Impact of Supportive Leadership Style on Employee Performance Case Study of an IT Company in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to inquire whether there is an impact of supportive leadership style on the performance of the employees in the Sri Lankan IT industry. The key objectives of this study were to identify the impact of supportive leadership style on employee performance, to examine the relationship between supportive leadership style and employee performance, to analyze the level of employee performance, and to provide recommendations to enhance effective leadership. A quantitative research approach is followed in the data collection process to gather primary data from a sample of 285 employees in a selected IT company using a structured questionnaire. The sampling method was convenience sampling. A total of 226 personnel participated in the survey and 200 completed questionnaires were selected for statistical analysis. Descriptive, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis techniques were used to analyze the collected data using SPSS version 25.0. Supportive leadership style was examined by using the four dimensions i.e., employee support, social cohesion, and employee rewards and recognition. The results implied that there is a strong positive relationship between supportive leadership style and employee performance (r2 = 0.449, p<0.01). Further, the findings indicated that employee support, social cohesion, employee rewards, and recognition have a significantly positive relationship with employee performance. In conclusion, the study revealed that supportive leadership style has a positive impact on the performance of the employees in achieving organizational goals which contribute to improved organizational performance, productivity, and profitability. The leaders at different levels of the organization should provide support to improve the performance of the employees by formulating appropriate retention policies and strategies, coaching feedback culture, training, and development processes as well as employee reward systems need to be further improved.