Transformational Leadership and Emotional Intelligence in Social Service Organizations: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in Enhancing Employee Performance
Keywords:
human-centered institutions, community needs, empowermentAbstract
Employee performance is a vital element in ensuring the effectiveness and sustainability of social service organizations that serve community needs. In such human-centered institutions, leadership style and emotional intelligence play crucial roles in shaping work behavior and enhancing service delivery. This study aims to examine the influence of transformational leadership and emotional intelligence on employee performance, with job satisfaction as a mediating variable. A quantitative approach was employed involving 210 respondents from nonprofit and community-based organizations in Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires and analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS. The results indicate that transformational leadership (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) and emotional intelligence (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) have significant direct and indirect effects on employee performance through job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was found to partially mediate the relationships. These findings underscore the importance of promoting humanistic leadership behaviors and emotional competencies in social sector organizations to strengthen workforce engagement and performance, ultimately supporting community empowerment.
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