Enhancing job satisfaction among local government servants in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of transformational and transactional leadership behaviours on local government worker’s job satisfaction as well as to determine which one of these two leadership behaviours is a better predictor of job satisfaction among local government servants in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The research used a questionnaire to collect 322 usable data from the respondents, and employed multiple regressions to analyse the data. Findings The results showed that both transformational leadership and transactional leadership behaviours have significant positive effects on employee job satisfaction in Ghana’s Local Government service. Surprisingly, critical examination of the results further revealed that transactional leadership behaviour is a better predictor of job satisfaction relative to transformational leadership behaviour in Ghana’s Local Government Service. Moreover, the findings suggested that the influence of both leadership behaviours on job satisfaction may vary by workers’ age, level of education and gender. Practical implications These results imply that the more transactional and transformational leadership behaviours are exhibited or demonstrated by leaders, the more satisfaction local government servants will experience with their jobs. It further means that depending on the context or work environment, transactional leadership can surpass transformational leadership in enhancing employee outcomes. It also reinforces the need to ensure equity in employee reward systems as well as treatment of different age, educational and gender groups. Originality/value This result has contributed to knowledge by providing empirical evidence to refute the popular claim that transformation leadership produces better outcomes than transactional leadership. Besides, this study highlights the important roles of transformational and transactional styles in ensuring job satisfaction among the local government sub-sector, a generally under-researched sector.

Mediation role of diversity climate on leadership and job satisfaction in the Ghanaian public sector

“…Although there are various dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership styles, this study has aggregated the dimensions of these leadership behaviours, by treating both leadership behaviours as unidimensional concepts. The reason for because consistent evidence has demonstrated that the dimensions for each of the leadership styles are usually correlated highly (r 5 0.83 on average; Bass and Avolio, 2000. It is also consistent with prior studies (e.g., Dartey-Baah et al, 2019;Mickson and Anlesinya, 2020;Boerner et al, 2007;Hambley et al, 2005;Walumba et al, 2004) that have operationalized these leadership behaviours as unidimensional concepts.…”

“…Several studies have examined the relationship between leadership behaviours and employee job satisfaction (e.g. Alonderiene and Majauskaite, 2016;Dartey-Baah and Ampofo, 2016;Menon, 2014;Mickson and Anlesinya, 2020). In Lithuanian public and private universities, Alonderiene and Majauskaite (2016) showed that transformational leadership style and transactional leadership can have significant positive influence on employee job satisfaction.…”

“…In a related study in the manufacturing sector in Ghana, Dartey-Baah and Ampofo (2016) found that transactional leadership style has significant positive effect on job satisfaction. Recently, Mickson and Anlesinya's (2020) study in Ghana's local government sector showed that both transactional and transformational leadership have improved job satisfaction, with transactional leadership surprisingly showing greater effect relative to transformational leadership. Earlier, Menon (2014) examined the relationship between leadership styles (transformational, transactional and passive-avoidant leadership) and job satisfaction in the Republic of Cyprus.…”

“…Job satisfaction reflects the degree to which an individual likes the job; it is an enjoyable or positive feeling about one's job resulting from the assessment of one's job (Locke, 1976). Job satisfaction is a critical for local government institutions to provide services to meet the ever-growing and sometimes conflicting needs of citizens at the local levels of governance and rural areas (Mickson and Anlesinya, 2020) since satisfied employees are more productive that their dissatisfied counterparts (Riketta, 2008) and are essential in the realization of organisational goals.…”

“…In this regard, several studies (e.g. Ahangar, 2009;Almansour, 2012;Amin et al, 2013;Alonderiene and Majauskaite, 2016;Dartey-Baah and Ampofo, 2016;Hongnou et al, 2014;Mickson and Anlesinya, 2020;Wang et al, 2012;Yaghoubipoor et al, 2013) have investigated leadership behaviours (transformational and transactional) on job satisfaction, with majority showing positive result. Moreover, some scholars (e.g.…”