EFFECTS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

Public service reforms mostly depend on high levels of motivation and commitment on the part of leaders to solve complex problems associated with implementation and restructuring initiatives. While transformational leaders have been advocated as productive under such conditions and evidence suggests that the leader practices do contribute to organizational performance, majority of existing literature has been on the effects of transformational leadership on organizational performance. Little evidence is however available as to which attributes of the transformational leader actually result in organizational performance and even fewer studies have focused on the possible mediators in this relationship. This study aimed at establishing the effects of transformational leadership on organizational performance with specific interest in the mediating role of employee engagement. A survey data obtained from 252 civil servants from eighteen State Corporations in Kenya was used to explore the existing relationships. Stratified random sampling technique was employed to select the respondents for the study and primary data collected using structured questionnaires. Data collected was prepared and analyzed with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The findings revealed that both transformational leadership and employee engagement are positively related to organizational performance. Three out of the four attributes of transformational leader; inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration were found to be positively related to both employee engagement and organizational performance. Idealized influence of leader was however found to be negatively related to both constructs. Employee engagement mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance. The researcher thus recommends HR departments should