Exploring the Impact of Leadership Style on Millennial and Gen Z Engineers: A Study of Motivation, Productivity, and Loyalty in the Modern Technical Workforce

This study explores how transformational, transactional, and servant leadership styles influence the motivation, productivity, and loyalty of Millennial and Generation Z engineers in the modern technical workforce. Findings show that transactional leadership is the most commonly practiced style, while transformational leadership most strongly enhances motivation and loyalty. Transactional leadership best supports productivity, and servant leadership fosters loyalty through empathy and collaboration. The study concludes that combining transformational inspiration, transactional structure, and servant empathy is essential for effectively leading today’s engineering professionals.