Topics of Interest

Topics of Interest

The purpose of this paper is to present a formulation of three topic areas of interest with the potential for doctoral level research supported by personal observations and related citations from the literature. The three topic areas of interest selected are (a), employee motivation and transformational leadership style (b) antecedents affecting public service motivation, and (c) employee empowerment. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2010), some of the guidelines for finding a legitimate research problem are personal observation, literature review, choose a topic that is of personal interest and motivation, and choose a topic that is of interest of others. Consequently, in this paper, I will reflect on the three potential topic areas of interest briefly using these criteria.

Personal Observations

As a Direct Support Associate for a non-profit learning organization, I assist intellectually challenged individuals in a group home setting. I work in six different group homes throughout during the course of a month. Each group home has a manager who primarily uses the transactional style of leadership. The managers in my organization are very proactive in preventing employee mistakes using a system of rewards and punishment to motivate employees. My experience indicates that transactional leadership is not as effective as transformational leadership or other leadership styles in the workplace. In all cases, employees feel that their work is meaningful. However, there is still a lack of employee motivation, which has led to a higher than the normal attrition rate among employees because employees are dissatisfied. My experience indicates that the transactional leadership style is not as effective in motivating employees as other leadership styles such as the transformational leadership style.

Research has indicated according to Burns (1987), Bass (1985), and Bass and Avolio (1993), that leadership style can have an impact on employees' level of job satisfaction, motivation to go the extra mile, burnout, and level of productivity (as cited in Thomas, 2009). In the majority of organizations, transactional leadership involves the use of rewards and promises, which is based upon the expected performance outcomes of employees. Additionally, if employees deviate from the performance expectations corrective action is taken. Although, this leadership style is proactive in preventing mistakes, it is not effective at motivating employees since it uses a system of rewards and punishments. In organizations, it is not always necessary to use a system of rewards and punishment as a way to motivate employees. Organizational leaders must find other methods that are effective in motivating their employees. Sometimes personal satisfaction from a job well done, a simple thank you, ensuring that employees work is meaningful, feeling appreciated, and a sense of challenge can all serve as powerful motivators for employees.

Research conducted by the United States Department of Labor after reviewing 100 workplace studies indicates that "a positive correlation exists between motivating and empowering employees and significant improvement in productivity, employee satisfaction, and financial performance" (Emerson, 2008, para. 11). According to Emerson (2008), the majority of employees "that are not empowered by their organization feel underutilized, micro-managed, and helpless to make positive changes" (para. 11). Empowered employees are going to be more satisfied with their job. Organizational leaders who do not empower their employees have no way to know if this type of motivation will be of benefit to the organization since they are not providing their employees with the ability to be innovative, think for themselves, challenge the status quo, make decisions on how best to complete their job tasks, or take the initiative. Furthermore, leaders who do not empower their employees are not allowing employees to participate in the decision making process.

The lack of employee motivation is relatively constant in my organization, which is primarily a result of the transactional leadership style that is existent within the organization. Furthermore, since my organization is in essence a public service organization pay as well as benefits are not always sources of employee motivation. Based upon the preceding observations, I am hopeful of discovering and determining the best practices in regards to employee motivation. This is an area of exploration and discovery that presents numerous opportunities for other topics that I would personally like to research and learn more about. This personal motive exemplifies the third guideline finding a legitimate research problem (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010) that was identified in the introduction.

Employee Motivation and Transformational Leadership

Based upon the preceding personal observations, I am interested in determining if