ABSTRACT

The role of employee performance in the daily activities of organizations cannot be undermined. Employee engagement, goal attainment and work quality as a continuous problem existing in organizations is complex and dynamic and requires a leadership style that will continually discover ways of improving and sustaining it in the workplace. A key factor that enhances employee performance is the leadership style used. The impact of leadership style on the performance of employees of Baptist colleges in Fako Division was investigated during this research project. It is quite useful for both practitioners and academics. On the practical side, it aims to inform managers and leaders that they can be flexible and adjust their leadership style or behavior to enhance subordinates’ engagement, goal attainment as well as work quality and as a result increase a happy work environment as well as increase performance. On an academic note, the study intends to highlights the future development of the subject area by providing additional insight into the leadership field.

The research work examines Leadership Style and Employee Performance: Case of Baptist Colleges in Fako Division. Considering the research questions and objective, the quantitative research approach and the Survey or cross-sectional research design were used. Target population was the  administrative, teaching and non-teaching staff of three (3) Baptist Colleges that is Saker Baptist College (SBC) Limbe, Baptist High School (BHS) Buea and Baptist Comprehensive (BCC) College Buea out of the four (4) Baptist Colleges in Fako Division. Access to Baptist Academy Muyuka was not possible due to the on-going crises in the South and North West Regions that has affected schools in Muyuka Sub Division.

Quantitative data was collected through structured questionnaires that was distributed to 80 staff (administrative, teaching and non-teaching) of the afore-cited colleges. Out of the distributed questionnaire, one hundred and three (103) that is (85.8%) were returned and used for data analyses. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background to the Study

A leadership style that motivates employees is critical for achieving good performance as noted by Northouse (2014). In a rapidly changing world of work, a notable leadership challenge is how leadership styles can be used to ensure enhanced employee performance (Schein, 2010). Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to perform at the maximum level. One of the most effective strategies to boost corporate happiness is to choose a leadership style that benefits both the corporation and its personnel. Some leadership styles exist, and diverse scenarios are prevalent in this context. Some people combine styles to suit their needs. Extensive job descriptions that highlight strategies of achievement are the first step in developing a culture of accountability. According to Thomas (2002), leadership style is the aspect of a leader’s personality that inspires subordinates to follow them. In addition, Alexander (2002) explains that leadership styles are specific actions used by a leader to drive subordinates to fulfill the organization goal.

Leadership is one of the factors which could trigger positive employee performance in organizations as leaders could maximize the benefits of improved ways of working (Anderson et al., 2014). Leaders are an essential part in the promotion of better performance in organizations because they encourage intrinsic motivation, facilitate problem solving, encourage a positive team climate and provide support (Denti & Hemlin, 2012; Hammond, Neff, Farr, Schwall, & Zhao, 2011).

Leadership is a universal phenomenon. As a universal activity, leadership is fundamental for effective organizational and social functioning. The very nature of leadership is its influencing process and its resultant outcomes. Such process is determined by the leaders and followers’ characteristics, dispositions, behavior perceptions, attributions and the context wherein the process of influencing occurs. The moral purpose of leadership is to create an empowered follower that leads to moral outcomes that are achieved through moral means.

The importance of leadership refers to the fact that the success of an organization is heavily dependent on the quality of its leaders. These leaders play a major role in making decisions that determine organizational goals and how these goals can be accomplished. Their actions are important in influencing the behavior and potential of the organization members (Williams, 1978).

Leadership style refers to the pattern or constellation of leadership behaviors that characterize a given leader (Williams, 1978). Effective Leadership Style enhances organizational performance to a greater extent. Kahn (1990) recognizes the impact of management style, suggesting that a supportive management style positively affects level of engagement. According to Menz (2010), employee performance is impacted by the leadership style applied and affects the ability of employee in achieving corporate goals and objectives. Poor leadership destroys the human spirit essential to ensure work effectiveness (Robbins, 2014)). In many organizations, there is a growing satisfaction gap – a widening split between the expectations of employers and what workers are prepared to do. There are a number of reasons for this erosion of organizational performance; the most common one being a failure of management in some way or another. To be effective, the skills of committed employee management must be installed in an organization, so they become part of its culture. In this way there will be consistency and equity with respect to how people are managed from the top down to the most junior employee (Allen & Meyer, 1990).

