Effect of transformational leadership on employee performance: a survey of five selected faith -based nongovernmental organizations in Nairobi county.

Abstract

With increasing competition among today's' organizations, stakeholders tend to be more concerned about probing the new ways of getting the employees more committed to what they do and to the organization as well. Nevertheless, the role of leadership is an important determinant of subordinate's performance and commitment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of transformational leadership on employee performance in Faith based Non-Governmental organizations in Nairobi County. Five faith based Nongovernmental organizations in Nairobi County were randomly selected and surveyed. The population of interest was faith based non- governmental organizations in development and disaster response in Nairobi County with a sample size of 10 employees and two senior managers from each organization; a sample size of 12 respondents from each of the five organizations. 60 respondents was the target population from which the researcher would generalize the results of the study. Stratified Random sampling technique was used to draw the sample. A questionnaire and an interview guide were used for data collection with closed ended questions designed for the employees while an open ended interview guide was designed for leaders. The questionnaires were administered to respondents on a 'drop and pick later' basis. The aspects of employee performance considered in this study included quantity of output, quality of output, timeliness of output, presence at work and co-operation among employees. This study set out to examine those qualities that employees look for in their leaders and how the perceptions of such qualities influence their performance using the transformational leadership factors as independent variables and the measures of performance as dependent variables. A descriptive survey design was used whereby leaders practicing transformational leadership as well as their subordinates subjected to this type of leadership formed the population of the study. Graphs and tables were used in data presentation. Findings of this study indicated that transformational leadership in faith based non-governmental organizations led to employee performance to some degree. When managers utilized inspiration, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation, there were positive reactions from employees. The attention that managers gave to employees was reflected in their general positive attitude towards work which in turn, affected their performance in a positive way. Employees in this study seemed to react positively in terms of performance when a strong presence of leadership was maintained. With the role of leadership in the modeling of employee commitment and performance considered very crucial in the modern organization, it would be paramount for the faith based non-governmental organizations to put more effort in entrenching transformational leadership in their organizations.