The effect of leadership styles on employee performance among commercial banks in Uganda. A case study of Barclays Bank, Hannington branch

Abstract

The major objective of this study was to establish the effect of leadership style on employee performance among commercial banks. The specific objectives are; to establish the effect of democratic leadership style on employee performance, to evaluate the effect of autocratic leadership style on employee performance and to assess the effect of laissez faire leadership style on employee performance. A case study design was used to conduct the study with a sample size of 48 respondents. Various datacollection instruments were used in this study and these include; questionnaires and interview guide. The findings revealed that there is correlation between democratic leadership style and employee performance with a positive and significant relationship (r = 0.829 p <0.01), there is a correlation between autocratic leadership style and employee performance with a negative relationship which was significant to the study (r =-0.586, p <0.01) and there is a negative correlation between laissez faire leadership style and employee performance and significant relationship (r = -0.513, p <0.01). From the study it can be said that leadership style strongly affects employee performance among commercial banks. Basing on the findings of the study, the researcher found that the organization should adopt democratic leadership style in the work place because people like to work in free atmosphere where they can share and exchange their views and employees tell their leaders fearlessly in case of anything wrong. The researcher suggests that management in the organization should not just apply one leadership style, but rather have many varying styles depending upon the situation. So that organizational objectives and goals be achieved by both employees and management.