Leadership styles are a result of the philosophy and experience of leaders. They include the autocratic leader who issues orders, which must be followed by his juniors, and the participative or democratic leader who gives instructions in the group and ensures policies are followed (Khan et al., 2016).

McGrath and MacMillan (2000) report that there is significant relationship between leadership behavior and organizational performance. Effective leadership style is seen as a strong source of management development and sustained competitive advantage, leadership behavior helps organization to achieve their current objectives more efficiently by linking employee performance to valued rewards and by ensuring that employees have the resources needed to get the job done. Sun (2002) compares leadership behavior with the leadership performance in schools and enterprises, and found that leadership behavior had a significantly positive correlation with the organizational performance in both schools and enterprises. Broadly speaking, leadership performance is identical with organizational performance. Business management attributes their successes to leadership efficiency, that is, the leadership style of administrative supervisors has a considerable effect on the organizational performance (Sun, 2002). Leadership is an important aspect of every organization. A good leadership style is very crucial to the attainment of good results by employees and enhance their positive emotion.

• The Statement of the Problem

In a rapidly changing world of work, a notable leadership challenge is how leadership styles can be used to ensure enhanced employee performance (Schein, 2010). Leadership style cultivated itself as a significant determinant of employee’s organizational performance together with normal skills familiar by supervisors at various level of progressive system. The problem of poor employee performance has been perceived and could be traced during the last decades as an important element in leading.

Although correlations between leadership styles and organizational performance have been studied in a wide variety of arenas and in similarly extensive range of situations, few of these studies focus on this relationship in the context of international non-governmental organizations in African context. An effective leader has a responsibility to provide guidance and share the knowledge to subordinate for better performance and make them experts for maintaining the quality. The introduction of clear standards of leadership promotes the core values and maturity on their role and responsibility.

Leaders need the ability to lead an organization to achieve the objective set in the given period of time. However, many organizations have poor and unethical practices, high labor turnover and inability to meet basic required obligations. This could be attributed to a lack of strong leadership style. Many organizations’ primary goal is to meet their stated objectives, necessitating the need for a skilled leader to effectively manage and encourage their employees. Unfortunately, several organizations are unaware of their managers’ leadership styles.

Employee performance could be measured using parameters such as executing defined duties, meeting deadlines, employee competency, effectiveness and efficiency in doing work, quality of work, goal attainment, employee engagement etc. Various organizations and institutions need strong leadership styles that stimulate employee performance. Human outcomes of poor leadership include employee stress, disenchantment, lack of creativity, high employee turnover and low productivity. Some Baptist Colleges in Fako Division face problems such as low employee engagement, difficulty to attain goals, inability to meet up with work quality just to name but these. The lack of strategic interventions of specific leadership styles to the particular situations seem to be the problem at hand. This problem has continued to affect employee performance. Based on this situation, the researcher is motivated to study the reason behind this problem.

This research therefore seeks to find out the one best leadership style that stimulates performance of employees of Baptist Colleges in Fako Division.

• Research Questions

1.2.1 Main Research Question

The main research question of this study is: To what extent does leadership style influence employees’ performance of Baptist colleges in Fako Division? The specific research questions are:

• Specific Research Questions

1. How does autocratic leadership style influence employee’s performance?
2. To what extent does transformational leadership style affect employee’s performance?
3. How does democratic leadership style affect employees’ performance?

1.3 Research Objective

1.3.1     Main objective 

The main aim of this study is to examine the extent to which leadership style influences employee’s performance of Baptist Colleges in Fako Division.

• Specific Objective

• To analyze how autocratic leadership style influences employees’ performance.
• To examine the effect of transformational leadership style on employees’ performance.
• To assess the effect of democratic leadership style on employees’ performance.