Globally, organisations seek engaged employees, and this demand has peaked acutely with the talent war during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study, therefore, examined how organisations can augment engagement. Through study 1 (n1 = 181), we conceptualised and empirically tested the modified global transformational leadership scale to measure the transformational leadership behaviours of managers. We then administered the standardised instrument to knowledge workers (n2 = 362) through a structured survey. We employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) on the data to test the hypothesised relationships. We found that transformational leadership style influenced employees' perception of psychological empowerment and job characteristics. Lastly, psychological empowerment and job characteristics mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement. This seminal study conceptualised and empirically examined the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement through intervening variables: psychological empowerment and job characteristics.