An assessment of leadership styles which are motivational with millennial employees within a petrochemical organisation

Abstract

Individuals from the millennial generational group are growing to be the largest segment of the workplace. This group is therefore an important element of an organisation's sustainability. It is therefore important to gain insight into what the characteristics of this group are, then determine their origins. Leadership is considered to be a process of social influence. It is important to apply this influence in an effective manner, such that the group in question is motivated. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which transformational and servant leadership styles facilitate motivation within the millennial generational group in a petrochemical organisation, specifically its technology business unit. The study aimed to explore the aforementioned leadership styles and its constructs in order to determine the extent to which it facilitates motivation within the millennial group. Two well-researched and validated questionnaires were administered to the millennial population within the petrochemical organisation; the first being the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), associated with the transformational leadership style, using a five-point Likert scale. The second questionnaire (SL-7), the Servant Leadership scale 7, associated with the servant leadership style, utilising a seven-point Likert scale. Feedback was sought from the millennial population in the petrochemical organisation's technology section and 70 responses were received. The results revealed that both the transformational and servant leadership styles were effective in terms of motivation of the millennial group in the targeted organisation. Insight was also gained into the behavioural constructs with the strongest and weakest relationship with motivating this millennial group. The findings revealed that a very strong motivational relationship existed with leader behaviours associated with ethical conduct and the millennial group. The findings also indicated that a strong motivational relationship existed between millennials and individual consideration by the leader regarding the cultivation of subordinate growth. The study presents detailed findings recommendations, limitations, recommendations for future research and closes off with a short conclusion.