Leaders’ Motivating Language and Its Influences on Employee Performance in a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation

Abstract

Effective leadership communication leads to desirable organizational outcomes. Yet, limited studies have explored motivating language, an essential part of leaders’ communication. Motivating language has been linked to significant organizational outcomes such as employee performance. However, existing studies about this topic are contextualized in private organizations and in Western settings. To fill this gap, this research identifies the specific types of motivating language used by leaders and determines its influences on employee performance in a Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation. This research employed a qualitative case study approach. Moreover, in-depth interviews were administered to six employees selected through nonprobability purposive sampling. Furthermore, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase thematic analysis was utilized to identify and analyze the emerging themes. The data revealed important findings. First, some leaders use all types of motivating language, namely direction-giving, empathetic, and meaning-making. On the other hand, some leaders use only two types of motivating language, specifically direction-giving and empathetic language. Second, the findings revealed that the mostly used type of motivating language is empathetic language. Third, the findings revealed five emerging themes about how the leader motivating language influences employee performance. Direction-giving influences employee performance through Faster Completion of Tasks and Developing a Sense of Direction. Empathetic language influences employee performance in terms of Increased Work Willingness and Trust Empowerment. Lastly, meaning-making influences employee performance through the Development of a Deeper Work Purpose. The findings of this research serve as guides to further enhance the communication of leaders in the organization.