Leadership is a critical organisational mechanism for translating institutional objectives into employee behaviour and performance, particularly in uniformed public organisations where discipline, accountability and operational readiness coexist with the need for motivation and development. This study examines the relationships between transformational and transactional leadership and job performance among personnel at the Police Training Centre (PULAPOL), Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used, employing a census approach with a population of 175 personnel. We retained 150 complete questionnaires for analysis, representing an 85.7% response rate. The instrument comprised 10 transformational-leadership items and 11 transactional-leadership items adapted from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, together with 12 job-performance items reflecting task and contextual performance. Data were analysed using SPSS version 29 through descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. The constructs demonstrated satisfactory to very high internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values of .963 for transformational leadership, .769 for transactional leadership and .966 for job performance. Transformational leadership was moderately and positively associated with job performance (r = .556, p < .001), whereas transactional leadership demonstrated a weaker but significant bivariate relationship (r = .256, p = .002). The multiple regression model was significant, F(2,147) = 33.957, p < .001, and explained 31.6% of the variance in job performance (R² = .316). Transformational leadership remained a significant unique predictor (? = .527, p < .001), while transactional leadership was not significant after transformational leadership was controlled (? = .091, p = .209). The findings suggest that inspirational, developmental and role-modelling behaviours have greater unique relevance to performance in the study setting. At the same time, transactional mechanisms remain important for clarifying standards, accountability and routine compliance.
Abdul Halim, M. H., Abdul Wahab, S. R., Jing, L. C., A. Rahim, N. S., Mohd. Noor, K., & Yoo, D. (2023). The influence of transformational leadership on job performance among government agency support staff in the southern region of Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 12(3), 239–256.
Ahmad, A. (2020). The effect of transformational leadership on employees’ performance in Malaysia’s public sector. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(11), 1396–1407.
Alsuwaidi, M. E., & Mansor, N. (2022). The impact of transformational leadership on the performance of police: The mediation role of knowledge management. Mathematical Statistics and Engineering Applications, 71(3), 349–362.
Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1995). Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Mind Garden.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3), 19–31.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organisational effectiveness through transformational leadership. SAGE Publications.
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices. University of South Florida.
Boone, H. N., Jr., & Boone, D. A. (2012). Analysing Likert data. Journal of Extension, 50(2), 1–5.
Borman, W. C., & Motowidlo, S. M. (1993). Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In N. Schmitt & W. C. Borman (Eds.), Personnel selection in organisations. Jossey-Bass.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper & Row.
Campbell, J. P., & Wiernik, B. M. (2015). The modelling and assessment of work performance. Annual Review of Organisational Psychology and Organisational Behaviour, 2(1), 47–74.
Hennessey, J. T., Jr. (1998). Reinventing government: Does leadership make the difference? Public Administration Review, 58(6), 522–532.
Jacobsen, C. B., & Andersen, L. B. (2015). Is leadership in the eye of the beholder? A study of intended and perceived leadership practices and organizational performance. Public Administration Review, 75(6), 829–841.
Joshi, A., Kale, S., Chandel, S., & Pal, D. K. (2015). Likert scale: Explored and explained. British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 7(4), 396–403.
Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755–768.
Lester Surai & Muhamad Suhaimi Taat. (2024). Hubungan kepimpinan transformasional dengan prestasi kerja guru di sekolah menengah harian biasa, Sarawak. Quantum Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(4), 60–73.
Mahdinezhad, M., Suandi, T., Silong, A. D., & Omar, Z. (2013). Transformational and transactional leadership styles and job performance of academic leaders. International Education Studies, 6(11), 29–34.
Ohemeng, F. L. K., Amoako-Asiedu, E., & Obuobisa-Darko, T. (2018). The relationship between leadership style and employee performance: An exploratory study of the Ghanaian public service. International Journal of Public Leadership, 14(4), 274–296.
Ong, A. D., & Weiss, D. J. (2000). The impact of anonymity on responses to sensitive questions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 1691–1708.
Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS. Routledge.
Ran, X., Rosli, R. B., & Ali, D. A. (2024). The impact of transactional leadership on work performance: The mediating role of work engagement. International Journal on Recent Trends in Business and Tourism, 8(3), 38–46.
Saadah, M., & Agustiyara, A. (2024). Transformational leadership and dynamic managerial capabilities in public sector innovation. Jurnal Bina Praja, 16(1), 201–214.
Setia, M. S. (2016). Methodology series module 3: Cross-sectional studies. Indian Journal of Dermatology, 61(3), 261–264.
Shokory, S. M., & Suradi, N. R. M. (2020). Pengaruh gaya kepimpinan pengurus projek ke atas prestasi kerja ahli-ahli pasukan projek dalam industri pembinaan di Selangor. Management Research Journal, 9(1), 1–16.
Sudha, A., Azam, S. M. F., & Tham, J. (2023). Transformational leadership and job performance of Maldives Civil Service employees, mediated by organisational commitment. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 36(3), 271–287.
Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach’s alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273–1296.
Thanh, N. H., & Quang, N. V. (2022). Transformational, transactional, laissez-faire leadership styles and employee engagement: Evidence from Vietnam’s public sector. SAGE Open, 12(2), 1–18.
Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Pearson.
Samad, A. S. A., & Rahman, W. A. W. A. (2026). Transformational and Transactional Leadership in Relation to Job Performance: Evidence from PULAPOL Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(9), 922-938.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
