Employee Psychological Empowerment Research Articles

Fostering firm innovativeness: Understanding the sequential relationships between human resource practices, psychological empowerment, innovative work behavior, and firm innovative capability

This study investigated the relationships between human resource (HR) practices, employee psychological empowerment, employee innovative work behavior, and firm innovation capability in the context of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Jordan. Employing the Social Exchange Theory (SET) as a guiding framework, this study explored how employee psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior mediated the influence of HR practices on a firm's innovative capabilities. Drawing on extensive data collected from ICT organizations in Jordan, our analysis had several key findings. A significant positive correlation between HR practices and psychological empowerment was observed. Job design emerged as the most influential factor affecting psychological empowerment, whereas compensation had a weaker impact. Furthermore, we established that psychological empowerment significantly enhanced innovative work behavior, underscoring its role as a catalyst for innovative work behavior within the sector. Finally, our study supported the theory that psychological empowerment influenced a firms' innovation capabilities, emphasizing the pivotal role of employee empowerment in driving firm-level innovation in the Jordanian ICT sector. These findings provide insights for academic and practical audiences, clarifying how HR practices, employee psychological empowerment, and innovative work behavior collectively influenced firm innovation capability within the unique context of the Jordanian ICT sector.

The effect of spiritual leadership on proactive customer service performance: The roles of psychological empowerment and power distance

Scholars have consistently demonstrated that spiritual leadership yields positive outcomes for employees. However, it is not clear how spiritual leadership influences proactive customer service performance. The purpose of this research is to develop a model, grounded in social cognitive theory, to identify why and when spiritual leadership promotes proactive customer service performance. Specifically, the focus is on how spiritual leadership through employee psychological empowerment facilitates proactive customer service performance under the condition of power distance. The empirical analysis, conducted through regression analysis using the PROCESS macro, is based on questionnaire data from 263 leaders and employees in the hospitality industry. Findings reveal that spiritual leadership has a positive effect on boosting employees’ psychological empowerment, subsequently nurturing their engagement in proactive customer service performance. Moreover, it is found that within an environment of low power distance, the favorable impact of spiritual leadership on proactive customer service performance is amplified, as employees are more inclined to challenge authority and norms and engage in proactively solving problems related to customer service. Key implications suggest scholars and managers ways to enhance proactive customer service performance.

The forgotten side of empowering others: How lower social structural empowerment attenuates the effects of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment and performance.

Theory and research have widely argued for and documented positive impacts of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment, putting empowering leadership on a pedestal depicting it as a panacea for increasing psychological empowerment. However, we argue that this could be due to not considering social structural empowerment (i.e., a construct manifested in employees' beliefs about their access to resources, access to information, and sociopolitical support) as a so far "forgotten side" of empowerment. Using empowerment theory, we depart from this consensus to focus on the moderating role that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship. We propose that empowering leadership and social structural empowerment interact to affect employee psychological empowerment, such that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can unintentionally attenuate the positive effects of empowering leadership on psychological empowerment and, ultimately, job performance. Across four studies using unique methods, findings supported our predictions that lower (vs. higher) social structural empowerment can stifle positive effects of empowering leadership on employee psychological empowerment and performance. We highlight the impact that social structural empowerment can have on the empowering leadership-psychological empowerment relationship, providing answers as to why this forgotten side of empowerment should matter to scholars and practitioners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Revisiting the relationship between transformational leadership and employee psychological empowerment: A more holistic view using organisational culture

Revisiting the relationship between transformational leadership and employee psychological empowerment: A more holistic view using organisational culture

Pay satisfaction and work–life balance among Nigerian bank employees: The roles of psychological empowerment and gender

This study examined the roles of psychological empowerment and gender in the relationship between pay satisfaction and work–life balance among bank employees. In total, 393 Nigerian bank employees participated in the study (female (49.36%; mean age = 32.07, SD = 6.93 years). Hayes Macro PROCESS analysis results showed that pay satisfaction was positively related to work–life balance. Pay satisfaction was associated with higher psychological empowerment. Psychological empowerment was associated with higher work–life balance. Psychological empowerment fully mediated the relationship between pay satisfaction and work–life balance. Gender did not affect work–life balance or moderate the link between pay satisfaction and work–life balance. The study findings suggest that psychological empowerment enhances the relationship between pay satisfaction and employees’ work–life balance in the banking sector. By implication, banking sector human resource managers should leverage employee psychological empowerment as a resource for work– life balance across gender and pay scales.

Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Adaptive Selling Capability: Study from Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia

In the heated business competition of today’s financial services sector, small conventional banks such as microfinance institutions (MFIs) must maintain superior salespeople with adaptive selling capabilities to increase sales performance. Therefore, it is critical to investigate the determinant factor and consequences of salespeople’s adaptive selling capability. This study proposed to examine the effect of psychological empowerment dimensions, namely: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact, on adaptive selling capability. In addition, this research also scrutinises the link between adaptive selling capability and sales performance by examining innovative selling behavior as a mediating variable. A total of 205 salespeople from 34 MFIs in Central Java, Indonesia, participated in the survey. Based on structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analyses, this study found that psychological empowerment dimensions significantly affect adaptive selling capability. Findings also demonstrate that adaptive selling capability positively influences innovative selling behaviour. Finally, the results revealed that innovative selling behaviour mediates the relationship between adaptive selling capability and sales performance. This research provides insight for MFI managers to improve sales performance by cultivating employee psychological empowerment, which impacts adaptive selling capability and innovative selling behavior.

Examining the Effect of Servant Leadership, Employees Psychological Empowerment and Innovative Work Behavior on Project Success: Evidence from Construction Industry


 
 
 
 This research work aims to study the association between servant leadership (SL) and project success (PS). The study also examines the mediating role of employee innovative work behavior (IWB) and psychological empowerment (PE) in the relationship between SL and PS. Current study collected data from 350 construction industry professionals working on different construction projects in Pakistan. SPPS and SmartPls software were used to analyze the gathered data. The analysis result show that SL is positively related to PS. IWB and PE also significantly influenced the relationship between SL and PS. This research is one of the first attempts to examine the nexus between SL and PS through the mediating role of employ IWB and PE in the construction industry.
 
 
 

Fostering employee work engagement and sustainable employment during COVID-19 crisis through HR practices, employee psychological well-being and psychological empowerment

PurposeThis study aims to investigate employee behavior toward work engagement with an integrative research framework that combines human resource practices, employee psychological empowerment and well-being. Moreover, the moderating effect of transformational leadership is tested between employee engagement at workplace during crisis such as COVID-19 and sustainable employment.Design/methodology/approachThis study empirically investigates research framework with 353 responses retrieved from employees working in private sector organizations. The data were collected through structured, closed-ended questionnaires. For inferential analysis, structural equation modeling approach has been used. To test the predictive power of the research framework, blindfolding procedure Q2 is incorporated.FindingsStatistical findings indicate that HR compensation, HR training, opportunity enhancing, motivation enhancing, psychological well-being and empowerment have explained substantial variance (R2 = 67.5%) in employee work engagement during crisis. Concerning with sustainable employment, the transformational leadership and work engagement have shown significant variance (R2 = 20.6%) in determining sustainable employment. Moving further psychological empowerment has revealed maximum effect size (f2) to determine employee engagement behavior at work place during pandemic crisis. The blindfolding procedure Q2 has exhibited substantial power to predict employee work engagement and sustainable employment during crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic.Practical implicationsThis study has several contributions to theory and practice. Theoretically, this study develops an integrative research framework with the help of human resource practices and employee psychological factors such as employee well-being and empowerment. Therefore, practically, this research suggests that factors such as opportunity enhancing, transformational leadership and employee psychological empowerment need managerial attention to increase employee engagement at workplace and sustainable employment during pandemic crisis.Social implicationsWith the growing concerns of layoff during pandemic crisis, employees have shown lack of interest at workplace because of psychological fears. Nevertheless, this study has established that policymakers could enhance employee engagement at workplace and sustainable employment during crisis by redesigning HR practices and improving employee psychological well-being and empowerment. In addition to that, employee psychological well-being and empowerment are considered healthy factors for human beings and nurture society at large.Originality/valueThis research is original as it establishes an integrative research framework grounded in HR practices, employee psychological empowerment and employee psychological well-being to investigate employee behavior at work place during crisis such as pandemic. In addition to that, this study has enriched leadership literature by examining the moderating effect of transformational leadership between employee work engagement and sustainable employment.

