Impact of leadership styles on employee job performance mediated by job satisfaction: Amhara region public sectors, Ethiopia

Abstract

In the public sector, leaders have an impact on employees' performance and job satisfaction. In order to address the issue of ineffective leadership styles used in the public sector, which subsequently affect the quality of public sector performance and service delivery in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, the study examined the impact of leadership styles on employee job satisfaction and performance. The aim of the study was to ascertain how a leader's style affected employee job performance through job satisfaction. A positivist approach and deductive reasoning in a cross-sectional quantitative survey were used to collect primary data via a structured questionnaire distributed and collected from 378 respondents with a 98% response rate. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) comprising Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and path analysis was applied as a research technique, and the questionnaire data were analyzed using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 27 software. The research result indicated that democratic, transformational, laissez-faire and autocratic leadership styles positively and significantly impact job satisfaction. In contrast, transactional leadership style did not significantly impact job satisfaction. Besides, democratic, transformational, and laissez-faire leadership styles showed a significant but negative impact on employees' job performance, while transactional leadership style showed a significant and positive impact on employees' performance. However, autocratic leadership style did not significantly impact employees' performance. The indirect results indicated the full mediating impact of job satisfaction between democratic and autocratic leadership styles on employee performance and the partial impact of job satisfaction between transformational and laissez-faire leadership styles on employees' performance. Job satisfaction did not mediate transactional leadership style and employee performance. The research recommended training and awareness for leaders and their focus on leadership styles, job satisfaction and performance excellence to benefit the public service sector and the community. Although the research was conducted in Ethiopia's vi public sectors, the results can be extrapolated to other regions and public services in Africa and the world. Finally, the study suggested longitudinal research with more mediating and moderating variables using qualitative and quantitative methods, including leaders, as part of the study.