Psychological empowerment and how it impacts job satisfaction and organisational commitment of staff members at the University of Namibia (UNAM)
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Date
2016
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Abstract
The ability of organisations to be innovative and to empower their employees would lead to the organisation gaining that competitive edge. Psychological empowerment can be defined as the understanding about your work with regards to meaning, competence, self-determination and impact (Thomas & Velthouse, 1990). Job satisfaction can be defined as the positive/negative feelings based on the interaction an employee has with the working environment and organisation in relation to his/her expectations. Robbins (2003) defined organisational commitment as a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals, and wishes to be part of that organisation. A cross-sectional survey design was used, employing questionnaires to collect data on the biographical antecedents of employees, psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The aim of this study was to assess the relation between psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. This study found that PE- 2 (Impact) predicted SAT- 1 (Autonomy), SAT-2 (Social), and SAT- 4 (Advance). PE- 1 (Attitude) and PE- 2 (Impact) predicted SAT- 3 (Intrinsic), PE- 2 (Impact) and SAT-1 (Autonomy) predicted Normative commitment, SAT- 2 (Social) and SAT- 4 (Advance) predicted Affective Commitment. This study found that when employees become more psychologically empowered, they would also experience higher levels of job satisfaction and become more committed towards the organisation and this will help organisations thrive instead of trying to survive in a competitive environment. If managers are empowered they are able to build capacities, resources, competencies and strategies to respond pro-actively to the environmental pressures caused by economic liberalisation.
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Keywords
Psychological empowerment, Job satisfaction, Organisational commitment
Citation
Pieters, W. R. (2016). Psychological empowerment and how it impacts on job satisfaction and organisational commitment of staff members at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Namibia Journal of Managerial Sciences, 1(2), 98-120.