Transactional Leadership Style and Job Satisfaction among Multimedia University Employees, Nairobi - Kenya

Abstract

This study explores the transactional leadership styles and job satisfaction among the employees of the Multimedia University of Kenya (MMU) of Kenya. A descriptive survey research design was used. The study was guided by contingency leadership theory. Out of 386 employees of MMU, 197 supervised employees and 115 supervisor samples were drawn. This represented 83% of the total population was issued with a questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to select the study location and the study population, while stratified random sampling was used to select the individual respondents. Two sets of structured questionnaires were used to collect data: the supervised employees’ questionnaire and the supervisors’ questionnaire. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 26.0. The study found that supervised staff felt that their supervisors sometimes practised transactional leadership through contingent reward and management by exception. This study recommends that leaders identify individual uniqueness, link the individuals’ current needs to the organisation’s needs, provide coaching, mentoring and growth opportunities, and implement a leadership that contains a mix of transactional and transformational leadership attributes.  This will help design leadership development interventions for developing the capacity of managers to apply the leadership styles that are most likely to elicit employee job satisfaction and, therefore, contribute to its effectiveness.