An investigation into various leadership styles and the impact on employee performance at Subtech Group in KwaZulu-Natal : a case study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate various leadership styles and their impact on employee performance at Subtech Group in KwaZulu-Natal. Managers and other people in authority in organisations adopt certain leadership styles in order to communicate with their subordinates with regards to carrying out tasks. The impact of adopting unsuitable leadership styles impacts negatively on employee performance. The study was conducted at Subtech Group, a multinational company specialising in the provision of marine services throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

A quantitative research design was adopted for the study and a structured closed- ended questionnaire was used to collect data from the sample respondents. The target population comprised of 215 employees at Subtech Group. Systematic sampling technique was used where every 2nd element was selected to draw up the sample size of 107. A high response rate of 84% was successfully achieved mainly because the researcher used the personal method of data collection. The data collected from the sample respondents was captured on Microsoft Excel and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 for Windows. Several hypotheses were formulated and tested using the Pearson’s Chi-Square and Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Co-efficient tests.

The main findings revealed that transformational and transactional leadership style did have an impact on employee performance. The findings also revealed that laissez faire leadership style had no relationship with employee performance at Subtech Group. The tentative recommendations suggest that management at Subtech Group should spend more time coaching and teaching subordinates on how to perform tasks, involve employees in decision making, guide employees in rectifying mistakes and allow autonomy in the workplace. The recommendations also suggest that management at Subtech Group should be proactive, provide support to their employees, improve employee relations, provide adequate resources, avoid using laissez faire leadership style. The study concludes by providing directions for future research.