Leadership Style and Employees’ Performance at the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Kenya
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Date
2025-11
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Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Leadership styles are known to have a huge effect on employee performance.
However, there has been scarcity of research focusing on the effect of leadership
styles on employee performance at the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in
Kenya. Therefore, the research sought to investigate the effect of leadership styles
on employee’s performance in the Ministry. The research objectives were to: assess
the effect of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles, on
employee performance at the Ministry. A descriptive research design was used to
gather and analyze relevant data on the effect of leadership styles on employee
performance. Both Contingency and Transformational leadership theories informed
the research. The target population were the 520 employees based at the Ministry's
Nairobi headquarters. The sampling technique involved stratification of staff into
three categories using the 30% Kothari formula, that is, top-level officers, middle
level officers, and clerical and support staff. For this research, 157 employees
constituted the study sample. A semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect
data from all the sampled respondents. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was
used to analyze quantitative data, while qualitative data was subjected to content
analysis. A Pearson correlation analysis was used for data analysis, and a logistic
regression analysis was used for evaluating the effects of each leadership style on
employee performance. Data was presented using, frequencies, percentages, charts,
and graphs. The research findings of the study indicated that the effect of
transactional leadership style on employee performance was rated highest at 87.1%,
followed by transformational leadership style at 84.1%, and laissez-faire at 81.2%.
The research recommends that leaders at the Ministry should be advised to practice
transactional leadership more frequently, while also adopting transformational and
laissez-faire styles in response to specific situations.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration of Kenyatta University. November 2025
supervisor
Felix Kiruthu