Hubungan pengaruh gaya kepimpinan tranformasional terhadap perlaksanaan program pelan penggantian dalam perkhidmatan awam Malaysia

A systematic succession planning program, coupled with solid career development is important to public employees. Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory (1979), Gould’s career planning model, and goal-setting theory, previous studies reveal that there is a relationship between career development and top management support. Thus, to groom future leaders, it is of utmost important for organizations not to rely only on the systematic succession planning programs; but also to have full commitment from the top management. Therefore, this study intends to explore the relationship between leadership characteristic styles and succession planning program implementation in the public sector in Malaysia. Four dimensions of transformational leadership characteristic were used, namely idealized influenced, inspirational motivation, individualized influence and intellectual stimulation. Additionally, two dimensions that measure succession planning which are career development and preparation of future leaders were also used. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was advocated in this study. Quantitative research design was employed by distributing survey questionnaires to 576 Malaysian Public Sector government servants from Grade 48 to 54, and (425 questionnaires were returned). Qualitative data was gathered from an elite interview which included seven top organizational leaders from various public agencies. Based on multiple regression analysis, the findings demonstrate that motivational inspiration, individualized influence and intellectual stimulation are significantly related to succession planning program. Thematic analysis which is based on qualitative data is also consistent with the quantitative finding which attests that leadership styles influence the successful implementation of succession planning programs in the public sector. Therefore, public sector needs to pay attention to leadership styles of top management so that succession planning program can be implemented successfully.