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.