Employee Performance and Leadership Styles: Australian Private Sector

This project proposal investigates the effect of leadership styles on employee performance within Australian private organizations, specifically focusing on Synergy IT Services. The research aims to identify the impact of different leadership approaches, including autocratic, laissez-faire, democratic, transformational, and transactional styles, on employee performance. The study outlines the problem statement, research aims and objectives, justification, conceptual framework, and methodology. The objectives include categorizing leadership styles, evaluating their impact on employee performance, analyzing the effect of leadership style changes, identifying the leadership style needed for motivation, and recommending strategies to improve employee performance. The proposal details the research methodology, including data collection methods, data analysis, and the organization of the study, including a budget, project activities, and a Gantt chart. The research is justified by the need to address the gap in literature regarding leadership's effect in Australian private organizations and is expected to benefit Synergy IT Services by providing insights into improving employee performance and productivity.

Running head: PROPOSAL
Effect of Leadership Style on Employee Performance: A case study of Private organizations in
Australia
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
1.0. Introduction...................................................................................................................3
2.0. Problem Statement........................................................................................................4
3.0. Aims and Objectives.....................................................................................................5
3.1. Research Aim............................................................................................................5
3.2. Research Objectives..................................................................................................5
4.0. Justification of the Research and Potential Output of the Study..................................6
5.0. Conceptual Framework and Development of Hypothesis............................................7
5.1. Leadership and Leadership Styles............................................................................8
5.1.1. Autocratic Leadership........................................................................................8
5.1.2. Laissez-faire leadership style.............................................................................8
5.1.3. Democratic/Participative Leadership Style.......................................................9
5.1.4. Transformational leadership..............................................................................9
5.1.5. Transactional Leadership Style..........................................................................9
5.2. Employee Performance.............................................................................................9
5.3. Association between Leadership and Employees’ Performance............................10
5.4. Development of Hypothesis...................................................................................11
6.0. Methodology...............................................................................................................12
6.1. Research Approaches and Data Source..................................................................12
6.2. Proposed Method of Data Collection and Data Analysis.......................................12
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PROPOSAL
6.2.1. Population........................................................................................................12
6.2.2. Sampling..........................................................................................................13
6.2.3. Variable and Analysis......................................................................................13
6.3. Organisation of the Study.......................................................................................13
6.4. Budget, Project Activities and Gantt chart.............................................................14
6.4.1. Budget..................................................................................................................14
6.4.2. Activities..............................................................................................................14
6.4.3. Gantt Chart.......................................................................................................15
7. References......................................................................................................................17
Appendix............................................................................................................................20
Interview Questions.......................................................................................................20
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1.0. Introduction
Leadership is a concept that is related to the potential of influencing others. Leadership is
described as the capacity of a person in influencing a group towards realization of the common
goals. Leadership is significantly important for ensuring normal operation of the organization
and its employees.
Employee performance is a term that helps in analysing the process in which the workers
performs in a workplace. The performance of the workers are largely influenced by the
leadership styles that are followed within an organization. Therefore, for evaluation of the work
of an worker, the role of leadership followed in the institute becomes prominent. The efficiency
by which an employee performs the works prescribed to him/her is reflected in the employee
performance and is linked with the guidance that the employee is receiving from the leaders of
the organization. Appropriate leadership becomes increasingly important for guiding the
employees in delivering quality work for the organization.
