Assessing the Effect of Leadership on Employee Motivation and Organisational Productivity: Lessons from Zambia
Downloads
The role of leadership in driving employee motivation and employee productivity still largely remains as an unexplored area in many developing countries. This paper assesses the effect of leadership on employee motivation and organisational productivity and draws lessons from selected middle-tier Banks in Zambia. The study highlights the themes in leadership that drive employee motivation and organisational productivity. The research study was undertaken through qualitative research and four themes emerged, quality of leadership, quality of performance management, growth and development opportunities and organisational culture. To collect the research data, six semi-structured interviews, a qualitative questionnaire and direct observation were employed. The study results have implications for leadership in organisations as the study brings out some of the key issues that organisational leadership has an impact on in driving employee motivation and organisational productivity.
Al-Baidhani, A., and Alsaqqaf, A. (2023). Does Motivation Affect Employees’ Productivity? SSRN Electronic Journal, 1-44, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4342565
Amanchukwu, R., Stanley, G., & Ololube, N. (2015). A Review of Leadership Theories, Principles and Styles and Their Relevance to Educational Management. Management, 5, 6-14. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878571311290016
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (13th ed.). Kogan Page: London
Bawa, M. A. (2017). Employee Motivation and Productivity: A Review of Literature and Implications for Management Practice. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, V (12). Retrieved from http://ijecm.co.uk/
Cheng, K. (2015). Public Service Motivation and Job Performance in Public Utilities. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28, 352-370.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-08-2015-0152
Cowley, E., and Smith, S. (2014). Motivation and Mission in the Public Sector: Evidence from the World Values Survey. Theory and Decision. 76. 10.1007/s11238-013-9371-6.
Deogaonkar, A., Bijal Z., and Chandan, V. (2020). Employee Performance Motivation and Performance Management System-Exploring the Pertinence. International Journal of Management,11(3), 8–15. Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=3567743
Drost, E. (2011). Validity and Reliability in Social Science Research. Education Research and Perspectives. 38, 105-124.
Ejimabo, N. (2015). The Influence of Decision Making in Organizational Leadership and Management Activities. Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organization Management. 04. DOI: 10.4172/2169-026X.1000138.
Emeka, N., Amaka, O., and Ejim, E. P. (2015). The Effect of Employee Motivation on Organizational Performance of Selected Manufacturing Firms in Enugu State. World Journal of Management and Behavioral Studies, 3(1), 01-08. Retrieved from DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjmbs.2015.3.1.1314
Gaya, H. J., and Smith, E. E. (2016). Developing a Qualitative Single Case Study in the Strategic Management Realm: An Appropriate Research Design?. International Journal of Business Management & Economic Research, 7, 529-538. Retrieved from http://ijbmer.com/
Girdwichai, L., and Sriviboon, C. (2020). Employee Motivation and Performance: Do the Work Environment and the Training Matter? Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues, 9, 42-54. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2020.9.J(4)
Inegbedion, H., Sunday, E., Asaleye, A., Lawal, L., and Adebanji, A. (2020). Managing Diversity for Organizational Efficiency. Sage Journals, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019900173
Khajeh, E.H.A. (2018). Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10.
Kuranchie-Mensah, E.B., and Amponsah-Tawiah, K. (2016). Employee Motivation and Work Performance: A Comparative Study of Mining Companies in Ghana. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management JIEM, 9 (2), 255-309.
Leung, L. (2015) Validity, Reliability, and Generalizability in Qualitative Research. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4, 324-327.
https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.161306
Lifang, Z., and Ali, D., A. (2024). Exploring the impact of performance management systems and feedback quality on employee motivation: investigating the mediating role of self-efficacy. Revista De Gestão Social E Ambiental, 18(3), e06432. Retrieved from https://rgsa.openaccesspublications.org/rgsa/article/view/6432
McCusker, K., and Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Profusion, 30, 537-542. doi:10.1177/0267659114559116
Maguire, M., and Delahunt, B. (2017). Doing a Thematic Analysis: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for Learning and Teaching Scholars. AISHE-J, 9, 3351.
http://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/3354
Marie, R., and Khumalo, N. (2024). Factors that influence the performance management system in the Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal. Cogent Business and Management, 11(1). Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2024.2350789#abstract
Mullins, L.J. (2016). Management and Organisational Behaviour (11th ed). Harlow: Pearson.
Nabi, G., Liñán, F., Alain, F., Krueger, N., and Walmsley, A. (2017). The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda. Academy of Management Learning and Education. 16, 277-299. 10.5465/amle.2015.0026.
National University. (2024). Thematic Data Analysis in Qualitative Design. Retrieved from https://resources.nu.edu/c.php?g=1013606&p=8395539
Nethi, S. (2020). A literature review on Employee motivation. Journal of Engineering Sciences, 11(6), 1247-1255.
Patton, M. (2015) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (4th ed). Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Robbins, S.P, and Judge, T.A. (2024). Organisational Behavior, Global Edition. (19th ed). Pearson: London.
Roßnagel, S. C. (2016). Leadership and Motivation. Leadership Today. Retrieved from 10.1007/978-3-319-31036-7_12.
Samanya, B., and Komuhendo, I. (2023). Motivation and employees’ performance in Local Governments in Uganda; A case study of Kabalore District local Government. Journal of Arts and
Humanities, 9(1), 11-19. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371315419
Sanjeev, M.A., and Surya, A.V. Two Factor Theory of Motivation and Satisfaction: An Empirical Verification. Ann. Annals of Data Science, 3, 155–173 (2016). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s40745-016-0077-9
Sappe, S., Rante, Y., Tuhumena, R., and Bharanti, E. B. (2016). Effect of Leadership on Employee’s Performance Mediated by Cultural Organization, Work Commitment and Motivation. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 8(2), 101-107.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2019). Research Methods for Business Students (8th ed.). Harlow: Pearson.
Shkoler, O., and Kimura T. (2020). How Does Work Motivation Impact Employees’ Investment at Work and Their Job Engagement? A Moderated-Moderation Perspective Through an International Lens. Front. Psychol, 11(38). Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00038/full
Stringer, C., Didham, J., and Theivananthampillai, P. (2011). Motivation, Pay Satisfaction, and Job Satisfaction of Front-Line Employees. Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 8(2), 161-179.
Toma, S. G., Catană, Ș., and Gradinaru, C. (2020). Leadership - an overview. 32, 51-59. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349380629_Leadership_-_an_overview
Copyright (c) 2025 Louis Mwaba, Javaid Dar (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
By submitting your manuscript to IJABS, you agree and confirm that the paper you have submitted is your own original and unpublished work, does not contain any defamatory or other unlawful content(s), and you will accept responsibility for plagiarism. You and your co-authors retain copyright and grant BESRA the right of publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.

