Transformational leadership and work performance in health care: the mediating role of job satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation among transformational leadership, job satisfaction and adaptive performance of health-care professionals and administrative personnel of Portuguese non-profit health-care organizations. Design/methodology/approach This study collects data using an online survey sent to a nationwide database. This study uses a structural equation modeling approach to specify and estimate models of linear relations among the variables. This study tests the direct and mediated effects proposed by the hypotheses using a sample of non-profit 192 health-care organizations. Findings The results show (regardless of being direct health-care professionals or employees performing support functions) that job satisfaction fully mediates the relation between transformational leadership and adaptive performance. Transformational leadership alone and directly seems to have no effect on adaptive performance. Research limitations/implications The theoretical implications of this study concern the influence that transformational leadership has on job satisfaction and the consequent indirect influence on performance regardless of being direct health-care professionals or employees performing support functions. Practical implications The main managerial contribution of the study regards how health-care organizations' leaders may contribute to increase employees' performance by ensuring job satisfaction. Originality/value Despite the numerous studies that relate transformational leadership to job satisfaction and performance, there is a gap on research run in health care settings involving both health care and administrative personnel. Transformational leadership can increase the satisfaction of health-care professional and consequently job satisfaction has a positive influence on employees' adaptive performance.