The impact of leadership styles on employee performance: a case of Umgeni Water.

Abstract

The impact of leadership styles on employee performance was evaluated at Umgeni Water. The study was essential to gain insight into leadership and draw conclusions and recommendations to achieve optimal performance levels. The study will likely provide Umgeni Water leaders insight into leadership styles' impact on employee performance. The study also aimed to discover the most preferred leadership styles to effectively build optimal attitudes and behaviour towards achieving organisational goals, allowing leaders to introspect and improve. In addition, the study provided the basis for aspiring leaders and managers to improve their leadership skills. The study was designed as a quantitative research study employing statistical modelling at a descriptive and inferential level to assess the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance. The questionnaire was administered electronically using QuestionPro software. The results presented in this study were computed using the Stata version 17 software for data analysis. The target sample size proposed using sample size guidelines proposed by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) was 200 cases selected from a pool of 1039 employees randomly selected to participate in the online survey. The results analysis has shown that employee performance varies among employees based on their age groups, gender, and educational status. The study found that the democratic leadership style is the most preferred leadership style among employees. However, it was observed that, generally, leadership styles do not influence the constructs of employee performance, with a very low correlation observed between constructs of employee performance and leadership styles. Using regression analysis, it was observed that other constructs are generally non-significant on employee performance except for the influence of democratic leadership on job design. In contrast, most studies found the autocratic leadership style ineffective. This study discovered that the preference for autocratic leadership depends on the age cohort and educational level. In the analysis of dominant leadership styles at Umgeni Water, it was observed that while the democratic leadership style was predominant, there was an observed preference for autocratic leadership style among employees across all gender and racial categories. The study concluded that organisations could be strengthened by establishing democratic leadership styles that foster optimal employee performance.