Leadership-styles and employee performance among public business technical vocational education training institution in Kampala and Wakiso district, Uganda

Abstract

The study examined the effect of leadership styles on employee performance in public BTVET institutions in Kampala and Wakiso districts. It was guided by the following objectives:- 1) To find out how authoritarian leadership style affects employee performance. 2) To establish the effect of democratic leadership style on employee performance. 3) To establish the moderator effect of Government policy on the relationship between leadership styles and employee performance in public Business, Technical Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) institutions in Kampala and Wakiso districts. Data was collected using self administered questionnaires which included both open-ended and close-ended questions. The category of Principals had closed ended questionnaires and interviews. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. Quantitative data was analyzed using statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) software while qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach. The results from 130 respondents indicated that authoritarian leadership style had a negative effect on employee performance compared to democratic leadership style which had a positive statistically significant effect. It was also found that government policy had a positive moderator effect on the relationship between leadership style and employee performance. It was concluded that 1) principals more commonly use a mixture of the two leadership styles. 2) That authoritarian leadership style had a negative non significant effect on employee performance. 3) That democratic leadership style had a significant positive effect on employee performance and that 4) Government policy positively moderated the relationship between leadership style and employee performance. The researcher recommended that employees be involved in decision making and individual goals be aligned with institutional goals; principals should improve employee empowerment and come up with motivational systems within institutional structures. The researcher highlighted staffing levels, inner motivation, self efficacy and levels of education as areas for further research in regard to employee performance.