THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP STYLES IN DETERMINING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF TECHNICAL OFFICERS IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

Leadership plays a considerable role in determining the behavior of employees and the success or failure of organizations. Therefore, research in leadership gets more attention from researchers worldwide to find the leadership style or styles that could result in better outcomes in organizations. The present study investigates the effect of transformational and transactional leadership styles on performance and the mediating effect of organizational citizenship behaviour in the effect of the styles on performance among Technical Officers in Sri Lanka. A sample of 204 Technical Officers working in public sector organizations in Sri Lanka was selected based on a convenience sampling method. It was explanatory and a cross-sectional survey method was employed. The study results revealed that perceived transformational leadership style has a significant positive impact on technical officers' performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. In contrast, perceived transactional leadership style does not significantly impact performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. In addition, organizational citizenship behaviour partially mediates the effect of transformational leadership on performance but does not mediate the association between transactional leadership and performance of Technical Officers. The study results give an insight into the need for adopting a transformational leadership style to enhance organizational citizenship behaviour and employee performance.