LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ITS IMPACT ON

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Sahil Bhati and Saksham Nagpal, BBA 3rd year , School of Business
Galgotias University , Gr noida, Uttar Pradesh
@sahil_bhati.gsobbba@galgotiauniversity.edu.in
@saksham_nagpal.gsobbba@galgotiasuniversity.edu.in

ABSTRACT
Styles of Leadership and the Effects They Have on Employees

PERFORMANCE
Because of the various management styles employed by Chi Limited, some of the company's
employees have claimed that product quality has decreased (transactional, transformational and
authoritative). Randomly selected employees completed 164 well-structured questionnaires. The study
was conducted by Avolio and Bass using a modified version of the Multi-Factor Leadership
Questionnaire (MFLQ) (1995). The Yousef (2000) scale was used to evaluate the overall performance
of each employee. The collected data was analysed using statistical methods such as descriptive and
inferential statistics. With the help of Pearson's correlation and regression analysis, scientists were
able to prove their hypotheses and explain their findings.

There appears to be a significant positive effect on employee performance with the exception of the
authoritative style, which has a negligible negative effect. There was no significant difference between
transformational leadership and any of the other types of leadership that were compared here.

Two of the most important factors to consider when deciding on a leadership style are the performance
of employees and Nigeria.
 INTRODUCTIONi
Many businesses and non-profits are formed with a specific goal in mind, such as making
money or ensuring the well-being of their customers. It is imperative to have a strong human
component in order to accomplish the goals and objectives. When it comes to managing
human resources, the buck stops with the boss. Members of an organisation can be influenced
by the actions and attitudes of the leader in order to achieve predetermined goals and
aspirations. Leadership begins with the ability to persuade others to carry out their
responsibilities (Kotter, 1996; Yammarino & Dubinsky, 1994).

There are many people in our modern society who have been given the authority to lead or
have been appointed to such positions. Due to the current business environment's instability,
many businesses have found themselves in a fight for survival. Organizational goals and
increased employee productivity are the driving forces behind these strategic adjustments to
stay competitive. Managers are expected to lead by example. According to Shafie et al.,
employees are the most important resource of any firm because they are the primary drivers
and give life to businesses and offer goals (2013).

Since the late 19th century, leadership has become a popular academic topic. According to
Ken and Heresy, effective leadership requires an expert diagnostician who can adapt to
changing conditions. New technologies and a growing awareness that employees can do more
than simply follow instructions have revolutionised office life. Fewer and fewer organisations
are relying solely on the advice and perspective of their leaders when making major business
decisions. In order to achieve long-term success, Niccolo Machiavelli advises adapting your
behaviour to the current situation (1882).

Recent years have seen an increase in the focus on employee performance and leadership
styles. Raja and Palanichamy (2015); Kehinde and Banjo (2014); Rasal and others (2015);
Tsigu and Rao (2015); Gimuguni and others (2015); and Tsigu and Rao (2015) are just a few
of the more notable examples (2015). (2015). (2011). Transformative and transactional
leadership styles were found to be beneficial to Indian employees' performance, while laissez-
faire leadership styles were found to be detrimental. Indian workplaces and managers were
the focus of this study. Command-and-control management is the most common management
style, according to an Ispas report from 2012.

The best way to lead, in the opinion of hoteliers, is this. According to them, this is not all.
Transformative versus transactional leadership styles were compared to see which was better
for the overall performance of hospital nursing staff by Aboshaiqah et al. (2015). Despite the
fact that transformational and transactional leadership have a strong correlation, the latter has
a greater impact on employee performance. In Pradeep's study in India, he found that
transformational and transactional leadership styles have a strong connection.

There are two papers on this subject in Nigeria: Ejere & Abasilim (2013) and Kehinde &
Banjo (2014). (2014). A special mention should be made of Gimuguni and Tsigu-studies
Rao's research on Ugandan local government authorities and Ethiopian banking industries.
Leaders who use democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire management methods have a strong
correlation with employee performance, Gimuguni and co-authors claim
According to recent research, the most effective leaders employ both transformational and
transactional leadership styles (Bass & Avolio, 1990; Meyer & Botha, 2000). leaders are
thought to be transformational when they inspire and demand the personal growth and
development of their employees in addition to raising important issues in the workplace
(Cacioppe, 1997). Employee performance is a topic of debate as to whether transactional or
transformational management is more effective.

