Investigating personnel perceptions of leadership styles during WFH within private higher education in South Africa

Christo Bisschoff; Nadeem Cassim; Christoff Botha; Doret Botha

doi:10.26458/jedep.v13i2.839

Autori

Christo Bisschoff North-West University South Africa
Nadeem Cassim North-West University & Regent Business School https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9681-8391
Christoff Botha North-West University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4517-8526
Doret Botha North-West University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2787-8107

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26458/jedep.v13i2.839

Rezumat

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the nature of work, with the implementation of the Work from Home (WFH) arrangement. This change has implied a series of considerations for business operations, including leadership. The purpose of this study is to ascertain academic personnels’ view on the leadership received during the WFH period, with the intention of assessing the leadership styles used, as well as measuring the achievement of the outcomes of leadership. The study was conducted within private higher education in South Africa. Whilst there are studies that assess the leadership styles during the WFH period, no study could be located that assesses this phenomenon within higher education, as well as private higher education in South Africa, to be specific. The study utilised a quantitative research methodology with cross-sectional design and a positivist research paradigm. The target population included all academic personnel within the private higher education institution under study (i.e., 133 personnel). Total population sampling was utilised, and data was collected through an online administered survey utilising the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), comprising of 46 items. Eleven items were also included to ascertain the demographic details of participants. The study utilised descriptive, inferential and multivariate analysis techniques. A response rate of 79% was achieved. The findings of this study suggested that academic personnel held a general positive sentiment of the leadership approaches used by seniors during the WFH period. Transformational leadership was found to be the dominant approach utilised, as was found, through the correlation with literature, to be the suitable approach used during WFH. In addition, the study found a general level of comfort amongst staff regarding the achievement of the outcomes of leadership. Although there was an overall positive sentiment held regarding leadership during WFH, primary results also suggest areas for improvement, particularly on the increase in the use of transformational leadership and avoidance of instances of passive avoidance leadership. Considering that WFH has been identified as a viable solution for the foreseeable future, private higher education in South Africa should give due consideration to the leadership suggestions recommended in this study, to ensure that leadership approaches are conducive to WFH. This study contributes to literature surrounding the concept of leadership within the WFH period, within private higher education.

Biografii autori

Christoff Botha, North-West University

Christoff Botha is a tenured professor at the North-West University’s Business School. Christoff completed his PhD in 1992 and have experience in the academic world as well as in the industry. Christoff joined the NWU Business School in 2008 after honing his skills in the private sector as an entrepreneur and consultant. During his professional journey he successfully managed the executive education (2008 until 2010) and research (2010 – 2020) programmes at the NWU Business School. He was also involved with the initiation and introduction of the Post graduate diploma in Business Management at the NWU Business School. He authored 7 chapters in university textbooks, published 71 accredited journal articles, and presented 33 accredited conference papers locally and internationally. He successfully promoted 19 PhD students, graduated 103 master’s students, and acts as PhD examiner for numerous national and international universities. His research interests include employment relations, attraction, engagement and retention of talent, employability, unemployment, conflict management procedures. He also acts as a disciplinary consultant for clients in a variety of workplaces. He focuses on middle managers’ training and teaching and do training for several listed companies amongst others for example Coca Cola, Glencore, Astral, South- and North-West Cooperation as well as organizations such as the African National Congress (ANC) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Doret Botha, North-West University

Doret Botha is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University, South Africa. Doret holds a Ph.D. degree from the North-West University (2014) entitled: Women in mining: a conceptual framework for gender issues in the South African mining sector. Her interest and expertise lie within the Sociology of Work or Industrial Sociology. She currently teaches Sociology at undergraduate and Industrial Sociology at post graduate level, while she also supervises Master’s and Ph.D students in the field of Industrial Sociology. She conducts research on the following topics: gender issues in the South African mining sector, employability, work values/motivations, employee attraction, engagement and retention, remote and hybrid work, workplace changes during and post the Covid-19 pandemic. She was and is still involved in the management and conducting of research projects, locally, and internationally. She published numerous articles in accredited national and international journals and presented papers at national and international conferences on various topics in the field of Industrial Sociology.