The path-goal theory is a leadership model developed by Robert House that posits that a leader has the ability to affect the performance, motivation and satisfaction of subordinates by helping, supporting and motivating them (House, 1996). This can be done in three primary ways. The first is helping them to identify as well as achieve their goals. The second is removing any obstacles that impede performance. Finally, the leader should offer appropriate rewards for work well done along the way. For the leader to be able to do this, he or she can utilize four distinctive leadership styles contingent on the situation at hand. The first is supportive leadership where the leader becomes friendly and shows appropriate concern for workers or subordinates. The second is directive leadership where the leader provides specific guidance when it comes to performance. Thirdly, there is participative leadership where consultations are done with subordinates, and their suggestions are taken into consideration. Finally, there is achievement-oriented leadership where high goals are set by the leader and expectations for high-level performance are placed on the employees (House, 1996).
However, the ability of the leader to affect the performance, motivation and satisfaction of subordinates by helping, supporting and motivating them is dependent on several situational factors. One of these is subordinates’ personality including their locus of control and self-perceived ability (Johnson, Luthans & Hennessey, 1984). The second is the characteristic of the environment in which the leader and the subordinates exist.
During the recent global recession, a leading Fortune 500 company realized that it was incurring massive expenses that were cutting deep into its profitability. The company was faced with the challenge of rectifying the situation, and one of the options was laying off employees. However, the company’s leaders wanted to brainstorm other options and leave laying off employees as the last option. After a deep analysis, it was realized that one of the company’s biggest expenses was overtime. It was decided that reducing overtime was what was needed to cut back on expenses. The goal, therefore, was to reduce overtime while the motiving factor was that if expenses could be cut by about 30%, then no employee would have to be laid off. An effective approach was needed in order to deal with the overtime situation.
The leaders realized that the path-goal theory provided an excellent platform for achieving their goal. It was decided that in order to minimize overtime, the employees needed to be included in discussions related to goal achievement. Their opinions and goals needed to be listened to and heard.
As it turned out, the subordinates had very good proposals and ideas. Various suggestions were made including the elimination of hours for those positions that were vacant and also utilizing those employees who worked part time to full some of the open hours. In a period of one year, overtime at the company had been cut by 35% exceeding the goal by 5%. This was seen as a huge accomplishment. The entire team felt greatly satisfied after ultimately realizing that no one would have to be laid off.
In the above situation, the path-goal leadership style that was used was the participative leadership. The employees were involved in the decision made. The management demonstrated the participative leadership style and tried to be aware of how this style was interpreted by the subordinates. This included their preferences for structure, their affiliation, desire for control and self-perceived task ability levels.
The main characteristics of the employees in this company was they had an internal locus of control. Such employees believe that they are basically in charge of what occurs in their life (Northouse, 2015: Johnson, Luthans & Hennessey, 1984)). Therefore, it was crucial for the employees in this company to feel that they were in charge and that they were allowed to take part in decision making. This is what exactly happened in this situation, and the result was the achievement of the desired goals. The self-perceived ability level of the employees was medium, and this also contributed to making the participative leadership style a success.
The action taken in this situation was extremely appropriate and effective. As observed, it resulted in the accomplishment of the desired goals which was to reduce overtime and, therefore, prevent the laying off of any employees. Also, the action involved the participation of the employees, and as it is known, the chances of achieving set goals are increased when employees are part of the decision-making process.
The path-goal theory leadership theory looks at how leaders motivate employees to accomplish goals. In this theory, there is an emphasis on the style of the leader and the subordinates’ characteristics as well as the characteristics of the work setting (Vroom & Jago, 2007). This theory makes an assumption that subordinates or employees will basically be motivated if they are of the pinion that the have the capability to perform their work fully, if they hold the belief that their efforts will yield a certain outcome or if they believe that the payoffs that they receive for their work are worth their effort (Vroom & Jago, 2007). In the leadership situation described above, the latter two factors were taken into consideration and therefore, the path-goal leadership approach is useful in understanding the leadership that was applied in this situation.
References
House, R. J. (1996). Path-goal theory of leadership: Lessons, legacy, and a reformulated theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 7(3), 323-352.
Johnson, A. L., Luthans, F., & Hennessey, H. W. (1984). The Role OF Locus OF Control in Leader Influence Behavior. Personnel Psychology, 37(1), 61-75.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Vroom, V. H., & Jago, A. G. (2007). The role of the situation in leadership. American psychologist, 62(1), 17.