Employee productivity and management style will also be examined as a dependent variable
in this investigation. The dynamic between the two is taken into account when determining
the best way to lead in order to get the most out of everyone's performance. The quality of the
work, as well as the efficiency and happiness of the employees, are all considered when
evaluating an employee's performance. Consequently,

Fred Fiedler's (1957) contextual leadership theory backs up the notion that the study's
highlighted leaders represent the best examples of various leadership styles. There was a
minor collision between two cars (1957)

For this study, researchers are looking into the relationship between leadership styles and
employee productivity. Considering how leadership style affects productivity, the article's
focus on employees is essential. The significance of the study, the research questions, the
goal, the problem statement, the scope, and the hypothesis are all discussed in this section.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 The Beginning

This chapter gives a quick rundown of the most recent findings in related fields. To
get the most out of your research, you must reference previous studies. Another way
of putting it is that the independent and dependent variables are used to build a
conceptual framework.

Second-in-command position

Personality is the most important context for leadership according to many different
definitions of what it really means to be a leader. There appears to be room for
interpretation based on current events. Listed here are some examples of what it
takes to be an effective leader:

A key part of the process of organisational change is helping people see and agree on
what needs to be done, as well as facilitating group and individual efforts toward a
common goal. There is no mention in this definition of indirect and direct influences
of whether or not the process or goal has been completed. Having the ability to
influence others' behaviour and attitudes is a key component of leadership because it
involves not only setting the company's course, but also influencing how others see
the future and how it can be realised in their own minds.
 Leadership is defined by Kumar as the process of influencing others to accomplish a
goal and leading an organisation in a way that improves its cohesion and cohesion.
According to Kumar, leadership attributes like values, beliefs, character, expertise,
and ethics can be utilised to achieve these goals.

Leadership typically involves delegating personal and organisational responsibilities

to subordinates. If you want your employees to succeed in both their professional and
personal lives, you need to instil confidence in them.

Theories and methods are employed in leadership research.

Leadership can be broken down into three categories: leadership by an individual,

leadership by others, and partnership between two people (Fig. 2 1). Members and
leaders engage in a discussion about the organization's relationship dynamics
following an investigation of leadership traits and behaviours. Situational leadership
emphasises the interplay between these three domains of leadership process (Uhl-
Bien and Graen, 1995).

2.8 Statement of the hypothesis

H1: Transactional leadership has a positive effect on employee performance.

H2: Transformational leadership has a positive impact on employee performance.

H3. Autocratic leadership has a positive impact on employee performance.

H4: The laissez-faire leadership style has a positive effect on employee performance.
 METHOD OF RESEARCH

A lot of the study's methodology is laid out in this section. The researcher's methods for collecting
the primary data needed for this study are described in this chapter. Various research designs and
study populations were discussed in this study, according to the researchers. A detailed discussion of
data collection and interpretation, along with the models used and the reasons for their use by
researchers, is provided.

Section 3.2 explains the study's design.

An end-of-the-study survey was used by the researcher. Regardless of their gender, educational
level, or age, survey research can be used to gather data on a diverse group of Chi limited
respondents. Participants in the study were chosen at random from a large pool of potential
participants to ensure that there was no bias present. The researcher employed a quantitative
research approach to analyse the data.

Those who participated in the research

Those who participated in the study from Nigeria included everyone from the production line
workers to the team supervisors/team leaders and everyone else in management. It was the
researcher's decision to include these categories in the study.

Management and decision-making are critical to the manufacturing process. About 2500 Lagos,
Nigeria's Chi Limited employees were included in the study's sample. Chi Limited's HR department
gave researchers permission to speak with workers.

3.3 Topics of Research

There were 2500 employees at Chi Limited in Lagos, Nigeria, making it a large company by any
measure. Using a sample size of 2,500 workers,

Thanks to the responses of the company's workers, we now have a better idea of how the company's
leadership style affects productivity. A single known location in Lagos served as the inspiration for
Chi Limited's Lagos outpost.

The sample size and sampling strategy are discussed in this section.

Researching the entire population of Chi limited, Nigeria, would be an enormous undertaking.
Direct employees were chosen as a representative sample because of the greater likelihood that they
represent the entire workforce. Random sampling was used to select the employees for the study in
this study. A random sample of 334 people from a pool of 2500 Chi limited employees was
contacted via email and asked to participate in a survey.
d2(N – 1) + X2P(1 – P) must be included in the equation.

Where;

s = the number of samples that must be taken.

One degree of freedom chi square table value is X2

high trustworthiness

At the time of this writing, the world's population stands at N.

a percentage of the population that falls into this category (assumed to be .50 because it would
provide us with maximum sample size).

We use d. as a way to determine how accurate something is.

This study's sample size was determined by using formulas developed by Krejcie (1970) and
Morgan (1970), both of which were discussed in depth on the previous page.

Participants in the Chi limited study were chosen because they have been employed by the company
for at least a year and are familiar with the leadership styles in use and the productivity levels of
both themselves and their coworkers. Researchers selected 334 employees from a pool of 2500
randomly chosen by the researcher for their study.

To begin with, the researcher received 334 valid responses from randomly selected employees
before even distributing the survey questionnaire.

