Transformational leadership is considered an important leadership approach that can affect the employees’ experience at work and organizational commitment. However, there is a need for an overall analysis of the leadership dimensions and indicators discussed in current research to understand its relationship with employee retention in the public sector. In this research, a systematic literature review (SLR) has been conducted on 50 articles, based on the PRISMA methodology, about the relationship between transformational leadership and employee retention in the public sector. The objective of this paper is to highlight the major themes and indicators used to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership and employee retention. The review finds six main themes, which are idealized influence, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, empowerment and vision building with eleven indicators. Individualized consideration was the most common theme, followed by intellectual stimulation. Career development was the most frequently reported indicator. The findings offer a systematic overview of dominant areas of scholarly attention and highlight comparatively less scrutinized dimensions such as vision building and empowerment. This review provides a foundation to comprehend the conceptualization of transformational leadership in public sector retention research and provides direction for future empirical study.
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