Workplace Leadership and Job Satisfaction: Imperative for Sustainable Productivity in Nigeria

Leadership is critical in every organization and strategic for sustainable performance and development of any economy. On the other hand sustainable productivity will not only require good leadership but the human element as well. The objective of the paper is to explore the relationship between workplace leadership and employee job satisfaction; and how it affects organizational productivity in particular and the performance of the economy as a whole. To achieve this objective, the author reviewed some empirical studies on leadership and employee satisfaction in the workplace; and highlighted its implication on sustainable productivity. The paper further articulated ways by which employee job satisfaction can be enhanced through leadership. Existing empirical studies found that leadership is positively and significantly related to employee job satisfaction. Further finding reviewed that many factors are responsible for employee satisfaction and as a result leadership has the task of identifying the right motivating instrument in order to achieve the desired outcome and thereby improve performance. The paper concludes that for meaningful and sustainable development of the Nigerian economy, the leadership of the Nigerian private sector organizations and government agencies should work on improving the working conditions of the employees generally, while paying more attention to intrinsic motivators than extrinsic motivators. This will help in improving employee job satisfaction and thereby reducing the high migration rate of human capital being experienced in Nigeria.