Measuring Equipment and Indicators

Open access questionnaires from Avolio & Bass (1995) and Yousef (1995) were used to collect
information on respondents' gender and academic level (2000). Using this information, we were able
to learn more about the demographics of the respondents. Independent variable, which includes a
variety of leadership styles, is critical to the study's findings (transactional, transformational,
autocratic and laissez-faire). The study's multi-factor leadership questionnaire, developed by Avolio
and Bass (1995), was used to gauge participants' leadership styles. The survey was redesigned to
better meet the goals of the study. Participants' overall performance was the dependent variable, and
Yousef devised a scale to measure it (2000).

3.6 Data collection procedures and methods

The human resources department ensured that the target population could quickly and easily fill out
the questionnaires by sending a link to an online questionnaire. This year's data was gathered in
February.
When conducting a survey, individual employees should not be influenced by the opinions of their
coworkers, as this can lead to bias. From the study's participants, the most important and relevant
data was gathered. The questionnaire had four sections, so we only used one section at a time. It was
necessary to collect data on how employees viewed their supervisors' leadership style and the quality
of their work in comparison to that of their peers. It was the responsibility of the researcher to send
out the surveys to the study organization's HR department. Of the 334 people who were sent a link
to the survey website, 144 completed it, and all of them were considered valid.

The instruments' validity and reliability are examined in this section.

It had already been established that the scales used in this study were accurate. Avolio & Bass
(1995) developed the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), which was then customised to
meet the study's needs. In this study, the performance of employees was assessed using Yousef's
scale. (2000).

The instrument's reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, which was compared to
the industry standard of 0.7. It is considered internally consistent if the Cronbach's alpha is
greater than 0.7 according to Field and Pallant (2013). Cronbach's alpha reliability tests,
which look for questionnaire internal consistency, found reliability values ranging from
0.708 to 0.876 for evaluating employee performance and leadership styles. Cronbach's
alpha for the survey was given a score of 0.873. The researcher also checked for any
inconsistencies in the questionnaires.

Information sifting and analysing

After being coded and entered into SPSS, the data was downloaded from Google Docs
and used for further analysis. Data was checked for accuracy several times before it was
sent to the server. Before calculating the mean scores for each scale variable measure, the
internal consistency of scale-based variables was checked.

The data for this project was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods.
As Amin (2005) stated, it is possible to convey a general impression of the data by
presenting it numerically or visually. There were two methods used in the study: Pearson's
correlation and multiple regression analysis.
 Discussion of the Results

In order to begin, we must acknowledge that this study is taking place in a company with a diverse range of
leadership styles. In order to get the most out of their employees, a company's leaders can use a variety of
styles, or none at all. Consequently, the quality of their products may have degraded because of this.

Measuring employee reactions to their immediate supervisor's leadership style with descriptive statistics like
the mean, standard deviation, and correlation of variance helped the researcher better understand the wide
range of responses from the CV. Transactional and transformational leadership styles were more popular
among employees than laissez-faire leadership styles, according to a study. Their immediate supervisors were
the least likely to use an authoritative style of leadership. Transactional and transformational, authoritative
and laissez-faire leadership styles showed a strong correlation with the correlation of variance.

The researchers defined "employee performance" as "quality of work and productivity" in the workplace. The
employees' self-evaluations of their own work were generally consistent, and their overall performance was
better than average.

The researcher was able to determine the significance and correlation between each leadership style and
employee performance for the study's research questions by using Pearson's bivariate correlation statistics.
There was a tenuous but significant link between the performance of employees and the leadership
transformation. That "transformational leadership" enhances employee performance is corroborated by the
data presented herein. A correlation study also shows a connection between employee output and the
transactional leadership style.

The second hypothesis is supported by a weak but significant positive correlation between employee
performance and transactional leadership style. It is the third hypothesis that "Authoritative leadership style
positively impacts employee performance," but the correlation between the two is weak. According to the
fourth hypothesis, "laissez-faire leadership style positively affects employee performance," the correlation
between overall employee performance and laissez-faire leadership style is weak, but significant.

A multiple regression analysis was used to calculate R-squared in order to determine how much variation in
employee performance was explained by various leadership styles. A whopping 13.3 percent of the variation
in employee performance can be attributed to transformational leadership. Transactional leadership has a 10%
effect on employee performance, whereas authoritative leadership has a 1% effect. Workers' productivity
differs by an additional 5.2 percent because of free-market economics.

Different leadership styles predicted employee performance using standard Beta coefficients in multiple
regression analysis. Employee output rises by 37.2% for every unit standard deviation increase in
transformational leadership, according to the research. The standard deviation of a leader's transactional
leadership style increases employee performance by 32.7 percent for every unit increase. Every unit increase
in laissez-faire leadership results in a 24% standard deviation increase in employee performance. Finally, for
every unit increase in the SD of authoritative leadership, employee performance drops by 12.8%.