Lack of effective leadership can significantly hamper the normal operations of an
organization (Iqbal, Anwar & Haider, 2015). A proposed study aims in analysing the impact of
leadership in private organizations in Australia. Several private organizations in Australia are
disapproved for deficiency of flexibility, ineffective performances, incompetence and poor
accountability. Lack of effective leadership can be a significant reason behind poor employee
performance, poor accountability and inefficiency in performing as per expectations. The
proposed research will focus on a private organization, Synergy IT Service in Australia. The
organization provides managed IT services for effortless data management. Several performance
issues are noted in the organization recently and hence this research is undertaken to address the
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PROPOSAL
reasons behind ineffective employee performance in Synergy IT Service in Australia. The
proposed research aims in evaluation of the different leadership modules and its effect on work
of an employee (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). The efficiency of performance showed
by an employee can be improved by enforcing effective leadership within an organization. In the
following paragraphs, the research related to the Consequence of style of Leadership on
Performance or work of an employee, is proposed. The introduction section of the proposal
introduces the topic of the study. This section is tracked by clear description of the problem
statement, identification of the objectives and the aim of the research, reasoning of the study and
the conceptual framework of the research. The methods that will be used for the final research
are further discussed in this proposal. The time required for the research and the budget
estimation for completion of the entire research are discussed in this proposal as well.
2.0. Problem Statement
Ineffective leadership in an organization can significantly disturb the work of an
employee. The employee performance on the other hand has a significantly larger effect on the
overall work and the profitability of a particular business (Iqbal, Anwar & Haider, 2015). Several
researches have been done on leadership and employee performance. The proposed research
aims in inspecting the point to which a style of leadership affects the performance of a worker or
an employee. The research is focused on the Private organizations of Australia as the
performance issue is quite prominent in these organizations. The project generally aims in
finding out the key link between effective leadership and performance module of an employee
and therefore, conducting this research is justified.
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PROPOSAL
The business organizations are mainly managed by the managers who are expected to
provide effective guidance to their subordinates to help them achieve the desired performance
level (Yıldız, Baştürk & Boz, 2014). Thus. It can be said that an employee’s work and
performance is directly affected by the style of leadership that is shown.
Performance of an employee include proper execution of certain defined duties that helps
in achieving the business goals. In majority of the organization, especially in the private sector
organizations in Australia, sound leadership is needed to ascertain that the employees are
delivering their performance as per expectations (Özer & Tınaztepe, 2014). This research is
proposed mainly because it is seen that there is an incapacity to meet the targets due to lack of
tactical leadership. Therefore, the study aims in analysis of the different types of leadership in
relation to the employee performance. The proposed research will be evaluating the extent to
which the private organizations in Australia are effective in rendering the needed leadership
guidance to their workers and employees. In this particular research, the extent to which tan
employee’s performance can be impacted by the leadership style is discussed.
3.0. Aims and Objectives
3.1. Research Aim
The goal of the proposed study is to look out for the influence of leadership styles on
performance of a worker or an employee. The proposed study will be focussing on one specific
private organization of Australia, Synergy IT Services. The proposed research will be completed
in a span of six months.
3.2. Research Objectives
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PROPOSAL
The primary objective of the proposed study is to determine the influence or consequence
of leadership and different leadership styles on the performance module of an employee. The key
objective of the study will be fulfilled after successful fulfilment of the following objectives
specific to the research.
 To categorize the leadership style/styles followed in Synergy IT Services
 To evaluate the range to which the different styles of leadership affect the work
and performance of the workers and employees
 To analyze the effect of changing the style of the leadership on the work of the
employees.
 To recognize the style of leadership needed for motivating the employees for
improving their performances
 To identify the correlation between enforcement of a reward program and
improving the employee performance.
 To recommend strategies for refining the employees’ work and their performance
The end result of the proposed research is subjected to fulfilment of the above identified
research objectives.
4.0. Justification of the Research and Potential Output of the Study
The proposed study aims in discussing the effect of leadership on work of an employee.
Leadership is a strategic tool that is generally used by the organizations to deliver the necessary
guidance to the workers and the employees in performing the job roles that are allocated to them
(Samad, 2015). Effective guidance and leadership is needed to ensure that all the employees of
an organization is working towards achieving a common goal (Iqbal, Anwar & Haider, 2015).
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PROPOSAL
The study aims in analysis of the extent to which the perception of leadership or different style of
leadership has a weight on the work of an employee. This study is essential as although various
researches have been directed on the outcome of leadership there is a literature gap in
investigation of the effect of leadership in a private organisation in Australia (Lin et al., 2014).
