The influence of authentic leadership practices on employees satisfaction in Zimbabwe: A study of followers’ perspective of selected commercial banks

Abstract

The purpose of this empirical examination was to research and draw conclusions and recommendations on the influence of authentic leadership practices on employee satisfaction from the employee perspective in the banking industry of Zimbabwe. To that end, two commercial banks were used. The study was guided by four study objectives: i) to determine the extent of authentic practices in the commercial banking sector of Zimbabwe; ii) to establish the gap between authentic leadership practices and the actual leadership practices in the banking industry; iii) to establish the effects of authentic leadership on employee satisfaction in commercial banks in Zimbabwe and iv) to recommend possible strategies that leaders in commercial banks can implement to be more authentic leaders. The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and a mixed methods approach. A descriptive research design was applied in mobilizing the various research methods which were applied. The study population constituted three hundred and two non-managerial employees in the two commercial banks within their Harare branches. Through a multi stage sampling approach in which a stratified sampling technique (employees were grouped according to departments), and a purposive sampling method (in which the key informants were now selected from both banks) and a sample of 189(63% of the population) respondents was drawn proportionally from each bank. A structured questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect primary data from the study respondents. Primary data collected was analysed through application of SPSS version 20. The main findings of the study are that: authentic leadership is not practiced by leaders in the commercial banks in Zimbabwe. The study also unearthed that all authentic leadership dimensions that include selfawareness, relational transparency, balanced processing and internal moral perspective have positive and statistically significant influence on employees’ satisfaction. Lastly, the study revealed that leader-oriented initiatives that include obtaining feedback from others and being morally upright can go a long way in improving the adoption of authentic leadership. The study recommended leaders of commercial banks to undergo intensive training on how to implement authentic leadership style and also to invest more funds on authentic leadership style-oriented programs and initiatives like mentorship programs, learning culture promotion and rewarding the best innovative ideas. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research were provided.