Leadership, Employee Engagement and Employee Performance in the Public Sector of Ghana

Abstract

Organisations are developing interest in the effective management of their employees’ performance in today’s competitive environment. Effective leadership has become increasingly necessary for organisations who are interested in improving employee performance. Extant literature confirms the role leaders play in the management of employee performance as well as ensuring high levels of employee engagement. This paper seeks to identify the relationship between leadership style, employee engagement and performance in public sector organisations. Adopting a mixed method approach, the study employed convenience sampling and data was obtained from questionnaire and interviews. Using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and content analysis the results showed that motivation and quality play an important mediating effect on the effect of leadership on employee performance. It was also found that fairness, flexibility, involvement in decision making and creating an environment where an employee feels valued and respected made employees engaged. Results also showed that engaged employees perform to their maximum best.