Servant Leadership and Employee Performance: Impact on Job Satisfaction in Canadian Banking

A significant problem in the banking industry in Canada is the impact of leadership styles on employee job satisfaction and performance. Research shows only 20% of employees in Canada are highly engaged at work, and 32% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2021). This low engagement leads to lost productivity, with disengaged employees costing Canadian companies up to $16 billion annually (Gallup, 2021). Moreover, employee turnover in Canada’s financial sector costs organizations an average of $15,000 per employee (Work Institute, 2020). These statistics highlight the importance of effective leadership in fostering job satisfaction and reducing turnover. Servant leadership, a leadership style focused on employee well-being, has been shown to improve engagement and reduce turnover. Research indicates organizations practicing servant leadership report 20% higher employee satisfaction and 15% lower turnover rates (Van Dierendonck & Patterson, 2019). This study is a systematic review synthesizing findings from multiple studies to identify trends and gaps in research. Key databases used for this research include Google Scholar, JSTOR, and Business Source Complete. Future research can include quantitative surveys to assess servant leadership’s impact on job satisfaction and qualitative phenomenological studies to explore employees’ lived experiences with servant leadership.