Transformational leadership, high performance work practices, and an effective organization

Although transformational leadership is touted as an important approach for improving employee well-being and an effective organization, very little is known about how its key principles can be manifested through specific Human Resource Management (HRM) systems. This is unsatisfactory as leadership is pertinent to the management of human resources and many HRM researchers and practitioners would benefit from a theoretical understanding of how effective leadership principles can be strengthened by HRM systems. This review paper discusses the ways in which transformational leadership can be applied in tandem with a particular type of HRM system, High Performance Work Practices (HPWP). The paper explores the role of HPWP as a mechanism for accentuating the transformational leader’s positive impact on employee well-being and organizational performance. The contribution of this paper is to link a contemporary leadership theory to HRM and generate insights that will lead to empirical research.