alpha-Cronbach method.Path analysis was performed to determine causal relationships and direct or indirect effects between dependent and independent variables.Regression testing with intermediate variables aims to determine one variable's indirect effect on other variables.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A structured questionnaire sent via Google Forms was used for data collection.From 143 responders, information was collected.Data from respondents is required for this study to learn about respondents' backgrounds so that the research findings may be explained.Based on factors including gender, education, position, employee status, and present working time, respondents are divided into various categories.The characteristics of respondents are displayed in Table 1.

Validity Test
The validity of each statement in the measuring variables was tested using the questionnaire.The approach utilized in this validation test is Pearson Product Moment.The findings of the validity test show that all propositional items on the three research variable instruments have validity coefficients that are greater than the crucial value of 0,3; this indicates that the statements on the instrument can be utilized as a measuring device in research and for analysis.

Reliability Test
To assess the instrument's reliability, the Alpha-Cronbach approach was applied.The questionnaire is considered reliable if the reliability index is more than 0,7.The results of the reliability test are as follows : Table 2 shows that the index consistency for 40 items on transformational leadership by women was 0.947; for communication style, it was 0.941; and for employee engagement, it was 0.947.It increases the value of the responses obtained since the data is appropriate for analyzing the influence of women's leadership on employee engagement with communication styles as an intervening factor.These findings suggest that the questionnaire's statement items are reliable for measuring their variables.

Path Analysis The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Communication Styles
The results of calculations and data processing using SPSS 27.0 obtained the path coefficient of each independent variable shown in the table below: From Table 3, the total effect of transformational leadership variables on communication styles is 0.787 or 78.7%.In contrast, the remaining 21.3% is the influence of other factors outside the independent variables.

The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Employee Engagement
The results of calculations and data processing using SPSS 27.0 obtained the path coefficient of the direct effect variable shown in the table below: From Table 4, the total effect of transformational leadership variables on employee engagement t is 0.785 or 78.5%.In contrast, the remaining 21.5% is the influence of other factors outside the independent variables.

The Influence of Communication Styles on Employee Engagement
The results of calculations and data processing using SPSS 27.0 obtained the path coefficient of the direct effect variable shown in the table below:

The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Employee Engagement with Communication Style as an Intervening Variable
Partial testing is carried out with the following hypothesis.H0 : Transformational leadership does not significantly affect employee engagement, with communication styles as an intervening variable.H1 : Transformational leadership significantly affects employee engagement, with communication styles as an intervening variable.By using the Sobel test, a Z value of 22,071 was obtained.When compared to the Zconstant value of 1.98, Zvalue is more than Zconstant or 22,071 > 1.98, and H0 is rejected, indicating that transformational leadership has a significant effect on employee engagement with communication styles as an intervening variable.According to the data analysis findings, female superiors' transformational leadership has a major impact on communication style.The greater a leader's transformational leadership style, the better his or her communication style.According to this study, a good transformational leadership style includes demonstrating professional moral standards, developing trust with superiors, receiving motivation and support from leaders to do the best work possible, and expressing gratitude for the work done.
According to the findings of the data research, female superiors' transformational leadership has a substantial impact on staff engagement.The greater a leader's transformational leadership style, the greater the workforce involvement.According to this study, an effective transformational leadership style includes offering opportunities to learn and develop at work, providing support to increase employee abilities, and displaying concern for health and work-life balance (work-life balance).
The data analysis results also suggest that the female supervisor's communication style substantially affects staff engagement.The more a leader's communication style, the greater workforce involvement.According to this study, good communication styles include opportunities to ask questions and express opinions, opportunities to participate in decision-making, listening skills, and assistance in recognizing needs and preferences in workplace communication.
Providing a forum for employees to ask questions and express their ideas is critical to enhancing employee engagement.According to Simon Sinek, a researcher at 'Start with Why?' "A good listener has a huge advantage."First, when they converse, they make people 'feel' heard.They 'feel' as if someone understands their wants, needs, and desires.Moreover, with reason: good listeners want to comprehend" (Bessie, 2023).
Transformational leadership is believed to impact employee engagement through communication style substantially (Kairupan, 2017).This demonstrates how a transformative leadership style accompanied by effective communication can encourage people to become more involved in the organization.
Employee engagement happens when employees are given resources to assist them in meeting goals and are given the assurance that they are needed, valued, and respected at work.This can lead to improved individual or group performance as well as a solid foundation for organizational sustainability (Kim et al., 2013).Employees who are highly engaged are more likely to work harder for longer periods, to take proactive action against emerging dangers and difficulties, to expand their role in the workplace, and to adapt more quickly to change (Xanthopoulou et al., 2013).Of course, these advantages can improve team performance and do not rule out the possibility of improving corporate performance.

CONCLUSION
Based on the research results, employee engagement is influenced by transformative leadership.A similar effect is observed regarding the intervention of communication styles on employee engagement.Companies can utilize the information from this study as a resource to drive the development of transformative leadership styles and enhance communication skills to boost employee engagement.As a strategic and long-term investment for the organization, leadership development programs for aspiring leaders can be established as part of the development program.This is done to enhance employee engagement in the company's operations.The transformative leadership style of female superiors has a significantly positive impact on staff engagement.Sustaining this leadership style and communication can further improve staff engagement, thereby enhancing company performance.The influence of transformative leadership styles on employee engagement was studied through the growth of female executives, or "Srikandi," in State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), particularly in Biopharma..

Table 5 . Path Coefficient of Communication Styles to Employee Engagement
From Table5, the total effect of communication styles on employee engagement is 0.821 or 82.1%.In contrast, the remaining 17.9% is the influence of other factors outside the independent variables.