The Influence of Leadership Styles and Motivation on Staff Job Performance in Public Universities in North-Central States of Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the influence of leadership styles and communication on staff job performance in the public universities of North Central Zone of Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A sample of 1430 out of the total population of the study which stood at 14,268 academic and non-academic staff was used for the study. The proportionate sampling technique was used to select the sample of 700 academic and non-academic staff of these universities. A questionnaire titled' Influence of Leadership style and Motivation on Staff Job Performance Questionnaire (ILMSJPQ) was used for data collection. After all relevant data were collected; mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while chi-square was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that leadership style and motivation significantly influence both the academic and non-academic staff job performance in public Universities in the North Central zone of Nigeria. The p-value of 0.00<0.05 level of significance for the hypotheses showed that job performance is influenced by proper handling of these administrative variables. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended among others that vice chancellors, managers of institutions, various heads of department and units should give required attention to these variables so as to enhance job performance in institutions of learning.