What drives perceived internal reputation? Empirical evidence from Chile

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the impact of servant leadership on employees' perception of organizational reputation by investigating the sequential mediating effects of employee psychological empowerment and employee thriving at work.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative online survey with 357 employees from Chile was conducted in this study.FindingsFindings of this study showed that servant leadership both directly and indirectly relates to perceived organizational reputation. Employees perceiving servant leadership behaviors from the employees' supervisors report higher levels of psychological empowerment and, in turn, feel a greater sense of vitality and learning at work that eventually leads to higher ratings of perceived organizational reputation.Originality/valueThis study's novelty lies in extending the internal drivers of organizational reputation by adding behavioral and psychological factors rarely explored in past research.

The Effect of Authentic Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Role of Psychological Empowerment and Quality of Working Life

Objective: This study aims to investigate the influence of authentic leadership on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and examine the role of psychological empowerment and quality of working life (QWL) as mediation in the construction of proposed relationships. Design/Methods/Approach: This study adopts a quantitative method by conducting cross-sectional surveys of multi-sectoral employees in Jakarta, and Surabaya, resulting in 271 respondents. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation models with SmartPLS 3.0 and tested with hierarchical component models or second-order constructs. Findings: The findings of this study show that QWL and psychological empowerment are important variables in mediating the effects of authentic leadership to encourage employees to be willing to demonstrate OCB in the work environment. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the existing literature by investigating the role of psychological empowerment and QWL mediation variables in mediating the indirect influence of authentic leadership on OCB in the Indonesian context. The findings from this study provide theoretical insights and practical implications for authentic leadership in organizations, as well as the foundation for continuous research into QWL and psychological empowerment that may have a solid direct influence and full mediation role on employees’ OCB. Practical/Policy implication: Given the results, human resource managers must try their best to fulfill aspects of the quality of working life and increase employee psychological empowerment. Because both variables play an important role in determining the positive effect of authentic leadership on the OCB of employees in the organization

The Impact of Improving Employee Psychological Empowerment and Job Performance Based on Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence

In order to improve the management mode of the human resources system and enhance the work efficiency of employees, this paper uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance the psychological empowerment of employees. It affects employees' work performance from a psychological perspective with the help of psychological empowerment. The questionnaire survey method collects data on the influencing factors of employees' psychological empowerment. The statistical data are analyzed by regression. Back propagation neural network (BPNN) algorithm based on deep learning is used to establish the work condition evaluation model. The job satisfaction, pressure, and performance of employees based on psychological empowerment are analyzed.

The Use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process in Improving Psychological Empowerment and Employee Performance

The purpose is to further analyze the influence of AI technology on the psychology of employees in the computer industry and truly solve the problems encountered in enterprise management, such as difficult organizational relationship and lack of staff morale. With artificial intelligence algorithm as the research object, AI-based employee psychology and performance analysis model is built based on artificial neural network (ANN) from four aspects of work performance, psychological empowerment, work engagement, and perceived dynamic work environment. MATLAB tool is used, employee psychological empowerment index is taken as an input variable, and employee performance index is taken as output index. The validity of the models proposed in different studies is further verified through different test methods. The results show that artificial intelligence technology can positively affect employees' performance by improving their psychological empowerment, and the improvement of work performance is directly related to psychological empowerment.

A power-with versus power-over framework of leadership behaviors, employee expectations, and employee creativity: A meta-analysis

Drawing on a power-over versus power-with framework and implicit leadership theories, this study examines how positive relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors affect employee creativity. A meta-analysis study with 143 empirical studies ( N = 40,023) reveals that both positive relations-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors were positively related to employee creativity and that psychological empowerment mediated these relationships. Further, the effect of positive relations-oriented leadership behaviors on employee psychological empowerment and creativity was stronger in countries of high (rather than low) power distance, whereas the impact of task-oriented leadership behaviors was stronger in countries characterized by low (rather than high) power distance. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

How psychological empowerment impacts task performance: The mediation role of work engagement and moderating role of age.

