Leadership effectiveness of a business unit senior management in a public utility : the perception of employees

Abstract

The complexity of the business environment requires organisations to employ leaders with strong managerial skills. The leaders need to face all challenges in the business unit to ensure efficient productivity and business efficiency. The research problem is instability in management due to many changes in leadership positions, which then emphasises the need for business to assess leadership effectiveness. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the leadership effectiveness of the senior management of the business unit. The study was conducted using the quantitative method to examine the effectiveness of the leadership in a business unit. The quantitative method was used to conduct empirical surveys by employing the LEA questionnaire. A sample of 155 employees was selected for a targeted population of 516 which represents 30% of the population. The results of the study indicated that the overall survey of the business unit received a mean rating above the cut-off point. Human Resources, Finance and Business Services, Engineering and Operating received mean ratings above 3 on all leadership behavioural dimensions. The Maintenance department’s mean rating was below 3 on all behavioural dimensions except one. SHEQ and Projects and Outage Management got a mean rating below 3 on living the public utility vision. Engineering and Operating rated very close to 3. It was concluded that only six departments showed good leadership effectiveness and that the Maintenance department showed poor results. It is also concluded that the business unit needs to develop leaders on living the public utility vision dimension. It is recommended that departments rated below 3 captures each dimension as areas for development and record this information on the individual development program. It is also recommended that further studies be conducted to establish a causal or statistically significant relationship between leadership development initiatives and leadership competency.