Explaining Transformational Leadership with Emphasis on Quality of Work Life and Professional Commitment of Medical Sciences Employees in Iran
Abstract
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Objective: The primary objective of the present study is to explain transformational leadership with an emphasis on the quality of work life and the professional commitment of employees in the medical sciences field in Iran. Methodology: The research method in this study is descriptive-survey and is applied in terms of its goal. The statistical population of this research includes the employees of Iran's medical sciences sector. To determine the sample size, the Morgan sample size estimation table was used, resulting in a selection of 220 individuals as the statistical sample. The sampling method in this research is simple random sampling. Data collection tools include questionnaires. The reliability of the research questionnaires was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of the questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted using LISREL software. Findings: The research findings indicate that the quality of work life and professional commitment of employees lead to the growth and improvement of transformational leadership. Conclusion: Based on the research results, it is suggested that managers engage in discussions with employees about their fundamental beliefs and values and, as much as possible, recruit new employees whose goals and aspirations align sufficiently with those of the organization. |
Introduction
Quality of work life (QWL) refers to the quality of the relationship between employees and the organization as a whole, and it is essential in a competitive organizational environment for retaining qualified and skilled employees. High QWL helps fulfill employees' needs, thereby effectively and efficiently achieving organizational goals (Ofili & Obiono, 2023). QWL has become one of the essential requirements for organizations to attract and retain talented and efficient human resources, ensuring that these employees perform their tasks effectively and wholeheartedly (Abraham & Asmi, 2023). QWL is critical for expanding organizational productivity because it is a complex unit dealing with interactions among various aspects of work and personal life (Nayak & Lenka, 2023). QWL means providing a work environment where employees feel secure, happy, free from anxiety, have their personal and work needs met, and are satisfied with their work. Low QWL leads to low morale, reduced cooperation, and responsibility, which adversely affects individuals' job performance (Farzam et al., 2023). Transformational leaders seek to improve employees' behaviors and performances by changing their minds and hearts, expanding vision, awareness, and understanding, clarifying goals, and aligning behaviors with beliefs and ethical principles or values (Khan et al., 2020). Transformational leadership forms the foundation for long-term organizational changes, enabling the achievement of higher organizational goals. Transformational leaders prioritize effectiveness over efficiency and strive to utilize the organization's human resources by considering both their own and the employees' spirits (Ghaedi & Razaghi, 2020). Professional commitment is defined as a state where an individual identifies with an organization and desires to remain a member. In other words, professional commitment is an attitude about employees' loyalty to the organization and a continuous process resulting from individuals' participation in organizational decisions, attention to the organization, and the organization's success and welfare. Commitment also represents an emotional attachment and passionate adherence to the organization's values and goals. The dependency on an individual's role in relation to the organization's values and goals, separate from its instrumental value, is referred to as organizational commitment (Bani et al., 2020). The Iran University of Medical Sciences, in line with the Islamic values governing society and as one of Iran's medical sciences domains, strives to maintain the faculty's position in the country. Therefore, having a transformational leadership style is an essential and fundamental need for achieving the organization's goals and vision. The researcher in this study aims to explain transformational leadership with an emphasis on the quality of work life and professional commitment of employees in the Iranian medical sciences sector.
Methods and Materials
The data collection method in the present research is both library-based and field-based. For collecting initial information and building the theoretical foundation, notes were taken from books, theses, and articles in the library section, followed by the use of questionnaires in the field section. Therefore, this research is applied in terms of classification based on its goal and descriptive in terms of execution method. The statistical population of the present research includes the employees of Iran's medical sciences sector. To determine the sample size, the Morgan sample size estimation table was used, selecting 220 individuals as the statistical sample, and questionnaires were distributed among them. The sampling method in this research is simple random sampling. Various methods were used to collect the necessary data for this study. These methods fall into two different categories: for gathering information on the theoretical foundations and literature review, library sources, Persian and English articles, books, etc., were used. In the present study, questionnaires were used for data collection. Cronbach's alpha method, which is widely used in most research as a reliability measure, was employed. In this method, the test components or parts are used to assess the test's reliability. When this coefficient is greater than 0.7, the test is considered to have acceptable reliability, which was confirmed in this study.
Findings and Results
In this section, the descriptive statistics of the research variables, including their means and standard deviations, are presented to understand the respondents' responses to the questionnaire items related to each research variable.
Variables | Kolmogorov-Smirnov Statistic | Significance Level |
|---|---|---|
Quality of Work Life | 0.224 | 0.001 |
Professional Commitment | 0.160 | 0.001 |
Transformational Leadership | 0.304 | 0.001 |
According to Table 1, given that the significance level of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic for the variables is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis آH0 of the normal distribution of the dependent variable is rejected at the 95% confidence level. This finding indicates that the above variables do not follow a normal distribution. Therefore, second-generation methods and Smart PLS software should be used for validation and testing.
To fit the research model completely in both the measurement and structural sections, this criterion is used. According to the calculations based on the Smart PLS software outputs, the GoF coefficient for the present research model is 0.021. Given the threshold values of 0.01, 0.25, and 0.36 for weak, moderate, and strong fit, respectively, this indicates an overall moderate fit for the model.
Figure 1
Smart PLS Software Output for Calculating Significance Coefficients
Figure 2
Factor Loadings in the Research Model
Discussion and Conclusion
Quality of work life (QWL) is vital for expanding organizational productivity because it is a complex unit dealing with the interaction of several aspects of work and personal life. QWL means providing a work environment where employees feel secure and happy, free from anxiety, with their personal and work needs met, and satisfaction with their work. Low QWL leads to low morale, reduced sense of cooperation, and responsibility, which negatively impacts individual job performance.
Transformational leaders aim to improve employee behaviors and performances by creating changes in their minds and hearts, expanding vision, awareness, and understanding, clarifying goals, and aligning behaviors with beliefs and ethical principles or values. Transformational leadership forms the foundation for long-term organizational changes, enabling the achievement of higher organizational goals. Transformational leaders prioritize effectiveness over efficiency and strive to utilize the organization's human resources by considering both their and the employees' spirits.
If factors such as managing the organization ethically, introducing ways for employees to achieve success, listening to employees' opinions, and maintaining ethical standards by all organization members are high among the medical sciences employees in Iran, then transformational leadership will be enhanced. Based on the research results, it is suggested that:
Managers should delegate challenging and important responsibilities to employees to demonstrate their attention and goodwill, making employees feel useful.
Managers should consider suggestions from employees in their decision-making and allow employees to challenge important decisions.
The consequences of unethical behaviors in the organization should be explained to all employees, and combating corruption should be a priority for managers.
Managers should hold joint meetings with employees to explain the organization's ethical rules and their expectations so that employees follow a coherent code of ethics.
Managers should focus on achieving goals and view environmental threats as opportunities for organizational advancement, avoiding hasty decisions.
Managers should not pursue their successes at the expense of others and should take responsibility in times of failure, not holding employees accountable for tasks over which they have no control.
Authors’ Contributions
All authors have contributed significantly to the research process and the development of the manuscript.
Declaration
In order to correct and improve the academic writing of our paper, we have used the language model ChatGPT.
Transparency Statement
Data are available for research purposes upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our gratitude to all individuals helped us to do the project.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no conflict of interest.
Funding
According to the authors, this article has no financial support.
Ethical Considerations
In this research, ethical standards including obtaining informed consent, ensuring privacy and confidentiality were observed.
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