This paper presents a mediation–moderated model of the relationship between psychological empowerment, work engagement, age, and task performance. I seek to provide a more nuanced understanding of the mediating role of work engagement in the positive effect of psychological empowerment on task performance. Further, I explore employee age as a moderating factor in this mediation. I used online surveys among a sample of Latin American textile industry employees to capture individual perceptions about psychological empowerment, work engagement, and task performance. I modeled a mediation–moderated model using Hayes’ Process macro. The results confirm that the positive impact of employee psychological empowerment on task performance is partially mediated by work engagement. In addition, age was a significant moderator of the mediation effect. This study expands knowledge about how the psychological empowerment–work engagement relationship can predict task performance, including age as a boundary condition. Following the Job Demands–Resources theory, I also prove that conceptualizing psychological empowerment as a personal resource can benefit the integration of psychological empowerment and the work engagement stream of research. Moreover, the findings may help human resources management (HRM) researchers and practitioners acknowledge contextual differences in understanding the combined effects of psychological empowerment and work engagement. For instance, textile industry human resources managers can develop specific age–based human resource systems that empower and engages employees from emerging economies.

Gratitude In the Workplace: Moving Toward New Frontiers

A growing body of organizational research has begun to explore the role played by gratitude in employees’ attitudes, perceptions, relationships, and behaviors. However, the literature remains limited in important ways. For instance, the literature has largely focused on gratitude within dyads, and has assumed that all gratitude expressions are equal regardless of the source or motivation behind these expressions. Our symposium aims to contribute to the organizational literature by addressing these limitations. The collection of papers we have assembled discuss how gratitude manifests in organizations and how third-party coworkers perceive the authenticity and effectiveness of gratitude expression. These papers adopt a multi-method approach to studying gratitude in a range of diverse organizational contexts. Taken together, this set of papers has implications for important organizational outcomes such as leadership, employee psychological empowerment, prosocial behaviors, and task performance. Gratitude as Positive Feedback in Organizations Presenter: Lauren Rachel Locklear; Texas Tech U. Presenter: Sharon Sheridan; College of Business, Clemson U. Presenter: Maureen L. Ambrose; U. of Central Florida How Upward Counterfactual Thoughts Impact Followers’ Gratitude for Leaders’ Emotion Helping Presenter: Jiaqing Sun; The London School of Economics and Political Science Presenter: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle I Don’t Appreciate Your Appreciation: Third Party Reactions to Leader-Directed Gratitude Expression Presenter: Ryan Fehr; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Yue Wang; Renmin U. of China Presenter: Yirong Guo; Xiamen U. A Further Exploration of Factors Influencing the Perceived Authenticity of Gratitude Presenter: Ayana N. Younge; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

THE ROLE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT OF EMPLOYEES: LITERATURE REVIEW

Leadership is closely related to the existing human resources in the organization as a key success factor. Therefore, companies need skilled leaders, who can serve as role models for their subordinates, and are able to make changes for the better in the future. The importance of employees in determining the success of the organization, the company pays attention to performance constraints. This study aims to examine the role of transformational leadership style on employee psychological empowerment. This type of research uses a literature review with secondary data. The data is obtained through a search on Google Scholar with the search limited from 2016 to 2022 which can be accessed in full text. The role of transformational leadership style on employee psychological empowerment can be applied. Leaders with this leadership style can provide encouragement to employees in their psychological empowerment. So that leadership has a significant influence on the psychology and welfare of its employees. Through empowerment, it will motivate employees to participate more in the company's internal decision making, thereby increasing the sense of responsibility and improving performance, which also affects employees and increases employee job satisfaction

The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment on the Transformational Leadership-Innovative Work Behaviour relationship: A Study of Indian Banking Sector

The purpose of the study was to examine the association between managers’ transformational leadership style and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB) through psychological empowerment. We employed survey methodology and collected data by administering a standardised instrument to employees (n = 203) working in public and private sector bank branches in the Delhi-NCR region of India. By applying structural equation modelling, we found that by adopting a transformational leadership style, managers can encourage employees’ IWB. Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and the IWB of the employees. Additionally, we found that the transformational leadership style is positively associated with the psychological empowerment of employees, and employees’ psychological empowerment is positively related to the IWB of the employees. The study practically iterates that transformational leaders can augment their employees’ innovative behaviour by empowering them.