The profitability of any organization mainly depends on the performance of its employees and
therefore, it is necessary to address the identified research gap.
The fulfilment of the specific objectives identified for the research will be beneficial for
carrying out further works in this field. The objectives of the study will be fulfilled by assortment
of both primary and secondary data from authentic data sources. The output of this undertaken
study will be considered as an imperative academic work and therefore, the undertaken research
will definitely benefit the end users. The research is focused on Synergy IT Services and
therefore, the successful completion of the study is expected to benefit this organization and can
help in refining the performance level of their employees (Iqbal, Anwar & Haider, 2015). The
study focuses on investigation of the employee’s performance with the leadership style. The
success of the study is necessary for Synergy IT Services as it will help the organization to know
about the active leadership style that can aid in improving the employee performance and can
help in achieving maximum productivity.
5.0. Conceptual Framework and Development of Hypothesis
It is mandatory to identify the conceptual framework as it helps in understanding the
process that a researcher will undertake to map out the path to be followed for successful
completion of the undertaken research. It act as an analytical tool that is used for organizing the
ideas that contributes to the success of an undertaken study.
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PROPOSAL
5.1. Leadership and Leadership Styles
Schaufeli (2015), states that leadership is a procedure that influence other individuals in
willingly work towards a common goal. Leadership is important to ensure that the common
organizational goals are fulfilled by ensuring that all the employees of the organization are
working in the direction of fulfilment of a mutual goal. The style of leadership on the other hand
is labelled as a method and attitude of providing the necessary track and executing plans to
ensure that effective work processes are followed within the organization manner (Naile &
Selesho, 2014). The leadership style is largely affected by the explicit and the implicit action of a
leader of an organization. Effective Leadership is a procedure by which a person takes the
responsibility of improving the performance of his/her subordinates (Anitha, 2014). The
leadership development capabilities are largely affected by needs and the goals of an
organization. Leadership styles followed within an organization is affect by the organizational
work processes. Effective leadership within an organization is necessary for increased motivation
and improved effort.
5.1.1. Autocratic Leadership
In this style, the leader has a primary control and command over the employee and team.
This is not an effective leadership style as in this style, the manager or the leader is the sole
decision maker.
5.1.2. Laissez-faire leadership style
This is an effective leadership style where the leader shows a complete trust on their
employees (Asrar-ul-Haq & Kuchinke, 2016). It is a genuine leadership style where the leaders
or the manager observes and guides their subordinates to perform their own works.
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PROPOSAL
5.1.3. Democratic/Participative Leadership Style
This style is completely reverse to that of the autocratic style of leadership as the entire
team is given the responsibility of decision making. In this leadership style the leader shares the
related leadership works with the different members of the team and therefore the employees feel
that their values are given importance in the team.
5.1.4. Transformational leadership
This leadership process is mainly focused on the bringing on innovative change in a
busines by committing to the vision of an organization (Ljungholm, 2014). This style of
leadership generally helps in defining the mission vision and commitment of the people.
5.1.5. Transactional Leadership Style
In this style the leaders mainly entice their subordinates to perform in accordance to their
desired outcome by promising rewards and benefits to those employees who excels in their work.
5.2. Employee Performance
The job related performance of an employee is linked with the expectation that an
employee will be able to fulfil the organizational goals (Hassan & Hatmaker, 2014). It is
expected that an employee will perform his/her job related responsibilities in agreement to the
obligatory standard and the goals of an organizational. The performance of an employee is
mainly evaluated on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis (Iqbal, Anwar & Haider, 2015). There
are certain fields in which an employee’s work and performance can be upgraded. The areas of
improvement in employees’ performance are indicated as follows-
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PROPOSAL
Competency: The competency of an employee in performing hi/her job is measured to
measure the performance of an employee (Wong Humborstad, Nerstad & Dysvik, 2014). Good
competency of an employee is indicated by his/her ability if handling the work pressure and
workload, completing the work on time with minimum effort and working effectively without
any supervision or guidance. The competency of an employee can be improved by providing
employee training.
