Abstract
There are growing concerns about high attrition rates in the disability sector across Australia due to low job satisfaction among disability service workers. While past scholars have explored leadership and job satisfaction, little is known about the influence of the leadership styles managers in the Australian disability service sectors use regarding employee job satisfaction and retention. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles presently in place in the disability service sector in Australia and understand how they impact employee job satisfaction and retention. A qualitative research design was used to answer the identified research problem where relevant data was collected from disability workers within six different service providers in Sydney, Australia. Insights from the thematic analysis showed that most employees perceived their managers promote idealised influence and inspirational motivation through clear communication of tasks, being charismatic, and developing interpersonal connections with employees. Managers largely appreciated the employees' efforts in executing their tasks, besides encouraging them to contribute and develop creative and innovative ideas. Employees felt that most managers use transformational leadership to facilitate individualised consideration and intellectual stimulation, focusing more on tasks than transactional leadership in terms of rewards and punishments to influence employee performance. Interviewed employees felt satisfied in their current jobs because of the help and support they received from their managers. However, few participants shared that they are less confident in their current job mainly due to a lack of leadership support as opposed to material benefits and monetary compensation. Satisfied employees noted that their managers gave them direct support, allocated flexible and convenient work shifts, and appreciated employee efforts. Social disability workers were happy with their work when their leaders were more attentive and considerate of their concerns, readily approachable, and offered training and mentoring support. Other employees felt thatvii retention in the workplace increases when managers recognise and reward them for their work. Employee retention was likely high when leaders in the disability sector recognised and fairly compensated the workers. Also, employees were less likely to express voluntary departure from the disability service sector if their managers treated them well, assigned clear roles and duties, and created positive interpersonal relationships among employees. By contrast, employees were likely to leave a workplace if they were not fairly treated, recognised, or given material rewards for their efforts. In future, the current findings may be improved by using verified survey questionnaires and by triangulating the sources of data to include focus group discussions, archival data, and field observation.