THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON OCCUPATIONAL WELL-BEING OF EMPLOYEES

Abstract

Nowadays, well-being and health of employees are interests of researchers and organizations. Physically and mentally healthy staff is seen as one of the most valuable assets that an organization can have. Academic research has found that occupational well-being affects profits, competitiveness and reputation of an organization. Therefore, there is an increased interest in the factors that influence of the well-being of employees, one of these factors being leadership.

Previous literature has found a connection between transformational leadership and occupational well-being of employees. However, this relationship between these two themes is not yet clearly understood. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to create a deeper understanding of how this leadership style influences on well-being of employees. The research is conducted as a qualitative single-case study. The empirical data was collected in semi-structured interviews from a team of a case company that operates in the financial sector in Finland.

The main findings of this thesis indicate that transformational leadership supports occupational well-being of employees in various ways. When results are observed through four components of transformational leadership, it can be seen that these components influence on mental well-being of employees for example by increasing confidence and motivation towards work and also creating a feeling of being valued.