The influence of organizational learning on library service innovation

PurposeThis article intends to explore how organizational learning affects innovation in public library services, and the role of public librarians in innovation in library services.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected 375 valid questionnaires from 19 public libraries in Shanghai and Zhejiang based on organizational learning, organizational innovation and employee psychological empowerment theory. Additionally, SPSS and HLM are used to analyze the relationship among the three processes of organizational learning: knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, and public library service innovation.FindingsResults show that organizational learning has a significant positive effect on the service innovation of public libraries. Knowledge acquisition and knowledge application in the process of organizational learning have a significant positive influence on the service innovation of public libraries, but the impact of knowledge sharing on service innovation is weak. Employee psychological empowerment has a negative regulating influence on knowledge sharing–public library service innovation, but no significant influence on knowledge application–public library service innovation and knowledge acquisition–public library service innovation.Originality/valueThis research explores the effectiveness of the theory of organizational learning in the field of public libraries and also confirms the role of librarians in the work of public libraries. Together, they promote the innovation of public libraries.

Empowerment at work: An empirical study on Empowering Leadership and Psychological Empowerment

Research Purpose: The aim of the present study is threefold. First, it intends to describe workers’ psychological empowerment in a sample of Portuguese workers. Secondly, to describe empowering leadership perceived by employees about their hierarchical superiors. Finally, to examine the relationships between psychological empowerment dimensions and empowering leadership dimensions.Method: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted with a convenience sample of Portuguese workers (N = 125). Cronbach’s alpha was utilized to examine the reliability of the dimensions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and simple linear regressions were used to analyze the association between empowering leadership and psychological empowerment dimensions.Measuring Instruments: Spreitzer’s Psychological Instrument and the Empowering Leadership Scale were administered.Main findings: The results revealed significant and positive correlations between empowering leadership and psychological empowerment dimensions, especially employee self-determination.Implications/limitations: This research demonstrates that leaders can have an active role in increasing employee psychological empowerment, which can be an antecedent of positive employee attitudes and work outcomes. It is suggested in future studies to use more extensive and more representative samples. Furthermore, longitudinal and experimental research designs will verify if there is a significant causal relationship between empowering leadership and psychological empowerment.Value of the paper: This study empirically confirms that empowering leadership is associated with employees’ psychological empowerment among Portuguese workers.Keywords: empowering leadership, psychological empowerment, Portuguese workers, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, linear regressionType of paper: Research paper

Investigating Employee Perception about Job Insecurity towards Employee Engagement during The Covid-19 in “X-Hotel” in Bandung

Orientation, the inter-individual differences of employees might affect their engagement. However, job engagement might also be influenced by job insecurity. Research purposes: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between job insecurity and job engagement. Motivation for the study: Job engagement leads to positive individual and organizational outcomes, and study on the determinants will give useful information for diagnosis and intervention. Research design, approach and method: A correlational design was used. Survey design was conducted among 110 employees in several departments in the hotel. The measuring instruments included the Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire which includes job description, job commitment, emotional exhaustion, job performance, strategic alignment and job satisfaction. Statistically significant relationships were found between job insecurity and Job engagement have an impact of 5.8%. Thus, also presenting effective information, which of all the indicators has the most effect. Therefore, the result of the research will directly present further information towards the employees’ perception during the Covid-19 Pandemic by which relates to the future improvement by the organization. The findings imply that initiatives focusing on the job engagement of workers during the pandemic (i.e., meaningfulness, competence, self-determination, and impact) will contribute to employee job engagement (vigor, devotion, and assimilation). When job instability is high, it is critical to focus on employee psychological empowerment.