Examining the Effects of Leadership Behavior on Employee Perceptions of Performance and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Studies undertaken at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan nearly five decades ago identified two broad categories of effective leadership behavior: task-oriented and relations-oriented behavior. More recently, scholars from Scandinavia identified a third category of behavior associated with effective leadership: development-oriented leadership. This study measures these three types of leadership behavior and analyzes their relation to perceptions of performance and job satisfaction as reported by federal employees responding to the 2002 Federal Human Capital Survey. The results show that all three types of leadership behavior are positively related to perceptions of performance, while relations-oriented and development-oriented behavior are positively related to job satisfaction. In short, leadership behavior matters when it comes to predicting perceived performance and job satisfaction.

Exploring the link between integrated leadership and public sector performance

“…This approach involves estimating the percent of the variance in organizational performance (measured typically in terms of financial performance) that is accounted for by measures of leadership. Empirical studies adopting this approach have provided a wide range of size effects, from nearly no portion of the variance in performance accounted for by leadership (Lieberson & O'Connor, 1972) to anywhere from 5 to 20% of the variance in performance (Thomas, 1988;Waldman, Ramirez, House, & Puranam, 2001; see also Fernandez, 2008;Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978). We used hierarchical regression to estimate the percent of the variance in PART results accounted for by the integrated leadership variable.…”

“…Ekvall and Arvonen (1991) found that changeoriented leadership was positively correlated with the leader's level of competence or effectiveness (see also Lindell & Rosenqvist, 1992a,b). This type of leadership behavior has also been linked to improved performance in public organizations (Fernandez, 2008).…”

Leading public sector networks: An empirical examination of integrative leadership behaviors

“…These researchers assume that behaviors exhibited by leaders depend upon the situational requirements arising from the circumstances in which the leader is leading. However, despite the move towards a contingency, transformational, or multifaceted approach to the study of leadership, "the focus on leadership behavior…has remained a common theme in the literature" (Fernandez, 2008).…”

An Inquiry into the Relationship between Employee Development and Organization Satisfaction in the Federal Sector

“…In doing so, this study has a distinct point from previous studies which uses cross-sectional data for one specific year of the FHCS (e.g., Bertelli, 2007;Fernandez, 2008;Lee & Whitford, 2008;Pitts, 2009;Choi & Rainey, 2010;Choi, 2009;Rubin, 2009 …”