Abstract

Leadership style pursued by managers/supervisors is among underlying factor determining the productivity of employee in public and private organizations in Ethiopia. Using a cross section of data from 265 permanent employees during 2019, this study tried to attest the relationship and effect of democratic, laissez-faire and autocratic leadership styles on the performance of employees at Omo Kuraz I Sugar Factory after controlling for other confounders. Descriptive analysis shows democratic style as the most frequently exhibited leadership style (Mean=3.72; SD=1.09) followed by laissez-faire (Mean=3.62; SD=0.82) and autocratic style (Mean=3.29; SD=1.03). The correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlation of democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles with employee performance while autocratic style were negatively correlated with performance. The result from multiple linear regressions showed democratic and laissez-faire styles have significant positive effect while autocratic style affected employee performance score more adversely. In order to enhance the productivity of their employees more significantly, the study finally recommend the company to execute democratic style. Moreover, longitudinal studies attempted to capture the impact on employee performance due to the changing leadership practice should be left for further research.

Keywords: Democratic styles, Autocratic styles, Laissez-faire Style, Employee performance