Chapter 5: Milestone 1
1
Chapter 5
Amekí Williams
South University
Dissertation of Preparation
Dr. Widner
2/13/2024
The Role of Leadership Styles on Employee Performance, Motivation, and Job Satisfaction in a Remote Setting
Discussion
Throughout the research, there has been numerous findings on different styles of leadership ranging from Autocratic leadership style to Democratic leadership style. In regard to remote work settings, all these different styles have their own advantages and disadvantages. For the case of autocratic leadership style, it has been described to have more negative impact as opposed to positive impact on employees. As discussed earlier, structural leadership style, which is part of autocratic leadership, has failed in various levels where largely it is on the fact that it highly depends on physical accessibility for it to work effectively. According to the data obtained, most employees argued that structural leadership style had a lot of strains that made individual employee feel less trustworthy in their work without any physical supervision present. Top management also discussed their fear of this approach since all felt that it was quite hard to relinquish all the control and expect the work to be done perfectly.
Laissez-faire leadership style, which in this case represent servant leadership style and freedom-thinking leadership style, has been described to have a considerable positive impact on employees working on a remote work setting. For instance, servant leadership style was observed to have great impact on employee satisfaction since most of the employee questioned felt that management really cared about them. However, out of 100 workers, almost 70% of workers complained about lack of morale while ‘tackling’ their day-to-day challenges. This issue was also widely visible on the case of freedom-thinking leadership style where it had almost the same negative impact as compared to positive impact on employee’s morale, performance, and job satisfaction. In freedom-thinking leadership style, employees were observed to be more independent, flexible, and creative in terms of finding problem solutions. However, these two approaches were not flawless as expected since they eventually created a sense of confusion and disorganization among subordinates and also with the executive management.
Out of the five forms leadership styles discussed, participative and transformational leadership style had most of the promising feedback in report obtained throughout the research. Apart from being part of democratic leadership style, the approach of these two styles showed high positive impact on employee’s morale and productivity in a remote work setting. In both styles, employees felt that their voices were of value since their opinions were considered to be highly valuable in the decision-making process. With this understanding, majority of employees felt to have a sense of belonging which led to increased motivation in achieving the organization mission and goals. This form of leadership allows flexible communication channel among subordinates and managers since it permits easy accessibility to one another thereby one is able to provide or obtain feedback and support when its needed (van der Velden, Kramer, & de Lange, 2020). However, it must be noted that although democratic leadership style is effective, it also has its own challenges such increased lag time in decision making process.
Recommendations
Following the research findings, remote work setting can be a little difficult when it comes to obtaining the best of each employee performance. In addition, the issue of job satisfaction must also go hand-in-hand with employee performance where in this case the chosen leadership style has account to all the basic factors contributing to the organization success. Therefore, any organization planning to operate remotely must consider various aspects which largely comprise of its core interests, values, and its employee’s needs and wants. For instance, when dealing with remote workers, the organization leadership should be able to provide a clear guidance and expectations for each and every employee. Araz & Azadegan-Mehr (2021) argue that effective leadership style should be able to encourage more employee engagement and have the ability to instill more inspiration and motivation towards handling their daily chores. In summary, in any leadership used, the communication channels must be highly effective and flexible in terms of passing on a message. According to to Kim, Lee, & Lee, (2021), this aspect can be easily achieved through applying a leadership style that allows individual development of employees while also maintaining a positive work culture.
Summary of the Study
This study aimed to investigate the impact of five different leadership styles (structural, participative, servant, freedom-thinking, and transformational) on employee performance, motivation, and job satisfaction in a remote work setting. The study involved 100 participants from various industries who worked remotely. The data was collected through questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that transformational leadership was significantly associated with higher levels of employee performance, servant leadership was significantly associated with higher levels of employee motivation, and participative leadership was significantly associated with higher levels of job satisfaction. However, a freedom-thinking leadership style was found to be associated with lower levels of job satisfaction. The findings of this study provide insights into the importance of selecting appropriate leadership styles for remote work settings and can inform organizational practices that aim to enhance employee outcomes in remote work environments.
References
Araz, O. M., & Azadegan-Mehr, M. (2021). The impact of participative leadership on team performance, job satisfaction, and motivation in virtual teams. Information & Management, 58(2), 103391.
Kim, H. J., Lee, D., & Lee, C. (2021). Servant leadership and employee motivation in virtual teams: A moderated mediation model of job characteristics and trust in leader. Sustainability, 13(6), 3076.
van der Velden, M., Kramer, A., & de Lange, A. (2020). Leadership and employee outcomes in a virtual workplace: The role of job crafting. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35(3), 379-394.