THE IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON JOB PERFORMANCE IN APPAREL SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN NUWARA ELIYA DISTRICT

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of servant leadership on job performance in apparel sector organizations in the Nuwara Eliya District, Sri Lanka, focusing on the mediating roles of innovation and employee satisfaction. The study was carried out with fbur key variables: servant leadership as the independent variable, job performance as the dependent variable, and innovation and employee satisfaction as mediating variables. This research aims to fill the empirical gap in the Nuwara Eliya apparel sector regarding how servant leadership influences job performance both directly and indirectly through these mediators. Using a structured questionnaire, data were collected from 320 employees in selected apparel organizations in Nuwara Eliya. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis. The findings revealed that servant leadership, innovation, employee satisfaction, and job performance are at a high level among the respondents. The analysis showed a positive relationship between servant leadership and job performance, a strong positive relationship between servant leadership and both mediators, and a positive relationship between innovation and job perfbrmance, as well as employee satisfaction and job performance. Furthermore, innovation and employee satisfaction were found to p:,rrtially mediate the relationship between servant leadership and job perfbrmance. Keywords : Servant Leadersh ip, Job Performance, Innovation, Employee Satisfaction.