The impact of leadership styles on employee motivation: A study on tourism sector in North Cyprus

Increased competition at global level, technological advancements and constant turbulence in markets, changed the traditional ways of doing things. To remain up and running companies now face much more challenges than ever. To develop creative ways to attract customers and remain competitive, businesses need to adopt change. To do so, apart from the acquisition of new skills, organizations need to motivate their employees both individually and as a group. It has been established that existence of a qualified organizational work force and a strong organizational structure is a must for businesses in today's rapidly changing environment. It is impossible for organizations to survive in current competitive world without positive contributions of skilled employees and an effective management. In this context leadership has become an ever more vital management function for the success of companies. Through the employment of the right leadership style in management, leaders are expected to keep the motivation level of their employees high and in so doing, make them stay committed to business, its goals and objectives. Drawing on this point of view, this study investigates the relationship between leadership and employee motivation taking into account the changing role of different leadership styles. 429 professionals working at five-star hotels in Kyrenia were included in the research. Sociodemographic Information Form, Multidimensional Motivation Scale and Leadership Styles Scale were applied to the participants. According to the findings obtained from the research, leadership style has a significant impact on employee motivation. Results from multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived leadership styles jointly predicted employee motivation with transformational leadership as the strongest predictor of employee motivation.