Leadership styles, occupational stress and employees' wellbeing: a case study of Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development

Abstract

The study examined the leadership styles in relation to occupational stress and employees’ wellbeing, using the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) as the case study. The study was guided by three objectives: (1) to compare the influence of leadership styles on occupational stress and employees’ wellbeing in MGLSD, (2) to establish the relationship between transformational leadership style and occupational stress among employees of the MGLSD, and (3) to examine the relationship between autocratic leadership style and occupational stress among employees in MGLSD. It was a cross-sectional mixed research study that used both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. Thus, data were collected through interviews and self-administered questionnaires to collect data from 41 respondents. Results show that MGLSD has adopted a range of leadership styles that included transformational and autocratic leadership styles. Results also show that occupational stress and employees’ wellbeing at MLGSD are associated with both the transformational and autocratic leadership styles with a grand average mean of 2.26 on a scale of 1 to 5. Furthermore, the study found out that there were many challenges and demands made on the MLGSD staff members during the execution of their tasks. The study concluded that Autocratic and transformational leadership styles show consistent benefits to both the leaders themselves and employees in terms of increased well-being, health, and productivity coupled with reduced absenteeism and sickness absence. The study recommended among others that there should be continuous development of management and leadership skills amongst the MLGSD managers at all levels. This is because the study established that unless the managers are well equipped with knowledge and skills in management and leadership, they would not be able to significantly improve the wellbeing of MLGSD staff.