The Impact of Public Librarians' Leadership Traits on Employee Motivation: Study Based on Public Library Employees in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The success of every business is dependent on both effective management and good leadership. Managers cannot accomplish organizational or managerial performance unless they possess leadership skills. Employee motivation is inextricably linked to a manager's leadership skills. Public libraries, being service-oriented organizations, require both leaders and excellent managers to fulfill their organizational vision and mission. Librarians are the most significant leaders or managers in the public library sector from a managerial perspective. Librarians' primary tasks include motivating public library staff to achieve organizational goals as well as personnel achievements. In this context, the objective of this study is to examine how leadership traits of public librarians influence staff motivation and how they affect public library workers' work performance. This research was carried out after taught of a leadership course for postgraduate students at a higher education institution. The population of this research was made up of students who worked in public libraries. A total of 100 students (n) were included in the sample, all of whom had studied leadership principles as part of their coursework. The study's sample size was determined using the snowball sampling approach. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were verified prior to statistical analysis, and the cronbach alpha value for the items evaluating the impact of librarian’s' leadership traits on employee motivation and work performance was discovered as 0.73. Research found that, Employee motivation and achievement are impossible if public librarians do not share their attentiveness and skills with them. The employee suffers when commands, communications, and behaviors are created only on terror, and managements are based on pressure. The research found that there is no numerical relationship Gender, age, and educational credentials are examples of socio-demographic variables. Professions, years spent working in a public library, and the type of leadership they believe motivates them. Further study found that, there is no correlation between public librarians' socio demographic factors and leadership trails. Public Librarians' views and actions regarding motivation are mirrored in their motivating behaviors toward workers. The extent to which public library personnel exercise their authority has an impact on their perception of power as a motivator in leadership. The variables that will improve the motivation of public library personnel at work do not differ based on their socio demographic features. Employee success and motivation are not desirable outcomes, and evaluation is not a suggested alternative in this respect. Library staff will be more motivated and their job performance more proliferation if the public librarian is democratic rather than authoritarian, has a specialty in the topic, and has charismatic and interactionist leadership qualities in their actions, words, and interactions.