Transformational leadership and employee engagement in the banking sector in Bangladesh

Abstract

Transformational leadership is needed today to facilitate employee engagement and increase productivity. This quantitative study aimed to determine the connection concerning transformational leadership and engagement among personnel in the banking sector in Bangladesh. The study involved the financial sector of Bangladesh. The financial sector of Bangladesh is small and underdeveloped. The banking sector, which is included in the financial sector, is emergent but still underdeveloped compared to international standards. The banking sector of Bangladesh has improved compared to the 1990s. Bangladesh banks’ leadership or supervisory system is one of the reasons for its ineffectiveness, because employee well-being is not considered a priority in Bangladesh. However, effective leadership and engaged employees are important in any organization. Since the banking sector of Bangladesh is still underdeveloped and inefficient, the study investigated whether employee engagement would help develop the banking sector. Because transformational leadership facilitates employee engagement the specific problem this study examined was the connection between a transformational leadership style and employee engagement in the branch-banking sector in Bangladesh. This quantitative study examined the connection between transformational leadership and engagement among personnel in the branch-banking sector in Bangladesh. The independent variable was transformational leadership, which relates to the capability of the leader to provide an environment that engages their employees. The dependent variable was work engagement, which pertains to the level of commitment among employees in the organization. The main research question examined the correlation between the study variables among employees in the branch-banking sector in Bangladesh. The outcomes of this study revealed that in a work environment, applying transformational leadership style does not assure that the employees will be fully engaged. However, the results of the current study are not aligned with the existing body of literature on transformational leadership and employee engagement that state there is alignment between these variables.