Job satisfaction and perceived leadership behaviours among the Turkish national police department: A case study on Eskisehir police department

Abstract

This research explores the management problems in the Turkish National Police Organisation (TNP) by assessing the perceived leadership behaviours and job satisfaction of police officers working at the Eskisehir Police Department in Turkey. The perceived leadership styles of the officers is examined from the standpoint of the Transformational and Transactional Leadership Theory of Bass (1985) by using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X) of Bass & Avolio (2004). The job satisfaction level of the officers is examined by using Paul Spectoris Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) instrument. The data is collected from the police officers (n=298) working at various branches of the Eskisehir police department. Major findings of this research indicate that the majority of the police officers perceive moderate level transformational leadership behaviours from their police chiefs, and the overall job satisfaction of police officers is high. Another finding of this study indicates that there is a relationship between the perceived transformational leadership behaviours of police chiefs and the job satisfaction of police officers. These findings are discussed in context with numerous policy implications and recommendations for further research.