The Moderating Effect of Leadership Styles in the Relationship between Employee Commitment and Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that employee commitment is an important determinant of performance in organisations. Commercial banks in Kenya have nonetheless been seen to grapple with the challenge of waning employee commitment. Leadership styles have on the other hand been argued to influence employee commitment and performance of organisations. Empirical studies on the moderating effects of leadership styles on the relationship between employee commitment and performance of commercial banks in Kenya have however not been largely undertaken. This study therefore sought to bridge the extant knowledge gap on the moderating effect of leadership styles in the relationship between employee commitment and performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study adopted a cross sectional research design. Multivariate data analysis was done to test for the null hypothesis and the study established that transformational and transactional leadership styles moderate the relationship between employee commitment and performance of commercial banks in Kenya.