DOI: 10.11648/j.ajtab.20261203.12 ISSN: 2469-7842

Impact of Employees’ Oriented Leadership Style on Employee Performance: A Survey of Three Public Universities in South Sudan

Jacob Riak, Daniel Apet
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This study examines the influence of employee-oriented leadership style on employee performance in three selected public universities in South Sudan. The study was motivated by persistent operational and socioeconomic challenges affecting the higher education sector, including staff and student strikes, delayed salary payments, inadequate infrastructure and accommodation, rising tuition costs, food shortages, armed conflict, poverty, and other disruptions associated with a fragile and post-conflict environment. These conditions have raised concerns regarding the capacity of university leadership to sustain institutional effectiveness, employee motivation, and performance. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. Data were collected using structured questionnaires distributed to academic and administrative staff across the three selected public universities. Of the 325 questionnaires distributed, 220 were successfully returned, yielding a response rate of 73%. The measurement instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.973 to 0.986. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed to examine the relationship between leadership style and employee performance. The findings demonstrated a strong and statistically significant positive relationship between employee-oriented leadership style and employee performance. Regression analysis indicated that a one-unit increase in the Leadership Styles Index was associated with a 0.605-unit increase in employee performance (β = 0.886, p < 0.001; 95% CI = 0.530-0.680). The findings also revealed institutional variations in leadership practices. The University of Juba and Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology exhibited comparatively lower levels of employee-oriented leadership practices than the University of Upper Nile. The study further established that university leaders employed combinations of leadership styles, with their effectiveness varying according to institutional contexts and prevailing challenges. Several institutional constraints were identified, including weak promotion systems, inadequate infrastructure, and limited opportunities for staff development, low employee motivation, ineffective resource utilization, declining student outcomes, and high staff turnover. The study also revealed a substantial gender imbalance among academic and administrative staff, with males constituting 84.1% and females 15.9% of the study population. It recommends strengthening transparent governance and merit-based appointment systems, improving infrastructure and employee welfare, expanding professional development opportunities, enhancing academic quality, research and innovation, and accelerating digital transformation. The study further proposes the TEAD Hybrid Leadership Model, which integrates transformational, autocratic, employee-oriented, and democratic leadership approaches, as a context-sensitive framework for strengthening institutional resilience, enhancing employee performance, and supporting the long-term sustainability of public universities in South Sudan.

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