Leadership and productivity in transition: employees’ view in Serbia

Research is carried out on a sample of 300 employees in a company that went through the process of ownership change and became a shareholders’ association. The study aims to find out the preferred pattern of leader’s behaviour as a predictor of employees’ productive behaviour. Obtained results suggest that it is essential for increased productivity that the employees show a high level of trust towards their leader but he should not hold high expectations of them. Production errors are influenced by leaders’ readiness to provide assistance to the employees and his expectations of the employees. When it comes to production quality, leader’s helpfulness and expectations have proved variables in their behaviour that directly influence production quality.