Researchers in the field of human resources now have a better idea of how to motivate their workforces as a
whole. The

It was the goal of this research to conduct a thorough investigation into the food sector to fill an existing
research gap. Consequently, it has contributed significantly to our understanding of leadership and the effects
it has on those who work under it.
 CONCLUSIONS

Overview

This study examined the impact of different leadership styles on Chi Limited's
employee performance as a unique case study (transformational, transactional,
autocratic, and laissez-faire). The study's 2,344 participants were chosen at random
from that pool. In the study, participants came from a variety of industries, including
customer service, sales, and logistics. As a result, participants in the study came
from a wide range of workplaces and functions. The primary data was collected from
the sample using an adapted structured questionnaire.

Measurement of the leadership styles listed in this article was carried out using the
Avolio & Bass Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (1995). It was Yousef's job to
evaluate the productivity and quality of each employee (2000). In order to make
sense of the poll results, the researcher employed both descriptive and inferential
statistical methods. Pearson's correlation and regression were used to investigate
the study hypotheses' relationships and effects. Here, discuss the study's findings
and conclusions as well as the study's future directions.

Those Findings That Were of the Most Interest to Us

This study found that only authoritative leadership had a negligible negative
correlation with employee performance. Chi Limited's leaders are most effective
when they combine both transformational and transactional leadership styles into
their strategies..

The leadership then adopts a more laissez-faire approach. Except for the small but
positive correlation between scores on transformational leadership style and
inspirational motivation, both measures of employee performance were positively
correlated.

Transactional leadership was found to be strongly linked to all of these aspects of

employee performance and overall performance. After the change, an authoritarian
management style remained in place. Having a laissez-faire attitude had a significant
impact on employee performance, as well as the company's overall performance.

Transformation, transaction, and laissez-faire leadership styles have all been shown
to increase employee productivity. An authoritarian management style lowered
productivity among the workforce.

Results and Implications of the Research

Transactional, transformative, and laissez-faire leadership qualities must be
demonstrated by managers if they are to get the most out of their employees.
 Recommendations
To achieve the goals and objectives of any organisation, management must demonstrate
leadership qualities that will inspire their employees to their fullest potential. This study
has shown us how employees respond to different leadership styles in the way they
carry out their responsibilities. – Using this research to find out which leadership style
employees prefer and apply more of that leadership style can help to develop future
strategies and also help to achieve organisational goals through the development of
leadership behaviour on the part of supervisors, according to the study's author.
Transformational leadership is recommended by the researcher based on the findings of
this study, which found that employees responded better to transformational leadership
style when compared to the other styles tested. Supervisors must keep a close eye on
the things that affect employee performance and take advantage of this information to
help the department or organisation meet its goals. As a manager, you should also
encourage your employees to be resilient and creative, so that the company can be
more innovative.

Transformative leadership qualities, particularly the idealised influence of such an

individual, are more prominently on display. By promoting their employees' faith in them,
supervisors can connect with their employees and this will lead to an increase in
employee performance.

Exhibition of authoritative style of leadership as the results from this study show
negatively impacts the performance of employees and therefore should not be employed
by supervisors who intend to bring the best out of their employees. Rather than waiting
for an issue to arise, supervisors should be proactive in clarifying organisational
standards and goals to their employees. When it comes to organisational goals and
objectives, the best leaders anticipate and foresee to the best of their abilities and
experience. In many cases, workers look forward to the financial incentives they will
receive for their efforts.

Doing less than is required to meet a minimum goal or quota is what they've done and
what they tend to do. If the management allows for employee innovation, the
researcher's advice to employees is to be more innovative in their workplaces.

Even more importantly, supervisors and managers can be trained to become better
leaders, which will in turn lead to a higher level of productivity and quality from their
employees. Employees can be involved in decision-making and receive training based
on a collaborative approach.

Finally, based on the data gathered, the researcher hypothesised that the deterioration in
product quality was caused by supervisors and managers adopting a variety of
leadership styles. As a result of the study, the researcher recommends an organised
pattern of leadership styles suitable for various departments, which will help their
employees perform at their peak.
Future Research Recommendations

Starting with a structured questionnaire, quantitative research often uses questions and statements
requiring a definite answer. Therefore, the results of this investigation may not be representative of
what actually occurs in society. As a result, the respondents' responses are constrained by the
researcher's selections.

As a quantitative study, the researcher had to perform a great deal of statistical analysis, which was
difficult for him because of his training in biology and his limited experience with statistics.

It was a problem for the researcher when only 164 of the 334 questionnaires he sent out were returned
within the time frame he set for data collection.

Finally, the researchers' efforts were hindered by the lack of commitment of the participants. People in
Nigeria were initially hesitant to participate in the study because they thought it was an attempt by
their organisation to get rid of people who didn't believe in the leadership of the organisation.
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