|
The study investigates how employee engagement in Australian National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) service providers is influenced by different leadership styles. While leadership is a factor that has been widely acknowledged as a key force of organisational performance and employee motivation, and engagement; there has been little research on the issue of leadership within the disability services sector, especially in the context of NDIA. This study attempts to address this gap, as the research focusses on three major leadership styles, namely, transformational, transactional, and participative, and their influence on employee engagement. The qualitative research methodology has been adopted based on secondary data sources such as peer-reviewed literature and annual reports published by top ten NDIA providers (2022-2023, 2023-2024) and the reviews posted by employees on various websites like Glassdoor and Seek. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items to Systematic Reviews and Meta- Analyses) framework has been used to provide systematized selection and evaluation of the sources, and thematic analysis with the six-step model of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six step model has been employed to find recurring patterns and insights. The results indicate that, transformational leadership positively influences employee engagement the most, mainly by inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised support. The sustained impact on participative leadership through inclusion, open communication, and involvement of employees in decision-making also results in increased employee job satisfaction, creativity, and retention. However, in contrast, transactional leadership contributes to short-term engagement by providing structure, clear expectations, and performance-based rewards, but shows limited effectiveness in sustaining long-term motivation. Overall, this research shows that a balanced leadership style could be a beneficial to NDIA providers to improve engagement of employees and the quality of provided services. Nonetheless, the study has practical implications on the NDIA leaders and policymakers since it provides evidence-based suggestions on leadership development strategies to enhance workforce well-being, retention and organisational effectiveness in disability service provision. |
|
