EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP DIMENSIONS ON JOB DISSATISFACTION: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN’S COMMERCIAL BANKS

Rafique Ahmed Khoso; Dr. Shankar Lal; Maqsood Ali Jamali

Authors

Rafique Ahmed Khoso Author
Dr. Shankar Lal Author
Maqsood Ali Jamali Author

Keywords:

Job Stress, Reward and Punishment, Working Hours, Job Dissatisfaction, Banking Sector, Pakistan

Abstract

Background:

In Pakistan’s banking sector, the performance of employees, their motivational work, and satisfaction totally depend upon the role of leadership and its style. Transactional leadership, although widely practiced, often leads to dissatisfaction due to its focus on compliance, reward-punishment mechanisms, and rigid performance expectations. This provides an exertion atmosphere marked through job stress then extended working hours, potentially affecting worker prosperity.

Objective:This research tries to investigate the impact of transactional leaders and its dimensions like Stress, long working hours, punishment, and reward on employee job dissatisfaction at the commercial banking sector of Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Methods:A cross-sectional, quantitative design was used in this study. Information was gathered from 600 commercial bank employees via a structured, closed-ended scale on a five-point Likert scale. SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze different tests, like (Cronbach’s alpha), reliability, Descriptive statistics, and multiple regression.

Results:Regression analysis revealed that transactional leadership significantly predicts job dissatisfaction (β = 0.350, t = 13.42, p < 0.001). Among its dimensions, reward and punishment (β = 0.810, t = 36.93, p < 0.001), job stress (β =0.120, t = 5.96, p < 0.001), in addition to long working hours (β =–0.086, t = –5.35, p < 0.001) all showed statistically significant relationships. The overall model explained 87.6% change in job dissatisfaction (Adjusted R² = 0.876, F = 1414.764, p < 0.001).

Implications:findings indicate that overreliance on transactional leadership in commercial banks may lead to employee dissatisfaction through mechanisms of excessive control, stress, and poor work-life balance. HR practitioners are encouraged to integrate more transformational and employee-centered leadership approaches, along with flexible work policies and recognition strategies, to improve morale and retention in the banking sector.