Productivity: The work of an employee is mainly restrained in terms of productivity. It is
the responsibility of an employee to be productive (Njoroge & Yazdanifard, 2014). The
productivity of an employee can be measured by the time efficiency, prioritization of the projects
and multitasking when necessary.
Communication skill: It is necessary for an employee to demonstrate proper verbal and
written skills while they are at work (Chughtai, Byrne & Flood, 2015). It is a proof of their
professionalism. It is equally important for an employee to possess effective listening skills.
Effective communication skills are necessary for reducing any sort of communication error and
misunderstanding.
5.3. Association between Leadership and Employees’ Performance
Leadership has a direct influence on the performance and work of an employee as an
effective leadership is significant in inspiring an employee in performing to his/her best. Lack of
effective leadership therefore affects the performance of an employee in a negative manner
(Naile & Selesho, 2014). The proposed study is focused on finding out the association among
leadership and improvement in the employees’ work and performance.
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PROPOSAL
Figure 1: Diagrammatic Representation of Conceptual Framework
(Source: Created by Author)
5.4. Development of Hypothesis
The proposed study aims in testing the subsequent hypotheses-
Hypothesis 1 H0: Leadership styles have no significant impact on performance
H1: Leadership styles have a significant impact on performance of an
employee
Hypothesis 2 H0: Changing Leadership styles have no noteworthy impact on employee’s
performance
H1: Changing Leadership styles has a noteworthy impact on employee’s
performance
Hypothesis 3 H0: Effective reward program have no noteworthy impact on employee’s work
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Organizational
Performance
Employee
Performance
Effetcive
Leadership

PROPOSAL
and motivation
H1: Effective reward program has a noteworthy impact on employee’s work
and motivation
6.0. Methodology
The research methodology indicates specific procedure or technique that are mainly used
for identification, selection and analysis of the information needed in a research (Quinlan et al.,
2019). The tools and techniques proposed for this particular research are indicated in the
following sub sections.
6.1. Research Approaches and Data Source
The proposed research will be carried out on basis of the theoretical underpinning. The
proposed research will involve collection of both secondary data and primary data to fulfil the
identified research objectives (Oh, 2014). The primary data will be gathered from the employees
of Synergy IT Services in Australia to know about the consequence of leadership on work and
performance of an employee. Along with that, the secondary data will be collected in form of
literature review to support the conclusions obtained from the analysis of the primary data (Bell,
Bryman & Harley, 2018).
6.2. Proposed Method of Data Collection and Data Analysis
6.2.1. Population
The target population for the assortment of primary data needed for the study, is the
employees of Synergy IT Services. 50 employees will be surveyed to collect primary
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PROPOSAL
information from first hand sources. Along with that 5 managers will be interviewed to collect
primary data (refer to appendix).
Along with primary data, secondary data will be obtained from the previously published
literature and journal. The journals will be collected from the database such as Google Scholar
and online sources.
6.2.2. Sampling
A simple random sampling method is chosen to shortlist the employees of Synergy IT
Services in Australia. Along with that the secondary data will be obtained from the research
journals that are related to the field of research.
6.2.3. Variable and Analysis
The Independent variable of the proposed research is leadership, motivation and reward
while the dependent variable is Employee performance.
The collected quantitative data will be analysed by the usage of Excel Spreadsheet. The
secondary data and the data collected from interview will undergo qualitative analysis (Taylor,
Bogdan & DeVault,2015). Detailed data analysis is necessary to test the research hypothesis.
6.3. Organisation of the Study
The entire research is segregated into several chapters. The organization of the research is
indicated as follows-
 The first chapter will introduce the topic and research background to the intended
audiences
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PROPOSAL
 The Second chapter will provide evidence of the extensive literature search that
has been carried out in this research
 The third chapter will give a detailed outline of the methods used in the research
 The fourth chapter will converse the findings and analysis of the projected
research
 The last chapter will summarise and discuss the success or failure of the research
project in meeting its objectives.
