The Mediating Effect of Employee Engagement on the relationship between Leadership styles and Organizational Performance: Evidence from Oyo State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Individualized Consideration, Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Management-by-Exception, Laissez-Faire leadership, Organizational performanceAbstract
This study examines the mediating role of employee engagement in the relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance in selected manufacturing firms in Oyo State, Nigeria. Using purposive and simple random sampling, data were collected from 235 respondents across five manufacturing companies through structured questionnaires. Analysis was conducted with the aid of Path Analysis Structural Equation Modelling (PA-SEM), using STATA version 15. The leadership dimensions investigated included Individualized Consideration, Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Management-by-Exception, and Laissez-Faire leadership. The results indicate that all leadership styles exerted positive and statistically significant effects on organizational performance (p < 0.001). Transformational leadership dimensions, particularly Idealized Influence and Individualized Consideration, demonstrated the strongest direct effects, while transactional and passive styles showed relatively weaker impacts. Path analysis further confirmed that employee engagement significantly mediated the relationship between all leadership styles and organizational performance, with the strongest indirect effects observed for Individualized Consideration and Idealized Influence. The study concludes that transformational leadership enhances performance more effectively than transactional and passive approaches, largely through fostering employee engagement. It recommends leadership practices that emphasize ethical role modelling, individualized support, and motivation to improve engagement and performance, contributing empirical evidence from Nigeria’s manufacturing sector
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ademola S. Sajuyigbe, Clara Obiageri Ìgwè, Mokayode Arowoogun, Abiola Olubunmi Akinbobola, Oladoye Muritala Oyetola, Favour Iretomiwa Remi-Aworemi
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