Evaluating the Effectiveness of Leadership Development Programs in Government through Promotional Rates and Pay Increases of Graduates

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this quantitative retrospective causal-comparative study with Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Leadership Development Institute (LDI) graduates was to determine the
effectiveness of government employee leadership development programs by analyzing
promotional rates and/or pay increases using a survey instrument and the Kirkpatrick Model
framework. The effectiveness of LDI and other leadership development programs for
government employees on graduate pay increases and/or promotion rates is unknown. The study
aimed to answer two questions: (1) What is the impact of the Leadership Development Institute
program on promotional rates and/or pay increases for graduates, (2) What are the
transformational leadership practices of graduates who received promotions and/or pay
increases?

METHODOLOGY
This two-part survey used demographic information, researcher written questions, and the
Leadership Practices Inventory 4th Edition (LPI Self) (Kouzes & Posner, 2013) instrument to
answer these questions. This study population included the 205 participants who successfully
completed LDI between 2015 and 2018 and who are still employed by the Commonwealth. Data
analysis was performed using PivotTable in Microsoft Excel.

KEY FINDINGS
The LPI showed the highest transformational leadership practice was Enable Others to Act with
a mean score of 8.75. This study concluded that this government employee leadership
development program is effective for its graduates. Changes in the field of education are required
for the evaluation of leadership development training programs to ensure that participants are
learning critical knowledge that will assist them in achieving their future leadership goals.