6.4. Budget, Project Activities and Gantt chart
6.4.1. Budget
The overall budget set for the study is indicated in the table below-
Purpose Estimated Amount
Literature Review (Text books, online
resources and paid research journals)
$1500
Data Collection $1600
Data Analysis $700
Travel Cost $300
Miscellaneous $500
Total Budget $4,600
Table 1: The Estimated cost of the Proposed Research
6.4.2. Activities
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PROPOSAL
The following activities will be included in the proposed study. The predecessor column
represents the sequence in which each of the tasks will be conducted in the research.
Figure 2: Illustrating the Activities to be carried out in the Study
6.4.3. Gantt Chart
The Gantt chart of the proposed research project is indicated in the figure below-
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PROPOSAL
Figure 3: Illustrating the Gantt chart of the Proposed Study
The above picture represents the Gantt chart of the research. The proposed research will
be completed in next five months.
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7. References
Anitha, J., (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee
performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3),
p.308.
Asrar-ul-Haq, M. & Kuchinke, K.P., (2016). Impact of leadership styles on employees’ attitude
towards their leader and performance: Empirical evidence from Pakistani banks. Future
Business Journal, 2(1), pp.54-64.
Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2018). Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B. (2015). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being:
The role of trust in supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653-663.
Hassan, S. & Hatmaker, D.M., (2014). Leadership and performance of public employees: Effects
of the quality and characteristics of manager-employee relationships. Journal of Public
Administration Research and Theory, 25(4), pp.1127-1155.
I. Wong Humborstad, S., GL Nerstad, C. & Dysvik, A., (2014). Empowering leadership,
employee goal orientations and work performance: A competing hypothesis
approach. Personnel Review, 43(2), pp.246-271.
Iqbal, N., Anwar, S. & Haider, N., (2015). Effect of leadership style on employee
performance. Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 5(5), pp.1-6.
Lin, S., Lamond, D., Yao, Y.H., Fan, Y.Y., Guo, Y.X. & Li, Y., (2014). Leadership, work stress
and employee behavior. Chinese management studies.
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Ljungholm, D.P., (2014). Transformational leadership behavior in public sector
organizations. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 6(1), pp.76-81.
Naile, I., & Selesho, J. M. (2014). The role of leadership in employee motivation. Mediterranean
Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 175.
Nanjundeswaraswamy, T.S. & Swamy, D.R., (2014). Leadership styles. Advances in
management, 7(2), p.57.
Njoroge, C. N., & Yazdanifard, R. (2014). The impact of social and emotional intelligence on
employee motivation in a multigenerational workplace. Global Journal of Management
And Business Research.
Oh, J. H. (2014). Research methods.
Özer, F. & Tınaztepe, C., (2014). Effect of strategic leadership styles on firm performance: A
study in a Turkish SME. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, pp.778-784.
Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J., & Griffin, M. (2019). Business research methods. South Western
Cengage.
Samad, A., (2015). Towards an understanding of the effect of leadership on employee wellbeing
and organizational outcomes in Australian universities. The Journal of Developing
Areas, 49(6), pp.441-448.
Schaufeli, W.B., (2015). Engaging leadership in the job demands-resources model. Career
Development International, 20(5), pp.446-463.
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Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., Johns,
R., O'Leary, P., Robinson, J. & Plimmer, G., (2015). Managing employee performance &
reward: Concepts, practices, strategies. Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods:
A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Yıldız, S., Baştürk, F. & Boz, İ.T., (2014). The effect of leadership and innovativeness on
business performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, pp.785-793.
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Appendix
Interview Questions
1. How far have you been associated with Synergy IT Service? What are your views regarding
the work culture of the organization?
2. What are your views regarding the Leadership style followed in Synergy IT Service? Do you
think that the leadership style followed is appropriate?
3. Do you feel that there is a necessity of bringing in modifications in leadership style in Synergy
IT Service?
4. According to you, what are the factors that affect employee performance in Synergy IT
Service?
5. Any changes you would like to see in the organization in terms of leadership or in terms of
rewarding the employee or employee motivation?
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