Leadership and Employee Performance in the Ghanaian Public Sector: A Humanistic Perspective

Leadership is seen as an imperative stimulus for the effective functioning of employees, be they in the public or private sectors. Humanistic leadership has to do with leadership that the acceptance of humanistic ideals by leaders will result in a shared common spirit, uniting the leaders and their employees which in turn will drive employee performance. Using the Ghana public service as a case, where the performance is considered unacceptable, the study attempts to answer the question: in what ways can leaders utilise the humanistic leadership style to facilitate employees’ performance in the public services in developing countries? We contend that leadership that focuses on respecting people, striving to pursue the common good, and going beyond the “boss-subordinate” model of power and influence, will lead to employees reciprocating which in turn will stimulate employee performance. A desk research approach was adopted, using secondary data for the summation and collation of existing literature. This helps to bring together related research to understand the role of leadership in achieving success in employee performance using the humanistic approach to management.